NSBE - Economics
URI permanente para esta coleção:
Navegar
Entradas recentes
- A green future for European electricity? Energy sources, policies and further determinants of the household price of electricityPublication . Themann, Michael; Cunha-e-Sá, Maria Antonieta; Rodrigues, Paulo Manuel MarquesThere is a controversial debate on how the transition towards electricity generation from re-newable energy sources (RES-E) affects European electricity markets in terms of prices and market efficiency. This thesis contributes to this debate by providing the first panel economet-ric analysis of how both different sources of electricity generation and electricity market poli-cies impact on the household price of electricity. Based on a sample of 29 European countries (EU-27 and two more), it finds that electricity production from combustible sources, natural gas, hydro and wind for the time span of 1991-2007 had a significant price lowering effect (ceteris paribus, on average). In contrast to that, results for the time span of 2004-2007 suggest that RES-E had a price increasing effect which can be related to its rapid growth in the 2000s. Results also suggest that Feed-in-Tariffs, regulatory reforms and the European emission trad-ing scheme play an important role, but their impact depends on country specific characteris-tics. The latter seem to be an important factor in determining the level of prices.
- Oil, foreign aid and FDI flows: The missing link?Publication . Ricardo, Duarte Jorge Portela; Vicente, PedroThis paper studies the possible strategic use of foreign aid to get preferential access to oil. Furthermore, it also addresses the role of oil as a determinant factor for the allocation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Using a panel data set of 48 oil producing countries for a period of 30 years, ranging from 1980 to 2010, it was found that, not only is oil a key factor for the determination of foreign aid and FDI, but also that there is a clear distinction between the importance conceived by donor and/or investing countries in their current and future level of oil dependence.
- Hospital costs and random demandPublication . Rodrigues, Francisco Cluny Parreira; Barros, Pedro PitaThis research note’s primary objective is to assert for the impact of random demand for emergencies in Portuguese hospital costs. In order to do so, three different estimation methods are applied: Pooled OLS, Fixed-effects and Stochastic Frontier Analysis. Some conclusions of this note point out that dispersion measures of demand for emergencies are not significant in explaining total costs for the preferred models. Moreover, following Battese and Corra (1977), 58% of the total variance of the disturbance is due to the inefficiency term. Finally, predicting Coelli’s cost efficiency (1996), Portuguese hospitals have shown not to be far from the efficiency frontier.
- Determinants of venture capital and private equity investments in renewable energy: a cross-country studyPublication . Mumelter, Nadja; Cunha-e-Sá, Maria Antonieta; Rodrigues, Paulo Manuel MarquesThis paper conducts the first econometric analysis of determinants of greentech venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) investments into renewable energy technology. Renewables are an industry which is still in development. The underlying technologies need to mature to eventually benefit from cost savings due to scale and learning effects. The required funding for energy technology is mainly provided by VC and PE investors. The results suggest that the investment volume can be further increased, if governments ensure a stable investment process from the entrance (eased by a solid R&D base which is funded by governments) to the exit (facilitated by ensuring a stable demand, for example through a CO2 tax or cap). The study further found, that investors are more concerned about the economic situation at the time of disinvestment, rather than the current state. Empirical evidence shows that the growth rate of the real interest rate, the oil price growth and population growth are significant indicators for investment volumes and stable across different setups, while the absolute value is not always.
- The influence of traditional authority on voting behavior in MozambiquePublication . Morgado, João Leonel Antunes; Vicente, PedroLocal elites in developing African countries, the so-called Traditional Authorities, still hold considerable power over rural communities, namely they are likely to have a decisive influence on their voting behavior. This study measures this influence using data collected through a field experiment for Aker, Collier and Vicente (2011) during the Mozambican elections of 2009 in 161 locations. The results obtained point to a positive correlation between a set of indicators of the power of Traditional Authorities and both voter turnout and the vote for Frelimo, the incumbent.
- Institutions and firm formation: an empirical analysis of Portuguese municipalitiesPublication . Arouca, Simão Perestrello de Vasconcelos; Tavares, JoséThe uneven spatial distribution of start-ups observed for Portugal from 2003 to 2009 suggests that local attributes, among which the quality of municipal institutions and their respective governance, impact the entrepreneurial process. Through the usage of a fixed effects negative binomial model, this thesis examines the role of municipalities in stimulating firm births, finding both the development of business-related infrastructures and the signals stemming from sound financial management to be the most relevant determinants. While some significance, although conditional, can be assigned to fast-paced licensing and EU structural funding, political right-left preferences appear to exert a negligible influence.
- Obesity and socioeconomic gradientPublication . David, Constança Youd; Barros, Pedro PitaThis work project studies the determinants of body weight for Portuguese population with special incidence in the socioeconomic dimension through a comparison between 2006 and 2012. More specifically how is body weight influenced by a set of socioeconomic variables that may vary throughout the years. In other words, we set out to understand if socioeconomic status (SES) is a real contributor regarding weight. This study entails a thorough analysis of these variables with the intention of understand which of them remain significant and have real impact on the weight of a human body. Literature points to a confirmation of this real impact of SES status in the body weight and, according to our results, income represents the strongest variable to explain changes in human body weight, coinciding with previous findings. In quantitative terms, an increase of 250€ in the household net income for 2012 is translated into an increase of 0.272 in the BMI. Data used was provided by National Health Institute (INSA) along with National Institute of Statistics (INE) and also collected through a survey.
- An RBC model with a rich fiscal sectorPublication . Almeida, Sara Cristina Cantarino Valente de; Azevedo, João Valle eContributing to the general understanding of fiscal policy e ectiveness, this study consists in the reformulation and estimation of the DSGE model developed in Azevedo and Ercolani (2012), to measure the potential relations between the private sector and the consumption and investment components of government expenditures. The estimation results show that public consumption and capital have both a substitutability e ect on private factors. For the study of the dynamic e ects, the model is augmented with strict fiscal rules, whose imposition creates a "crowding-out" e ect of the simulated fiscal policy shocks on government consumption and investment.
- The impact of early retirement reform on firms’ employment adjustmentPublication . Alecci, Andrea; Portugal, PedroFacing low participation rates of old workers and an increase in life ex- pectancy, in the last two decades many developed countries have reformed their social security systems to improve their long-term financial sustainability. In Europe, the starting point for the policy maker has been the increase in the statutory retirement age and the gradual phase-out of early retirement schemes. Against the common trend, the Portuguese legislator approved in 1999 an early retirement reform, allowing older workers to exibilize their retirment decision. In this paper I analyze the e¤ects of the 1999 reform on the retirement decision of the workers and the firms' employment adjustment. I find that after the reform workers retire earlier, and that the reform resulted in a job destruction process as firms do not replace old workers with young and prime age ones. I conclude that the reform failed to stimulate young employment and by allowing workers to retire earlier posed risks to the long-term sustainability of the Portuguese social security system.
- Policies, policy-makers and financial flows: An empirical examinationPublication . Costa, Diogo Freitas Lopes Pereira da; Tavares, JoséThis paper examines the response of international investors to country fiscal outcomes and the dynamics of this response according to the type of government that is in power. The issue is examined with a model that has been estimated using data from 22 OECD countries for the period of 1998 through 2008. International financial flows are highly heterogeneous and this paper finds different effects depending on the type of flow. The results of this paper suggest that an increase in government expenses increase the level of FDI and an increase in government revenues decrease the level of FDI. The evidence produced in the model also suggests that Majority governments have a negative impact on the level of the three types of capital flows.