Search results for "macroeconomics"
showing 10 items of 477 documents
On the effects of BAC systems and load control programs on the utility grid
2017
The electricity demand increasing for the comfort improvement in residential buildings is nowadays stressing the MV and LV networks in urban areas. In this framework, the Distribution System Operators (DSO) are exposed to the risk of reliability decrease and there is, earlier than expected, the issue of new and substantial investments for enhancing the network infrastructure. Nevertheless, DSOs have a very strong inclination to defer investment in new facilities in favour of more "flexible measures" for improving the life of the existing components. Solutions of this type are primarily based on demand management, i.e. activities aimed at encouraging the end-users to a different/smart electr…
Investment in Design and Firm Performance: The Mediating Role of Design Management
2009
Design management is an increasingly important concept, research into which is remarkably scarce. Although the literature suggests that design management has an effect on design effectiveness, there is no empirical support for the impact of design management on firm performance. Furthermore, few studies have quantified the contribution that design makes to company performance. The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of design investment on company performance and how this relationship is mediated by design management skills. Structural equation modeling was used to test the research hypotheses on a data set from the Italian and Spanish ceramic tile industry. Results suggest, first, t…
A dynamic panel study on digitalization and firm's agility: What drives agility in advanced economies 2009–2018
2021
Abstract Firm agility today is not a factor of competitiveness or success but a survival instrument on the market. Disruptive innovations and technological advancement, together with digitalization, change the role of firm agility. We show that the link between the national/industry level of digitalization and firm agility is statistically robust and essential. We study the link on data from 2009 to 2018 in fifteen EU advanced economies using dynamic panel data modeling. The digitalization impact level differs across firms by ownership type (family to non-family firms). Agility in family firms is strongly influenced by the national/industry level of digitization and investments in intangibl…
Investment Arbitration and the Controverted Right of the Arbitrator to Issue a Separate or Dissenting Opinion
2018
Abstract Although dissents are not generally encouraged in international arbitration, they are a reality of investment treaty disputes. About one in five cases includes at least one separate or dissenting opinion. The ICSID Convention is rare among investment arbitration rules to expressly recognise the right of the arbitrator to attach his or her personal opinion to the award. Other investment arbitration rules are silent on the topic. And yet dissenting opinions are an established feature of several international courts and tribunals and their role is often viewed more benevolently than in investment arbitration. The article explores the perceived advantages and disadvantages of dissents …
A rational expectations model for simulation and policy evaluation of the Spanish economy
2010
This paper presents the model used for simulation purposes within the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance. REMS (a Rational Expectations Model for the Spanish economy) is a small open economy dynamic general equilibrium model in the vein of the New-Neoclassical-Keynesian synthesis models, with a strongly micro-founded system of equations. In the long run REMS behaves in accordance with the neoclassical growth model. In the short run, it incorporates nominal, real and financial frictions. Real frictions include adjustment costs in consumption (via habits in consumption and rule-of-thumb households) and investment into physical capital. Due to financial frictions, there is no per…
Testing for external sustainability under a monetary integration process. Does the Lawson doctrine apply to Europe?
2015
Monetary integration, and more specifically, the creation of a monetary union in Europe, raises new economic questions concerning its functioning and governance. In particular, we focus on the implications of high and persistent current account deficits for the economic performance of monetary union members in the medium term. Recent literature has argued that conventional measures of external sustainability are misleading because they omit the effects of capital variations on net foreign asset positions due to, among others, stock or debt market crises. In this paper we revisit external sustainability making use of the database developed by Lane and Milesi-Ferretti (2007) that includes the…
Sistemas de atención a la educación infantil en América Latina y El Caribe (AL y C)
2019
El propósito de este artículo se centra en conocer cómo se estructuran los sistemas educativos de los países de América Latina y la Región de Caribe respecto al tramo de la primera infancia. Se llevó a cabo el análisis de diversos informes internacionales y documentos oficiales sobre los avances de los programas en cuanto a cobertura, inversión, regulaciones, entre otros. La naturaleza de carácter documental de este trabajo permite una aproximación comparada entre los países acerca del modo en que aborda la escolarización de la primera infancia en cada país de la región. Uno de los logros más destacados es el vinculado a la expansión del primer nivel educativo y a la cobertura alcanzada. Ca…
Earnings sustainability, economic conditions and the value relevance of accounting information
2013
Summary This study demonstrates that the value relevance of accounting information is influenced by the ability to capitalize investments in valuable resources. We use data from Sweden to show that firms that operate in industries in which accounting conservatism limits this capitalization display lower value relevance as a result of more unsustainable earnings components. However, when controlling for the different properties of sustainable and unsustainable earnings components, the difference vanishes. Moreover, we show that firms operating in industries in which more investments are immediately expensed display systematic temporal variations in the level of value relevance. We contend th…
Are business cycles asymmetric? Some European evidence
1997
Economic thought has ofien regal'ded business cycles as asymmetric. This papel' examines the existence of asymmetries over the business cycle in three European countries: France, Germany and the United Kingdom. To analyze this issue, industrial production in these countries from 1957 to 1994 is examined, and quarterly contractions and expansions in this variable are compared. The results obtained with both parametric and nonparametric methods allow the existence of asymmetries in these countries to be questioned. El pensamiento económico ha considerado frecuentemente que los ciclos económicos son de naturaleza asimétrica. Este trabajo examina la existencia de asimetrías en los ciclos económ…
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.