Economics of Pollution Trading for SO2 and NOx

For years economists have urged policymakers to use market-based approaches such as cap-and-trade programs or emission taxes to control pollution. The SO2 allowance market created by Title IV of the 1990 U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments represents the first real test of the wisdom of economists’ advice. Subsequent urban and regional applications of NOx emission allowance trading took shape in the 1990s in the United States, culminating in a second large experiment in emission trading in the eastern United States that began in 2003. This paper provides an overview of the economic rationale for emission trading and a description of the major U.S. programs for sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). We evaluate these programs along measures of performance including cost savings, environmental integrity, and incentives for technological innovation. We offer lessons for the design of future programs including, most importantly, those reducing carbon dioxide.sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, emission trading, power plants, air pollution

Healing a Broken System: Veterans and the War on Drugs

This report examines the plight of returning veterans who struggle with incarceration and psychological wounds of war such as addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder -- and suggests reforms that could improve the health and preserve the freedom of American soldiers returning from war zones and transitioning back to civilian life. Roughly 30 percent of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury, depression, mental illness or other cognitive disability. Left untreated, these medical conditions often contribute to substance misuse and addiction, fatal overdose, homelessness and suicide, as well as violations of the law, particularly nonviolent drug offenses. This report recommends alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug offenses, increased access to overdose prevention programs and medication-assisted therapy, and research evaluating innovative treatment modalities such as medical marijuana and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy

Morocco's free trade agreement with the European community : a quantitative assessment

Morocco is interested in developing a reciprocal free trade agreement with the European Community (EC), although it already enjoys free access to EC markets in industrial products and is not obligated to give EC exporters reciprocal access. But Moroccan agricultural exports are impeded by agricultural protection in the European Community. A free trade agreement would require that Morocco lower its moderately high tariffs against its most important trading partner. Tariff reductions against the European Community but not against the rest of the world may provide benefits provided the trade diversion costs of preferential tariff reduction do not dominate. The authors apply a 39 sector general equilibrium model of the Moroccan economy which includes the sectors most likely to be affected by such an agreement. They investigate the economic effects of the prospective free trade agreement as well as five other trade liberalization scenarios for Morocco. Some of their most important findings are: The welfare benefits to Morocco from a free trade agreement with the European Community would be about 1.5 percent GDP. Such substantial welfare gains partly reflect the benefits of reducing dispersion in the tariff regime. Welfare benefits of about 2.5 percent of GDP would accrue from liberalizing trade with the rest of the world - with only slightly higher adjustment costs. Liberalizing trade with the world would provide greater benefits because it would eliminate the trade diversion costs associated with discriminatory trade liberalization. (Although the fact that significant benefits would accrue from discriminatory liberalization against imports from either the European Community or the rest of the world indicates that trade diversion is not dominant.) As a result of improved access to the European Community, employment and output in the vegetable and citrus fruit sectors would expand. But the phosphate sector stands to gain most from the free trade agreement because liberalization wouldinduce a depreciation in the real exchange rate. Morocco's cereal, meat, dairy, and sugar sectors would loose more in terms of employment, because of significantly lower import prices from the European Community. The nontraded goods sector would also contract slightly. The value added tax would have to be increased to compensate for the loss in tariff revenues, on which Morocco depends. Estimates are provided as ranges, with probability assessments, because of the element of uncertainty.Environmental Economics&Policies,Trade Policy,Rules of Origin,Economic Theory&Research,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT

Sport and neighbourhood regeneration: exploring the mechanisms of social inclusion through sport

