An analysis of the determinants in economics and business publications by spanish universities between 1994 and 2004

The objective of this study consists, firstly, of quantifying differences between Spanish universities' output (in terms of publications and citations), and secondly, analysing its determinants. The results obtained show that there are factors which have a positive influence on these indicators, such as having a third-cycle programme, with public financing obtained in competitive selection procedures, having a large number of full-time researchers or involvement in collaborations with international institutions. However, other factors which appear to have the opposite effect were also noted. These include a higher number of students per lecturer or a lower proportion of lecturers with recognised six-year periods.

Economics of combined power plant and pyrolysis bio-oil production

There are reasons of necessity in bio-fuel use and bio-energy fast development. It includes the material about bio-energy technologies, applications and methods. There are basic thermodynamics and economic theories. The economic calculation presents the comparison between two combinations. There are boiler plant below 20 MW in combination with ablative pyrolysis plant for bio-oil production and CHP plant below 100 MW in combination with the RTP pyrolysis bio-oil production technology. It provides a material about wood chips and bio-oil characteristics and explains it nature, presents the situation around the bio-fuel market or bio-fuel trade. There is a description of pyrolysis technologies such as ablative and RTP. The liquid product of the pyrolysis processes is bio-oil. The bio-oil could be different even of the same production process, because of the raw material nature and characteristics. The calculation shows advantages and weaknesses of combinations and obtained a proof of suppositions. The next thing, proven by this work is the fact that to get more efficiency from energy project it is good possibility to built plants in combinations.

Opportunistisen sopimusrikkomuksen ongelmasta, erityisesti Suomen vahingonkorvaus- ja rikoslainsäädännön näkökulmasta tarkasteltuna. Law and Economics -näkökulma.

Tämä pro gradu -tutkielma käsittelee opportunistisen sopimusrikkomuksen ongelmaa erityisesti Suomen vahingonkorvaus- ja rikoslainsäädännön näkökulmasta tarkasteltuna. Tutkielman lähestymistapa on oikeustaloustieteellinen (engl. Law and Economics). Opportunistisella sopimusrikkomuksella tarkoitetaan toimintaa, jossa sopimusosapuoli rikkoo sopimuksen tarkoituksellisesti, pyrkimyksenään tällä toiminnalla saavuttaa enemmän hyötyä kuin sopimuksessa pysymällä. Opportunistinen sopimusrikkomus on mahdollista toteuttaa tilanteessa, jossa sopimusasetelma itsessään antaa mahdollisuuden enemmän hyödyn saavuttamiseen rikkomus toteuttamalla kuin sopimus asianmukaisesti täyttämällä. Suomalaisessa vahingonkorvausjärjestelmässä sovelletaan sopimusrikkomusten osalla positiivisen sopimusedun mukaista vahingonkorvausta, joka hyvittää rikotulle osapuolelle sopimussuhteeseen ryhtymisestä syntyneet kustannukset sekä sopimusrikkomuksen johdosta saamatta jääneen tuoton. Positiivisen sopimusedun soveltaminen ei kuitenkaan ole opportunistisen sopimusrikkomuksen ehkäisemiseksi riittävää, sillä opportunistisesti toimiva sopimusosapuoli voi jäädä rikkomuksensa johdosta voitolle vielä sen jälkeenkin, kun kärsineelle osapuolelle on jo positiivista sopimusetua noudattaen korvattu sopimussuhteessa syntyneet kustannukset sekä rikkomuksen johdosta saamatta jäänyt tuotto. Keskeinen ongelma koskien opportunististen sopimusrikkomustilanteiden syntyä onkin juuri vallitsevan sääntelyn liiallinen keskittyminen rikotun osapuolen kärsimän vahingon kompensoimiseen, ei rikkomustilanteiden synnyn ennaltaehkäisemiseen. Suomen vahingonkorvausjärjestelmää tulisi kehittää suuntaan, jossa järjestelmä paremmin ennaltaehkäisisi opportunististen sopimusrikkomustilanteiden syntyä. Common law -oikeusjärjestelmässä käytössä olevan disgorgement principle -suuntaisen ajattelun, jossa korvauksen perustana toimisi rikkomuksella saatu hyöty kärsityn vahingon sijaan, omaksuminen olisi yksi mahdollinen kehityskulku. Olennaista olisi kuitenkin se, että järjestelmää kehitettäisiin suuntaan, jossa rikkomus ei enää voisi tulla rikkojalle kannattavaksi. Opportunistisen toiminnan kannustimet tulisi lainsäädäntöä tarkistamalla poistaa. Tällä olisi sekä sopimusinstituutiota turvaavaa että vaihdantaa edistävää vaikutusta.

Effects of mineral sorting on concentrator design and economics

Ore sorting after crushing is an effective way to enhance the feed quality of a concentrator. Sorting by hand is the oldest way of concentrating minerals but it has become outdated because of low capacities. Older methods of sorting have also been difficult to use in large scale productions due to low capacities of sorters. Data transfer and processing and the speed of rejection mechanisms have been the bottlenecks for effective use of sorters. A fictive chalcopyrite ore body was created for this thesis. The properties of the ore were typical of chalcopyrite ores and economical limit was set for design. Concentrator capacity was determined by the size of ore body and the planned mine life. Two concentrator scenarios were compared, one with the sorting facility and the other without sorting. Comparison was made for quality and amount of feed, size of equipment and economics. Concentrator with sorting had lower investment and operational cost but also lower incomes due to the ore loss in sorting. Net cash flow, net present value and internal rate of interest were calculated for comparison of the two scenarios.

