PRE working paper series : numbers 723 to 761

This paper contains a numerical listing of working papers produced by the Policy, Planning, and External Affairs Complex. Each citation contains a brief abstract, and the contact point for the paper.Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Banks&Banking Reform,Health Economics&Finance,Economic Theory&Research

Public evaluation of large projects : variational inequialities, bilevel programming and complementarity. A survey

Large projects evaluation rises well known difficulties because -by definition- they modify the current price system; their public evaluation presents additional difficulties because they modify too existing shadow prices without the project. This paper analyzes -first- the basic methodologies applied until late 80s., based on the integration of projects in optimization models or, alternatively, based on iterative procedures with information exchange between two organizational levels. New methodologies applied afterwards are based on variational inequalities, bilevel programming and linear or nonlinear complementarity. Their foundations and different applications related with project evaluation are explored. As a matter of fact, these new tools are closely related among them and can treat more complex cases involving -for example- the reaction of agents to policies or the existence of multiple agents in an environment characterized by common functions representing demands or constraints on polluting emissions

Systems Analysis in Forestry and Forest Industries

The purpose of this book is to present a variety of articles revealing the state of the art of applications of systems analysis techniques to problems of the forest sector. Such applications cover a vast range of issues in forestry and the forest industry. They include the dynamics of the forest ecosystem, optimal forest management, the roundwood market, forest industrial strategy, regional and national forest sector policy as well as international trade in forest products. Forest industrial applications at mill level, such as optimal paper trimming, cutting, and production scheduling, are however, excluded

El marco del SEC95 y las matrices de contabilidad social: España 1995

The goal of this paper is to present a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) of the Spanish economy for 1995, following the trend to expand Input-Output Tables into a SAM, as SEC95 suggests. We have used available data from the National Income and Product Accounts, the latest Input-Output Table with a symmetric presentation for 1995, and other data sources to build a comprehensive square matrix of data flows for a given account classification. To build the SAM a transformation of original data at basic prices to purchase prices has been needed. This SAM presents a greater dissagregation of taxes that the originally published data. Because of the transformation into purchase prices, a balancing method has been needed to adjust rows and columns. We have used a flow Cross Entropy method solved as a non-linear program with the usual account budgetary restrictions plus specific aggregate restrictions.Social Accounting Matrix, National Accounts, Input-Output Tables, Applied General Equilibrium Models.

Funktsionaalsed, kattuvad ja konkureerivad jurisdiktsioonid (FKKJ-id) võimaliku vahendina Venemaa omavalitsustevaheliseks koostööks kooliteenuste pakkumisel

