Economic optimization of wind farms in function of the cost of energy produced

Esta tese apresenta um estudo sobre otimização económica de parques eólicos, com o objetivo de obter um algoritmo para otimização económica de parques eólicos através do custo da energia produzida. No estudo utilizou-se uma abordagem multidisciplinar. Inicialmente, apresentam-se as principais tecnologias e diferentes arquiteturas utilizadas nos parques eólicos. Bem como esquemas de funcionamento e gestão dos parques. São identificadas variáveis necessárias e apresenta-se um modelo dimensionamento para cálculo dos custos da energia produzida, tendo-se dado ênfase às instalações onshore e ligados a rede elétrica de distribuição. É feita uma análise rigorosa das características das topologias dos aerogeradores disponíveis no mercado, e simula-se o funcionamento de um parque eólico para testar a validade dos modelos desenvolvidos. Também é implementado um algoritmo para a obtenção de uma resposta otimizada para o ciclo de vida económico do parque eólico em estudo. A abordagem proposta envolve algoritmos para otimização do custo de produção com multiplas funções objetivas com base na descrição matemática da produção de eletricidade. Foram desenvolvidos modelos de otimização linear, que estabelece a ligação entre o custo económico e a produção de eletricidade, tendo em conta ainda as emissões de CO2 em instrumentos de política energética para energia eólica. São propostas expressões para o cálculo do custo de energia com variáveis não convencionais, nomeadamente, para a produção variável do parque eólico, fator de funcionamento e coeficiente de eficiência geral do sistema. Para as duas últimas, também é analisado o impacto da distribuição do vento predominante no sistema de conversão de energia eólica. Verifica-se que os resultados obtidos pelos algoritmos propostos são similares às obtidas por demais métodos numéricos já publicados na comunidade científica, e que o algoritmo de otimização económica sofre influência significativa dos valores obtidos dos coeficientes em questão. Finalmente, é demonstrado que o algoritmo proposto (LCOEwso) é útil para o dimensionamento e cálculo dos custos de capital e O&M dos parques eólicos com informação incompleta ou em fase de projeto. Nesse sentido, o contributo desta tese vem ser desenvolver uma ferramenta de apoio à tomada de decisão de um gestor, investidor ou ainda agente público em fomentar a implantação de um parque eólico.

The Professional Legitimacy of the Taiwan-educated versus US-educated Taiwanese English Teachers

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2015

Gentrifying the Peri-urban: Land use Conflicts and institutional dynamics at the Frontier of an Indonesian Metropolis

This paper aims to specify the meaning of gentrification in rapidly peri-urbanising metropolitan regions in the context of Indonesia’s rapid transition to decentralisation and democracy. It discusses a case study of conflict over an environmental revitalisation project in a peri-urban area of Bandung City. The analysis focuses on the political processes, tactics and strategies supporting and opposing peri-urban gentrification and their consequences. The analysis illustrates how these political dynamics mediate the interaction between the movement of capital and the spatial reorganisation of social classes. It is argued that in the context of a peri-urbanising metropolis, gentrification needs to be narrated less in terms of class-based neighbourhood succession and more in terms of competing cross-class coalitions emerging at local and regional levels.

A Influência da teoria da agência na estrutura de capital na indústria do calçado

apresentado ao Instituto de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para a Dissertação de Mestrado para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Contabilidade e Finanças sob orientação do Mestre Adalmiro Álvaro Malheiro de Castro Andrade Pereira

Stops and bonanzas in the EU: Does being part of the Euro Area make a difference?

In this paper, we investigate whether being part of the euro area influences the conditional probability of going through a sudden stop or a bonanza of capital flows. Our sample period is from 1995 until 2014. We identify these two phenomena and we evaluate which push and pull factors help predict the conditional probability of experiencing one of them. We find that most countries had significant capital inflows until 2008 and that there were more sudden stops during the recent financial crisis than in any other moment in our sample. The factors that better help forecast the conditional probability of a sudden stop are global uncertainty (represented by the push factor “Volatility Index”), and the domestic economic activity (pull factors “GDP growth” and “consumer confidence”). An indicator of country risk (pull factor “change in credit rating”) is the most significant one for predicting bonanzas. Ultimately, we find no evidence that being part of the euro area influences the conditional probability of going through a sudden stop or a bonanza.