Economics of Power-to-Gas integration to wastewater treatment plant

Solar and wind power produce electricity irregularly. This irregular power production is problematic and therefore production can exceed the need. Thus sufficient energy storage solutions are needed. Currently there are some storages, such as flywheel, but they are quite short-term. Power-to-Gas (P2G) offers a solution to store energy as a synthetic natural gas. It also improves nation’s energy self-sufficiency. Power-to-Gas can be integrated to an industrial or a municipal facility to reduce production costs. In this master’s thesis the integration of Power-to-Gas technologies to wastewater treatment as a part of the VTT’s Neo-Carbon Energy project is studied. Power-to-Gas produces synthetic methane (SNG) from water and carbon dioxide with electricity. This SNG can be considered as stored energy. Basic wastewater treatment technologies and the production of biogas in the treatment plant are studied. The utilisation of biogas and SNG in heat and power production and in transportation is also studied. The integration of the P2G to wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is examined mainly from economic view. First the mass flows of flowing materials are calculated and after that the economic impact based on the mass flows. The economic efficiency is evaluated with Net Present Value method. In this thesis it is also studied the overall profitability of the integration and the key economic factors.

The death and resurrection of 'economics with psychology': remarks from a methodological standpoint

One of the merits of contemporary economic analysis is its capacity to offer accounts of choice behavior that dispense with details of the complex decision machinery. The starting point of this paper is the concern with the important methodological debate about whether economics might offer accurate predictions and explanations of actual behavior without any reference to psychological presuppositions. Inspired by an exercise of rational reconstruction of ideas, I aim to offer an interpretation of the process of freeing economic analysis from psychology at the end of the 19th century and the contemporary resurrection of behavioral approaches in the late 1980s.

The 2008 financial crisis and neoclassical economics

The 2008 global financial crisis was the consequence of the process of financialization, or the creation of massive fictitious financial wealth, that began in the 1980s, and of the hegemony of a reactionary ideology, namely, neoliberalism, based on self-regulated and efficient markets. Although capitalism is intrinsically unstable, the lessons from the stock-market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression of the 1930s were transformed into theories and institutions or regulations that led to the "30 glorious years of capitalism" (1948-1977) and that could have avoided a financial crisis as profound as the present one. It did not because a coalition of rentiers and "financists" achieved hegemony and, while deregulating the existing financial operations, refused to regulate the financial innovations that made these markets even more risky. Neoclassical economics played the role of a meta-ideology as it legitimized, mathematically and "scientifically", neoliberal ideology and deregulation. From this crisis a new capitalism will emerge, though its character is difficult to predict. It will not be financialized but the tendencies present in the 30 glorious years toward global and knowledge-based capitalism, where professionals will have more say than rentier capitalists, as well as the tendency to improve democracy by making it more social and participative, will b e resumed.

The structuralist tradition in economics: methodological and macroeconomics aspects

This paper examines the structuralist tradition in economics, emphasizing the role that structures play in the economic growth of developing countries. Since the subject at hand is evidently too large to cover in a single article, an emphasis has been brought to bear upon the macroeconomic elements of such a tradition, while also exploring its methodological aspects. It begins by analysing some general aspects of structuralism in economics (its evolution and origins) associated with ECLAC thought, in this instance focusing on the dynamics of the center-periphery relationship. Thereafter, the macroeconomic structuralism derived from the works of Taylor (1983, 1991) is presented, followed by a presentation of neo-structuralism. Centred on the concept of systemic competitiveness, this approach defines a strategy to achieve the high road of globalization, understood here as an inevitable process in spite of its engagement being dependent on the policies adopted. The conclusions show the genuine contributions of this tradition to economic theory.

Buried Treasure: The Economics of Leak Detection and Water Loss Prevention in Ontario

On average approximately 13% of the water that is withdrawn by Canadian municipal water suppliers is lost before it reaches final users. This is an important topic for several reasons: water losses cost money, losses force water agencies to draw more water from lakes and streams thereby putting more stress on aquatic ecosystems, leaks reduce system reliability, leaks may contribute to future pipe failures, and leaks may allow contaminants to enter water systems thereby reducing water quality and threatening the health of water users. Some benefits of leak detection fall outside water agencies’ accounting purview (e.g. reduced health risks to households connected to public water supply systems) and, as a result, may not be considered adequately in water agency decision-making. Because of the regulatory environment in which Canadian water agencies operate, some of these benefits-especially those external to the agency or those that may accrue to the agency in future time periods- may not be fully counted when agencies decide on leak detection efforts. Our analysis suggests potential reforms to promote increased efforts for leak detection: adoption of a Canada-wide goal of universal water metering; development of full-cost accounting and, pricing for water supplies; and co-operation amongst the provinces to promulgate standards for leak detection efforts and provide incentives to promote improved efficiency and rational investment decision-making.

The law and economics of good faith in the civil law of contract

Good faith plays a central role in most legal systems, yet appears to be an intractable concept. This article proposes to analyse it economically as the absence of opportunism in circumstances which lend themselves to it. One of the objectives underlying the law of contract on an economic view is to curtail opportunism. In spelling out what this means, the paper proposes a three-step test: bad faith is present where a substantial informational or other asymmetry exists between the parties, which one of them turns into an undue advantage, considered against the gains both parties could normally expect to realise through the contract, and where loss to the disadvantaged party is so serious as to provoke recourse to expensive self-protection, which significantly raises transactions costs in the market. The three-step test is then used to analyse a set of recent decisions in international commercial transactions and three concepts derived from good faith: fraud, warranty for latent defects and lesion.