The effects of environmental taxes and quotas on the optimal timing of emission reductions under Choquet-Brownian uncertainty

The effects of two environmental policy options for the reduction of pollution emissions, i.e. taxes and non-tradable quotas, are analyzed. In contrast to the prior literature this work endogenously takes into account the level of emissions before and after the adoption of the new environmental policy. The level of emissions is determined by solving the firm's profit maximization problem under taxes and fixed quotas. We find that the optimal adoption threshold under taxes is always larger than the adoption threshold under fixed quota, even in a setting characterized by ecological uncertainty and ambiguity - in the form of Choquet-Brownian motions - on future costs and benefits over adopting environmental policies.

Capital Structure of Innovative Companies in BRICS Countries

This article aims to identify the main business and economic determinants of capital structure in a sample of innovative companies from BRICS countries. We achieve this by presenting a comparative analysis of 1,437 high-tech and 1,485 non-innovative companies in the pharmaceuticals, electronics, IT, and telecommunications sectors between 2008 and 2015. We conduct a regression analysis using a significant number of variables, such as profitability, size, proportion of tangible assets, and growth potential. The highlighted parameters are then examined in order to identify the characteristic features displayed in the capital structure of innovative firms. Our results indicate that the following company characteristics are relevant in determining capital structure: information asymmetry costs (those which are associated with the unique activities of innovative companies), high growth potential generated by the availability of network effects, a high innovative applicability, low marginal and transport costs, and a high proportion of intangible assets. Moreover, we found that there is a distinct difference in the capital structure of companies as they vary in levels of innovation. An innovative company\u2019s proportion of intangible assets has a multidirectional effect on the debt amount. The potential for growth is also a significant factor which has a predominantly negative effect on the level of an innovative company\u2019s financial leverage. Levels of borrowing are overall lower for innovative firms. Our major conclusion, drawing from the results above, is that innovative companies in BRICS countries use relatively little debt in the case of high growth potential. This indicates a general need to overcome the information asymmetry challenge in order to increase the growth rates of individual companies. The scientific novelty of this analysis relates most strongly to the broadness of scope of our investigation, the focus on BRICS countries specifically, and the applicability of its conclusions in wider business and economic contexts. The breadth of data from a wide range of companies and sectors (both innovative and non-innovative), and the high number of companies utilized in the study, lend our evaluation an undeniable credibility within its scope, especially where it upholds similar conclusions in related literature of narrower focus. As a corollary to this, it may be conceivably asserted that these results are not merely applicable to individual companies, or even sectors of the economy, but due to their wide field of origin, they can have economy-wide implications on business and financial strategies

An environmental degradation index based on stochastic dominance.

We employ a stochastic dominance (SD) approach to derive a relative environmental degradation index across countries. The variables that are considered include countries' greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water pollution and the net forest depletion, as from the dataset of the World Bank. A worst-case scenario index to measure environmental degradation across different countries and at different times is constructed applying a methodology that is based on multi-variate comparisons of country panel data over various years and consistent tests for SD efficiency. The test statistics and the estimators are computed using mixed integer programming methods. It is found that in the worst-case scenario index GHG emissions contribute the most (with a weight around 68%), net forest depletion contributes with around 30%, and water pollution contributes the least (with a weight around 2%). Our index can be a useful tool for policy making in conveying information on the environmental quality and a quick assessment of sustainable performance across countries and over time

A sovereign risk index for the Eurozone based on stochastic dominance

We propose a new method to assess sovereign risk in Eurozone countries using an approach that relies on consistent tests for stochastic dominance e\ua2 ciency. The test statistics and the estimators are computed using mixed integer programming methods. This paper\u92s analysis is based on macroeconomic fundamentals and their importance in accounting for sovereign risk. The results suggest that the net international investment position/GDP and public debt/GDP are the main contributors to country risk in the Eurozone. We also conduct ranking analysis of countries for \u85scal and external trade risk. We \u85nd a positive correlation between our rankings of the most vulnerable countries and the S&P\u92s ratings, whereas the correlation for other countries is weaker

Strichartz Estimates for the Vibrating Plate Equation

We study the dispersive properties of the linear vibrating plate (LVP) equation. Splitting it into two Schr\"odinger-type equations we show its close relation with the Schr\"odinger equation. Then, the homogeneous Sobolev spaces appear to be the natural setting to show Strichartz-type estimates for the LVP equation. By showing a Kato-Ponce inequality for homogeneous Sobolev spaces we prove the well-posedness of the Cauchy problem for the LVP equation with time-dependent potentials. Finally, we exhibit the sharpness of our results. This is achieved by finding a suitable solution for the stationary homogeneous vibrating plate equation.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, some misprints correcte