Using Narratives, Humor, and Social Navigation: An Inspection of two systems

PERSON

An Even Sterner Review: Introducing Relative Prices into the Discounting Debate

The Stern Review has had a major influence on the policy discussion on climate change. One reason is that the report has raised the estimated cost of unmitigated climate damages by an order of magnitude compared to most earlier estimates, leading to a call for strong and urgent action on climate change. Not surprisingly, severe criticism has been levied against the report by authors who think that these results hinge mainly on the use of a discount rate that is too low. Here we discuss the Ramsey rule for the discount rates and its implications for the economics of climate change. While we find no strong objections to the discounting assumptions adopted in the Stern Review, our main point is that the conclusions reached in the review can be justified on other grounds than by using a low discount rate. We argue that nonmarket damages from climate change are probably underestimated and that future scarcities that will be induced by the changing composition of the economy and climate change should lead to rising relative prices for certain goods and services, raising the estimated damage of climate change and counteracting the effect of discounting. We build our analysis on earlier research (Hoel and Sterner 2007) that has shown that the Ramsey discounting formula is somewhat modified in a two-sector economy with differential growth rates. Most importantly, such a model is characterized by changing relative prices, something that has major implications for a correct valuation of future climate damages. We introduce these results into a slightly modified version of the DICE model (Nordhaus 1994) and find that taking relative prices into account can have as large an effect on economically warranted abatement levels as can a low discount rate.discounting, relative prices, Ramsey, climate damage

Have Countries with Lax Environmental Regulations a Comparative Advantage in Polluting Industries?

We aim to study whether lax environmental regulations induce comparative advantages, causing the least-regulated countries to specialize in polluting industries. The study is based on Trefler and Zhu’s (2005) definition of the factor content of trade. For the econometrical analysis, we use a cross-section of 71 countries in 2000 to examine the net exports in the most polluting industries. We try to overcome three weaknesses in the empirical literature: the measurement of environmental endowments or environmental stringency, the possible endogeneity of the explanatory variables, and the influence of the industrial level of aggregation. As a result, we do find some evidence in favor of the pollution-haven effect. The exogeneity of the environmental endowments was rejected in several industries, and we also find that industrial aggregation matters.comparative advantage, environmental regulation, trade, pollution haven, Porter hypothesis

Numerical modelling of heat transfer in a tube furnace for steel wire annealing

In order to relieve stresses from cold drawing and to regain ductility, steel wires are annealed in furnaces under prolonged exposure to an appropriate temperature termed as ‘soaking’. This ensures the attainment of the required product quality. Literature suggests that the annealing processes are still determined by trial and error approach due to a lack of standards and also due to the proprietary nature of furnace designs. This paper investigates the heat transfer mechanism in a 12-metre long tube furnace filled with an inert gas and through which a cold-rolled steel wire travels at a specified speed. The length of the furnace is divided into three regions i.e. heating zone, soaking zone and cooling zone of which the heating and the cooling zones are given special attention. The methodology involves the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics by coupling both solid (steel wire) and gaseous zones (Hydrogen or Nitrogen). Radiation has been incorporated via a suitable model and convection taken care of by considering laminar flow of gases. The results suggest that the time needed in the heating zone is influenced by the choices of the surrounding atmosphere, speeds of gas and of the wire. These factors have an impact on the wire drawing speed and eventually on the overall productivity. It is also implied that the proposed numerical method may be used to shorten the ‘soaking’ time and hence to reduce energy consumption. The work demonstrates the usefulness of CFD in understanding and optimisation of the transfer process as well as highlights the challenges associated with numerical results

