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Hillary Clinton und Leadership
No full textZiel des Artikels: die unterlegene Kandidatin Hillary Clinton vorstellen, genaues Augenmerk auf ihren Führungsstil und die fehlende Authentizität - Grund für die Niederlage (ich möchte keinen klein-bei-klein-Wahlkampfanalyse-Beitrag schreiben, dazu liegen die Zahlen auch noch nicht entgültig vor
Opening the black box of energy modelling: Strategies and lessons learned
No full textThe global energy system is undergoing a major transition, and in energy planning and decision-making across governments, industry and academia, models play a crucial role. Because of their policy relevance and contested nature, the transparency and open availability of energy models and data are of particular importance. Here we provide a practical how-to guide based on the collective experience of members of the Open Energy Modelling Initiative (Openmod). We discuss key steps to consider when opening code and data, including determining intellectual property ownership, choosing a licence and appropriate modelling languages, distributing code and data, and providing support and building communities. After illustrating these decisions with examples and lessons learned from the community, we conclude that even though individual researchers' choices are important, institutional changes are still also necessary for more openness and transparency in energy research
The UNGPs in the European Union: The Open Coordination of Business and Human Rights?
No full textThe article examines the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) in the European Union via National Action Plans (NAPs). We argue that some of the shortcomings currently observed in the implementation process could effectively be addressed through the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) – a governance instrument already used by the European Union (EU) in other policy domains. The article sketches out the polycentric global governance approach envisaged by the UNGPs and discusses the institutional and policy background of their implementation in the EU. It provides an assessment of EU member states’ NAPs on business and human rights, as benchmarked against international NAP guidance, before relating experiences with the existing NAP process to the policy background and rationale of the OMC and considering the conditions for employing the OMC in the business and human rights domain. Building on a recent opinion of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, the article concludes with a concrete proposal for developing an OMC on business and human rights in the EU
Trade Integration, FDI, and Productivity
No full textPolicy attitude towards trade integration and foreign direct investment (FDI) is often a controversial yet popular subject. This note presents evidences from recent policy researches that arguing that engaging in an open trade and investment regime have brought productivity gains which is key factor for sustaining increase in income per-capita. Evidence from Indonesia also suggests that foreign owned plants have become increasingly important, generating a significant share of exports and overall output, as well as more productive and more export intensive than domestic plants, and to spend more on RD and training. FDI also have positive impact on firms in the same sector, through competition and demonstration effects, and in upstream sectors, as suppliers to foreign-owned plants improve the quality of their own products to meet their clients more exacting needs. Evidence also suggests a positive impact from import competition in improving allocative efficiency across manufacturing plants which is a key element in driving productivity in manufacturing sector
Productivity Performance in Indonesia's Manufacturing Sector
No full textRelying on firm-level data from Statistik Industri this note analyzes the evolution of productivity dynamics of Indonesian firms over the past 20 years (1990-2009). Economy-wide and sectoral productivity changes are decomposed into their two main components: changes due to the evolution of average productivity and changes due to 'allocative efficiency'. This decomposition shows that while during the 20 years both components have increased, the changes in allocative efficiency have been mainly driven by average productivity growth and less by increases in allocative efficiency, even if the latter has also improved during the period under analysis. Interestingly, the note shows that both average Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth and allocative efficiency improvements are especially driven by a few sectors: electronics, machinery and instruments, and textiles, clothing and footwear. Limited improvements in both allocative efficiency and average TFP have occurred instead in natural-resource-based sectors, sectors characterized by more limited competition and higher rents. This note emphasizes the importance of 'allocative efficiency' for productivity evolution because, in a context where firms are very different in their productivity, it becomes crucial how resources are allocated in the economy. This series of policy notes suggests that regulatory reforms, exposure to foreign competition and access to imported intermediate inputs are important determinants of allocative efficiency. The problem of a 'missing middle' is closely related to that of sub-optimal allocation of resources across firms: a strong feature of Indonesian firm-size distribution. Going further, the note suggests that burdensome regulations and imperfect financial markets are two important causes of this missing middle. To complement the focus on productivity, the note also analyzes firm-level job dynamics and points to the crucial role of 'start-ups' and new companies as a key driver of job creation. This finding suggests that the focus of policymakers on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) may be misplaced and that this focus should start realigning towards supporting more dynamic 'start-ups' rather than SMEs
