A review of the methodologies used in compiling owner-occupiers’ housing indices. ESRI Working Paper 651 January 2020

This paper examines the manner in which owner-occupiers housing costs are incorporated in the official inflation index. In particular, the focus is on the net acquisitions and the payments approach, which are currently used by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The paper provides a detailed overview of the two approaches, along with some suggestion for further refinement

Energy-efficient through-life smart design, manufacturing and operation of ships in an industry 4.0 environment

Energy efficiency is an important factor in the marine industry to help reduce manufacturing and operational costs as well as the impact on the environment. In the face of global competition and cost-effectiveness, ship builders and operators today require a major overhaul in the entire ship design, manufacturing and operation process to achieve these goals. This paper highlights smart design, manufacturing and operation as the way forward in an industry 4.0 (i4) era from designing for better energy efficiency to more intelligent ships and smart operation through-life. The paper (i) draws parallels between ship design, manufacturing and operation processes, (ii) identifies key challenges facing such a temporal (lifecycle) as opposed to spatial (mass) products, (iii) proposes a closed-loop ship lifecycle framework and (iv) outlines potential future directions in smart design, manufacturing and operation of ships in an industry 4.0 value chain so as to achieve more energy-efficient vessels. Through computational intelligence and cyber-physical integration, we envision that industry 4.0 can revolutionise ship design, manufacturing and operations in a smart product through-life process in the near future

THE ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF INCREASING THE IRISH CARBON TAX. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 79 OCTOBER 2018

This study investigates the economic and environmental impacts of increasing the current carbon tax in Ireland from C20 per tonne of CO2 to C25, C30, C35 and C40. For this purpose, an Energy Social Accounting Matrix (ESAM) is developed for Ireland with 33 activities, 39 commodities, and ten household groups based on disposable income. The ESAM reproduces the structure of the Irish economy including production sectors, households and the government and quantifies the nature of all existing economic transactions among the diverse economic agents. Furthermore, the ESAM includes the flows of energy and emissions, creating a framework that can examine how money as well as energy and emissions flows between production sectors, households and the government. In this way the carbon content of different products and different households’ consumption is estimated. The current carbon tax in Ireland stands at C20 per tonne of carbon and is levied to incentivise households and producers to reduce their use of carbon-intensive goods. The carbon tax is relatively low, however, and constitutes just 1.9 per cent of total taxes levied on commodities in Ireland. Carbon tax accounts for only 7.6 per cent of total excise duties levied on petrol and 14 per cent of all excise duties on diesel. Our results reveal that increases in the carbon tax affect the prices of diesel and petrol the most. A C5 increase will increase the prices of carbon commodities by on average 0.8 per cent, and a doubling of the carbon tax to C40 per tonne of CO2 will increase the prices of carbon commodities by on average 3.4 per cent. The diesel price is expected to increase the most due to an increase in the carbon tax, whereby a C25 tax would result in a 1.7 per cent increase in diesel prices. A C40 tax would result in a 7 per cent increase in diesel prices. Putting this into context, it can be noted that in 2018 alone consumers have faced much greater fluctuations in diesel prices. Consumers are accustomed to relatively large fluctuations in fuel prices and may not react to increases in prices, assuming prices will fall again. This makes it extremely important to communicate a clear commitment to an increasing carbon tax by the government

Analyzing Macroeconomic Effects of Environmental Taxation in the Czech Republic with the Econometric E3ME Model

Market-based instruments have gradually become a significant tool of environmental policy in central European countries. By using the structural macroeconometric E3ME model the authors compare two alternative green tax based policy frameworks in the Czech Republic. While the first imposes a tax on emissions of classical pollutants (particulates, sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxides, and volatile organic compounds), the second consists of carbon taxation intentionally set at the level equalizing environmental effect measured by externalities that are avoided as result of both reductions in emissions subject to taxation and ancillary effects. The authors also analyze impacts of revenue recycling. The comparison of economic impacts of both considered policy set ups indicates that policy aimed at the taxation of classical pollutants outperforms carbon policies in cases without revenue recycling. On the other hand, mainly due to significantly higher revenues from carbon taxation, when the revenues are recycled, a carbon taxation framework appears to be a better option.environmental taxation; structural models; macro-econometric model; E3ME

Strategies for sustainable socio-economic development and mechanisms their implementation in the global dimension

The authors of the book have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to effectively use modern approaches to developing and implementation strategies of sustainable socio-economic development in order to increase efficiency and competitiveness of economic entities. Basic research focuses on economic diagnostics of socio-economic potential and financial results of economic entities, transition period in the economy of individual countries and ensuring their competitiveness, assessment of educational processes and knowledge management. The research results have been implemented in the different models and strategies of supply and logistics management, development of non-profit organizations, competitiveness of tourism and transport, financing strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises, cross-border cooperation. The results of the study can be used in decision-making at the level the economic entities in different areas of activity and organizational-legal forms of ownership, ministries and departments that promote of development the economic entities on the basis of models and strategies for sustainable socio-economic development. The results can also be used by students and young scientists in modern concepts and mechanisms for management of sustainable socio-economic development of economic entities in the condition of global economic transformations and challenges

UA Research Summary No. 18

Health-care spending for Alaskans reached about $7.5 billion in 2010. For comparison, that’s close to half the wellhead value of all the oil produced in Alaska that year. It’s also roughly equal to half the wages Alaskans collected in 2010. The state’s health-care spending has been rising fast, tripling since 1990 and jumping 402010—and at current trends it could double by 2020, reaching more than$14 billion. Here we report on who’s paying the bills, what we’re buying, what’s contributing to the growth, and other aspects of health-care spending. We conclude with a discussion of how Alaska could get better value for its health-care dollars

Rice price policies in Indonesia: a computable general equilibrium (CGE) analysis

This paper presents an agriculture sector focused Computable General Equilibrium (AG-CGE) model for analyzing the economy-wide impacts of changes in technology, protection, and market structure on resource allocation, production, and trade in Indonesia. The paper incorporates a specification of the rice market and models the government price-support, stocking, and trade policies for rice using a mixed complementarity approach. This approach allows the specification of inequalities and changes in policy regime as prices and/or stocks move within specified bands. The model is used to examine the impact on the Indonesian economy of changes in rice yields given different assumptions about the operations of Bulog (National Logistic Agency). The general equilibrium approach captures and quantifies the effects of the price support policies on resource allocation, trade, relative prices, and the government budget. An important result is that there is inefficient allocation of resources within the agriculture sector and the rest of the economy if Bulog operates to maintain the rice price when there are significant increases in rice productivity. Instead of releasing resources to other high-value agriculture uses and non-agriculture uses, the price support scheme attracts more resources into rice production. In addition, the price support program is costly and strains the government accounts, even if the administrative costs of operating the program are ignored.Rice Yields Indonesia., Price regulation Indonesia., Computable general equilibrium (CGE)., Agricultural resources.,