Search results for "cost"

Chi governa la finanza pubblica in Europa?

2012

PROFITABILITY OF SMALL LOQUAT FARMS IN SICILY

2015

The northern Sicilian coastline, known for its favorable soil and climatic conditions, represents the main production area in Italy for loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.). Over the years, the absence of process innovation and appropriate marketing strategies caused a gradual decline of loquat cultivation. This study estimates the profitability of some representative Sicilian farms that grow loquat in the area of Trabia (Palermo Province), where this crop is important for the local economy. The results highlighted a productive scenario characterized by high production costs, where only a family farm that supplies much of its own labor can survive.

Profitability of artichoke growing in the mediterranean area

2015

Cultivation of artichokes for production is significant in the Mediterranean Basin. Italy represents an important productive hub and in this context, Sicily has been one of the foremost production areas. Artichoke production is a stable element of either specialized or mixed production systems in the region. However, due to the economic recession and increasing imports of artichokes from North African countries, many companies are undergoing crisis, with concerns for the negative impact on the socioeconomic fabric, in terms of the rising unemployment an eventual collapse of this specific activity would determine. According to the theory of economic development, a prerequisite of a territory…

Combinatorial Double Auction Radio Resource Allocation Model in Crowd Networks

2018

International audience; Industrial Partners (IPs) with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are extending the mobile network infrastructure with Small Cells (SCs) in order to meet the growing mobile traffic demand. Due to the increasing number of telecommunication market competitors and the scarcity of radio resources, static sharing schemes are no more efficient. New dynamic schemes should be considered to meet both user expectations and economic success. In a crowd networking context, we propose in this work a dynamic radio resource scheme based on combinatorial double auctions. The participants in these auctions are the MNOs considered as buyers and the IPs, providers of SCs, considered as se…

The cost of market power in banking: Social welfare loss vs. cost inefficiency

2007

Abstract This paper analyses the relationship between market power in the loan and deposit markets and efficiency in the EU-15 countries over 1993–2002. Results show the existence of a positive relationship between market power and cost X-efficiency, allowing rejection of the so-called quiet life hypothesis [Berger, A.N., Hannan, T.H., 1998. The efficiency cost of market power in the banking industry: A test of the ‘quiet life’ and related hypotheses. Review of Economics and Statistics 8 (3), 454–465]. The social welfare loss attributable to market power in 2002 represented 0.54% of the GDP of the EU-15. Results show that the welfare gains associated with a reduction of market power are gre…

Tariffs and efficient performance by water suppliers: an empirical approach

2012

Water leaks are an environmental and sustainable issue as well as an economic issue. The objective of this paper is to analyse the efficiency of a sample of Spanish urban water systems by considering water leaks in a network as undesirable outputs. Data envelopment analysis (DEA), an analytical benchmarking methodology, is used to calculate technical and economic efficiency. We also discuss the possible relationship between efficiency and tariffs charged to users. Results show that the possibilities for reducing water leaks in networks are high, thus demonstrating that there is room for savings from an economic and environmental point of view. The assessment of efficiency performance could …

The social costs of bank market power: Evidence from Mexico

2008

This paper estimates the social costs of market power (Harberger's triangle) in the Mexican banking system over the period 1993–2005. It also tests the so-called “quiet life” hypothesis which postulates a negative effect of market power on bank management efficiency. The social cost attributable to market power in 2005 is 0.15% of GDP, while that deriving from the cost (profit) inefficiency of banking management is 0.021% (0.075%) of GDP. The results allow us to reject the quiet life hypothesis in the deposits market. However, market power in the setting of the interest rate on loans has a negative effect on cost efficiency. Journal of Comparative Economics 36 (3) (2008) 467–488.

Bases para el análisis económico de los sistemas de compliance penal

2019

Compliance programs and systems of criminal or administrative liability are being increasingly adopted by different countries as measures meant to reduce the social cost of white collar criminality. However, the legal application of these measures does not always ponder correctly the impacts on common good, the levels of economic activity and the adequate functioning of markets of goods and services. Eventually, this situation can lead to undesired effects, such as the inefficiency of the criminal system, the reduction of economic activity or the arising of obstacles to competition. By taking these circumstances into account, in this paper we will utilize the Economic Analysis of Law to ana…

Sensitivity analysis and process optimization of a natural gas dehydration unit using triethylene glycol

2019

Abstract Dehydration of natural gas by absorption using triethylene glycol (TEG) is a common industrial offshore procedure to ensure the compliance with the required water dew point specifications for midstream transportation. Two thermodynamic models, the UMR-PRU and the TST/NRTL, are applied for the process simulation while a preliminary economic evaluation has been conducted revealing that both yield overall similar results as for the fixed capital cost which is found to be in good agreement with reported literature values. Moreover, sensitivity analysis of several operational parameters of the process has been performed and optimized values are suggested aiming to reduce its energy requ…

Rethinking the Finance of Post-Compulsory Education

2010

Throughout the world, the finance of education is in serious crisis. The crisis of educational finance is not limited to the problem of meeting the obligations of societies to provide some minimum amount of compulsory education for their students. This minimum does not assure the preparation of an appropriately trained labour force in a world that is increasingly technicological and in which a competitive economy requires the remplacement of traditional production processes with others based on sophisticated labour and capital. The rapid growth of post-compulsory systems of education is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for industrialization and economic development.