This thesis explores the way that sport can be used as a component of effective practice of neighbourhood regeneration. In particular, the thesis examines how and to what extent projects using sport for the purpose of engaging with young people affected by the deprivation of a neighbourhood can add to regenerating the area. The last decade has seen the shift of focus in British urban regeneration policy from physical renewal and economic development to tackling social and community-related matters concentrated in deprived neighbourhoods, such as unemployment, low income, low skills, poor housing, high crime rates, and poor health – in short, social exclusion. Young people who live in these neighbourhoods are greatly disadvantaged in respect both of their well-being at the present time and of their transition into adulthood. Use of sport for the purpose of alleviating these disadvantages is increasingly popular, although conclusive evidence of social benefits of sport participation has been lacking. The thesis identifies four sets of hypotheses that represent how sport may enhance the process of social inclusion; namely, personal development, diversion, social interaction/social networks, and the salience of sport. The normative and analytical framework is developed based on Amartya Sen’s ‘capability’ perspective so as to re-define the goal of neighbourhood regeneration, against which sport-related regeneration projects can be assessed their contribution. An in-depth qualitative case study, based on grounded theory, was carried out in deprived neighbourhoods in the East End of Glasgow. Main findings include: (1) young people in the area were trapped into the vicious circles of leisure deprivation, territoriality, and poor transition into adulthood; (2) the process of tackling youth-related problems in deprived areas can be represented with the analogies of ‘hooking’ and ‘signposting’; (3) a successful structure of a sport-related regeneration project can be represented by a ‘pyramid’, founded on financial sustainability nested in robust organisational base; (4) a project can enlarge its organisational base through a repeated process of ‘ownership’ and ‘evolution’, represented by an expanding ‘spiral’; and (5) sport-related projects are often too small to reach the majority of the ‘excluded’

Influence of Reoperations on Long-Term Quality of Life After Restrictive Procedures: A Prospective Study

Quality of life improves after bariatric surgery. However, long-term results and the influence of reoperations are not well known. A prospective quality of life assessment before, 1 and 7 years after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) and vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG) was performed in order to determine the influence of reoperations during follow-up. One hundred patients were included in the study. Fifty patients underwent VBG and 50 LAGB. Patients completed the quality of life questionnaires prior to surgery and two times during follow-up. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaires included the Nottingham Health Profile I and II and the Sickness Impact Profile 68. Follow-up was 84% with a mean duration of 84 months (7 years). During follow-up, 65% of VBG patients underwent conversion to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass while 44% of LAGB patients underwent a reoperation or conversion. One year after the procedure, nearly all quality-of-life parameters significantly improved. After 7 years, the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP)-I domain “physical ability”, the NHP-II and the SIP-68 domains “mobility control”, “social behavior”, and “mobility range” were still significantly improved in both groups. The domains “emotional reaction”, “social isolation” (NHP-I), and “emotional stability” (SIP-68) remained significantly improved in the VBG group while this was true for the domain “energy level” (NHP-I) in the LAGB group. Both the type of procedure and reoperations during follow-up were not of significant influence on the HRQoL results. Weight loss and decrease in comorbidities were the only significant factors influencing quality of life. Restrictive bariatric surgery improves quality of life. Although results are most impressive 1 year after surgery, the improvement remains significant after long-term follow-up. Postoperative quality of life is mainly dependent on weight loss and decrease in comorbidities and not on the type of procedure or surgical complications

Determinants of microfinance loan repayment performance: case of omo microfinance (omfi) in Kaffa zone

This study was conducted with the aim of analyzing the factors that influence microfinance loan repayment investigating determinants of loan repayment performance of borrowers (beneficiaries) and identify the major factors that face OMFI, by using primary data collected through structured questionnaire. The survey includes a total of 339 respondents, using stratified sampling the population was divided into Urban and rural based on settlement areas. The primary data has been collected by interviewing 167 urban borrowers and 172 rural borrowers’ respondent using a structured questionnaire with the help of trained enumerators. The questionnaire includes both open- and closed- ended questions. In addition, secondary data were gathered from OMFI head office, OMFI branch office and other related relevant publications. A binary logit model was used to analyze the socio-economic factors that influence loan repayment. In related with the regression analysis Multi co- linearity t and various model fitness tests were made for the assumption of Loan repayment by SPSS 20.0 statistical packages. Furthermore, a chi-square(X2) analysis was employed to compare the defaulters and nondefaulters group. A total of twelve explanatory variables were included in the regression. The results of the descriptive statistics and the binary logistic model show that sex, age, education, source of income before loan, method of lending ,loan size ,suitability of installment period and timeliness of loan release were important in influencing loan repayment performance of the borrower. However, family size, distance of borrowers from institution, residence of borrowers, and frequency of collection were found to be insignificant in model. KEY WORDS: Microfinance, Loan Repayment, Defaulters and Non Defaulters.Jimma Universit