Energy Efficiency Analysis of Water and Wastewater Utilities Based on the IBNET Database

A víz- és szennyvíz-szolgáltató vállalatok működési költségeinek jelentős hányadát teszi ki a villamosenergia-költség. Elemzésünk az IBNET (International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities) adatbázisa alapján vizsgálja a közép-kelet-európai és a FÁK országokban működő víziközművek energiahatékonyságát. Többváltozós statisztikai elemzés segítségével tárjuk fel a különböző működési jellemzők energiahatékonyságot befolyásoló hatását. A Világbank által kezdeményezett IBNET programról bővebb információ a www.ib-net.org oldalon található, angol nyelven

The Impact of Capital Measurement Error Correction on Firm-Level Production Function Estimation

Based on a large panel of Czech manufacturing firms, we estimate firm-level production functions in 2003-2007 using the Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) and Wooldridge (2009) approaches, correcting for the measurement error in capital. We show that measurement error plays a significant role in the size of the estimated capital coefficient. The capital coefficient estimate approximately doubles (depending on the particular industry) when we control for capital measurement error. Consequently, while the majority of industries exhibit constant or (in)significantly decreasing returns to scale when the standard methods are used, increasing returns cannot be rejected in some industries when the estimation is corrected for capital measurement error.Capital, firm-level data, measurement error.

Debt management when monetary and fiscal policies clash: some empirical evidence

We explore the effects of fiscal and monetary policy shocks on key debt management variables and provide empirical evidence supporting the notion of a strict separation of economic policy from the debt management agenda. We find that a tighter monetary policy coupled with fiscal expansion increases the risk that government debt will have to be rolled over at unusually high cost. This is especially the case in a downturn, where low or even negative interest rates often provide incentives for debt managers to invest predominantly in short-term bonds. Our findings echo the post-crisis environment of low or even negative interest rates, where many debt managers altered their portfolios' structure in favor of short-term bonds. In this respect, we argue that debt managers should use a longer optimization horizon and base their strategy on the medium- and long-term economic outlook.Web of Science23128025

Simulation support for internet-based energy services

The rapidly developing Internet broadband network offers new opportunities for deploying a range of energy, environment and health-related services for people in their homes and workplaces. Several of these services can be enabled or enhanced through the application of building simulation. This paper describes the infrastructure for e-services under test within a European research project and shows the potential for simulation support for these services

The impact of the crisis on the energy demand and energy intensity in Central and Eastern European countries

The purpose of our paper is to analyze the impact of the recent crisis on the oil and electricity demand and the energy intensity of different Central and Eastern European countries, namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Furthermore, we would like to reveal whether there is a lag in the adjustment of energy consumption. In analyzing energy intensity, we use motor gasoline, diesel oil and electricity consumption data and ignore coal and natural gas data. By so doing, we avoid failures arising from changing coal/gas consumption due to changing weather conditions. Our results show that the crisis did impact energy consumption and reveal that the improvement of energy intensity halted in 2009, implying that the economic players did not immediately adjust their energy consumption according to their economic activity. The gasoline and diesel intensity, however, deteriorated (increased) only in the Czech Republic and in Hungary. In Slovakia and Poland there were no significant changes.oil consumption, energy intensity, crisis, Central and Eastern Europe

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

Placing the Czech shadow banking sector under the light

The size of the shadow banking sector (SBS) has more than doubled in the Czech Republic over the last decade. This places a potential burden on policy makers. On the one hand, the SBS complements regular banking by expanding access to credit and investments, enabling better risk sharing and maturity transformation, and supporting market liquidity. On the other hand, SBS activities can put the stability of the financial system at risk and amplify its procyclicality by exacerbating the buildup of leverage and asset price bubbles. We implement a FAVAR model of the Czech economy to determine the impact of macroeconomic factors on the SBS. We find that the SBS: (i) is sensitive to changes in market interest rates and term spread; (ii) exhibits great procyclicality; (iii) can act as a complement to regular banking and satisfy some additional demand for credit. We also define some potential risks of continued growth of the SBS, linked to our empirical evidence.Web of Science29128

Multi objective optimization in charge management of micro grid based multistory carpark

Distributed power supply with the use of renewable energy sources and intelligent energy flow management has undoubtedly become one of the pressing trends in modern power engineering, which also inspired researchers from other fields to contribute to the topic. There are several kinds of micro grid platforms, each facing its own challenges and thus making the problem purely multi objective. In this paper, an evolutionary driven algorithm is applied and evaluated on a real platform represented by a private multistory carpark equipped with photovoltaic solar panels and several battery packs. The algorithm works as a core of an adaptive charge management system based on predicted conditions represented by estimated electric load and production in the future hours. The outcome of the paper is a comparison of the optimized and unoptimized charge management on three different battery setups proving that optimization may often outperform a battery setup with larger capacity in several criteria.Web of Science117art. no. 179

Product Market Regulation in Romania: A Comparison with OECD Countries

Less restrictive product market policies are crucial in promoting convergence to higher levels of GDP per capita. This paper benchmarks product market policies in Romania to those of the OECD countries by estimating OECD indicators of Product Market Regulation (PMR). The PMR indicators allow a comprehensive mapping of policies affecting competition in product markets. Comparison with OECD countries reveals that Romania’s product market policies are less restrictive of competition than most direct comparators from the region and not far from the OECD average. Nonetheless, this achievement should be interpreted in light of the fact that PMR approach measures officially adopted policies. It does not capture implementation and enforcement, the area where future reform efforts should be directed if less restrictive policies are to have an effective impact on long-term growth prospects. Part I : a comparative analysis of Romania’s PRM and Inward-oriented Policies.regulation, product markets, administrative reforms, inward looking policies, outward looking policies