Who loses when penalty rates are cut?

This paper outlines the history of penalty rates in Australia and gives a snapshot of the contemporary debate on the topic. Then, focusing on the retail and hospitality sectors, it looks at proposals aimed at reducing or removing penalty rates all together. As an important addition to the public debate on the subject, it examines and quantifies the disproportionate impact that rural and regional centres will endure as a result of these changes

Trading hot-air : the influence of permit allocation rules, market power and the US withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol.

After the conferences in Bonn and Marrakech it is likely that international emissions trading will be realized in the near future. Major influences on the permit market are the institutional detail, the participation structure and the treatment of hot-air. Different scenarios do not only differ in their implications for the demand and supply of permits and thus the permit price, but also in their allocative effects. In this paper we discuss likely institutional designs for permit allocation in the hot-air economies and the use of market power and quantify the resulting effects by using the computable general equilibrium model DART. It turns out that the amount of hot-air supplied will be small if hot-air economies cooperate in their decisions. Under welfare maximization more hot-air is supplied than in the case were governments try to maximize revenues from permit sales.Emissionsrechte; Klimaschutz; Umweltabkommen; Allgemeines Gleichgewicht; Wirtschaftspolitische Wirkungsanalyse;CGE Model , DART , Emission Trading , Hot-Air , Kyoto Protocol , Market Power , Permit Allocation;

US participation, permit allocation, and hot air supply.

After Bonn and Marrakech it is likely that emission trading will be realized in the near future. Major influences on the permit market are the institutional details, the participation structure and the treatment of hot air. Different scenarios do not only differ in their implications for the demand and supply of permits and thus the permit price, but also in their allocative effects. Most repercussions can be expected to stem from the effects on the world markets for fossil fuel and especially the oil market. For example the withdrawal of the USA from the Kyoto Protocol and the allocation mechanism for the hot air in Russia, Ukraine and Eastern Europe influence the level of energy demand and gross and net energy prices which in turn change the production structure of energy intensive goods and influence welfare depending on whether a country is an energy net exporter or importer. In this paper we discuss different institutional designs for hot air trading combined with the US withdrawal and quantify the effects by using a computable general equilibrium model. Besides detailed results for the analyzed scenarios, two major findings are relevant for future studies on emission trading: First, marginal abatement cost curves are not as stable as presumed up to now. Second, we find that indeed the allocative repercussions of a scenario are to a large degree determined by its effects on world energy demand and world energy prices. Both findings imply that partial equilibrium models of permit trading that are based on marginal abatement curves ignore the important interaction between the permit market and the world energy markets.Emissionshandel; Klimaschutz; Allokation; Wirtschaftspolitische Wirkungsanalyse; Simulation; Allgemeines Gleichgewicht; USA; Welt;

Multilateral Versus Regional Trading Arrangements: Substitutes Or Compliments?

We summarise salient developments in the interaction of the multilateral trading system and multilateral trading agreements (MTAs) on the one hand and regional trading agreements (RTAs) on the other. We then consider the economic effects of RTAs, comparing customs unions with free trade agreements. We argue, contrary to much received wisdom, that either may produce more economic benefits than the other, depending on the specific context in which they are introduced. There follows a discussion of the political economy effects of RTAs. Some of these have unfavourable, some neutral and some favourable effects on the progress of further MTAs. We conclude that the case against RTAs as eroding the MTS and inhibiting further MTA negotiations, as expounded by such economists as Krueger and Bhagwati, is not well founded. There remain grounds for optimism that the process of competitive liberalisation in RTAs will lead eventually to further multilateral liberalisation.customs unions, free trade areas, multilateral agreements, multilateral trading system, regional agreements, rules of origin, scale economies, trade creation, trade diversion.

Access agreement and widening participation strategic assessment monitoring : outcomes for 2009-10

"This document gives the outcomes of OFFA and HEFCE’s annual monitoring of access agreements and widening participation strategic assessments for 2009-10" -- front cover

Electricity Network Scenarios for Great Britain in 2050

The next fifty years are likely to see great developments in the technologies deployed in electricity systems, with consequent changes in the structure and operation of power networks. This paper, which forms a chapter in the forthcoming book Future Electricity Technologies and Systems, develops and presents six possible future electricity industry scenarios for Great Britain, focussed on the year 2050. The paper draws upon discussions of important technologies presented by expert authors in other chapters of the book to consider the impact of different combinations of key influences on the nature of the power system in 2050. For each scenario there is a discussion of the effects of the key parameters, with a description and pictorial illustration. Summary tables identify the role of the technologies presented in other chapters of the book, and list important figures of interest, such as the capacity and energy production of renewable generation technologies

Priorities, policies and (time)scales : the delivery of emissions reductions in the UK transport sector

Peer reviewedPreprin

Does professional knowledge management improve innovation performance at the firm level?

The concept of knowledge has gained in interest since industrialized economics have induced a shift in importance from labor, capital and natural resources towards intellectual resources. This study investigates how the management of knowledge influences the innovation performance of a firm. While former studies mainly focused on knowledge management cycles, we distinguish different types of knowledge management techniques. It turns out that there is a difference between three knowledge management techniques and their influence on product and process innovation. The ability to source external knowledge positively affects the firm's introduction of new products and products new to the market. For obtaining cost reductions it is effective to stimulate employees to share knowledge. The availability of a codified knowledge management policy also positively affects the cost reduction possibilities of a firm. These results indicate that it is important for a firm to carefully select the tools of knowledge management in function of the kind of technical innovation it wants to proceed. --Knowledge management,innovation performance

Arm’s Length Provision of Public Services

We analyze the economic consequences of strategic delegation of the right to decide between public or private provision of governmental service and/or the authority to negotiate and renegotiate with the chosen service provider. Our model encompass both bureaucratic delegation from a government to a privatization agency and electoral delegation from voters to a government. We identify two powerfull effects of delegation when contracts are incomplete: The incentive effect increases the incentive part of service providers’ remuneration and we show that strategic delegation may substitute formal incentive contracts. The bargaining effect improves the bargaining position vis a vis a private firm with market power and leads to a lower price for the service.outsourcing; strategic delegation; incentives; incomplete contracting; market power; representative democracy