Innovation and diffusion of environmental technology: Industrial NOx abatement in Sweden under refunded emission payments

We study the actual process of technical change in the case of NOx abatement from large stationary sources that have been regulated by very forceful policies in Sweden. Considerable progress has been made in lowering aggregate emissions and this paper seeks to disaggregate average industry improvements to study how much of it is due to innovations by first movers, and how much is achieved by adoption and diffusion of technology. We find both factors very important. Innovation has been rapid: the best firms have cut emissions on the order of 70%. In spite of this, reductions have actually been even more rapid for the majority of firms so that the median firms have caught up with best practice. We analyze various characteristics of the technological change observed.     

NO MARGINAL ARBITRAGE OF THE SECOND KIND FOR HIGH PRODUCTION REGIMES IN DISCRETE TIME PRODUCTION–INVESTMENT MODELS WITH PROPORTIONAL TRANSACTION COSTS

We consider a class of production–investment models in discrete time with proportional transaction costs. For linear production functions, we study a natural extension of the no‐arbitrage of the second kind condition introduced by Rásonyi. We show that this condition implies the closedness of the set of attainable claims and is equivalent to the existence of a strictly consistent price system under which the evaluation of future production profits is strictly negative. This allows us to discuss the closedness of the set of terminal wealth in models with nonlinear production, functions which may admit arbitrages of the second kind for low production regimes but not marginally for high production regimes.     

Technik für ein langes Leben

Megatrend Ambient Assisted Living - Im Jahr 2035 wird in Deutschland jeder dritte Mensch ?lter sein als 60 Jahre. Die Nachfrage nach Dienstleistungen und unterstützenden Systemen wird steigen. Technische Assistenzsysteme für Pflegende, Pflegebedürftige und deren Angeh?rige sollen das Leben im Alter sicherer und bequemer machen.     

ALCHIAN AND DEMSETZ'S CRITIQUE OF THE COOPERATIVE FIRM THIRTY‐SEVEN YEARS AFTER

The author discusses the critique of cooperatives implied in Alchian and Demsetz's argument that efficiency is maximized when the central agent managing the firm and watching the labour force at work is the residual claimant. Entering upon a number of criticisms that Alchian and Demsetz's approach attracted over the years, he concludes that their critique does not hold, and his basic argument is that cooperative firms vesting the monitoring function in elected managers will not be less efficient than capitalistic firms in the same situation.     

Market Power and the Power Market: Multi-Unit Bidding and (In)Efficiency in Electricity Auctions

In this paper we apply auction theory to the modelling of competition in a multi-unit wholesale electricity market. Bidding strategies of multi-plant producers are derived and examined assuming various degrees of market concentration. Unlike previous literature, which mainly focuses on demand uncertainty, we assume both demand and cost uncertainty as well as cost differentials among the two types of generating units considered in the model, namely baseload units and peak units. Results indicate that the System Marginal Price (competitive pricing) rule provides incentives for bid shading on the part of all those generators-units who have a non-null probability of setting the market price. We also show that the extent of the bid shading is positively affected by the differential in the endowments of the baseload generation capacity of multi-plant firms. The inefficiency of the resulting allocation is also examined and some policy implications are briefly discussed.     

Learning to Build a Car: An Empirical Investigation of Organizational Learning

abstract    This study provides a longitudinal empirical examination of the basic elements of Nonaka's (1994 ) dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. First, the data illustrate the notion that knowledge creation in organizations proceeds through an intertwined four-phase process: (1) socialization (tacit knowledge amplification); (2) externalization (tacit knowledge is transformed into explicit knowledge); (3) combination (explicit knowledge amplification); and (4) internalization (explicit knowledge is transformed into tacit knowledge). Second, the study extends Nonaka's theory by comparing the relative amount of intra-organizational knowledge transfer occurring during periods of product redesign with the amount of knowledge transfer occurring during steady-state periods. The questionnaire data suggest that the overall level of knowledge transfer is higher during periods of product redesign than it is during the steady state, whereas the interview data indicate that there were more mentions of knowledge transfer during the steady state. Third, the data suggest that there may be benefit in adding tacit error correction as a fifth phase in the learning cycle. This phase is characterized by a dual emphasis on externalization and internalization. Implications of these findings are discussed.