Kompensationspraxis i den etiopiska exproprieringsprocessen

Development of the agricultural sector is among the top priorities for the Ethiopian government in order to keep up the economic development in the country. One way of reaching this is to undertake large-scale development projects, such as the Tana Beles Sugar Development Project described in this thesis. For this, large areas of land are required for the plantations. This land is expropriated from farmers living in the area. There are a number of legislations regulating how and when expropriation can be done in Ethiopia. The key factors are that it must be for a public purpose, in accordance with due process of the law and accompanied by compensation. The purpose of this study is to determine how well those regulations align with the methods practiced in the field and issues to implement the regulations. This includes the judicial, social and financial aspects of the expropriation process. Field studies for this thesis were done in Amhara National Regional State where the property of more than 2500 families had been expropriated in order to make place for sugar plantations. Interviews were performed with people affected by the expropriation, government officials and individuals who took part in the valuation of property during the expropriation. The study shows a significant discrepancy between the requirements in the legislations and the expropriation practice in the field. The affected people are to a large extent dissatisfied with how the expropriation process were undertaken, as well as the amount of compensation received for lost property. Furthermore the study points at issues with the training of the valuators involved in the process. A general issue with the expropriation process is the lack of documentation and transparency. To a large extent important records were missing from the local authorities, which made the process hard to follow in retrospect.Utveckling av jordbrukssektorn är en av de viktigaste prioriteringarna för den Etiopiska staten när det kommer till att upprätthålla landets ekonomiska utveckling. Ett sätt att uppnå detta är att satsa på storskaliga utvecklingsprojekt inom jordbruket, till exempel Tana Beles Sugar Development Project som den här uppsatsen kretsar kring. För att kunna anlägga detta har stora landarealer tagits i anspråk för sockerrörsplantage. Denna mark har exproprierats från jordbrukare som bor i området. Det finns flera olika lagar och regleringar kring hur och när expropriering kan göras i Etiopien. Några av nyckelfaktorerna är att det måste ske till förmån för allmänviktiga syften, i enlighet med lagar och regler och åtföljas av kompensation. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att avgöra hur väl dessa regler stämmer överens med de metoder som används i fält och vilka problem det finns med att implementera dessa regleringar i praktiken. Detta innefattar såväl juridiska som sociala och ekonomiska aspekter av exproprieringsprocessen. Fältstudierna för denna uppsats utfördes i Amhara National Regional State i ett område där marken från mer än 2500 hushåll har blivit exproprierade för att anlägga sockerrörsplantage. Intervjuer har utförts dels med personer som drabbats av exproprieringen, men också med representanter från lokala myndigheter och personer som var delaktiga i värderingen av tillgångar under exproprieringen. Studien visar på en avsevärd diskrepans mellan de krav som lagen ställer och hur exproprieringen utfördes i praktiken. De som drabbades av exproprieringen visade på ett stort missnöje med hur hela processen gick till, såväl som med den ersättning som betalades ut för den förlorade egendomen. Studien påvisar också brister i den utbildning som värderarna har för att klara av sitt uppdrag. En generell utmaning med expropriationsprocessen är avsaknaden av dokumentation och transperens. Centrala dokument och handlingar saknades i stor utsträckning hos de lokala myndigheterna, vilket gjorde expropriationsprocessen svårt att följa och utvärdera i efterhand

CLEFT LIP AND PALATE IN ADOLESCENCE IDENTIFYING VARIABLES RELATING TO PSYCHOSOCIAL CONCERNS

In study I, 55 adolescents with cleft lip and palate and 31 adolescents without cleft filled out two questionnaires: the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale to assess self-concept, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Inventory to assess the degree of introversion. In studies II & III, data regarding physical characteristic and general intellectual capacity were obtained from the Swedish National Service Enrolment Register for the years 1991-97. Data concerned 335 men with cleft lip with or without clef palate and 88 with cleft palate. They were compared with a control group of 272 879 men without cleft. In study IV, data regarding academic achievement at the time of leaving compulsory education were obtained by linking the Swedish Medical Birth Register for the years 1973-86 with the Swedish School Grade Register. Data concerned 651 individuals with cleft lip, 830 with cleft lip and palate, and 511 with cleft palate. They were compared with a control group consisting of 1 249 404 individuals without cleft. In summary, we found that adolescents with cleft seem to have a normal to high self-concept without an accentuated degree of introversion (I). A cleft influences body dimensions, particularly in the cleft palate group where weight, statue, and muscle strength (II) showed lowered values, this may be correlated to their reduced achievement in physical education at school (IV). The general intellectual capacity (III) supports other studies that individuals with cleft palate have certain cognitive difficulties while the academic achievement (IV) indicated that adolescents with cleft experience difficulties in their educational achievements

Education-Occupation Mismatch: Is There an Income Penalty?

This paper adds to the small literature on the consequences of education-occupation mismatches. It examines the income penalty for field of education-occupation mismatches for men and women with higher education in Sweden and reveals that the penalty for such mismatches is large for both men and women. In fact, it is substantially larger than has been found for the US. Controlling for cognitive ability further establishes that the income penalty is not caused by a sorting by ability, at least for Swedish men. The income penalty for men decreases with work experience which is an indication that education-specific skills and work experience are substitutes to some extent. There is no evidence, though, that the mismatched individuals move to a matching occupation over time. Thus, for some, the income penalty seems to be permanent.salary wage differentials, rate of return, human capital, educational economics