Fuel subsidies versus market power : is there a countervailing second-best optimum?

Fuel subsidies distort end-use prices below cost, resulting in overconsumption and huge environmental cost. On the other hand, the mark-up over cost due to the exercise of market power results in the social loss of consumer surplus. We open a new line of inquiry into the potential for a market-based solution from these two countervailing forces: can the two offsetting distortions conceivably achieve a second- best optimum? Relying on dynamic panel techniques and gasoline market data for 68 developing countries, we uncover an excessive second-best subsidy offset to market power mark-up on the order of 4.5. Our results indicate that the potential for policy failure strongly exceeds the potential for market failure in our model, and gasoline prices across our sample may not be aligned with vigorous anti-climate change policy

Maximizing Solar Output Power: Load Shedding Design Approach

Renewable energy is currently at the centre of meeting the world energy needs. A notable number of offices and home-users have employed the renewable energy technologies, which are usually used for power backup purposes. High cost of generation is the major factor militating against solar power system affordability. Therefore, an effective way of maximizing the limited generated solar power is paramount. This research presents a viable method of minimizing the overall cost of implementing a solar power system by adequate management of the load to be powered. This paper presents a load shedding design approach in maximizing the solar output power usage in meeting the ever dynamic power need in a typical office setting. The estimated cost of implementing the full load design was compared side by side with a proposed load shedding design approach. In addition, the shed loads were carefully considered to ensure the office day to day activities were not hindered. The load shedding design was found to reduce the total effective load of the office complex. It also reduced the total cost of implementing the solar power design to meet a required load by 90.87%. Keywords: Solar Power, Maximize, Load Shedding, Renewable Energy, Full Loa

Electrophoretic characterization of crude leaf proteins in Lycopersicon and Trichosanthes cultivars

Young leaves of three cultivars of Lycopersicon esculentum (Mill) and a cultivar of Trichosanthes cucumerina var. anguina (Haines) were freshly collected at 50% flowering. Crude leaf proteins were extracted from them and characterized using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Intercultivar qualitative as well as quantitative protein bands depict some degree of relationship among the Lycopersicon cultivars studied. The degree of variation in protein bands as a measure of genetic divergence between L. esculentum cultivars and T. cucumerina was discussed. Key Words: Electrophoresis, protein, Lycopersicon, Trichosanthes. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.3(11) 2004: 585-58

Three essays on rebound effects

This thesis investigates three major aspects of energy consumption rebound effects (RE) in three papers. More specifically, the issues addressed are (i) the magnitude of economy-wide rebound effect (ii) the role of energy policy instruments in mitigating it and (iii) its channels of impact. The research begins with the estimation of cross-country economy-wide rebound effects for a panel of 55 countries over the period 1980 to 2010. A two-stage approach is utilized in which energy efficiency is first estimated from a stochastic input distance frontier (SIDF). The estimated energy efficiency is then used in a second stage dynamic panel model to derive short-run and long-run RE for an array of developing and developed countries. The cross-country point estimates indicate substantial RE magnitudes across sampled countries during the period under consideration, although a positive and encouraging finding is the declining RE trend across most of the sampled countries during the study period. The second paper contains an RE benchmark for 19 EU countries, as well as an investigation of the effects of two energy policy instruments (energy taxes and ener-gy R&D) on RE performance over the period 1995 to 2010. The results indicate that RE performance improved over the sample period, reinforcing the results from paper one. In addition, there is also some evidence suggesting that binding market-based instruments such as energy taxes have been more effective in restricting RE than in-direct instruments such as energy R&D during the period under consideration. This is consistent across both estimated model specifications. An important observation from the first essay is the slightly larger average RE across the non-OECD countries. For this reason, the last empirical chapter evaluated the channels through which RE stimulated energy use across productive sectors of major developing/emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia and China. To achieve this, the essay relied on duality theory to decompose changes in energy demand into substitution and output effects through the estimation of a trans-log cost function using data spanning 1995-2009. Findings reveal that energy use elasticities across sampled sectors/countries are dominated by substitution effects. One intriguing result that also emerges from this analysis is the role of economies of scale and factor accumulation, rather than technical progress, in giving rise to eco-nomic growth and energy consumption in these countries during the period under consideration

Culture–bound syndromes and the neglect of cultural factors in psychopathologies among Africans

One of the major problems in psychiatric practice worldwide is inability to reach a consensus as regards a globally acceptable classificatory system for the different psychopathologies. Consequently, apart from the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD) that is expected to be universally applicable there are regional-based classificatory systems in some parts of the world. In Africa, a number of culture bound syndromes (CBS) have been described which have not been given international recognition. The possible consequences of this non-recognition are highlighted in this paper. Unfortunately there are serious constraints such as the relatively small number of psychiatrists on the continent, and inadequate funding for mental health research, which militate against producing an African classificatory system. Nevertheless, it is proposed that reports of African psychiatrists emanating from their research and clinical experience should be accorded adequate recognition in the WHO so as to assign these CBS their rightful placement in the International classificatory system.Key Words: Culture-Bound Syndromes; African Psychiatry; Classification; Recognition

A Systematic Review of Urban Heat Island Studies in West Africa

This study critically and systematically reviews the state-of-the-art on UHI research in west Africa region to identify and bridge the gap with other global literature. Focusing on 48 studies extracted through a laid down protocol, we reviewed, integrated and analysed in detail the causative factors of UHI, methods of measurement, the intensities, variabilities, impacts and mitigation strategies while critiquing the methods and limitations of the studies. Of the 16 countries in the region, UHI-related research have been conducted in only 5 countries, indicating a wide knowledge gap. Also, inconsistencies in the scale of study, data collection methods and analysis were observed, indicating that studies have not used a universal and specific protocol to define the choice of location for an urban and a rural area

The Determinants of Non-Performing Loans in the MINT Economies

This paper investigates the major determinants of non-performing loans in the MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) economies. Identifying major determinants of non-performing loans, which are observed to be growing in these countries in recent time, will also guide policy and forecasting future levels that will be useful for pre-emptive policies and actions. It uses static panel data and dynamic panel model analyses. Evidence suggests that in the four economies, capital adequacy ratio, liquidity ratio, total bank credit andreturn on assets are significant bank-specific determinants of non-performing loans. Also, while the return on assets, liquidity ratio and capital adequacy ratioshow a negative and significant relationship with non-performing loans, nominal exchange rate, money supply growth rate, total bank credit and lending rate show positive and very significant relationships with non-performing loans. Finally, corruption, an institutional variable, shows a very strong positive relationship with non-performing loans

Application of lean manufacturing technology in a milk manufacturing company

This work presents the application of lean management principle in the area of waste elimination in a powder milk plant of a production company. The existing manufacturing procedure for the company’s plant was evaluated, and a lean manufacturing technique was developed for the plant. To achieve this, a time series analysis was carried out on the econometric data obtained, and a future forecast predicting losses and usage was predicted based on the practised manufacturing procedures. The econo­metric linear transfer function technique applied to the actual usage and actual loss data obtained filtered the waste in the production process and generated forecast values for actual loss and usage.   This revealed that there had been poor manufacturing practices in the factory. The findings from this research can be used as a guide to managers on wastage control in a production system