1,721,007 research outputs found
Uses and Economic Value of Water in Italy: Evidence from Selected Case Studies in Italy, with a Particu-lar Focus on Irrigation, Industry and Hydropower
No full textThis chapter will outline the patterns of water use in the different sectors in parallel with the different in-stitutional and organizational settings that characterizes each management system. Collective systems of different kinds (for household supply and sanitation, for irrigation and drainage, for industry and hydro-power) compete with widespread self-supply in the same sectors, with a clearly path-dependent evolu-tion. Recent studies aimed at characterizing economic willingness to pay for water services will be re-viewed. Economic efficiency of the actual patterns of water allocation will be discussed. Environmental costs and benefits (positive and negative externalities) associated to water use and water management systems will also be analyzed particularly considering irrigation, hydropower and artificial regulation of big lakes
Italian waste in the circular economy: an agenda for industry regulators in Italy
No full textThe advent of the circular economy paradigm has definitively changed the economic nature of municipal waste management and calling for an innovative approach for its economic regulation. This paper discusses how the general framework of the theory of economic regulation of services of general economic interest can fit the MWM industry. We show that this industry exhibits specificities that require an adaptation of regulatory principles, but nonetheless cross-fertilization from the regulatory practice of other utilities is feasible. However, the recognition made shows that the applied economic research on this sector is still in its infant phase, and substantial improvements are needed in order both to understand its mechanisms from a theoretical viewpoint and to provide empirical evidence. Different from other utilities, physical network assets are less dominant and competition opportunities are larger; however, the main constraint to widespread opening of the market descends from contingent reasons determining de-facto market power, and from the superior value of service reliability and contrast to illegal operation
Servant of too many masters: Residential water pricing and the challenge of sustainability
No full textThis paper discusses the state-of-the-art of the economic debate around water pricing, focussing on residential water supply and sanitation. Water pricing lays at the crossroads of many fields of economic analysis, and may be used to address many different problems: efficient allocation of water resources, ecological sustainability, guarantee of social rights, financial viability of investments. Different problems require different approaches and solutions. Rather than a “magic stick” that solves all problems by simply “getting the price right”, water charges must be seen as one of the many levers that policymakers can use: possibly a very effective one, but keeping in mind that it cannot solve all problems at the same time. Diversely from a simplistic interpretation of mainstream economics, deeply rooted in the European water policy, full-cost recovery and economic efficiency, social and ecological sustainability are separate issues that must not be confounded. This statement leads the way to a wider and more creative use of public finance
Rare-earth elements in the circular economy: The case of yttrium
Full text linkThis paper discusses the economic rationale of recycling exhaustible raw materials and assesses how a circular economy perspective can improve the sustainable use of critical raw materials (CRMs). We use the case study of yttrium, a rare-earth element (REE) on the EU list of CRMs, given its widespread use in the electronics industry and the geopolitical concentration of its supply. Even if recycling REEs from waste electric and electronic equipment is a valid alternative to extraction from mines, as proposed by the circular economy paradigm, less than 1% of REEs used today are recycled. Nevertheless, studies on the economic benefits of recovery REEs are very limited. In this paper, we present the business case of an Italian recycling company, Relight Ltd., and its HydroWEEE project, to recycle REEs such as yttrium, from spent lamps. In environmental terms, recycling REEs has a much lower impact than their extraction from virgin source. In economic terms, it is profitable to recycle yttrium if its market price is above 14€/kg, and above 9.54€/kg taking in consideration the external costs of mining. Therefore, in 2012 and 2013, recycling was profitable thanks to the high price of yttrium, while between 2014 and 2016 recycling was not cost effctive. In these cases, policymakers must incentivize recovery and recycling solutions with appropriate policies
Il ruolo dell'analisi economica nella Direttiva 2000/60
No full textBenché dominato da obiettivi e vincoli extraeconomici, il tema della conservazione e valorizzazione della risorsa idrica, considerata soprattutto nei risvolti qualitativi e ambientali, implica un largo ruolo dell’analisi economica. Essa serve ad attribuire il valore alla risorsa,la qualità- obiettivo e gli usi da privilegiare in ogni specifico contesto, il livello e il modo ottimali degli investimenti, le tariffe di uso. La nota esamina i contenuti e le interrelazioni tra queste diverse applicazioni dell’analisi economica
Efficienza e regolamentazione nei servizi pubblici locali: il caso dell'igiene urbana
No full textIl lavoro presenta una rassegna dei principali contributi teorici ed empirici in relazione all'economia dei servizi di igiene urbana. Il lavoro çontiene inoltre unapplicazione econometrica di stima dei costi dell'igiene urbana su dati italiani
Da consorzi a parchi industriali? L’ «effetto consorzio» sulla performance delle imprese
No full textIn the recent literature, industrial parks have emerged as a potentially very important policy tool, which favours industrial development through the provision of services, consolidation of the industrial atmosphere, infrastructure and logistics, etc. In Italy, the equivalent of industrial parks are the so-called «consorzi industriali»: entities promoted by local authorities with the aim of providing convenient locations for manufacturing premises and providing infrastructure and other collective services. Our study exploits an unprecedented database, built through geo-referentiation of industrial premises which allows to distinguish those that are located in areas served by consortia. Therefore it is possible to compare the performance of the firms located in industrial parks with that of other firms at the national and regional scale. Our study suggests that this impact exists, but is very moderate; we try to interpret this result with the aim of providing insights useful for policy reform
Blended finance for the water sector: Some international experiences
No full textThis article analyzes several case studies concerning the management of drinking water and wastewater services in four countries: Portugal, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The aim is to examine the role played by certain financial and nonfinancial intermediaries as catalysts of blended finance, for managing funding within the water sector of each country considered in the analysis. The idea is to provide examples of alternative financial management in contexts where water resource management is precarious
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