Economic valuation of collecting water to billing in the aspersion irrigated bean in the no tillage system and conventional crop

The law's project n.676/2000 approved the collecting of billing water for farmers in a maximum foreseen value of US$ 0.01 m(-3) of extracted water in the São Paulo State. As the irrigated agriculture is the activity that consumes more water, the farmers profitability can be affected. This work was to analyze the economic impact of billing water in the aspersion irrigated bean crop to consider the system of conventional production and no tillage system in the Paranapanema municipal district, São Paulo State, Brazil. The indicators used to analyze the economic results were unit variable cost, market price and unit profitability. The results showed that for the aspersion irrigated bean crop in conventional system, the participation of cost to the recourse water in cost variable totality was of 2.5% and in no tillage system the participation was of 2.2%. The fall of profitability just the billing water in conventional crop system and in no tillage system was US$ 0.01 kg(-1).

A bio-economic appraisal of pair trawl fisheries off southeastern Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Economic aspects of production of Caiman crocodilus yacare

The breeding of crocodilians is still a recent activity in Brazil. Its peak was in the 1990's, but it has gaps in its production, as there are no norms for the commercial breeding of these animals in captivity. However, its economic potential is great, and the search for ecological balance and viability of commercial production has become a challenge among farmers of this activity. Therefor, the objective of the study was to economically analyze the production of Caiman crocodilus yacare on a farm located in Caceres, state of Mato Grosso, identifying relevant items of costs in the activity, as well as the parameters related to the profitability and viability of the activity. The economic results for the breeding of this animal were positive, with profitability ratios higher than 70%.

The Economic Impacts of Tourism in Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil

The tourism spending like other activities has direct and secondary effects on the economy, and presents complex interaction with other activities deserving a special treatment for measuring its contribution to the global result of production and consumption. In this paper, it is used the Money Generation Model to measure the global economic impact of tourism sales in Ouro Preto, this method is not so limited by the data and it is able to produce good approximations to reality. It was not possible to adopt the WTO methodology due to data limitation. The results revealed the real importance of tourism for Ouro Preto, representing up to 10.4% of GDP in 2002, up to 21.8% of tax revenues in 2004, and approximately 11% of the region’s population in 2002 was related to tourism sales. Some actions can be outlined from these results in order to illustrate the current economic reality of the tourism in Ouro Preto. It is also possible to improve the tourist planning accomplished by the local City Hall in a coherent way with the economic results generated by the tourism.

Economic evaluation of varicella vaccination in Swiss children and adolescents

This study explores the effects of three different 2-dose varicella zoster virus (VZV) vaccination strategies in Switzerland. The EVITA model was used to assess clinical benefits and costs of strategies (1) vaccination of 11-15 year old adolescents with a negative or uncertain history for chickenpox, (2) universal vaccination of toddlers at age 1 to 2 years, and (3) strategy 2 plus catch-up vaccination of 11-15 year old susceptible adolescents. The cost-effectiveness analysis compares strategies 2 and 3 versus strategy 1 (current vaccination policy in Switzerland). Probabilities for clinical outcomes and medical resource utilization were derived from a real-world survey among Swiss pediatricians and general practitioners including 236 individuals with VZV infection, published information on varicella complications, and expert opinion. Costs of medical resource utilization represent official Swiss medical tariffs. The model predicts both universal childhood vaccination strategies to be more effective in reducing varicella disease burden compared to strategy 1. Economically, both universal childhood vaccination strategies with or without catch-up result in net savings from the societal perspective reflected by a benefit cost ratio (BCR) of 1.22 or 1.29, respectively. In contrast, the model predicts net costs from the payer perspective (BCR of 0.27 and 0.30, respectively). These economic findings are comparable to those reported from other similar evaluations. However, due to the recent recommendation for using a 2-dose varicella vaccination schedule, our economic results for Switzerland are somewhat less favorable than those for other country analyses in which a less expensive 1-dose vaccination regimen for toddlers has been studied.

