HOUSEHOLDS’ BEHAVIOUR AND ENVIRONMENTAL EMISSIONS IN A REGIONAL ECONOMY

Households have significant demand-side potential to drive reductions in atmospheric emissions, including both direct and indirect emissions. Our analysis focuses on the behaviour of a regional economy (Aragon, Spain) and its impact on greenhouse gases (GHG) and sulphur dioxide (SO₂). Using a CGE model, we simulate scenarios and evaluate the environmental impact of adopting changes considered in the Aragonese Climate Change and Clean Energy Strategy. Specifically, we analyse the impact of electricity savings and the promotion of public transport (bus or train) versus private car use. The results indicate that 1 MWh of saving in electricity consumption by households could reduce emissions of GHG by 0.112 kt of equivalent CO₂ and 8.209 kg of SO₂ with a shift in demand preferences and 0.022 kt of equivalent CO₂ and 7.612 kg of SO₂ with an efficiency improvement. Moreover, household changes in demand preferences regarding private/public transport, also contribute to reduce emissions.     

The timing and probability of FDI: an application to US multinational enterprises

An ‘option-pricing’ model is employed to analyse the timing of FDI. Assuming that the firm's profits are determined by the attractiveness of both the home and foreign countries, and that attractiveness follows a Brownian motion, an optimal trigger value of FDI is derived. The model shows that, contrary to the NPV rule, FDI entry should be delayed the greater the uncertainty of attractiveness in both locations. Another important result is that MNEs do not regard FDI as a risk-diversification tool. The results of the model were then tested empirically with US FDI data, using labour costs as a proxy for (the reciprocal of) attractiveness. The results support the findings of the analytical model.     

The impact of ethnic tourism on gender roles: A comparison between the Bai and the Mosuo of Yunnan province,PRC

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine how ethnic tourism is impacting host women in two destinations in Yunnan. To accomplish this, the paper compares the perceived impacts of ethnic tourism on women from a matriarchal and a patriarchal host community. The findings reveal that tourism income had a greater effect on women from a patriarchal community and that both groups of women reported several other non-economic impacts. Implications for future research are discussed.     

实施CMMS的五项原则及其使用——一个石化工厂的案例研究

大多数计算机维修管理系统(CMMS)没有起到管理系统应有的作用,或者实施以后限制了管理的能力.另一个重要的事实是:如果实施时间少于二年,大约有50%的CMMS实施是注定要失败的.笔者采用Peter Senge的观点,把学习组织(Learning Organisations)作为新方法来实施和使用CMMS.探讨如何成功地把这个方法应用于Rio de Janeiro天然气化工厂,保证全面使用CMMS.     

Some disequilibrium dynamics of exchange-rate changes

The aim of this paper is to suggest a formal dynamic model of the adjustment path of an economy during the time interval between an exchange-rate change and the attainment of a new equilibrium. It is a ‘first-pass’ model insofar as its structure and dynamics are very simple (a labor market and a commodity market are specified, with wage, price, and employment adjustment as functions of excess demand). The two principal conclusions are: exchange-rate changes may produce short-run effects qualitatively opposite to their long-run effects, not only in the current account, but also in employment and output; and knowledge of disequilibrium adjustment speeds for each sector of the economy taken in isolation appears to yield a misleadingly optimistic forecast of the disequilibrium adjustment speeds when all sectors adjust simultaneously to an exchange-rate change.     

Targeted versus nontargeted multispecies fishing

In multispecies fisheries, different technological harvest conditions imply different long-run bioeconomic equilibria. Optimal and open access exploitation by a single fleet of two ecologically independent species is considered. Two polar cases are studied: Targeted fishing, when fishermen have to choose at any moment which species to target; and Nontargeted fishing, when more than one species is caught at the same time. The relative efficiency of several policy measures is examined for both cases.     

The efficiency of inflation expectations in treasury bill markets: The Brazilian evidence

In the recent past Brazilian inflation has varied within broad limits, from 0.4% to 5.12% on a monthly basis, and in a very volatile way. In such an economic environment investors should demand a risk premium to bear pure inflation uncertainty. After generalizing the methodology of Fama to the case of multiple periods explicitly considering the risk premiums demanded by investors this paper proceeds to examine the efficiency of inflation expectations in the Brazilian Treasury Bills market. The empirical results for the 1972–1976 period suggest that risk premiums are relevant and they do not appear to follow a random-walk process.     

Equilibrium price dynamics in an overlapping-generations exchange economy

An extension to the Yaari (1965)–Blanchard (1985) continuous time overlapping generations model for an endowment Arrow–Debreu economy with an age-structured population is presented. It is proved that Arrow–Debreu equilibrium prices are represented by a double linear integral equation, and depend on the age-distributions of population and endowments. For an economy with a balanced growth, and logarithmic utility, we prove that bubbles may exist if endowments are distributed earlier than some critical age.