Market Power Assessment and Mitigation in Hydrothermal Systems

The objective of this work is to investigate market power issues in bid- based hydrothermal scheduling. Initially, market power is simulated with a single stage Nash-Cournot equilibrium model. Market power assessment for multiple stages is then carried through a stochastic dynamic programming scheme. The decision in each stage and state is the equilibrium of a multi-agent game. Thereafter, mitigation measures, specially bilateral contracts, are investigated. Case studies with data taken from the Brazilian system are presented and discussed.Game theory, Hydroelectric-thermal power generation, Power generation economics

Produto Potencial: Conceitos, Novas Estimativas e Considerações sobre sua Aplicabilidade

Recentemente, a pesquisa econômica brasileira viu seu interesse pelo produto potencial ser reacendido. Este é uma variável não observada e como tal tem que ser construída conceitualmente a partir de uma teoria, tornando-se passíivel de controvérsias. O primeiro objetivo deste artigo é delinear o conceito atual de produto potencial. Em seguida, apresentam-se cálculos atualizados do produto potencial brasileiro, assim como de outras variáveis relacionadas. A metodologia empregada é a função de produção. Adicionalmente, construiu-se trajetórias de crescimento de longo prazo, baseado em cenários qualitativos. Por último, pretende-se examinar as hipóteses subjacentes e consequências das mesmas para o cálculo do produto potencial, através da análise de sensibilidade associada à diferentes valores das hipóteses necessárias (depreciação, NAICU, NAIRU, etc.). O objetivo é mostrar que não há uma única taxa de crescimento do produto potencial, mas sim um intervalo mais amplo para suas previsões e que estas são dependentes das hipóteses feitas. Os resultados obtidos, em conjunto com a experiência histórica brasileira, apontam na direção de relativizar o uso de tais instrumentos na formulação de políticas econômicas.Produto Potencial, Crescimento Econômico, Função de Produção

Roman provincial religion at the conventus Cordubensis: an analysis through the votive epigraphy

En este estudio tratamos de reconstruir la estructura y composición de los principales cultos y creencias religiosas que se desarrollaron en el territorio perteneciente al conventus Cordubensis en época romana. Para ello, utilizamos los datos proporcionados por las fuentes epigráficas, que ilustran el lógico predominio de Júpiter y la práctica de los cultos mistéricos, así como el escaso culto a divinidades indígenas que convivieron con las grecorromanas. De esta forma, la enorme preeminencia de las divinidades romanas sobre las restantes refleja una clara tendencia a la romanitas.My aim in this study is to reconstruct the configuration of the main cults and religious beliefs inside the limits of the conventus Cordubensis during the Roman era. Epigraphy allows us to observe not only the importance of Jupiter, the existence of the mystery cults, but also the circumscribed cult to native deities, who coexisted with the Greco- Roman ones. In this way, the great predominance of the Roman deities shows a clear tendency towards romanitas

The mobile communications role in next generation networks: The case of Spain

Next generation access networks (NGAN) will support a renewed electronic communication market where main opportunities lie in the provision of ubiquitous broadband connectivity, applications and content. From their deployment it is - much - expected a wealth of innovations. Within this framework this paper reviews the technical architecture of a mobile network as a candidate for a NGAN deployment, derives a simple method for approcimate cost calculations, and then discusses the results obtained. Data for Spain are used for practical calculations, but the model is applicable with minor modivications to most ot the EU countries. The final part of the paper is devoted to reflect on the technical and economic feasibility of mobile communications as part of NGAN, as well as the adequacy and possible development of the current regulatory framework. --LTE,4G,Mobile communications,Next Generation Networks,Spain

IS THE BRAZILIAN FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY LAW (LRF) REALLY BINDING? EVIDENCE FROM STATE-LEVEL GOVERNMENT

The adoption of a set of fiscal and budgetary institutions for a better macroeconomic performance has been gathering support in various governments. This article states that Institutions matters and adopts the New Institutional Economics framework in its approach. After a brief review of the literature and introduction to the Brazilian case, it poses the following question: Is the LRF really binding in restraining state's indebtedness? The institutional theory, which backed up the formulation of the LRF, would provide a positive answer to this question. This article therefore investigates if this relation is sustained empirically. For this purpose an econometric model with panel data on state-level government is estimated including a dummy variable for the adoption of the LRF and accounting for other explanatory variables as well.

Canto de soltura de Corythomantis greeningi Boulenger, 1896 (Anura, Hylidae)

The release calls carry species-specifics characteristics that can be used for the diagnosis of closely related species. Despite its importance, for the Lophyohylini tribe, this type of call is known only for two species. Corythomantis greeningi is a species widely distributed in xeric and sub-humid regions of northeastern Brazil. Herein, we describe for the first time the release call of C. greeningi recorded in the Pedro II municipality, state of Piauí, northeastern Brazil. The release call, emitted during handling in its the axillary region, was structurally and quantitatively different from the advertisement call, presenting a lower number of pulses per note and a lower dominant frequency. This work represents an important contribution to the intra and interspecific communication mechanisms of the species.O canto de soltura apresenta características especie-específicas e pode ser utilizado para o diagnóstico de espécies intimamente relacionadas. Apesar de sua importância, para a tribo Lophyohylini, esse tipo de canto é conhecido apenas para duas espécies. Corythomantis greeningi é uma espécie amplamente distribuído nas regiões xéricas e subúmidas do nordeste brasileiro. Aqui, descrevevemos pela primeira vez o canto de soltura de C. greeningi registrado no município de Pedro II, estado do Piauí, Nordeste do Brasil. O canto de soltura, emitido durante o manuseio na região axilar, foi estrutural e quantitativamente diferente do canto de anúncio, apresentando menor número de pulsos por nota e menor frequência dominante. Este trabalho representa uma importante contribuição para os mecanismos de comunicação intra e interespecíficos da espécie

