How does market architecture affect price dynamics ? A time series analysis of the Italian day-ahead electricity prices

How do changes in the market architecture affect the dynamics of deregulated electricity prices? We investigate this issue in the context of the Italian Power Exchange (IPEX), using data on the daily average day-ahead price (PUN) between April 2004 and December 2008. Estimates of baseline time series models (ARMAX and ARMAX-EGARCH) and their forecasting performances suggest that the trend in natural gas prices, deterministic weekly patterns, the impact of perceived temperatures, persistence in conditional volatility and the inverse leverage effect are essential features of the PUN dynamics. We then augment the best-performing models with dummies that account for changes in the market architecture, such as the introduction of contracts for differences (CfDs) to support renewables, trading of white certificates for energy efficiency, and the demandside liberalization. The findings show that changes in the market architecture have only affected the PUN volatility. Specifically, CfDs have mitigated volatility, while white certificates and demand liberalization have increased it. Moreover, after controlling for reforms the inverse leverage effect vanishes, and the persistence in volatility is lower than in the baseline estimates.electricity prices, Italian power exchange, market architecture, ARMA, EGARCH

No PUN intended: A time series analysis of the Italian day-ahead electricity prices

How do changes in the market architecture affect the dynamics of deregulated electricity prices? We investigate this issue in the context of the Italian Power Exchange (IPEX), using data on the daily average day-ahead price (PUN) between April 2004 and December 2008. Estimates of baseline time series models (ARMAX and ARMAX-EGARCH) and their forecasting performances suggest that the trend in natural gas prices, deterministic weekly patterns, the impact of perceived temperatures, persistence in conditional volatility and the inverse leverage effect are essential features of the PUN dynamics. We then augment the best-performing models with dummies that account for changes in the market architecture, such as the introduction of contracts for differences (CfDs) to support renewables, trading of white certificates for energy efficiency, and the demandside liberalization. The findings show that changes in the market architecture have only affected the PUN volatility. Specifically, CfDs have mitigated volatility, while white certificates and demand liberalization have increased it. Moreover, after controlling for reforms the inverse leverage effect vanishes, and the persistence in volatility is lower than in the baseline estimates.Electricity prices, Italian Power Exchange, Market architecture, ARMA,EGARCH

A 10-Minute Single-Bout of Moderate to Very-Heavy Intensity Aerobic Exercise Improves Executive Function in Older Adults

A 10-minute single-bout of moderate to very-heavy intensity aerobic exercise provides a boost to executive-related oculomotor control in young adults. Furthermore, some evidence shows that older adults (\u3e65 years) can receive similar executive benefits post-exercise. It is, however, unclear if a specific exercise intensity can optimize executive function within this population. This represents an important question given that the population of older adults with executive dysfunction is expected to grow. To that end, this thesis had community-dwelling older adults perform a VO2peak test to determine 10-minute participant-specific moderate, heavy, and very-heavy exercise intensities. Pre- and post- exercise executive control was measured via the antisaccade task (i.e., goal-directed eye movement mirror symmetrical to visual stimulus). Results showed a 23 ms reduction in post-exercise antisaccade RTs – a finding that was intensity-independent. Accordingly, older adults accrue an executive benefit following 10 minutes of exercise across a continuum of moderate to very-heavy intensities

How does market architecture affect price dynamics? A time series analysis of the Italian day-ahead electricity prices

How do changes in the market architecture affect the dynamics of deregulated electricity prices? We investigate this issue in the context of the Italian Power Exchange (IPEX), using data on the daily average day-ahead price (PUN) between April 2004 and December 2008. Estimates of baseline time series models (ARMAX and ARMAX-EGARCH) and their forecasting performances suggest that the trend in natural gas prices, deterministic weekly patterns, the impact of perceived temperatures, persistence in conditional volatility and the inverse leverage effect are essential features of the PUN dynamics. We then augment the best-performing models with dummies that account for changes in the market architecture, such as the introduction of contracts for differences (CfDs) to support renewables, trading of white certificates for energy efficiency, and the demandside liberalization. The findings show that changes in the market architecture have only affected the PUN volatility. Specifically, CfDs have mitigated volatility, while white certificates and demand liberalization have increased it. Moreover, after controlling for reforms the inverse leverage effect vanishes, and the persistence in volatility is lower than in the baseline estimates