Basel III new capital requirements, impacts and bank behavior

For some years, researchers could not find a clear effect of capital adequacy on the risk profile of banks, as shareholders could increase the riskiness of the assets (qualitative effect), crowding-out the effect of reduced leverage (volume effect). Some shareholders might have the will to increase the riskiness of the assets, but they may lack the power to do so. Considering only ”powerful” shareholders, definitive conclusions were drawn but with constant ownership profile. In this paper I investigate whether there is a significant change in the type of shareholders in response to regulatory capital shocks and, if so, will the banking system be in the hands of more “desired” shareholders. I find that ownership profile responds to a regulatory shock, changing the risk appetite of the ruling power at the bank. I find more banks and the government in the ownership of undercapitalised banks and much less institutional shareholders and free float. I claim that these new shareholders may not the desired ones, given the objective of the regulatory change, as they are associated with a preference for more leverage. One possible explanation for this crowding-out effect is that regulators are trying to contain idiosyncratic risk (more linked to the riskiness of the assets) with a rule that contains systematic risk (capital adequacy). This has a distorting effect on ownership. Another insight can be drawn from the tests: supervisors should be aware of significant ownership movements that cause the crowding-out.

A Legislator under Surveillance: The Creation and Implementation of Swiss Banking Legislation 1910-1934

This paper analyses how banking regulation was introduced in Switzerland - one of the world's most prominent financial centres - which remained in place until the beginning of the twenty-first century. It shows that the law adopted on 8 November 1934 is a perfect example of capture of the regulator by the regulated. Essentially a political response in the context of the economic crisis of the 1930s, it largely reflected the interests of banking circles by limiting the intervention of the State as much as possible. The introduction of the new legislation was facilitated by the temporary weakness of Swiss banking circles, as they depended on the State to delay or prevent the collapse of many major credit institutions. They did not manage to derail the law as they had two decades earlier when they scuppered the federal bill on banks drawn up between 1914 and 1916. But this time they were better organized and more united, and intervened all the more effectively in the legislative process itself. The 1934 law is thus distinctive in that it made no structural changes to the architecture of the financial centre but merely codified its practices through flexible legislation meant to reassure the public. The law was aimed less at controlling banking activity than at keeping - thanks to skilfully calibrated political concessions - the State from having to intervene more directly in the internal management of banks or in the fixing of interest rates and the export of capital.

Global migration : patriarchy, propoganda and the well- being of women and children

This critical analysis explores the conflicted position of women as ''trailing spouses" and the effects on families who relocate globally under the auspices of a multinational corporation, by utilizing a discursive analysis of two contemporary films and available literature. Current portrayals of women and children in contemporary media provide emotional yet conflicting images of the perfect woman, wife, mother, child and family. The basic tenets of a North American patriarchal economic system are being televised around the world. Technological advancements have made it possible to advertise political agendas on a global television screen. Much of what we see is propaganda couched in films and advertisements that are designed to romantic~e the practice of deriving profits from the unpaid labor of woman and invisibility of children and child rearing. I intend to show that the materiality of trailing a spouse globally conflicts with these romanticized images and supports feminist literature that asserts the notion that mothers and children are oppressed and managed for the benefit of capital.

Consommation de substances psychotropes et violence chez les jeunes décrocheurs canadiens : analyse des liens distaux (capital social, familial, délinquant et individuel)

Le présent mémoire explore les liens entre les différents types de capitaux (social, familial, délinquant et individuel) et certains actes déviants, soit la consommation de substances psychotropes et l’implication criminelle violente chez un groupe de décrocheurs scolaires canadiens. Dans un premier temps, il s’agit d’établir la prévalence et les habitudes de consommation de cette population aliénée du système éducatif. De plus, cette étude concerne l’implication criminelle violente des décrocheurs. Plus précisément, il s’agit de déterminer la fréquence des manifestations agressives et les types de violence perpétrés par ces jeunes, ainsi que d’examiner les liens qui se tissent entre la consommation de substances psychotropes et la commission d’actes violents. Ensuite, il est question d’étudier l’impact des différents capitaux (social, familial, délinquant et individuel) sur la consommation de substances psychoactives et l’implication criminelle violente des décrocheurs. En outre, dans une perspective davantage clinique, le dernier objectif aura pour but d’identifier différentes typologies de décrocheurs scolaires. Les analyses s’appuient sur un échantillon de 339 jeunes décrocheurs scolaires de Montréal et Toronto. Les informations amassées par rapport à l’usage de substances psychotropes et la commission d’actes violents concernent les douze mois qui ont précédé la passation du questionnaire. Succinctement, les taux de prévalence de consommation des décrocheurs apparaissent plus importants que ceux de la population estudiantine, leur usage est plus inquiétant de même que l’auto-évaluation de leur dépendance. Les résultats révèlent également une implication criminelle violente importante, surtout chez les garçons et les consommateurs de substances psychotropes. Qui plus est, le capital délinquant semble avoir un impact majeur sur l’usage d’alcool et de drogues de même que sur les manifestations de violence perpétrées par les décrocheurs. Enfin, trois typologies de décrocheurs scolaires ont été identifiées, soit les invisibles, les détachés et les rebelles.