Analysis of advanced European nuclear fuel cycle scenarios including transmutation and economic estimates

Four European fuel cycle scenarios involving transmutation options (in coherence with PATEROS and CPESFR EU projects) have been addressed from a point of view of resources utilization and economic estimates. Scenarios include: (i) the current fleet using Light Water Reactor (LWR) technology and open fuel cycle, (ii) full replacement of the initial fleet with Fast Reactors (FR) burning U?Pu MOX fuel, (iii) closed fuel cycle with Minor Actinide (MA) transmutation in a fraction of the FR fleet, and (iv) closed fuel cycle with MA transmutation in dedicated Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS). All scenarios consider an intermediate period of GEN-III+ LWR deployment and they extend for 200 years, looking for long term equilibrium mass flow achievement. The simulations were made using the TR_EVOL code, capable to assess the management of the nuclear mass streams in the scenario as well as economics for the estimation of the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and other costs. Results reveal that all scenarios are feasible according to nuclear resources demand (natural and depleted U, and Pu). Additionally, we have found as expected that the FR scenario reduces considerably the Pu inventory in repositories compared to the reference scenario. The elimination of the LWR MA legacy requires a maximum of 55% fraction (i.e., a peak value of 44 FR units) of the FR fleet dedicated to transmutation (MA in MOX fuel, homogeneous transmutation) or an average of 28 units of ADS plants (i.e., a peak value of 51 ADS units). Regarding the economic analysis, the main usefulness of the provided economic results is for relative comparison of scenarios and breakdown of LCOE contributors rather than provision of absolute values, as technological readiness levels are low for most of the advanced fuel cycle stages. The obtained estimations show an increase of LCOE ? averaged over the whole period ? with respect to the reference open cycle scenario of 20% for Pu management scenario and around 35% for both transmutation scenarios. The main contribution to LCOE is the capital costs of new facilities, quantified between 60% and 69% depending on the scenario. An uncertainty analysis is provided around assumed low and high values of processes and technologies.

A Case Study of the Economic and Environmental Impacts from a Bio-fuel Facility (Southwest Georgia Ethanol, LLC) on the Surrounding Communities, Southwest Georgia

Bio-fuels such as ethanol provide an extraordinary opportunity to address our dependency on foreign oil. This case study examines the economic and environmental impacts associated with constructing and operating a dry mill ethanol manufacturing facility in a Southwest Georgia town and surrounding communities. The case study found that the plant had little impact on air quality, water quality, and habitat fragmentation. However, economic results showed the plant produced $1.5 million in tax revenues, and 86 jobs. Ethanol producers and communities must consider both the economic and environmental impacts on a local community when searching or attracting a bio-fuels plant. Likewise, communities should be aware of these challenges when attracting ethanol production plants.

Közgazdaságtan vagy közgazdaság-tudomány? I. rész. A 20. század legfontosabb eredményei (Economics or Economic Science?)

A cikk alapvető kérdése: vajon tudomány-e a közgazdaságtan, és ha igen, akkor tekinthető-e önálló tudománynak. A választ az elmúlt század legfontosabb eredményeiből kiindulva keresi. A szerző arra a következtetésre jut, hogy napjaink főáramú közgazdasági elméletei nagyrészt Ramsey, Neumann és Haavelmo munkáira vezethetők vissza. Tudománnyá válását nagyban elősegítette a matematika és a természettudományok, főleg a fizika eredményeinek alkalmazása. Mindezt Roy E. Weintraub úgynevezett történeti-rekonstrukciós módszerével és Lakatos Imre racionális rekonstrukciója segítségével mutatja meg. / === / The fundamental question of this article is whether economics is a science, and if so, then can it be viewed as an independent science? The search for an answer begins with the most important economic results of the last century. The author comes to the conclusion that the mainstream economic theories of our times can be traced back to the works of Ramsey, Neumann and Haavelmo. e results of mathematics and natural sciences, especially physics greatly contributed to its emergence as a science. All this is proven by means of Roy E. Weintraub’s so called historical reconstruction and Imre Lakatos’ rational reconstruction methods.

Közgazdaságtan vagy közgazdaság-tudomány? II. rész A XX. század legfontosabb eredményei (Economics or economic science? Part 2.)

A cikk alapvető kérdése: vajon tudomány-e a közgazdaságtan, és ha igen, akkor tekinthető-e önálló tudománynak? A választ az elmúlt század legfontosabb közgazdasági eredményeiből kiindulva keresi. A szerző arra a következtetésre jut, hogy napjaink főáramú közgazdasági elméletei nagyrészt Ramsey, Neumann és Haavelmo munkáira vezethetők vissza. Tudománnyá válását nagyban elősegítette a matematika és a természettudományok, főleg a fizika eredményeinek alkalmazása. Mindezt Roy E. Weintraub ún. történeti-rekontrukciós módszerével és Lakatos Imre racionális rekonstrukciója segítségével mutatja meg. ______________ The fundamental question of this article is: wether the economics is science, and if it is, then can it be viewed as an independent science? The answer is looked for starting from the most important economic results of the last century. The author came to the conclusion that the mainstream economic theories of our days can be traced back to the works of Ramsey, Neumann and Haavelmo. The results of mathematics and natural sciences, especially physics greatly contributed to that it became science. All these are proven by means of Roy E. Weintraub’s so called historical reconstruction and Imre Lakatos’ rational reconstruction methods.