Judiciary efficiency and trade in tasks

In this paper, we study how contract enforcement at the local level affects a firm's ability to supply customised intermediate inputs to foreign firms. Using Italian firm-level data, we show that firms located in courts with higher judicial trial length in civil disputes, which is our measure of contract enforcement, are less likely to supply customised inputs to foreign firms. The effect is stronger in contact-intensive sectors. In our empirical exercise we take advantage of two important characteristics of the Italian legal system. First, law determines the courts for disputes. This corresponds to the court where the plant is located. Trial length varies from less than one year in the most efficient court to more than seven years in the least efficient one. We observe large heterogeneity despite the fact that law should be uniformly applied over the country. Second, the Italian law codifies a specific contract type for the supply of customised intermediate inputs (contratto di subfornitura). This contract is widely used in the Italian context (Lazerson, 1999). In our data, firms report if they supply intermediate inputs to foreign customers under this type of contract. We deem it to be a very good approximation of the firm-to-firms relations in a Global value chain. We find that, when firms are located in inefficient courts, the probability to supply intermediate inputs abroad decreases. The effect are stronger for firms that operate in industries that are contract intensive. Following Nunn (2007), for each industry we measure contract intensity as the share of products that are not sold on organised markets according to the Rauch (1999) classification. We find that a standard deviation increase in trial length decreases the probability to supply customised inputs by 1.7 to 3 percentage points in industries at the 25th and 75th percentile of contract intensity, respectively

The liquidity of corporate and government bonds: drivers and sensitivity to different market conditions

In this report we investigate the liquidity of the European fixed income market using a large sample of government, corporate and covered bonds. We construct a robust liquidity index, based on PCA, to aggregate several measures and proxies for liquidity and estimate a multivariate regression models to identify the main factors driving bond liquidity in ordinary times as well as in times of market stress. We find that European bond liquidity is driven by bonds’ specific characteristics such as duration, rating, amount issued and time to maturity. The sensitivity of bond liquidity to these factors is larger when markets are under stress. We also analyze the link between the liquidity of individual bonds and the liquidity of the market as a whole. This is done through the estimation a liquidity market model that controls for bonds’ duration and rating as well as for periods of market stress. Results show that the illiquidity of individual bonds follows the illiquidity of the market. This effect is more pronounced for bonds with longer duration and lower rating, especially in times of market stress. Our results confirm the importance of rating in driving asset allocation decision (flight-to-safety) and suggest specific interventions that regulators might consider to introduce. First, provided that duration plays a very important role in bond liquidity, bond eligibility for the purposes of the LCR might be subject to a penalization based on duration. Second, given that the size of the bond issue affects the liquidity, regulators might create incentives for plain vanilla issues and re-openings of old issues.JRC.G.1-Financial and Economic Analysi

Home-care interventions: which participation? Social workers and parents discuss about an ongoing action-research

Home-care interventions are carried out for a fixed amount of weekly hours by the home-care worker within the family, in the perspective of giving support to the parents and contributing to the care plan. This article is based on a research project funded by the Foundation Cassa di Risparmio di Trento e Rovereto, which intends to identify and disseminate effective methods for the implementation of home-care interventions. The Municipality of Trento, together with two local social cooperatives and the Lab of Research and Action on Family Education of Padua University, has introduced new instruments and approaches aimed at critically analysing home-care interventions. The article gives voice to parents and social workers’ opinions collected through four focus-groups, which intended to assess how new instruments and strategies introduced in the frame of home-care interventions had led to a greater involvement of parents and children in the definition and evaluation of care plans