A model of dynamic liquidity contracts

I study long-term financial contracts between lenders and borrowers in the absence of perfect enforceability and when both parties are credit constrained. Borrowers repeatedly have projects to undertake and need external financing. Lenders can commit to contractual agreements whereas borrowers can renege any period. I show that equilibrium contracts feature interesting dynamics: the economy exhibits efficient investment cycles; absence of perfect enforcement and shortage of capital skew the cycles toward states of liquidity drought; credit is rationed if either the lender has too little capital or if the borrower has too little collateral. This paper's technical contribution is its demonstration of the existence and characterization of financial contracts that are solutions to a non-convex dynamic programming problem.

Some Applications of Markov Additive Processes as Models in Insurance and Financial Mathematics

Cette thèse est principalement constituée de trois articles traitant des processus markoviens additifs, des processus de Lévy et d'applications en finance et en assurance. Le premier chapitre est une introduction aux processus markoviens additifs (PMA), et une présentation du problème de ruine et de notions fondamentales des mathématiques financières. Le deuxième chapitre est essentiellement l'article "Lévy Systems and the Time Value of Ruin for Markov Additive Processes" écrit en collaboration avec Manuel Morales et publié dans la revue European Actuarial Journal. Cet article étudie le problème de ruine pour un processus de risque markovien additif. Une identification de systèmes de Lévy est obtenue et utilisée pour donner une expression de l'espérance de la fonction de pénalité actualisée lorsque le PMA est un processus de Lévy avec changement de régimes. Celle-ci est une généralisation des résultats existant dans la littérature pour les processus de risque de Lévy et les processus de risque markoviens additifs avec sauts "phase-type". Le troisième chapitre contient l'article "On a Generalization of the Expected Discounted Penalty Function to Include Deficits at and Beyond Ruin" qui est soumis pour publication. Cet article présente une extension de l'espérance de la fonction de pénalité actualisée pour un processus subordinateur de risque perturbé par un mouvement brownien. Cette extension contient une série de fonctions escomptée éspérée des minima successives dus aux sauts du processus de risque après la ruine. Celle-ci a des applications importantes en gestion de risque et est utilisée pour déterminer la valeur espérée du capital d'injection actualisé. Finallement, le quatrième chapitre contient l'article "The Minimal entropy martingale measure (MEMM) for a Markov-modulated exponential Lévy model" écrit en collaboration avec Romuald Hervé Momeya et publié dans la revue Asia-Pacific Financial Market. Cet article présente de nouveaux résultats en lien avec le problème de l'incomplétude dans un marché financier où le processus de prix de l'actif risqué est décrit par un modèle exponentiel markovien additif. Ces résultats consistent à charactériser la mesure martingale satisfaisant le critère de l'entropie. Cette mesure est utilisée pour calculer le prix d'une option, ainsi que des portefeuilles de couverture dans un modèle exponentiel de Lévy avec changement de régimes.

The interest rates and performance of MFIs in the MENA region: is there a moral issue?

Full Text / Article complet

Liquidity traps, capital flows

This paper explores the role of capital flows and exchange rate dynamics in shaping the global economy's adjustment in a liquidity trap. Using a multi-country model with nominal rigidities, we shed light on the global adjustment since the Great Recession, a period where many advanced economies were pushed to the zero bound on interest rates. We establish three main results: (i) When the North hits the zero bound, downstream capital flows alleviate the recession by reallocating demand to the South and switching expenditure toward North goods. (ii) A free capital flow regime falls short of supporting efficient demand and expenditure reallocations and induces too little downstream (upstream) flows during (after) the liquidity trap. (iii) When it comes to capital flow management, individual countries' incentives to manage their terms of trade conflict with aggregate demand stabilization and global efficiency. This underscores the importance of international policy coordination in liquidity trap episodes.

Performance of District Industries Centers in Kerala : An Application of augmented solow Model

This thesis "Entitled performance of district industries centres in kerala :An application of augmented solow model.The first chapter deals with evolution of approaches for promoting small scale production and the growth of small scale industries in india.the developing countries face the problems like sluggish growth capital shortages high levels of unemployment,enoromous rural-urban economic disparities regional inequalities increasing concentration of capital and chronic difficulities in the export sector.Review of literature and methodology of the study are presented in the second chapter. In the third chapter an attempt has been made to make an in-depth study of the emergence and growth of district of district industries centres.In the chapter four an attempt was made to study the organisational structure of DICs functions and responsibilities assigned to the functional managers and performance of the functionaries.

Performance of District Industries Centres in Kerala

This thesis "Entitled performance of district industries centres in kerala :An application of augmented solow model.The first chapter deals with evolution of approaches for promoting small scale production and the growth of small scale industries in india.the developing countries face the problems like sluggish growth capital shortages high levels of unemployment,enoromous rural-urban economic disparities regional inequalities increasing concentration of capital and chronic difficulities in the export sector.Review of literature and methodology of the study are presented in the second chapter. In the third chapter an attempt has been made to make an in-depth study of the emergence and growth of district of district industries centres.In the chapter four an attempt was made to study the organisational structure of DICs functions and responsibilities assigned to the functional managers and performance of the functionaries.