An empirical analysis of winning bids in public procurement in the Italian construction sector

The survival of a construction company depends on its ability to minimize the total cost of production in the long run. The long run cost curves reflect the production technology and the organizational structure of a company. These elements are the result of choices made by the entrepreneur and they are certainly influenced by the economic environment where the company is working. This study analyses the discount of the winning bids in the contracts for public works in the construction industry recorded over a sufficiently large and homogeneous period with respect to general external conditions. Based on known microeconomic models and on some specific assumptions, the winning discounts have been used to draw the long run cost curves. In turn, these cost curves have allowed to detect and classify different business strategies in the organization of companies operating in different Italian regions. The work must be attributed equally to the three authors

Groundwater Governance : Drawing Connections between Science, Knowledge and Policy-Making

This working paper brings together contributions from participants to the Groundwater Governance: Drawing Connections between Science, Knowledge and Policy-Making workshop organised by the Strathclyde Centre of Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) and CEREGAS (Centro Regional para la Gestion de Aguas Subterraneas en America Latina y el Caribe) in Uruguay between 22 and 26 February 2016. The workshop was funded by the British Council in the framework of its Researcher Links Programme and built upon the results of the 2011-2014 Groundwater Governance Project, funded by the Global Environmental Facility and implemented bu UNESCO-IHP, FAO, the World Bank and the International Association of Hydrogeologists

Credit risk management of property investments through multi-criteria indicators

The economic crisis of 2008 has highlighted the ineffectiveness of the banks in their disbursement of mortgages which caused the spread of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) with underlying real estate. With the methods stated by the Basel III agreements, aimed at improving the capital requirements of banks and determining an adequate regulatory capital, the banks without the skills required have difficulties in applying the rigid weighting coefficients structures. The aim of the work is to identify a synthetic risk index through the participatory process, in order to support the restructuring debt operations to benefit smaller banks and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), by analyzing the real estate credit risk. The proposed synthetic risk index aims at overcoming the complexity of Basel III methodologies through the implementation of three different multi-criteria techniques. In particular, the integration of objective financial variables with subjective expert judgments into a participatory process is not that common in the reference literature and brings its benefits for reaching more approved and shared results in the debt restructuring operations procedure. Moreover, the main findings derived by the application to a real case study have demonstrated how important it is for the credit manager to have an adequate synthetic index that could lead to the avoidance of risky scenarios where several modalities to repair the credit debt occur

La valutazione del rischio nell’analisi finanziaria di Ellwood per la stima indiretta di immobili urbani

To estimate the value of a real estate through the capitalization of the incomes, the determination of the suitable cap rate is generally make with the analogical process. This is usually inferred by a price-earnings ratio of similar investments. The analogy concerns the risk and the duration of the investment. There is a wide range of methods to rationalize the indirect valuation of the cap rate. However, in all these methods the appraisal holds uncertainty. In this paper a methodology which removes uncertainty in the valuation of the cap rate is proposed. In this method the uncertainty is transformed in risk. The aim is achieved by the combination of the formal logic of the Ellwood’s model and the Real Options Analysis. Therefore, the algorithm defined has been implemented in a software for the real estate appraisal, described by an immediate and simply user interface

El valor de la entrada en vigor del Acuerdo sobre el Sistema Acuífero Guaraní

Los cuatro países del Sistema Acuífero Guaraní (SAG) (Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay y Uruguay) se encuentran ante una oportunidad única de hacer historia al tener entre sus manos uno de los pocos instrumentos jurídicos internacionales negociado para promover la gestión de un acuífero transfronterizo: el Acuerdo sobre el Acuífero Guaraní suscrito por los cuatro países en San Juan, Argentina, el 2 de agosto de 2010. A día de hoy (27 de abril de 2017) solo dos países (Uruguay y Argentina en 2012) han ratificado dicho Acuerdo, pero el 02 de mayo de 2017 el Senado brasileño ha aprobado el Acuerdo Guaraní abriendo la puerta a su ratificación. Además, el tema del Acuerdo Guaraní vuelve a ser objeto de discusión en Paraguay

A importância da entrada em vigor do Acordo do Sistema Aquífero Guarani

Os quatro países que detêm o Sistema Aquífero Guarani (SAG) (Argentina, Brasil, Paraguai e Uruguai), um dos maiores reservatórios de água doce do mundo, têm uma oportunidade impar de fazer história, pois têm em suas mãos um dos poucos instrumentos legais internacionais negociados para promover a gestão de um aquífero transfronteiriço: o Acordo do Sistema Aquífero Guarani, assinado pelos quatro países em San Juan, Argentina, no dia 2 de agosto de 2010. Até hoje (27 de abril de 2017) apenas dois países (Uruguai e Argentina em 2012) ratificaram tal Acordo. Entretanto, em 2 de maio de 2017, o Senado brasileiro aprovou o Acordo Guarani, abrindo as portas para a sua ratificação. Ademais, o Acordo volta a ser objeto de discussão no Paraguai

Interpreting Housing Prices with a MultidisciplinaryApproach Based on Nature-Inspired Algorithms and Quantum Computing

Current technology still does not allow the use of quantum computers for broader and individual uses; however, it is possible to simulate some of its potentialities through quantum computing. Quantum computing can be integrated with nature-inspired algorithms to innovatively analyze the dynamics of the real estate market or any other economic phenomenon. With this main aim, this study implements a multidisciplinary approach based on the integration of quantum computing and genetic algorithms to interpret housing prices. Starting from the principles of quantum programming, the work applies genetic algorithms for the marginal price determination of relevant real estate characteristics for a particular segment of Naples’ real estate market. These marginal prices constitute the quantum program inputs to provide, as results, the purchase probabilities corresponding to each real estate characteristic considered. The other main outcomes of this study consist of a comparison of the optimal quantities for each real estate characteristic as determined by the quantum program and the average amounts of the same characteristics but relative to the real estate data sampled, as well as the weights of the same characteristics obtained with the implementation of genetic algorithms. With respect to the current state of the art, this study is among the first regarding the application of quantum computing to interpretation of selling prices in local real estate markets

a teleoperation system for micro invasive brain surgery

AbstractThis paper deals with controller design issues for a neurosurgical teleoperator system. The specific application of interest consists of remotely inserting a linear-stage rigid endoscope into the patient's brain for microinvasive neurosurgery interventions. This work aims at evaluating advantages and drawbacks of using a general-purpose control architecture versus a simpler task-oriented architecture, from a point of view of stability and transparency. Experiments revealed that in spite of its simplicity, the task-oriented design allows an improvement in the trade-off between performance, transparency and stability requirements

Atypical response of class IC atrial flutter to adenosine

We report the case of a 67-year-old female with a wide QRS complex tachycardia at 180 bpm. A diagnosis of class IC atrial flutter with aberrant ventricular conduction caused by flecainide therapy was formulated. Intravenous adenosine administration resulted in adequate slowing of the ventricular rate and normalization of QRS complexes. Restoration of sinus rhythm was achieved with intravenous amiodarone. The response to adenosine confirmed the diagnosis of supraventricular tachycardia with aberrant conduction, but the transition from arrhythmia onset to restoration of sinus rhythm showed interesting peculiarities