Omavalitsuste arv väheneb Venemaal demograafiliste probleemide tõttu. Omavalitsuste liitmine näib olevat vältimatu ja avalike teenuste, näiteks koolihariduse osutamine liigub tsentraliseerimise suunas. Siiski ei ole kõik eksperdid nõus, et omavalitsuste laienemine on tingimata ainus ja parim lahendus kooliteenuste väheneva nõudluse lahendamiseks. Viimase idee toetuseks pakutakse käesolevas väitekirjas alternatiivse lähenemisena lahendada rahvastiku vähenemise tagajärjed Venemaal omavalitsustevahelise koostöö abil funktsionaalsete kattuvate ja konkureerivate jurisdiktsioonide (FKKJ-id) kujul. Lõputöö tähenduses on FKKJ-id majandusüksused, mis osutavad erinevaid avalikke teenuseid, kattuvad geograafiliselt, konkureerivad klientide ja liikmete (omavalitsuste) pärast ning omavad juriidilisi õigusi ja kohustusi. Doktoritöö tulemused täiendavad FKKJ-ide teooriat. Pakkudes välja aluse omavalitsuste, FKKJ-ide juhtkonna ja kõrgemate jurisdiktsioonide otsuste tegemiseks ning rakendades mänguteooria lähenemisviise majandusmudelite koostamisel. Töö autor on välja töötanud matemaatilised mudelid avaliku sektori üksuste otsuste tegemiseks monopoolse ja duopoolse juhtumi jaoks, eeldades erinevat tüüpi juhtimiskäitumist. Doktoritöös antakse soovitusi, kuidas omavalitsustevahelist koostööd FKKJ-ide vormis tuleks praktikas korraldada kooliteenuste osutamiseks, mis on väga oluline omavalitsustevahelise koostöö ja kooliharidusega seotud regionaalarengupoliitika kavandamisel. Dokumendianalüüsi ja Saksamaal ning Venemaal läbiviidud intervjuude (omavalitsuste ja piirkondade haridusosakondade ametnike, koolijuhtide ja lapsevanematega) põhjal esitatakse institutsionaalseid soovitused FKKJ-ide juriidilise kohaldatavuse kohta. Institutsioonilised soovitused puudutavad koolide FKKJ-i ühinguvormi (liitu) ning vajalikku memorandumit ja põhikirja, mis peaks reguleerima koolide FKKJ-i tegevust Venemaal ja teistes Ida-Euroopa riikides.The number of municipalities is decreasing in Russia as a consequence of demographic issues. Municipal amalgamation seems unavoidable and the provision of public services, such as for example, school education is moving towards centralization. However, not all the experts can agree that municipal enlargement is necessarily the only and the best solution for declining demand for school services. In support of the latter idea, the thesis suggests to resolve the consequences of depopulation in Russia by the means of inter-municipal cooperation in the form of Functional Overlapping and Competing Jurisdictions (FOCJs) as an alternative approach. In the thesis, FOCJs are economic units, which provide different public services, geographically overlap, compete for clients and members (municipalities) and possess juridical rights and obligations. The results of the PhD thesis contribute to the theory for FOCJs by suggesting a basis for the decision-making in municipalities, FOCJ management and higher rank jurisdictions and by applying game theoretical approaches to economic modelling. In particular, the author has developed mathematical models for public units’ decision-making in monopoly and duopoly, assuming different types of management behaviour. The thesis also provides recommendations on how inter-municipal cooperation in the form of FOCJs should be organised in practice for school services provision, which is very important for the planning of regional development policy related to inter-municipal cooperation and school education. Based on interviews conducted in Germany and Russia with public officials in education departments on municipal and regional levels, heads of schools and parents and document analysis, the author proposed institutional recommendations regarding applicability of FOCJs from the juridical point of view. Institutional recommendations concern the company form of association (union) for the FOCJs and required Memorandum and Statute, which should regulate activities of school FOCJs in Russia and other Eastern European countries.https://www.ester.ee/record=b545081

Study on methods to analyse the impact of state aid on competition

One of the potential benefits of an economic approach to State aid control is to make relationships between the costs and the benefits of State aid more transparent and, by doing so, to provide guidance on how to focus State aid control efforts on those areas where the damage of State aid is the greatest. Where markets fail to deliver efficient outcomes, Government intervention, including the provision of State aid, can improve welfare. This is an accepted result in the economic literature. Many national or supra-national bodies do not provide a mechanism to monitor and discipline the State aid provided by its members. Indeed, the control of State aid in the European Union stands out.state aid, government intervention, market failure, policy evaluation, Nitsche, Heidhues

Interactive Decision Analysis; Proceedings of an International Workshop on Interactive Decision Analysis and Interpretative Computer Intelligence, Laxenburg, Austria, September 20-23, 1983

An International Workshop on Interactive Decision Analysis and Interpretative Computer Intelligence was held at IIASA in September 1983. The Workshop was motivated, firstly, by the realization that the rapid development of computers, especially microcomputers, will greatly increase the scope and capabilities of computerized decision-support systems. It is important to explore the potential of these systems for use in handling the complex technological, environmental, economic and social problems that face the world today. Research in decision-support systems also has another, less tangible but possibly more important, motivation. The development of efficient systems for decision support requires a thorough understanding of the differences between the decision-making processes in different nations and cultures. An understanding of the different rationales underlying decision making is not only necessary for the development of efficient decision-support systems, but it is also an important factor in encouraging international understanding and cooperation. The Proceedings of the Workshop which are contained in this volume are divided in four main sections. The first section consists of an introductory lecture in which a unifying approach to the use of computers and computerized mathematical models for decision analysis and support is described. The second section is concerned with approaches and concepts in interactive decision analysis and section three is devoted to methods and techniques for decision analysis. The final section contains descriptions of a wide range of applications of interactive techniques, covering the fields of economics, public policy planning, energy policy evaluation, hydrology and industrial development