Making GATT Dolphin-Safe: Trade and the Environment

The Swedish municipalities have traditionally, as suppliers of gas, electricity and district heating to end-use consumers, been one of the key actors of national energy politics. Yet, although Swedish district heating systems typically are owned by the public, neither electricity nor heat production is always under public control. This has historically imposed limitations on municipal plans for own CHP (Combined Heat and Power) plants and district heating systems. Previous research in the field have established that an organisational division between companies active in either heat or electricity supply was one of the most serious challenges for municipal engagement in energy affairs after WW2. Yet, in many cases municipal energy departments have engaged in joint cooperation projects with process industries and power companies, in order to utilize technical expertise and industrial waste heat for the build-up of the local energy system. Processes of initiating, developing and maintaining such cooperation projects - and the erection of municipal CHP plats - are focused upon here. The purpose of this research project is to describe and analyse the roles played by two municipalities (Helsingborg and Gävle) in the years 1945-1983. The specific research questions were as follows: How were different socio-technical systems for electricity and heat supply introduced and how were different alternatives received within the frames of the municipal organisations? What was the impact of competition between different alternatives on the development of the local energy systems? It shows that strategies for municipal-industrial cooperation are vital for the possibilities of municipal energy companies to come to terms with the organisational gulf between power and heat companies. It is argued that the forming of strategical alliances can illustrate how municipal organisations not always act in autonomous positions. It can rather be the other way round - it is strategies for cooperation and competition that make the municipality a key actor in the local energy system

A sensitivity analysis of cross-country growth regressions

A vast amount of literature uses cross-country regressions to find empirical links between policy indicators and long-run average growth rates. The authors study whether the conclusions from existing studies are robust or fragile when small changes in the list of independent variables occur. They find that although"policy"appears to be importantly related to growth, there is no strong independent relationship between growth and almost every existing policy indicator. They also find that very few macroeconomic variables are robustly correlated with cross-country growth rates. They clarify the conditions under which one finds convergence of per capita output levels and confirm the positive correlation between the share of investment in GDP and long-run growth. They conclude that all findings using the share of exports in GDP could be obtained almost identically using the total trade or import share and also that few commonly used fiscal indicators are robustly correlated with growth. Finally, the authors highlight the importance of considering alternative specifications in cross-country growth regressions.Economic Theory&Research,Achieving Shared Growth,Governance Indicators,Inequality,Environmental Economics&Policies

Financing Georgia's Schools: A Primer

Georgia's nearly 1.5 million students make it the ninth largest state K-12 school system in the United States. Furthermore, Georgia has one of the fastest growing school enrollments in the nation, registering an increase of 12.2 percent between 1996 and 2002. Educating these students requires substantial financial resources. The purpose of this Primer is to explain how education in Georgia is financed and to point out some of the major school financing issues confronting the state. Report No.8

Old debts and new beginnings : a policy choice in transitional socialist economies

The authors examine the decisions policy-makers in transitional socialist economies must make: how to define the asset liability structure of state owned enterprises and banks as they are privatized. They conclude that the many loans issued by state-owned enterprises under socialism are impeding the transition tothriving market economies. The heavy stock of debts is slowing the privatization of enterprises and banks, hindering the efficient operation of firms and the financial sector, encouraging ad hoc government intervention, and reducing government credibility. The authors argue that governments should often assume enterprise debts to banks on a case-by-case basis so they can sell enterprises to the private sector. Application of this policy would improve efficiency by depoliticizing and speeding up the privatization process, improving the viability and profitability of newly privatized enterprises, increase government credibility, and improving the efficiency of the financial sector. They also explain that privatizing banks will tend to make financial intermediation more efficient and speed up the economic transition, governments should seriously consider assuming enterprise debts to state-owned banks as they privatize enterprises because of the ensuing great gains in efficiency and the relatively low fiscal costs.Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Financial Crisis Management&Restructuring,National Governance,Financial Intermediation

A new, more efficient waterwheel design for very-low-head hydropower schemes

Very-low-head hydropower constitutes a large untapped renewable energy source, estimated at 1 GW in the UK alone. A new type of low-impact waterwheel has been developed and tested at Abertay University in Scotland to improve the economic viability of such schemes. For example, on a 2·5 m high weir in the UK with 5 m3/s mean flow, one waterwheel could produce an annual investment return of 7·5% for over 100 years. This paper describes the evolution of the design and reports on scale-model tests. These show that the new design harnesses significant potential and kinetic energy to generate power and handles over four times as much water per metre width compared to traditional designs