Determinants of Renewable Energy Innovation: Environmental Policies vs. Market Regulation

This paper carries out a comprehensive analysis of renewable energy innovations considering four mechanisms suggested by innovation models: 1. policy-inducement; 2. market structure; 3. demand and social cohesion- mainly proxied by income inequality; 4. characteristics of country knowledge base. For OECD countries and years 1970-2005, we build a unique dataset containing time-varying information on quality-adjusted patent production in renewable energy, the latter being a function of environmental policies, green R&D, entry barriers, knowledge stock, knowledge diversity and income inequality. We develop count data models using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to account for endogeneity of policy support. Our synthetic policy index positively affects innovations especially in countries with deregulated energy markets and low entry barriers. The effect of entry barriers and inequality is negative and of similar magnitude as that of policy. Product market liberalization positively affects green patent generation, especially so when ambitious policies are adopted, when the initial level of public R&D expenditures and when the initial share of distributed energy generation is high. Our results are robust to alternative specifications, to the inclusion of technology-specific effects and to the use of quality-adjusted patents as dependent variables. In the latter case, the estimated effect of lowering entry barriers and of knowledge diversity almost double on citation count relatively to patent count.renewable energy technology; patent; environmental policies; product market regulation; inequality

Are You SURE You Want to Waste Policy Chances? Waste Generation, Landfill Diversion and Environmental Policy Effectiveness in the EU15

We empirically test delinking of waste dynamics with regard to economic growth and the effectiveness of environmental and specific waste-related policies, by exploiting a newly constructed, integrated waste-economic-policy dataset based on official data for the EU15 for 1995-2007. We find that absolute delinking for waste generation is far from being achieved in the EU despite fairly stringent and longstanding policy commitment that goes back to the mid 1990s, but which however is biased towards waste management and waste disposal rather than waste prevention. Policy as well as country structural factors seem to impact instead on landfill diversion. Nevertheless, country heterogeneity matters: SURE based analyses show that EU average figures often hide high variance. Their results provide food for thought for a future most comprehensive EU waste policy strategy, which is now aimed mainly at landfill diversion, within a framework strongly oriented to allowing countries to decide about the implementation of EU directives.Waste Generation, Landfill Diversion, SUR, EU Waste Policy, Environmental Policy, Delinking

Embedding Landfill Diversion in Economic, Geographical and Policy Settings Panel based evidence from Italy

This paper analyses the process of delinking for landfilling trends embedding the dynamics in a frame where economic, geographical and policy variables enter the arena We aim at investigating in depth what main drivers may be responsible for such a phenomenon, and whether differences may be observed focusing the lens on a decentralised provincial based setting. We exploit a rich panel dataset stemming from Official sources (APAT, Italian environmental agency) merged with other provincial and regional based information, covering all the 103 Italian provinces over 1999-2005. The case study on Italy is worth being considered given that Italy is a main country in the EU. Thus it offers important pieces on information on the evaluation of policies. Evidence shows that the observed decoupling between economic growth and landfilling is driven by a mix of structural factors, as population density and other waste management opportunity: local opportunity costs and landfill externalities matter in shaping waste policies and local commitment to landfill diversion. But not only structural factors are relevant. If on the one hand landfill taxation is a significant driver of the phenomenon, even at the more coherent regional level, where the tax is implemented, waste management instruments, when we exploit the provincial dataset, are associated to high significant negative effect on landfilled waste. A good performance on managing waste according to economic rationales helps reducing the amount that is landfilled. In association to the features of the tariff system, we also underline the key role played by the share of separated collection. Both the evolution of collection and tariff system are joint factors that may drive a wedge between the comparative waste performances of northern and southern regions. We finally note that lock in effects linked to the intensity of incinerator sites in the area are relevant for landfilling: past investments in incineration lock in the region in this technological path, which may be associated to less opportunity cost and lower external effects. Summing up, landfill diversion is stronger where the economic cost deriving from high population density, a structural factor, are higher, and waste management collection systems and economic instruments are associated with higher performances.Landfill Policies, Incineration, Landfill Tax, Policy Effectiveness, Waste Management, Delinking, Landfill Trends, Kuznets Curves

Determinants of Renewable Energy Innovation: environmental policies vs. market regulation

This paper carries out a comprehensive analysis of renewable energy innovations considering four mechanisms suggested by innovation models: 1. policy-inducement; 2. market structure; 3. demand and social cohesion- mainly proxied by income inequality; 4. characteristics of country knowledge base. For OECD countries and years 1970-2005, we build a unique dataset containing time-varying information on quality-adjusted patent production in renewable energy, the latter being a function of environmental policies, green R&D, entry barriers, knowledge stock, knowledge diversity and income inequality. We develop count data models using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to account for endogeneity of policy support. Our synthetic policy index positively affects innovations especially in countries with deregulated energy markets and low entry barriers. The effect of entry barriers and inequality is negative and of similar magnitude as that of policy. Product market liberalization positively affects green patent generation, especially so when ambitious policies are adopted, when the initial level of public R&D expenditures and when the initial share of distributed energy generation is high. Our results are robust to alternative specifications, to the inclusion of technology-specific effects and to the use of quality-adjusted patents as dependent variables. In the latter case, the estimated effect of lowering entry barriers and of knowledge diversity almost double on citation count relatively to patent count.renewable energy technology, patent, environmental policies, product market regulation, inequality

