Search results for "Incentive"
showing 10 items of 297 documents
Photovoltaic electricity scenario analysis in urban contests: an Italian case study
2012
Abstract This paper shows a methodology for the assessment of the photovoltaic potential in urban areas using Google Earth™ tool that provides either satellite images of the roofs of buildings or their number of floors by means of the Street View function. The applicability of the methodology has been tested on a selected urban area of the city of Palermo in the South of Italy. After classifying roofs according to the shape, orientation and pitch of buildings with different morphologies, the share of energy generated by the installable PV systems was evaluated with regard to the number of floors. Moreover the coverage of the electricity demand was investigated on the basis of the consumptio…
Efficacy and Efficiency of Italian Energy Policy: The Case of PV Systems in Greenhouse Farms
2014
The production of energy from renewable sources is a form of energy production that has less impact on the environment than the traditional one. For the farmer this new form of production represents an opportunity, especially for the economic benefits that can produce, both in terms of the incentives provided by the public operator and for higher revenues, deriving from the sale of energy back to the grid and/or the savings generated by self-consumed energy, that help to increase the farmer’s income. In this paper, we analyzed a case study of a farm that has realized a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system on a greenhouse. In particular, firstly the farm profitability has been estimated a…
A Self-Funding Reward Mechanism for Tax Compliance
2015
We compare in a laboratory experiment two audit-based tax compliance mechanisms that collect fines from those found non-compliant. The mechanisms differ in the way fines are redistributed to individuals who were either not audited or audited and found to be compliant. The first, as is the case in most extant tax systems, does not discriminate between the un-audited and those found compliant. The second targets the redistribution in favor of those found compliant. We find that targeting increases compliance when paying taxes generates a social return. We do not find any increase in compliance in a control treatment where individuals audited and found compliant receive symbolic rewards. It is…
Towards More Efficient Incentives for Agri-environment Measures in Degraded and Eroded Vineyards
2015
Evaluating the economic damage caused by soil erosion is important. In addition to increasing the awareness of the problem among farmers and policy makers, evaluation of the economic damage caused by erosion can promote the implementation of more sustainable soil management practices. In the present study, we describe a new approach to evaluate incentives for the adoption of agri-environment measure (AEM) in degraded and eroded vineyards. To estimate this incentive, the replacement cost (RC) and the loss of income are calculated when the vineyard is managed with conventional tillage versus a cover crop (AEM). Our findings show that the incentive could range from the loss of income due to AE…
Incentive systems for risky investment decisions under unknown preferences
2017
Abstract Our paper examines how to design incentive systems for managers making multi-period risky investment decisions. We show how compensation functions and performance measures must be designed to ensure that managers implement the expected value-maximizing set of projects. The Relative Benefit Cost Allocation (RBCA) Scheme 1 and its extensions revealed in literature on unknown time preferences generally fail to do so under unknown time and risk preferences. We illustrate that when coping with such unknown preferences in a risky setting, a specific state-dependent allocation rule is required. We introduce such an allocation scheme, which we refer to as the State-Contingent RBCA Scheme, …
Economic analysis of PV systems on buildings in Sicilian farms
2013
Abstract The photovoltaic sector in Italy in recent years has experienced a rapid growth also in the primary sector, thanks to substantial incentives guaranteed by energy policies, simultaneous reduction of investment costs and tax benefits. In order to better understand the growth of the PV industry in Italian primary sector, the aim of this paper has been to evaluate the economic convenience of four PV systems on farm buildings located in four different farms of the north-western coast of Sicily and realized during the second and fourth Italian feed-in schemes. For each feed-in scheme it has been considered a PV plant that sells the electricity to the grid and another in which the energy …
Managing the liberalization of Italy's retail electricity market: A policy proposal☆
2020
Abstract Italy will phase out electricity retail price regulation by July 1st, 2020. Until then, residential customers and small businesses who do not choose their supplier are served under a regulated tariff named “maggior tutela” (greater protection), supplied by the local distributor at a price set by the regulator. We review the literature on electricity retail competition – with particular regard to its expected effects on prices, innovation, and customer engagement – and the conditions under which competition is expected to deliver benefits. We perform a Structure-Conduct-Performance analysis of Italy's retail electricity market for residential customers, finding two issues potentiall…
Attention Check Items and Instructions in Online Surveys: Boon or Bane for Data Quality?
2019
In this paper, we examine rates of careless responding and reactions to detection methods (i.e., attention check items and instructions) in an experimental setting based on two different samples. First, we use a quota sample (with monetary incentive), a central data source for internet-based surveys in sociological and political research. Second, we include a voluntary opt-in panel (without monetary incentive) well suited for conducting survey experiments (e.g., factorial surveys). Respondents’ reactions to the detection items are analyzed by objective, nonreactive indicators (i.e., break-off, item non-response, and measurement quality), and two self-report scales. Our reaction analyses rev…
Decentralization as an incentive scheme when regional differences are large
2010
It has been suggested that large regional differences could be an obstacle to that part of the political accountability of office-holders which is based on yardstick competition among governments. The paper addresses that question and concludes that the obstacle is not too serious in general. The second part of the paper is devoted to the persistent economic underperformance of some regions in countries such as Germany, Italy and (with regard to regions overseas) France. How is it that the mechanism of yardstick competition induces a convergence of economic performance among European Union member countries, even those particularly poor initially, but fails to induce all the underperforming …
The new course of FITs mechanism for PV systems in Italy: novelties, strong points and criticalities
2011
The paper deals with the new course of the Feed-in Tariffs mechanism for photovoltaic systems that will start from January 1, 2011 in Italy with the actuation of the Government Decree DM 06/08/2010. After a short introduction on Feed-in Tariffs and Net-metering in Italy, the paper focuses the attention on an economical comparison between the incentives established by the Government Decree DM 19/02/07, ended on December 31, 2010 and those introduced by the DM 06/08/2010. The economical comparison is based on three indexes: the Pay Back Period, the Net Present Value and the Internal Rate of Return, characterizing the investments done for the realization of the photovoltaic systems. In particu…