1,720,991 research outputs found
New regulatory policies in Italy: Impact on financial results, on liquidity and profitability of natural gas retail companies
No full textDuring the three-year period 2007-2009, the Italian Regulatory Authority for Electricity and Gas has issued numerous measures concerning the retail market of natural gas. The same period was characterized by a deep economic and financial crisis involving the industrial sector and, in particular, the energy companies. This paper aims to analyse the combined effect of the new regulatory measures and of the economic crisis on the business performance of natural gas retail companies. To that aim, the balance sheets were analysed for a sample of 111 companies and the profitability, financial and liquidity indicators were calculated. A cluster analysis was then performed utilising the most important performance indexes. The firms within each cluster were analysed with respect to the main company characteristics
A cluster analysis study based on profitability and financial indicators in the Italian gas retail market
No full textIn the European Union, the natural gas market is increasingly being liberalized. The liberalization process is aimed at leading to lower prices and higher volumes, and hence higher consumer welfare.
This paper focuses on the changes in performance in the natural gas retail market by analyzing the profit and financial position of the companies concerned over the first three years following the market liberalization. The balance sheets of 105 Italian companies in this sector are analyzed, after which a cluster analysis is performed employing the most significant performance indexes. The companies are then analyzed within each cluster with respect to age, size, geographical location and business diversification.
The results of our analysis show that the majority of companies attained a high level of performance, although this positive outcome was mitigated by the gradual decrease of the average values of performance indicators during the period concerned. The companies that achieve the best performances belong to longstanding business groups, are medium-large sized and are located in the north of the country. Regarding business diversification, in the first two years, the specialised companies outperformed the diversified companies
The Evolution of the Natural Gas Supply in Italy: From the Virtual Trading Point to the Gas Exchange
No full textAbstractGeographically Italy is at the center of the gas supply network from North Africa, Northern Europe, Russia and, in the future, from the Caucasus, making it a strategic point for the stability and security of the gas supply for the entire European Union. Over the last decade the supply of natural gas has changed since the liberalization of the sector led to the creation of a Virtual Trading Point and later to the Gas Exchange in order to guarantee citizens the right to a secure and reasonably priced energy supply. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the evolution of the liberalization of the natural gas sector to observe the results 12 years after the process began and to assess the potential arising from the opening of the Gas Exchange
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
E-distinctivity parameter to evaluate an e-business idea
No full textThis paper presents a new metrics that aims to quantitatively support the selection phase of a new e-business idea by performing on evaluation of its distinctivity in the actual e-business arena. The paper explains the reasons for the creation of a new parameter, called "E-distinctivity", the identification of the metrics to evaluate it and presents the results of its evaluation oil a set of successful e-business ventures and Oil interpretation of their meaning. This new parameter aims to integrate the traditional business analysis through the identification of new useful measures that are specific to the e-business field. In order to visualize the new "E-distinctivity" parameter and to execute all the needed evaluations a two dimensional radar has been created "ad hoc". The radar is built on eight crucial characteristics divided into four principal zones representing the strategic aspects of the E-ditinctivity This was made in order to represent the results towards a two dimensional drawing that will be simpler to understand. In order to assess the soundness of the identified parameter its evaluation oil a reference group of well known e-business ventures has been performed. All the components the enterprise reference group are examples of succesful implementation of e-business ideas. At the end of the paper we finally discuss the results and underline the advantages of this methodology
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