Cost-Benefit Analysis of Mood Uplifting Paintings in Hospitals

The Net Present Value of Benefits (NPVB) of installing mood uplifting paintings on hospital stay lengths were projected using a Cost- Benefits analysis. Net benefits were estimated from the "effect size” of mood uplift from Abstract Romanticism paintings and the average cost of hospital stay at $2,000/day. We used a nominal Social Discount Rate of 4% and a period of ten years. The analysis was conducted for a sample of hospitals and states. The results showed that installation of Abstract Romanticism paintings would have net benefits and this enhancement to the patient environment would likely result in substantial healthcare savings

Consumers Behind Solar Energy: A Case Study of Households’ Demand for Four OECD Countries

We investigate households’ demand for solar energy in France, Germany, Italy and US, using a loglinear demand for each, and a combined panel data, with fixed effects, for 2000-2012. The dependent variable is household’s installed solar panels; whereas the independent variables are income, price of solar panels, interest rate, representing the cost of financing of a project, and price of “traditional energy.” With R2 being 0.9, all coefficients having expected theoretical signs and statistical significance in all specifications, our model can be generalized for other countries’ households’ solar demand. This is a major contribution to the theoretical and empirical literature