Search results for "Tier"
showing 10 items of 968 documents
Graphical models for estimating network determinants of multi-destination trips in Sicily
2017
Abstract This paper proposes a two-step approach for analysing the main determinants of multi-destination trip behaviour. It is based on a combination of graphical models and of a multinomial logistic regression model; the aim is to analyse direct and indirect effects of a wide set of tourist- and trip-related characteristics on multi-destination trip behaviour. Empirical data have been derived from a frontier survey of approximately 4000 incoming tourists in Sicily (Italy) at the end of their trip. Results suggest that multi-destination trips depend directly on the length of stay, the number of previous visits and motivation for the trip, and only indirectly on the interview month, travel …
Assessing the productivity change of water companies in England and Wales: A dynamic metafrontier approach
2017
The assessment of productivity change and its drivers across water companies and over time is a powerful tool for both regulators and companies when setting water tariffs. Water and sewerage companies (WaSCs) and water only companies (WoCs) provide different services. Hence, their productivity change cannot directly be evaluated jointly. In this paper and for the first time, we provide a pioneering approach to assess and compare the dynamics of productivity change of WaSCs and WoCs. To achieve this, both the traditional Malmquist productivity index and the metafrontier Malmquist productivity index and its components are computed to assess the productivity change for a sample of English and …
Methodological frontier in operational analysis for roundabouts: a review
2016
Several studies and researches have shown that modern roundabouts are safe and effective as engineering countermeasures for traffic calming, and they are now widely used worldwide. The increasing use of roundabouts and, more recently, turbo and flower roundabouts, has induced a great variety of experiences in the field of intersection design, traffic safety, and capacity modeling. As for unsignalized intersections, which represent the starting point to extend knowledge about the operational analysis to roundabouts, the general situation in capacity estimation is still characterized by the discussion between gap acceptance models and empirical regression models. However, capacity modeling mu…
The Luenberger productivity indicator in the water industry: An empirical analysis for England and Wales
2014
Abstract We innovate in the field of water companies' performance with an application of the directional distance function and the Luenberger productivity indicator (LPI) to the assessment of water companies' productivity growth. The advantage of our approach is that it takes into account both input contractions and output expansions. The analysis covered 22 water companies from England and Wales using data over the period 2001–2008. To the best of our knowledge, there are no prior studies applying the Luenberger productivity indicator to the water industry in England and Wales or other countries. For the sake of comparison, the traditional Malmquist productivity index (MPI) was also estima…
Fortifying the Island at the time of the viceroy Ferrante Gonzaga (1536-1546): sites, master builders and designers, clients
2015
Abstract The ten-year government of Ferrante Gonzaga marks a crucial time in the process of modernization of fortifications on the largest island of the Western Mediterranean. Even if the cornerstones of the strategy pursued and the projects undertaken to realize an adequate defense system have already been highlighted by previous studies, and it is well-known how much the viceroy himself and the royal engineer Antonio Ferramolino participated in resolving the longstanding problem, new interesting data emerge from research on the archival collections of Tribunale del Real Patrimonio, kept in the State Archive of Palermo. Using this mostly unpublished documentation, the paper focus on buildi…
Optimization of a thermoelectric system for power generation realized by ‘‘hidden’’ components
2014
Abstract Today the utilization of renewable energy sources is very important to support the traditional ones, and also in order to reach the objectives fixed by the Kyoto Protocol. In this context, also well-known technologies related to the electric energy production, formerly not suitable – due to the poor technological level of the components or due to the high costs linked to the system efficiency – may now find a suitable collocation. Among these technologies, the thermoelectric effect may be very advantageous in some particular applications of small power. A power generation system utilizing this technology has been studied by the authors. This system utilizes the thermal difference b…
Sub specie æternitatis: the role of the ruin and the ancient in the process of architectural renewal between metamorphosis and resurgence
2022
Composing new works of architecture inspired by vestiges from antiquity or archaeology. The reflections and the case study which will be proposed, pertaining to a recent design experiment for the archaeological area and Antiquarium of Tyndaris, are dedicated to this theme. Over and above any charm exerted by such places, by landscapes in which the ruins appear identical in substance and which sometimes manifest themselves as “sub specie æternitatis”, there are reasons linked to the very profession of architect and to the gashes in the crucible of controversies around the role of history in its contentious relationship with architectural design. That apart, the aporias revealed by Michel Fou…
Pollution and economic growth: a maximum likelihood estimation of environmental Kuznets curve
2011
As in Brock and Taylor (2011) in this paper we consider the importance of the relationship between the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Literature and the Economic Growth Theories. To address this issue we construct country production functions that directly incorporate CO2 emissions as input and estimate them using Stochastic Frontiers. This approach differs from that of Brock and Taylor (2011) but is similar to the one followed by Koop (1998). By introducing the environmental “bads” directly in the production function, we can analyse their contribution to total output growth. We highlight an important contribution of CO2 emissions to growth and find out that the EKC seems not to hold, at…
L'aventura èpica de l'exploració d'un nou món
2012
Les primeres observacions de Mart amb la sonda Mariner 9 descobriren un paisatge desèrtic ple de cràters i enigmàtiques conques fluvials. Spirit i Opportunity han descobert que Mart va tenir un oceà d'aigua líquida a la superfície i, per la seua banda, la sonda europea Mars Express detectà una emissió periòdica de gas metà en l'atmosfera. A partir d'agost del 2012 el robot explorador Curiosity, començarà a analitzar el planeta amb diversos instruments dissenyats per a estudiar l'atmosfera, el sòl i una possible biosfera marciana. The first observations of Mars with the Mariner 9 spacecraft discovered a desert landscape full of craters and mysterious river basins. Spirit and Opportunity have…