Coping with climate shocks: The complex role of livestock portfolios

Abstract The effects of climate change are alarming, with projections suggesting that weather events will become more extreme and frequent, affecting households in regions that are already highly vulnerable. This study explores the role of livestock as a household coping strategy against climate shocks. Using quantile regression analysis, we examine the potential of different animal species to buffer the effects of drought on income and consumption. We assemble a unique global dataset that combines household-level socioeconomic information with a multi-scalar climatic drought index. Our study confirms the significant, yet context-dependent, role of livestock portfolios as a buffering mechanism against the effects of drought on household income and consumption. The effect is driven by the specific type of animal species, length of the shock, and socioeconomic features. These findings could assist the design of livestock-oriented policy interventions. The novel contributions of this study include the first cross-country analysis of the buffering effect of livestock against drought; use of the standardized precipitation-evapotranspiration index as a multi-scalar drought indicator -; and a uniquely extensive dataset allowing for the analysis of interactions

Energy market liberalization and renewable energy policies in OECD countries

We investigate the effect of energy liberalizations on policies that support renewable energy in a long panel of OECD countries. We estimate this effect accounting for the endogeneity of liberalization related to joint decisions within a country’s energy strategy. Using regulation in other industries as instruments, we find that energy liberalization increases the public support to renewable energy. The effect of liberalization is the second largest after the effect of per-capita income and is fully driven by reductions in entry barriers, while the effect of privatization is negative. Finally, our results are robust to dynamic specifications and various policy indicators

A Collaborative Computational Infrastructure for Supporting Technical Debt Knowledge Sharing and Evolution

Keeping information systems useful during their evolution is a complex task. This complexity usually comes from the lack of concern with their maintainability. The monitoring of technical debt (TD) is one way to minimize the effects of low maintainability. But even before developers can monitor the debt, they need to understand what TD types can be incurred, how they can be identified, and which causes can lead developers to incur them into the project. Nevertheless, despite the importance of to know what TD is, this knowledge is still spread out hindering a common understanding of the area. In this context, this paper presents TD Wiki, a collaborative computational infrastructure for supporting TD knowledge sharing and evolution through the using of knowledge visualization techniques. TD Wiki is already available for use and provides useful information that can be used when developing strategies for TD monitoring during the development of information systems

The K+ conductance of the inner mitochondrial membrane. A study of the inducible uniport for monovalent cations.

Addition of A23187 plus EDTA to rat liver mitochondria induces a common uniport pathway for monovalent cations. In this study, we have carried out a detailed characterization of the flow/force relationship for K+ transport along this pathway under steady state conditions. In the presence of EDTA, the K+ conductance is a linear function of external K+ in the range 0-20 mM K+, with a slope of 0.15 nmol of K+ x mg of protein-1 x min-1 x mV-1. The K+ conductance is inhibited by Mg2+ in the range 10(-9)-10(-6) M, while K+ flux is stimulated by the sulfhydryl group reagent mersalyl. Uniport activity can be detected in native mitochondria. These findings are compatible with the notion that electrophoretic K+ flux across the inner membrane takes place via a regulated K+ uniport with the potential of transporting K+ at rates in excess of 600 nmol x mg of protein-1 x min-1

Perfil conceitual e a escolarização do conceito de morte no ensino de Ciências

Apresentaremos neste artigo as etapas do trabalho de construção do modelo de perfil conceitual de morte que resultou na identificação de três zonas: naturalista, em que a morte é interpretada como resultado de processos ou propriedades biológicas; religiosa, na qual a morte é compreendida como fato ou fenômeno que resulta de uma "vontade divina", frequentemente vista como passagem para outra vida, e relacional, na qual a morte é concebida como fato ou fenômeno a ser negado, ocultado. Na sequência, abordaremos as possibilidades de escolarização do conceito de morte, no ensino de ciências, por meio do desenvolvimento de uma sequência de ensino sobre o ciclo de vida. Nessa etapa, identificaremos as diferentes zonas do perfil conceitual de morte que circularam durante a aula e o quanto o discurso da ciência pode promover alterações nos modos de falar e formas de pensar dos estudantes sobre a morte

The impact of the EU Emissions Trading System on low-carbon technological change: the empirical evidence

This paper reviews the empirical literature analysing the effects of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) on low-carbon technological change. The emerging evidence is assessed, with references to both relevant economic concepts and the evolving regulation of the EU ETS through time. The two most robust indications of the literature are: a) the EU ETS appears to have been more effective in stimulating innovation of low-carbon technologies rather than their adoption; and b) free allocation (grandfathering) tended to hamper low-carbon investments in Phases I (2005-2007) and II (2008-2012). However, a complete general picture of the impact of the EU ETS on low-carbon technological change is missing. The main gap regards the lack of empirical evidence for Phase III (2013-2020). Especially econometric studies are few, due to the lack of suitable databases accessible to researchers - a problem that the relevant public authorities are urged to address. Thanks to the recent reforms of the EU ETS, the incentives for innovation and adoption of low-carbon technologies are probably stronger today than ever before