Measuring the economic impact of Research Joint Ventures supported by the EU Framework Programme

The objective of this paper is to analyse the effects of international R&D cooperation on firms’ economic performance. Our approach, based on a complete data set with information about Spanish participants in research joint ventures supported by the EU Framework Programme during the period 1995-2005, establishes a recursive model structure to capture the relationship between R&D cooperation, knowledge generation and economic results, which are measured by labour productivity. In the analysis we take into account that the participation in this specific type of cooperative projects implies a selection process that includes both the self-selection by participants to join the consortia and the selection of projects by the European Commission to award the public aid. Empirical analysis has confirmed that: (1) R&D co-operation has a positive impact on the technological capacity of firms, captured through intan-gible fixed assets and (2) the technological capacity of firms is positively related to their productivity.

Costs, quality of life and cost-effectiveness of open and arthroscopic repair for rotator cuff tears : economic evaluation alongside the UKUFF trial

FUNDING & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme (project number 05/47/02) and is published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 19, No. 80. Further information available at: http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/projects/hta/054702 This paper presents independent research commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The views and opinions expressed by authors in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NHS, the NIHR, MRC, CCF, NETSCC, the HTA programme or the Department of Health. Due to the confidential nature of the trial data supporting this publication not all of the data can be made accessible to other researchers. Please contact the UKUFF study principal investigator Andrew Carr (andrew.carr@ndorms.ox.ac.uk) for more information. The authors wish to thank the UKUFF trial collaborators for their contribution in managing the conduct of the trial, and for their comments on the interim economic results: Marion Campbell and Hannah Bruhn (Centre for Healthcare Randomised Trials, HSRU, University of Aberdeen), Jonathan Rees MD and David Beard (NDORMS, University of Oxford; NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre), Jane Moser (NDORMS, University of Oxford), Raymond Fitzpatrick and Jill Dawson (NDPH, University of Oxford).

Pulse vs. Optimal Stationary Fishing: The Northern Stock of Hake

Pulse fishing may be a global optimal strategy in multicohort fisheries. In this article we compare the pulse fishing solutions obtained by using global numerical methods with the analytical stationary optimal solution. This allows us to quantify the potential benefits associated with the use of periodic fishing in the Northern Stock of hake. Results show that: first, management plans based exclusively on traditional reference targets as Fmsy may drive fishery economic results far from the optimal; second, global optimal solutions would imply, in a cyclical manner, the closure of the fishery for some periods and third, second best stationary policies with stable employment only reduce optimal present value of discounted profit in a 2%.

Reference Points and Optimal Management in Stochastic Age-Structured Fisheries Models

The purpose of this article is to characterize dynamic optimal harvesting trajectories that maximize discounted utility assuming an age-structured population model, in the same line as Tahvonen (2009). The main novelty of our study is that uses as an age-structured population model the standard stochastic cohort framework applied in Virtual Population Analysis for fish stock assessment. This allows us to compare optimal harvesting in a discounted economic context with standard reference points used by fisheries agencies for long term management plans (e.g. Fmsy). Our main findings are the following. First, optimal steady state is characterized and sufficient conditions that guarantees its existence and uniqueness for the general case of n cohorts are shown. It is also proved that the optimal steady state coincides with the traditional target Fmsy when the utility function to be maximized is the yield and the discount rate is zero. Second, an algorithm to calculate the optimal path that easily drives the resource to the steady state is developed. And third, the algorithm is applied to the Northern Stock of hake. Results show that management plans based exclusively on traditional reference targets as Fmsy may drive fishery economic results far from the optimal.

La integración de los sistemas de gestión normalizados: estudio de caso .

[ES]Actualmente en las empresas a la preocupación por los resultados económicos se le debe sumar la preocupación por la consecución de resultados que permitan satisfacer las expectativas y necesidades de los grupos de interés o “stakeholders”. Una de las herramientas que las organizaciones emplean para ello es la utilización de los estándares de sistemas de gestión, tales como las normas ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004 y OHSAS 18001:2007. Recientemente numerosas empresas están optando por la integración de dichos sistemas con el objetivo de crear sinergias: reducir costes, eliminar duplicidades etc. En este trabajo, en primer lugar, se analizarán los diferentes modos de implantación, las motivaciones por las cuales las empresas se inclinan por la integración y las principales ventajas y dificultades de llevar a cabo tal proceso. En segundo lugar, se presentará y analizará el caso concreto de la empresa Gamesa, desde su decisión de integrar los sistemas de gestión hasta los resultados obtenidos.