Modelling the impacts of multilateral agricultural trade liberalization on the EU

The objective of this paper is to explore the implications of domestic policy reforms and trade liberalisation on EU and global agricultural markets by utilising the GTAP model. The results suggest that CAP reforms in conjunction with the removal of export subsidies and tariff reductions according to the proposals from the EU and the US in the WTO would decrease EU's production, reduce EU's exports, and increase EU's imports in almost all the examined agricultural products. For countries such as Australia, the US, and the MERCOSUR group, higher world prices stimulate domestic agricultural production, partly offsetting the EU output decline.EU, WTO, tariff reductions, export subsidies, CAP reforms, GTAP model, International Relations/Trade,

The Impacts of Alternative Policy Scenarios on Multifunctionality

This paper provides first results of the sector model approach to analyze the effects of alternative policy scenarios on the multifunctional role of Finnish agriculture. In terms of environmental non-commodity outputs we focus on nutrient runoffs, landscape diversity and biodiversity. As regards to socio-economic outputs our focus is on direct and indirect agricultural labour force. The results suggest that while partial de-coupling agricultural supports from production is not likely to result in any drastic decline of agricultural production the amount of green fallow will increase considerably. As a result, the agricultural land will become biologically richer. The agricultural labour force is likely to decrease substantially irrespective of agricultural policy.agricultural policy, multifunctionality, sector model, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q18, Q21,

Implications of Trade Liberalization and Domestic Reforms on EU Agricultural Markets

The objective of this paper is to explore the overall effects of further trade liberalization and the implemented CAP reforms on EU agricultural production, imports and exports within different EU regions by using the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model. The GTAP model is used to compare a lower tariff reduction formula (EU Proposal) with a higher reduction formula (US Proposal) in order to show how sensitive the examined agricultural commodity/sector is to the different tariff reduction formulae. This analysis reveals that EU imports would escalate and EU exports would plummet with declining EU production because of trade liberalization and domestic policy reforms in the EU agricultural markets and sectors.EU, WTO, CAP reforms, tariff reductions, export subsidies, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Financial Economics, International Relations/Trade, Q1,

On the homomorphism order of labeled posets

Partially ordered sets labeled with k labels (k-posets) and their homomorphisms are examined. We give a representation of directed graphs by k-posets; this provides a new proof of the universality of the homomorphism order of k-posets. This universal order is a distributive lattice. We investigate some other properties, namely the infinite distributivity, the computation of infinite suprema and infima, and the complexity of certain decision problems involving the homomorphism order of k-posets. Sublattices are also examined.Comment: 14 page

Photo-absorption spectra of small hydrogenated silicon clusters using the time-dependent density functional theory

We present a systematic study of the photo-absorption spectra of various Si$_{n}$H$_{m}$ clusters (n=1-10, m=1-14) using the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). The method uses a real-time, real-space implementation of TDDFT involving full propagation of the time dependent Kohn-Sham equations. Our results for SiH$_{4}$ and Si$_{2}$H$_{6}$ show good agreement with the earlier calculations and experimental data. We find that for small clusters (n<7) the photo-absorption spectrum is atomic-like while for the larger clusters it shows bulk-like behaviour. We study the photo-absorption spectra of silicon clusters as a function of hydrogenation. For single hydrogenation, we find that in general, the absorption optical gap decreases and as the number of silicon atoms increase the effect of a single hydrogen atom on the optical gap diminishes. For further hydrogenation the optical gap increases and for the fully hydrogenated clusters the optical gap is larger compared to corresponding pure silicon clusters.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Regional Differences in Economic Impacts of Power Outages in Finland

Estimating the worth of continuity of electricity supply is of interest to industry, governments, regulators and the research community. There are numerous methods to calculate the Customer Interruption Costs (CICs). Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. We approach the problem from the Distribution System Operator (DSO) point of view and employ two existing analytical models. One model is used by the Finnish Energy Market Authority and the second one was proposed by some of the authors in a previous study. Our model offers a simple and straightforward methodology which can provide credible and objective estimations utilizing only publicly available analytical data. We made use of cost and reliability indices data of 78 DSOs in Finland from the 2016. In addition to cost estimations, we highlight regional differences in CIC estimations in different parts of Finland and provide a critical overview of the existing standard customer compensation scheme in Finland

Shadow Pricing of Electric Power Interruptions for Distribution System Operators in Finland

Increasing distributed generation and intermittency, along with the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, pose a serious challenge supply security in the electric power sector. Understanding the costs of interruption is vital for enhancing power system infrastructure and planning the distribution grid. Customer rights and demand response are additional reasons to study the value of power reliability. We make use of the directional distance function and shadow pricing method for a case study from Finland with the aim of calculating the cost of one minute of power interruption from the perspective of the distribution network operator. The sample consists of 78 distribution network operators from Finland based on cost and network information between 2013 and 2015