Do British wind generators behave strategically in response to the Western Link interconnector?

In Britain, the key source of renewable generation is wind, most abundant on the west coast of Scotland, where there is relatively little demand. For this reason, an interconnector, the Western Link, was built to take electricity closer to demand. When the Link is operating, payments by National Grid to constrain wind farms not to produce will be lower, we may predict, since fewer or less restrictive constraints need be imposed. But the Link has not been working consistently. We empirically estimate the link’s value. Focusing on the three most recent episodes of outage, starting on 4th May 2018 up to 25th September 2019, our essential approach is to treat these outages as a natural experiment using hourly data. Our results reveal that the Link had an important role in costs saved and price constrained and MWh curtailed reductions. We estimate a cost-saving of almost £30m. However, the saving appears to drop over time, so we investigate wind farms’ behavior. We find that wind farms behave strategically since the accuracy of wind forecasting depends on the relevant prices impacting their earnings

Compensation effect between deaths from Covid-19 and crashes: The Italian case

Abstract Emergencies such as the Covid-19 pandemic pose several decision-making issues, while clear evidence of successful strategies are still unavailable, different policies may be identified. However, in such emergencies, the preservation of public health, by firstly reducing human loss of life may be prioritized and then restrictive measures are implemented. The trade-off between damage due to the threat and the decrease in damage due to the lockdown is largely unexplored. Here we show that there is a degree of compensation between damage from epidemic deaths and from traffic deaths, especially in the case of immediate restrictive measures imposed by governments. Based on the Italian case, we found that damage from loss of human Capital and health care costs could have been fully compensated if the lockdown had been imposed ten days earlier. Considering only one Italian region (Puglia), where the epidemic was delayed and then restrictions were timely, damage due to loss of human Capital was largely compensated in the real scenario. However, damage due to loss of welfare could not have been fully compensated for, since Covid-19 deaths largely outnumber traffic deaths in the simulated epidemic period and loss of welfare damage is scarcely dependent on the age-at-death. From a broader perspective, societies seem to react to external threats as a whole organism, thus tending to restore the original equilibrium. Governmental decisions could accelerate this process. However, in the case of similar threats, some wounds cannot be compensated for, such as the incalculable damage due to loss of welfare

Compensation effect between deaths from Covid-19 and crashes: The Italian case

Emergencies such as the Covid-19 pandemic pose several decision-making issues, while clear evidence of successful strategies are still unavailable, different policies may be identified. However, in such emergencies, the preservation of public health, by firstly reducing human loss of life may be prioritized and then restrictive measures are implemented. The trade-off between damage due to the threat and the decrease in damage due to the lockdown is largely unexplored. Here we show that there is a degree of compensation between damage from epidemic deaths and from traffic deaths, especially in the case of immediate restrictive measures imposed by governments. Based on the Italian case, we found that damage from loss of human Capital and health care costs could have been fully compensated if the lockdown had been imposed ten days earlier. Considering only one Italian region (Puglia), where the epidemic was delayed and then restrictions were timely, damage due to loss of human Capital was largely compensated in the real scenario. However, damage due to loss of welfare could not have been fully compensated for, since Covid-19 deaths largely outnumber traffic deaths in the simulated epidemic period and loss of welfare damage is scarcely dependent on the age-at-death. From a broader perspective, societies seem to react to external threats as a whole organism, thus tending to restore the original equilibrium. Governmental decisions could accelerate this process. However, in the case of similar threats, some wounds cannot be compensated for, such as the incalculable damage due to loss of welfare

Scottish wind farms and the monetary incentives to switch off

Increased interconnection to bring the energy produced to more people and industries is important and so is reforming the payments system, write Mario Intini and Michael Waterso

Italy’s latest legislation on accounting fraud highlights the country’s difficulty in pursuing real economic and political reform

Italy has a longstanding corruption problem which the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, has pledged to address. Andrea Lorenzo Capussela and Vito Intini write on a recent piece of legislation introduced in June which alters the rules on accounting fraud. They argue that the legislation has opened up a significant loophole and is indicative of the Italian political system’s inability to produce meaningful political and economic reforms

There is little evidence that the proposed reform of Italy’s labour market will actually generate growth or employment

The Italian government has outlined a number of policies aimed at reforming Italy’s labour market, with the proposals receiving final approval in the Italian Senate on 3 December. Andrea Lorenzo Capussela and Vito Intini assess whether the reforms, which have proved controversial, will actually have the desired effect in generating economic growth and employment. They write that while increasing the flexibility of the Italian labour market may be desirable, the rigidity of the labour market is not the biggest obstacle to growth in the country. They argue instead that the quality of Italy’s political institutions and governance standards should be the key focus of reform efforts

External pressure is needed to help Italy tackle its persistent corruption problem

Corruption has been a persistent problem in Italy, with the country receiving one of the lowest scores of EU member states in Transparency International’s latest ‘Corruption Perceptions Index’. Andrea Lorenzo Capussela and Vito Intini provide a comprehensive look at the problem, noting that on several measures corruption has increased since the late 1990s. They argue that corruption in Italy represents a ‘resilient equilibrium’, whereby the political system provides little incentive for parties to tackle the problem. They suggest that external pressure from other countries in the EU may offer one route to breaking this cycle

Informed Participation and Patient Empowerment: A Patient- Centered Approach to Improve Pediatric Clinical Research

Over the last years, a Europe-wide trend toward a patient-focused approach is developing and is influencing the decision-making process related to the clinical research. This new vision aims to draw on patient knowledge and experience in order to deliver benefits for all stakeholders of the drug development process, optimizing the clinical study design. In this context, the “patient empowerment” concept has been developed as an approach encouraging the active participation and self-determination of the patients in the caring procedure. For this reason, in 2016, European Patients’ Academy (EUPATI) launched a public consultation that ended in September 2016 with the release of the EUPATI guidance for patient involvement in the medicine research and development process. Likewise, the recommendations on the “Summaries of Clinical Trial Results for Laypersons” for the Implementation of Regulation (EU) No 536/2014 recommended a clear and comprehensible communication of the clinical trial results to the patients. However, rarely, all these attempts for the patient involvement pay attention to the pediatric population needs. An innovative approach for the patients’ involvement in pediatric clinical research is represented by the Young Persons Advisory Groups, an organization composed of youths, patients, and carers, actively participating in clinical research and advising researchers and their teams