Exploring the drivers behind automotive exports in OECD countries: An empirical analysis

The conceptual part of this paper ties the recently developed Lead Market concept to the international trade theory literature including neoclassical trade theory, new trade theory, neotechnological approaches and systems of innovation concepts. The empirical part explores the factors driving exports in the automotive sector in eight OECD countries between 1991 and 2008, explicitly accounting for possible Lead Market factors. Econometric results suggest that exports in the automotive sector are positively related to the general strength of a country in terms of exports, to higher GDP per capita and to a lower labour cost share in the automotive sector. However, domestic market size and R&D in the automotive sector do not exhibit statistically significant effects on exports. --lead markets,international trade,export potential,automotive industry

CO2 Emission Reduction in Freight Transports How to Stimulate Environmental Friendly Behaviour?

In the European Union (EU) and in Germany the transport sector is the only sector with increasing CO2 emissions (in the EU by about 32 % and in Germany by about 1 % since 1990). Especially in road freight and air transport a further strong increase is forecasted. In the transport sector this might be impeded by avoiding transport (accepting a lower economic growth), shifting modes or in optimizing logistics. Especially the second is mentioned to be an adequate solution to meet the increasing demand for transportation and reducing CO2 emissions simulatneously. It is often stated, that combined transport (mainly truck-train-truck) might be a very CO2 efficient mode. In this article a Logit-Model (based on a survey of 500 German forwarders) is used to determine mode shift potentials of hauliers. The main factors of influence depending on the service provision of the transport modes are frequency of combined transport services, speed, and costs. For an estimation of the corresponding impact on the mode shift and thus potentials of CO2 emission reductions two policy instruments are empirically tested: a further increase of the performance-based heavy vehicle fee (LSVA-Maut) and a hypothetical speeding up of the average speed in freight rail transport to 80 km per hour. Although the modal shift is rather high in the last policy simulation, the impact on CO2 emissions is still small. --Freight Transports,CO2 Emissions,Mode Shift,Combined Transport

Measuring the immeasurable: a survey of substainability indices

Sustainability indices for countries provide a one-dimensional metric to valuate country-specific information on the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, environmental, and social conditions. At the policy level, they suggest an unambiguous yardstick against which a country?s development can be measured and even a cross-country comparison can be performed. This paper reviews the explanatory power of various sustainability indices applied in policy practice. We show that these indices fail to fulfill fundamental scientific requirements making them rather useless if not misleading with respect to policy advice. --Sustainability Indices,Composite Indicators,Sustainability,Indices

Exploring the factors driving automotive exports in OECD countries

Based on data for eight OECD countries this paper empirically explores the factors driving exports in the automotive sector between 1991 and 2008. The factors considered explicitly account for possible lead market effects which have recently been identified in the literature as relevant factors in studying the export potentials of certain technologies. Econometric results suggest that exports in the automotive sector are positively related to the general strength of a country in terms of exports, to higher GDP per capita and to a lower labour cost share in the automotive sector. However, domestic market size and R&D in the automotive sector appear to have no effect on exports. Hence, the results provide only limited rationale for policy intervention. --Lead markets,export potentials,automotive industry

Measuring the Immeasurable : A Survey of Sustainability Indices

Sustainability indices for countries provide a one-dimensional metric to valuate country-specific information on the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, environmental, and social conditions. At the policy level, they suggest an unambiguous yardstick against which a country’s development can be measured and even a cross-country comparison can be performed. This paper reviews the explanatory power of various sustainability indices applied in policy practice. We show that these indices fail to fulfill fundamental scientific requirements making them rather useless if not misleading with respect to policy advice

CO2 emission reduction in freight transports : how to stimulate environmental friendly behaviour?

In the European Union (EU) and in Germany the transport sector is the only sector with increasing CO2 emissions (in the EU by about 32 % and in Germany by about 1 % since 1990). Especially in road freight and air transport a further strong increase is forecasted. In the transport sector this might be impeded by avoiding transport (accepting a lower economic growth), shifting modes or in optimizing logistics. Especially the second is mentioned to be an adequate solution to meet the increasing demand for transportation and reducing CO2 emissions simulatneously. It is often stated, that combined transport (mainly truck-train-truck) might be a very CO2 efficient mode. In this article a Logit-Model (based on a survey of 500 German forwarders) is used to determine mode shift potentials of hauliers. The main factors of influence depending on the service provision of the transport modes are frequency of combined transport services, speed, and costs. For an estimation of the corresponding impact on the mode shift and thus potentials of CO2 emission reductions two policy instruments are empirically tested: a further increase of the performance-based heavy vehicle fee (LSVA-Maut) and a hypothetical speeding up of the average speed in freight rail transport to 80 km per hour. Although the modal shift is rather high in the last policy simulation, the impact on CO2 emissions is still small

Two-Stage Stochastic Program Optimizing the Total Cost of Ownership of Electric Vehicles in Commercial Fleets

The possibility of electric vehicles to technically replace internal combustion engine vehicles and to deliver economic benefits mainly depends on the battery and the charging infrastructure as well as on annual mileage (utilizing the lower variable costs of electric vehicles). Current studies on electric vehicles’ total cost of ownership often neglect two important factors that influence the investment decision and operational costs: firstly, the trade-off between battery and charging capacity; secondly the uncertainty in energy consumption. This paper proposes a two-stage stochastic program that minimizes the total cost of ownership of a commercial electric vehicle under uncertain energy consumption and available charging times induced by mobility patterns and outside temperature. The optimization program is solved by sample average approximation based on mobility and temperature scenarios. A hidden Markov model is introduced to predict mobility demand scenarios. Three scenario reduction heuristics are applied to reduce computational effort while keeping a high-quality approximation. The proposed framework is tested in a case study of the home nursing service. The results show the large influence of the uncertain mobility patterns on the optimal solution. In the case study, the total cost of ownership can be reduced by up to 3.9% by including the trade-off between battery and charging capacity. The introduction of variable energy prices can lower energy costs by 31.6% but does not influence the investment decision in this case study. Overall, this study provides valuable insights for real applications to determine the techno-economic optimal electric vehicle and charging infrastructure configuration

Energy Saving Obligations and White Certificates : Ideas and Considerations for the Transport Sector

Peer reviewedPreprin

Moisture source and diet affect development and reproduction of Orius thripoborus and Orius naivashae, two predatory anthocorids from southern Africa

The effect of moisture source and diet on the development and reproduction of the pirate bugs, Orius thripoborus (Hesse) and Orius naivashae (Poppius) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) was examined in the laboratory. Both species had been collected in and around sugarcane fields in South Africa. Supplementing eggs of the flour moth Ephestia kuehniella (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) with a green bean pod as a moisture source yielded better nymphal survival and faster development, as compared with free water encapsulated in Parafilm, suggesting that the predators may extract extra nutrients from the bean pod. The impact of two factitious foods and moist honey bee pollen on developmental and reproductive parameters of both predators was also investigated. The overall performance of both Orius species on E. kuehniella eggs and cysts of brine shrimp, Artemia franciscana Kellogg (Crustacea: Artemiidae) was better than on pollen. Nonetheless, a pollen diet alone allowed 66 and 78% of the nymphs of O. thripoborus and O. naivashae, respectively, to reach adulthood. Overall, developmental and reproductive performance of O. thripoborus on the tested diets was superior to that of O. naivashae. The implications of these findings for the mass production of these predators and their potential role in biological control programs in southern Africa are discussed