Micro-level analysis of Mexican retail markets and their response to changes in market structure and competition policies
No full textThis paper develops the following price indicators to measure the relative efficiency (functioning) of markets: (a) price dispersion, (b) price volatility, and (c) price transmission (speed, completeness, and symmetry). The paper uses these indicators to study trends and conditions of the outlet level in retail prices for common commodities sold throughout Mexico. The analysis examines price patterns for each indicator across commodities, regions, and time. The descriptive results indicate that although there is (expected) heterogeneity in the behavior of these indicators across commodities, location variables explain the most variation in the indicators. There are clear and persistent regional- and commodity-specific effects. Thus, the study concludes that Mexico is not one, well-integrated national market. The study tested whether changes in these indicators (increased efficiency) have the expected correlation with measures affecting the functioning of markets. It considered changes in competition and entry of large retail stores in the local retail market. These changes affect market efficiency in the way theory would predict. The results suggest that these indicators are good measures of the relative efficiency (functioning) of markets. The findings also suggest that efforts to monitor markets using these indicators may be useful. For example, for policy makers who are concerned about the distributional effects of liberalizing trade, the indicators may predict where price impacts will be felt the most and by whom. In addition, the indicators provide preliminary information about relative competition levels, which may be helpful in saving the time and effort of the competition authorities and possibly making them more effective
The Rationality Paradox of Nudge: Rational Tools of Government in a World of Bounded Rationality
No full textNudge and the wider behavioral economics approach has become increasingly dominant in contemporary political and policy discourse. While much attention has been paid to the attractions and criticisms of nudge (such as liberal paternalism), this article argues that nudge is based on a rationality paradox in that it represents an approach that despite its emphasis on bounded rationality, does not reflect on its own limits to rationality. The article considers the implications of this paradox by considering mechanisms that influence government decision making and mechanisms that lead to unintended consequences in the context of policy interventions
Family Firms and Contractual Institutions
No full textThis paper offers new evidence on the relationship between contractual institutions, family management, and aggregate performance. The study creates a new firm-level database on management and ownership structures spanning 134 regions in 11 European countries. To guide the empirical analysis, it develops a model of industry equilibrium in which heterogeneous firms decide between family and professional management when the latter are subject to contracting frictions. The paper tests the model's predictions using regional variation in trust within countries. Consistent with the model, the finding show that there is sorting of firms across management modes, in which smaller firms and those in regions with worse contracting environments are more likely to be family managed. These firms are on average 25 percent less productive than professionally managed firms, and moving from the country with the least reliable contracting environment to the most increases total factor productivity by 21.6 percent. Family management rather than ownership drives these results
Flexible power and hydrogen production: Finding synergy between CCS and variable renewables
No full textThe expansion of wind and solar power is creating a growing need for power system flexibility. Dispatchable power plants with CO2 capture and storage (CCS) offer flexibility with low CO2 emissions, but these plants become uneconomical at the low running hours implied by renewables-based power systems. To address this challenge, the novel gas switching reforming (GSR) plant was recently proposed. GSR can alternate between electricity and hydrogen production from natural gas, offering flexibility to the power system without reducing the utilization rate of the capital stock embodied in CCS infrastructure. This study assesses the interplay between GSR and variable renewables using a power system model, which optimizes investment and hourly dispatch of 13 different technologies. Results show that GSR brings substantial benefits relative to conventional CCS. At a CO2 price of €100/ton, inclusion of GSR increases the optimal wind and solar share by 50%, lowers total system costs by 8%, and reduces system emissions from 45 to 4 kgCO2/MWh. In addition, GSR produces clean hydrogen equivalent to about 90% of total electricity demand, which can be used to decarbonize transport and industry. GSR could therefore become a key enabling technology for a decarbonization effort led by wind and solar power