1,721,151 research outputs found
Systemic Input-Output Computation of Green and Blue Virtual Water 'Flows' - With an illustration for the Mediterranean region
No full textThe term virtual water refers to the volume of water used in the production of a commodity or service. Accordingly, virtual water 'trade' is the amount of water 'embedded' in commodities being transferred from one place to another as a consequence of trade. This paper argues that the conventional methods so far adopted for the computation of virtual water 'flows' (based on Hoekstra and Hung, 2002) have considered only direct water usage and not sufficiently distinguished between blue and green water resources. This has brought about flawed estimates of virtual water 'flows', thereby limiting the usefulness of the virtual water concept as a tool for informing water policy. A novel approach for computing virtual water 'flows' which applies the Input- Output (IO) methodology to account for both direct and indirect water consumption, and simultaneously distinguishes between the different typologies of water, is presented. The study upholds that the integration of these two methods can not only provide a more robust framework for quantifying virtual water 'flows', but also enhance the relevance of the concept as a tool for water resource management policy. The implications of these alternative estimation methods are here illustrated using data referring to 11 Mediterranean economies and 7 internationally traded agricultural commodities
A General Equilibrium Analysis of Climate Change Impacts on Tourism
Full text linkThis paper studies the economic implications of climate-change-induced variations in tourism demand, using a world CGE model. The model is first re-calibrated at some future years, obtaining hypothetical benchmark equilibria, which are subsequently perturbed by shocks, simulating the effects of climate change. We portray the impact of climate change on tourism by means of two sets of shocks, occurring simultaneously. The first shocks translate predicted variations in tourist flows into changes of consumption preferences for domestically produced goods. The second shocks reallocate income across world regions, simulating the effect of higher or lower tourists' expenditure. Our analysis highlights that variations in tourist flows will affect regional economies in a way that is directly related to the sign and magnitude of flow variations. At a global scale, climate change will ultimately lead to a welfare loss, unevenly spread across regions
The transition to the Green Economy in the Mediterranean region: water demand management strategies and market efficiency
No full textThis study explores the role that water demand management (WDM) in agriculture can play in the transition to the Green Economy in the arid and semi-arid Mediter- ranean region. In particular, it will investigate the potential for WDM strategies to contribute to the development of green economies, through the adoption of demand-regulating market mechanisms and improvements in water use efficien- cy. The study argues that, first, for the aim of achieving optimal solutions, it is paramount to ensure the alignment between individual and collective interests by means of the enhanced capacity of markets to convey signals of the relative scarcity of different resources. The extent to which water price/cost reflects relative water scarcity has a great potential to influence actual performances in agriculture and to discourage unsustainable water use. Second, the study suggests that, while there is large scope for improving overall water use efficiency in both irrigated and rain- fed agriculture, the greatest potential lies in upgrading rain-fed crop production, which supports the largest share of food production globally. Finally, it is argued that institutional capacity-building can be regarded as a fundamental prerequisite of the whole transition to the Green Economy; but that socio-political imperatives and circumstances determine which options are available to local decision makers
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
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