Description:
This article shows a socio-technical evaluation of the Australian case which has international implications for energy policy and regulation. Australia is one of few places globally that have faced domestic PV (photovoltaic system) adoption of above 50% of feeder connections. This leads to grid issues and is an emerging issue globally. Grid issues include over-voltage, thermal overload, frequency instability and voltage instability. This paper offers a policy process to regulate PV. This research extends earlier econometric modelling of Australian PV adoption data and extends it to focus on PV regulation in low voltage grids. This paper explores five policy options to help regulate PV in low voltage grids: the role of distribution businesses, inverter regulation, PV export limits, cost reflective pricing, and storage. Policy complexity comes from the need to incorporate many stakeholder perspectives, and this research contributes to policy clarity by seeking a consensus.
Description:
Timor Leste which emerged as a sovereign nation in 2002, is one of the most oil dependent countries in the world but with limited oil reserves. In 2005 it set up a Petroleum Fund to provide a stable source of revenues for the budget over the long term and to preserve intergenerational equity. Ten years later, the petroleum fund balance fell for the first time due to falling output, lower oil prices and lower returns on investment. With its oil production expected to cease in 2023 and withdrawals from the fund far exceeding the estimated sustainable income level it is imperative that revenues are spent wisely. This study focuses on examining the pattern of oil revenue expenditures and concludes that expenditures on veterans' payments and large scale infrastructure projects have thwarted the stated aims of the fund particularly that of preserving intergenerational equity. The paper concludes by examining the policy implications of the findings. •Timor is highly dependent on oil but has limited reserves.•Withdrawals from its Petroleum Fund far exceeds its estimated sustainable income.•Veterans' payments and infrastucture projects thwarted intergenerational equity.•Changes in expenditure are needed to foster intergenerational equity.
Description:
Abstract The article analyses Kaldor's ideas on economic policy, his interest in policy issues, and his contribution on specific policies. It underlines Kaldor's strong and cogent views on: (i) monetary and fiscal policy, (ii) the control of cost inflation, and (iii) the stabilisation of commodity prices. The author suggests how Kaldor would have reacted to the most important economic policy questions that still face Britain and the European Union, thirty years after his death.
Description:
In recent years there has been increasing interest in the rise of shadow banking in China and India. In this paper, we aim to get a better understanding of the differences in trends and investigate the factors leading to the increase of shadow banking in these two major emerging economies. We find that financial exclusion is a common factor leading to the growth of shadow banking in both countries. While financial reform has taken place in India, financially repressive policies still prevail in China. Although several regulatory measures have been adopted in India and China, the size of the shadow banking sector in these two countries remains underestimated. Thus, streamlining and enhancing data collection is a key priority for both nations. We argue that regulation in both countries should be more activity focused (specific field in which a shadow bank is focused on) rather than sector or entity based, and it should be at par with banks. The shadow banks provide last mile connectivity to remote, distant, and ignored segments of the population not serviced by the formal financial sector. As this enhances financial inclusion, a balanced approach is required keeping in view both costs and benefits of the shadow banking system.
Description:
This study investigates the impact of political connections on firm efficiency as well as its mechanisms in Chinese renewable energy firms. The empirical results reveal a direct negative association between political connections and firm efficiency and an indirect correlation through political resources. The results indicate that the higher the level of political connections, the stronger the relationship between political connections and firm efficiency. Our findings also indicate that the impact of political connections is different between state-owned and non-state-owned firms. For state-owned firms, political connections are negatively correlated with firm efficiency and government subsidies are not beneficial for state-owned firms in promoting productivity. As for non-state-owned firms, there is a ‘double-edged sword’ effect of political connections on firm efficiency. On the one hand, political connections are associated with lower firm efficiency, but on the other hand, political connections can alleviate the adverse effects of financing constraints on non-state-owned firms. •Political connections and firm efficiency are negatively correlated.•Firms can benefit from political connections by obtaining more political resources.•Political connections decrease the efficiency by over-exploiting political resources.•The impacts of political connections are different between state-owned and non state-owned firms.
Description:
Government doctor absenteeism from their public posts is a sizable problem across developing economies. The consumer demand estimation for outpatient fever treatment presented in this paper investigates the interrelationship between government doctor absenteeism and the large informal healthcare sector. Using a counterfactual framework, this paper estimates treatment effect of eliminating government doctor absenteeism. The effects are measured by changes to the market share of government Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) providers and resulting own‐price elasticities of demand for government MBBS providers and unqualified providers. Modelling incorporates patients expected health outcomes by provider via the use of a qualitative measure of word‐of‐mouth recommendations. Results indicate that eliminating government MBBS provider absenteeism in North India would increase utilisation of government outpatient fever treatments from 18% to 50%.
Description:
In this paper, the hypothesis that microfinance is an effective tool for reducing poverty at the macro level is tested using a unique cross-country panel data set from 106 countries for the period 1998–2013. Taking into account the potential problem of sample selection bias and endogeneity, this paper shows that microfinance has a negative effect on poverty. The results are robust to the choice of microfinance measures and poverty indicators. They suggest that in developing and emerging countries, the establishment of more MFIs should be encouraged, and more funds should be directed from development agencies and governments into MFIs, to reduce poverty.