FEDERALISMO FISCAL E GASTO SOCIAL NA CONSTITUIÇÃO FEDERAL DE 1988: ANÁLISE DA CAPACIDADE DE PROVIMENTO DE SERVIÇOS SOCIAIS PELOS MUNICÍPIOS

The fiscal federalism adopted by the Federal Constitution of 1988 is marked by na intense process of decentralization and by having made the municipalities federative entities endowed with autonomy, with its own prerogatives, resources and responsibilities in the fulfillment of its functions.  This work aims to make a general assessment of the ability of Brazilian municipalities to implement public social policies since the 1988 Constitution was enacted. The parameter used to measure this implementation capacity is social spending, which in turn comprises a set of spending functions. How social spending itself evolved, as well as its composition in terms of spending functions, the legislative changes that contributed to explain this evolution, always taking into account the state of the art on Brazilian fiscal federalism in the period, are the focus of this work. For this purpose, data available by the National Treasury Secretariat are used in the construction of social spending series. The results show that municipal social spending has grown in real terms and proportionally to total spending, especially after the beginning of the 2000s, a period when important regulatory innovations in terms of public finances took place, such as the Fiscal Responsibility Law. In addition, fiscal decentralization has evolved in the sense that municipalities are increasingly responsible for certain spending functions, especially health and education.O federalismo fiscal adotado pela Constituição Federal de 1988 é marcado por um intenso processo de descentralização e por ter feito dos municípios entes federativos dotados de autonomia, com prerrogativas, recursos e responsabilidades próprios. Este trabalho objetiva fazer uma avaliação da capacidade de implementação de políticas públicas sociais por parte dos municípios brasileiros desde que a CF/88 foi promulgada. O parâmetro usado para medir essa capacidade é o gasto social, por sua vez composto por um conjunto de funções de gasto. Como evoluiu o gasto social e sua composição e as alterações legislativas que contribuíram para explicar essa evolução, sempre levando em consideração o estado da arte sobre o federalismo fiscal brasileiro no período, são o foco do trabalho. Para tal objetivo, são utilizados na construção das séries de gasto social dados disponíveis pela Secretaria do Tesouro Nacional. A conclusão é que o gasto social municipal tem crescido em termos reais e em termos de representatividade no gasto total, em especial após o início da década de 2000, período em que ocorreram importantes inovações normativas em termos de finanças públicas, como a Lei de Responsabilidade Fiscal. Além disso, a descentralização fiscal tem evoluído no sentido de os municípios serem cada vez mais responsáveis por certas funções de gasto, em especial saúde e educação

Pressure-induced Co2+ photoluminescence quenching in MgAl2O4

This work investigates the electronic structure and photoluminescence (PL) of Co2+-doped gAl2O4 and their pressure dependence by time-resolved spectroscopy. The variations of the visible absorption band and its associated emission at 663 nm (τ = 130 ns at ambient conditions) with pressure/temperature can be explained on the basis of a configurational energy model. It provides an interpretation for both the electronic structure and the excited-state phenomena yielding photoluminescence emission and the subsequent quenching. We show that there is an excited-state crossover (ESCO) [4T1(P)↔2E(G)] at ambient pressure, which is responsible for the evolution of the emission spectrum from a broadband emission between 300 K and 100 K to a narrow-line emission at lower temperatures. Contrary to expectations from the Tanabe-Sugano diagram, instead of enhancing ESCO phenomena, pressure reduces PL and even suppresses it (PL quenching) above 6 GPa. We explain such variations in terms of pressure-induced nonradiative relaxation to lower excited states: 2E(G)→4T1(F). The variation of PL intensity and its associated lifetime with pressure supports the proposed interpretation.Financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Project No. MAT2011-28868-C02-01) and MALTA INGENIO-CONSOLIDER 2010 (Ref. CDS2007-0045) is acknowledged. L.N. thanks the University of Cantabria for a postdoctoral fellowship grant

The mobile communications role in next generation networks: The case of Spain

Next generation access networks (NGAN) will support a renewed electronic communication market where main opportunities lie in the provision of ubiquitous broadband connectivity, applications and content. From their deployment it is - much - expected a wealth of innovations. Within this framework this paper reviews the technical architecture of a mobile network as a candidate for a NGAN deployment, derives a simple method for approcimate cost calculations, and then discusses the results obtained. Data for Spain are used for practical calculations, but the model is applicable with minor modivications to most ot the EU countries. The final part of the paper is devoted to reflect on the technical and economic feasibility of mobile communications as part of NGAN, as well as the adequacy and possible development of the current regulatory framework