Search results for "Impact."

Evaluating Socio-economic Impact of Age-Friendly Environments

2018

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2007), physical and social environments are key determinants of whether people can remain healthy, independent and autonomous. Health and well-being are not only determined by our personal characteristics but also by the envi-ronment where we were born and where we live throughout our life (WHO 2015). In fact, promoting age-friendly environments (AFE) is the most effective approach for responding to demographic change because they empower elderly people to age in better health, they pro-mote their social inclusion and active participation, and they help them to live autonomously into old age (Parent 2012). AFE foster health, well-being and t…

Life cycle energy and environmental impacts of a solid oxide fuel cell micro-CHP system for residential application

2019

Abstract Fuel cells are considered one of the key technologies to reach the ambitious European goal of a low carbon economy, by reducing CO2 emissions and limiting the production of other pollutants. The manuscript presents an assessment of the life cycle energy and environmental performances of a solid oxide fuel cell system for household applications using primary data from the manufacturing phase and experimental data for the start-up and operation phases. The Life Cycle Assessment methodology is applied, based on a functional unit of 1 MJ of exergy and includes the life cycle steps from the raw materials extraction to the maintenance. The results show a particular relevance of the opera…

From material flows to cash flows — an extension to traditional material flow modelling

2000

Processing and mechanical properties of organic filer-polypropylene composites

2005

The addition of organic fillers into thermoplastic polymers is an interesting issue, which has had growing consideration and experimentation during the last years. It can give rise to several advantages. First, the cost of these fillers is usually very low. Also, the organic fillers are biodegradable (thus contributing to an improved environmental impact), and finally, some mechanical and thermomechanical properties can be enhanced. In this study, the effect of the addition of different organic fillers on the mechanical properties and processability of an extrusion-grade polypropylene were investigated. The organic fillers came from natural sources (wood, kenaf, and sago) and were compared …

The evolution of market power in European banking

2017

This paper analyses the effect that European financial market integration has had on the evolution of the banks' market power disparities. The results show that market power disparity has narrowed among eurozone banks. The reduction is attributable to the convergence in the average levels of market power of the European banking sectors. In contrast, the disparities observed within each country have remained stable. As a result, the measures adopted to advance towards a single banking market should be complemented by measures at the national level designed to intensify competition among the banks within a given country.

How markets slowly digest changes in supply and demand

2008

In this article we revisit the classic problem of tatonnement in price formation from a microstructure point of view, reviewing a recent body of theoretical and empirical work explaining how fluctuations in supply and demand are slowly incorporated into prices. Because revealed market liquidity is extremely low, large orders to buy or sell can only be traded incrementally, over periods of time as long as months. As a result order flow is a highly persistent long-memory process. Maintaining compatibility with market efficiency has profound consequences on price formation, on the dynamics of liquidity, and on the nature of impact. We review a body of theory that makes detailed quantitative pr…

Firms’ investment, indebtedness and financial constraints: Size does matter

2022

Abstract This paper provides evidence of the importance of size in explaining the impact of financing conditions on firms´ investment rate. The study makes two main contributions: a) it allows the relationship between indebtedness and firms´ investment to be non-linear; and b) it contrasts whether the impact of indebtedness and the degree of financial restriction differ depending on the size of the company (SME vs large). Results show that while in SMEs indebtedness has a negative impact on investment, there is a threshold beyond which this effect is even larger (based on a debt/assets ratio of 59%). However, in large companies the impact of indebtedness is positive although there is also a…

On the Tail Risk of Cyberattacks in the Bitcoin Market

2020

In the era of digitalization, cryptocurrencies have become an alternative asset for both retail and institutional investors. While the new emerging digital ecosystem based on blockchain technology has been praised for offering plenty of advantages such as decentralization, discretion or increased efficiency in terms of faster settlements among others, investors need to be aware of new types of risks such as hacking incidents. In the 2011-2018 period, about 1.7 million unit of Bitcoin have been stolen corresponding to losses accumulating more than $655 million highlighting the societal impact of this criminal activity. The novel aspect of our study is that it employs a recently proposed appr…

Operating lease decision and the impact of capitalization in a bank-oriented country

2016

ABSTRACTThis article explores the reasons why firms engage in operating leases and examines the potential impact of a change in the related accounting rules. We focus on the accounting advantage of off-balance financing, which does not affect the typical accounting-based covenants especially important in bank-oriented countries. However, we also consider other economically based arguments. Using manually collected operating lease data for Spanish listed firms, we use the constructive capitalization method to measure as-if liabilities. The results confirm that not only size and industry affect the decision but that firms closer to breaching their covenants are also more inclined to choose op…

Market Impact and Trading Profile of Hidden Orders in Stock Markets

2009

We empirically study the market impact of trading orders. We are specifically interested in large trading orders that are executed incrementally, which we call hidden orders. These are statistically reconstructed based on information about market member codes using data from the Spanish Stock Market and the London Stock Exchange. We find that market impact is strongly concave, approximately increasing as the square root of order size. Furthermore, as a given order is executed, the impact grows in time according to a power law; after the order is finished, it reverts to a level of about 0.5-0.7 of its value at its peak. We observe that hidden orders are executed at a rate that more or less m…