Building Envelope Prefabricated with 3D Printing Technology

The Fourth Industrial Revolution represents the beginning of a profound change for the building sector. In the last decade, the perspective of shapes, materials, and construction techniques is evolving fast due to the additive manufacturing technology. On the other hand, even if the technology is growing fast and several 3D printed buildings are being developed worldwide, the potential of concrete 3D printing in building prefabrication remains unexplored. Consequently, the application of new digital fabrication technologies in the construction industry requires a redesign of the construction process and its components. This paper proposes a novel conception, design, and prototyping of a precast building envelope to be prefabricated with extrusion-based 3D concrete printing (3DCP). The new design and conception aim to fully exploit the potential of 3D printing for prefabricated components, especially in terms of dry assembly, speed of implementation, reusability, recyclability, modularity, versatility, adaptability, and sustainability. Beyond the novel conceptual design of precast elements, the research investigated the 3D printable cementitious material based on a magnesium potassium phosphate cement (MKPC), which was devised and tested to ensure good performances of the proposed component. Finally, a prototype has been realised in scale with additive manufacturing technology in order to verify the printability and to optimize the extruder path. This study leads us to believe that the combined use of prefabricated systems, construction automation, and innovative materials can decisively improve the construction industry's sustainability in the future

The Benefits of High-Intensity Interval Training on Cognition and Blood Pressure in Older Adults With Hypertension and Subjective Cognitive Decline: Results From the Heart & Mind Study

Background: The impact of exercise on cognition in older adults with hypertension and subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is unclear. Objectives: We determined the influence of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) combined with mind-motor training on cognition and systolic blood pressure (BP) in older adults with hypertension and SCD. Methods: We randomized 128 community-dwelling older adults [age mean (SD): 71.1 (6.7), 47.7% females] with history of hypertension and SCD to either HIIT or a moderate-intensity continuous training (MCT) group. Both groups received 15 min of mind-motor training followed by 45 min of either HIIT or MCT. Participants exercised in total 60 min/day, 3 days/week for 6 months. We assessed changes in global cognitive functioning (GCF), Trail-Making Test (TMT), systolic and diastolic BP, and cardiorespiratory fitness. Results: Participants in both groups improved diastolic BP [F(1, 87.32) = 4.392, p = 0.039], with greatest effect within the HIIT group [estimated mean change (95% CI): −2.64 mmHg, (−4.79 to −0.48), p = 0.017], but no between-group differences were noted (p = 0.17). Both groups also improved cardiorespiratory fitness [F(1, 69) = 34.795, p \u3c 0.001], and TMT A [F(1, 81.51) = 26.871, p \u3c 0.001] and B [F(1, 79.49) = 23.107, p \u3c 0.001]. There were, however, no within- or between-group differences in GCF and systolic BP at follow-up. Conclusion: Despite improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, exercise of high- or moderate-intensity, combined with mind-motor training, did not improve GCF or systolic BP in individuals with hypertension and SCD. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03545958)

The Benefits of High-Intensity Interval Training on Cognition and Blood Pressure in Older Adults With Hypertension and Subjective Cognitive Decline: Results From the Heart & Mind Study

Background: The impact of exercise on cognition in older adults with hypertension and subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is unclear. Objectives: We determined the influence of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) combined with mind-motor training on cognition and systolic blood pressure (BP) in older adults with hypertension and SCD. Methods: We randomized 128 community-dwelling older adults [age mean (SD): 71.1 (6.7), 47.7% females] with history of hypertension and SCD to either HIIT or a moderate-intensity continuous training (MCT) group. Both groups received 15 min of mind-motor training followed by 45 min of either HIIT or MCT. Participants exercised in total 60 min/day, 3 days/week for 6 months. We assessed changes in global cognitive functioning (GCF), Trail-Making Test (TMT), systolic and diastolic BP, and cardiorespiratory fitness. Results: Participants in both groups improved diastolic BP [F(1, 87.32) = 4.392, p = 0.039], with greatest effect within the HIIT group [estimated mean change (95% CI): −2.64 mmHg, (−4.79 to −0.48), p = 0.017], but no between-group differences were noted (p = 0.17). Both groups also improved cardiorespiratory fitness [F(1, 69) = 34.795, p \u3c 0.001], and TMT A [F(1, 81.51) = 26.871, p \u3c 0.001] and B [F(1, 79.49) = 23.107, p \u3c 0.001]. There were, however, no within- or between-group differences in GCF and systolic BP at follow-up. Conclusion: Despite improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, exercise of high- or moderate-intensity, combined with mind-motor training, did not improve GCF or systolic BP in individuals with hypertension and SCD. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03545958)