Herziening der Drankwet

Dit rapport wordt door het hoofdbestuur van den Volksbond, Vereeniging tegen Drankmisbruik, in overleg met de Commissie, die het samenstelde, openbaar gemaakt in de Economist.     

Optimal capital structure: A multi-period programming model for use in financial planning

This paper describes a multi-period, chance constrained mathematical programming model to compute for each period, the firm's optimal debt to equity ratio and the optimal maturity distribution of its debt. The model assumes that the firm's objective is to maximize total value of the firm, and that the firm operates in a world of uncertainty, with corporate income taxes and bankruptcy costs. Finally, the actual coupon rate paid by the firm which is commensurate to the risk of default is endogenously determined by the model.     

Determinants of business cycles in small scale macroeconomic models: the German case

We identify measures of shocks to total factor productivity and preferences from two real business cycle models and subject them to Granger causality tests to see whether they can be considered exogenous to other plausible sources of the German business cycle. For West German data from 1960.i to 1989.iv we conclude that our measures of shocks are indeed exogenous. This contrasts with similar studies for other countries that question the exogeneity of either productivity or preference shocks. For the period 70.i to 01.iv we find that M3 Granger causes all of our shock measures. We attribute this to the breaks in our time series associated with the German reunification in 1990 and the European Monetary Union in 1999.Earlier versions of this paper circulate as University of Augsburg economics discussion paper no. 213 and Kiel Institute for World Economics working paper no. 1158, respectively.     

Adoption and Impacts of Sustainable Agricultural Practices on Maize Yields and Incomes: Evidence from Rural Zambia

This paper uses a multinomial endogenous treatment effects model and data from a sample of over 800 households and 3,000 plots to assess the determinants and impacts of adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) on maize yields and household incomes in rural Zambia. Results show that adoption decisions are driven by household and plot level characteristics and that the adoption of a combination of SAPs raises both maize yields and incomes of smallholder farmers. Adoption of improved maize alone has greater impacts on maize yields, but given the high cost of inorganic fertiliser that limits the profitability of adoption of improved maize, greater household incomes are associated rather with a package involving SAPs such as maize–legume rotation and residue retention.     

Knowledge,Use and Effectiveness of Social Acceptance Measures for Wind Projects

Wind energy is one of the key technologies to become independent of fossil fuels. Implementation of wind energy on a local level, however, has sometimes proved to be challenging and dealing with local acceptance of onshore wind turbines has become troublesome for some projects. Communication and public involvement are seen as strategies to prevent or respond to local opposition. This paper analyses the views of a variety of experts in wind energy on this matter. It focuses on eliciting their experiences with public participation measures. Furthermore, the perceived effectiveness of the measures for the social acceptance of wind energy projects is analysed. To do so, this paper draws on an expert survey among 207 individuals across Europe linked to wind energy projects. The analysis shows that negative reactions to wind farms are reported more frequently than positive reactions. In nearly 40% of cases, projects experience negative consequences on project development due to a lack of social acceptance, ranging from delays to changes in project plans and even termination. The vast majority of wind project developers respond to this by carrying out public participation activity at least sometimes. However, a much lower share does this systematically and the level of activity is low in early project phases. With regard to the relationship between project activities and project success, there is some support for the assumption that early and systematic involvement of the public and stakeholders is likely to reduce negative reactions.     

Adoption and welfare impacts of multiple agricultural technologies: evidence from eastern Zambia

Using plot level panel data and multinomial endogenous switching regression, this article analyzes the adoption and welfare impacts of multiple agricultural technologies in eastern Zambia. We adapt a multinomial endogenous switching/treatment effect regression framework to correct for selection bias and endogeneity originating from both observed and unobserved heterogeneity. Results indicate that joint adoption of multiple agricultural technologies had greater impacts on crop yields, household incomes, and poverty than the adoption of individual components of the technology package. Our findings suggest that efforts aimed at raising household incomes and reducing poverty should focus on promoting the adoption of multiple agricultural technologies through provision of improved support services such as extension and input supply.     

STEADY‐STATE GROWTH AND DISTRIBUTION WITH AN ENDOGENOUS DIRECTION OF TECHNICAL CHANGE

A model of labor‐constrained accumulation and economically directed technical progress has a stable steady state at which the class distribution of income is invariant with respect to population and saving parameters yet sensitive to workers’ stances in wage bargaining and to the tax and transfer policies of a redistributive state.