Wheat supply response in Greece and the European Union policy

This paper attempts to estimate the supply response for wheat production in Greek agriculture. In our analysis we use the rigorous cointegration and the error correction method, as it is superior to the generally used Nerlovian partial-adjustment model. Since wheat is one of the most important commodities in the Greek agriculture, comprising 26 percent of the total cultivated land, the estimation of its price responsiveness is vitally important in supporting agricultural policy decisions. The results of our analysis reveal that there is a long-term stable relationship between the supplied quantity of wheat and real gross revenue of wheat producers, suggesting that in order to raise wheat yield and farmer incomes, considering the European Union agricultural policy, productivity increases play a vital role. The government’s policy should therefore be channelled through measures that will encourage productivity increases.peer-reviewe

Corruption, globalization and development: How are these three phenomena related?

This paper examines the existence of any relations between globalization and corruption using cross-section data for 127 countries. The estimation results indicate that, under the assumption of a linear model, a positive correlation between corruption and globalization exists, while when linearity is dropped there seems to be no significant effect of globalization on corruption. According to our analysis, linearity is a good approximation only for middle and high income countries. Hence, our main conclusion is that globalization is a powerful weapon against corruption only for middle and high income countries, while for low income countries globalization has no significant impact on corruption. For such countries fighting corruption requires additional global action aiming at the reduction of poverty.Corruption Globalization Anti-corruption policies Public sector Institutional reforms

Simulation of oscillating trailing edge flaps on wind turbine blades using ranging fidelity tools

Abstract Recent research developments have indicated that substantial reduction of both the fatigue and ultimate loads can be achieved by adopting trailing edge (TE) flap control strategies. Their aeroelastic tools employ blade element momentum (BEM) aerodynamic models enhanced with a sectional 2D treatment of the TE flap, neglecting the 3D effect of the trailed vorticity in the vicinity of the moving flap. In the present paper, a cross comparison of the BEM‐based models used in the aeroelastic analysis tools against higher fidelity, free‐wake lifting line, and fully resolved CFD models is performed, with the aim to highlight limitations of the first. A second level of comparison assesses the differences among tools of the same level of fidelity from different research groups. Moreover, a number of engineering‐based correction models that are used in conjunction with BEM and account for the complex 3D trailed vorticity effect are assessed. Simulations of a stiff rotor configuration of the DTU 10 MW Reference Wind Turbine are performed for a prescribed, harmonic TE flap motion, and aerodynamic loads are compared at the sectional and rotor‐integrated level. For the studied stiff rotor with the chosen flaps configuration, the results of the code‐to‐code comparisons indicate that low‐fidelity BEM tools consistently predict 1P variations of the rotor thrust due to the TE flap motion, but fail to reproduce the details of the load distributions especially in the vicinity of the flap section. BEM‐based corrected models, which account for 3D‐induced velocity effects, provide load distribution predictions closer to higher fidelity free‐wake and CFD models