Current Price Level Research Articles

Factors affecting the costs of broiler chicken production in light of urgent international variables

The study aims to analyze the costs of broiler chicken production in the Fayoum governorate, and in particular the effects that the Russia–Ukraine war has had on production costs. The results indicate increased production costs due to the war and a decreased net return for the three production capacities and the sample average: the return index on invested dollars before the war was 0.71, 0.89, 1.0, and 0.87, respectively; however, this decreased after the war to 0.35, 0.53, 0.66, and 0.51, respectively. The war has led to an increase of 43.93% in the minimum price as the production costs have risen. The value of the price elasticity of supply was about 0.233 at the minimum price and 0.041 at the current price level. If the prevailing price increases by 10% to become $2.13 thousand per ton, the price elasticity of supply becomes about 0.037. The study recommends producing cheap, high-quality, non-traditional feed and focusing on small production capacities. It also suggests integrating and developing them to increase profits. KEYWORDS capacity savings, cost functions, economic efficiency, equivalence price, quantitative equivalence, supply function

SYSTEM OF COST INDICATORS FOR ANALOGOUS OBJECTS

The military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine has resulted in a significant number of damaged and destroyed buildings and structures. The challenge of determining the extent of material losses and damage, within tight timelines and under the conditions of active combat in the country, becomes more pressing than ever. To restore normal life in areas that were under occupation or in conflict zones, a series of tasks must be undertaken, including the initial assessment of the extent of destruction, conducting surveys of damaged buildings, and subsequently determining the corresponding requirements for the restoration of real estate. The purpose of the work. To demonstrate the feasibility and appropriateness of applying the Handbook System of cost indicators for analogous objects to determine the reproduction cost (replacement) of objects, with the aim of assessing damages and determining the needs for the restoration of real estate. The Handbook System of cost indicators is developed based on actual cost indicators of analogous objects and consolidated cost estimates or consolidated indicators of construction costs (types of work, structural elements, etc.), adjusted to current price levels. This involves analyzing all possible sources containing accumulated cost information from project and estimate documentation, determining necessary corrective coefficients, and developing models to ascertain the cost of all types of real estate, including specialized properties. Methodology. The statistical analysis methodology was employed, specifically using the method of grouping and consolidating indicators to assess the costs of restoring residential real estate in one of the districts of Dnipro city. This involves the application of the developed Handbook System of cost indicators for analogous objects, determining the structure of the real estate object as a construction object in a two-dimensional system of physical/cost indicators. Scientific novelty. A model for determining restoration costs using the Handbook System of cost indicators for analogous objects has been developed and implemented in the Sobornyi district of Dnipro city. Practical significance. The determination of the structure of any real estate object in the system of physical/cost indicators, based on the results of using the Handbook System of cost indicators for analogous objects, addresses a range of crucial economic, managerial, and legal issues. Specifically, it opens the way for the application of rapid screening of investment projects, assessment of actual damages, standardized and analytical damage assessments. This contributes to making effective managerial decisions in the country's recovery process, ensuring the efficient use of resources in society, and can be applied for other purposes in case of open access to this information, following the experience of leading countries worldwide. Results. A Handbook System of cost indicators for analogous objects has been developed and tested to determine the reproduction cost (replacement) of objects, aiming to assess damages and needs for the restoration of real estate. The results obtained from testing the Handbook System provide grounds for practical application, enabling the acquisition of logically comprehensible outcomes. It can be implemented not only for determining the needs for the restoration of real estate and assessing damages but also for various other purposes.

Risk management through financial hedging in inventory systems with stochastic price processes

We consider the financial hedging problem of a firm whose operational cash flow from its inventory operation is affected by both price and demand uncertainties. We assume that selling prices and demand arrival process are governed by an exogenous continuous stochastic price process which is assumed to be correlated with prices of various products in financial markets. During the selling horizon, the firm dynamically invests in a financial portfolio of these products to manage its exposure to price and demand risks by observing the current inventory and price levels. We explore the problem in a minimum-variance framework where we look for the variance-minimizing financial hedge for a given operational policy and a martingale price process. The framework leads to explicit results for the optimal static and dynamic financial hedges in single-period problems with complicated within-period dynamics. We also obtain characterizations of optimal dynamic hedges for multi-period problems using dynamic programming. We explore the risk reduction effects of minimum-variance financial hedges through numerical examples and show that significant risk reductions may be possible by using the right hedge.

Investment feasibilities of CCUS technology retrofitting China's coal chemical enterprises with different CO2 geological sequestration and utilization approaches

CO2 capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology provides an efficient alternative for decarbonizing the coal chemical industry under China's carbon neutrality goal. However, uncertainties such as geological conditions, technology level, carbon markets, subsidy policies, etc., will greatly affect investor confidence in the CCUS applicability in this industry. This study develops a trinomial tree real options based CCUS investment decision model to explore CCUS investment feasibilities for China's coal chemical enterprises with different CO2 geological sequestration and utilization approaches, i.e., CO2 enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) projects, CO2 enhanced coalbed methane (CO2-ECBM) projects, and deep saline aquifer (DSA) projects. The findings show that 1) CO2-ECBM projects have a larger investment benefit compared to CO2-EOR and DSA projects, with a critical coalbed methane (CBM) price for the immediate investment of 1.3 CNY/m³ under the current technology and carbon price level. 2) CO2-EOR projects are immediately investable at a critical oil price of 200 CNY/BBL; DSA projects require the execution of a delayed option with a critical carbon price of 361.8 CNY/t. 3) Provincial investment benefits vary substantially depending on CO2 transport distance and product revenue, particularly for CO2-ECBM projects in Henan and Guizhou, which have significant investment benefits due to high local CBM prices and short CO2 transport distances.

Adopting occupancy-based HVAC controls in commercial building energy codes: Analysis of cost-effectiveness and decarbonization potential

Recent research has shown the energy-saving potential of occupancy-based HVAC controls (OBCs) in commercial buildings. However, building energy codes have not fully adopted this technology. This study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and decarbonization benefits of OBCs and provide guidance for integrating occupancy sensors into building energy code development. To this end, a parametric simulation using EnergyPlus and a nationwide cost-effectiveness analysis are carried out considering three building types and 40 representative cities in the U.S. The findings reveal that the current cost-effectiveness performance of OBCs is limited due to the high cost of occupancy sensors. However, incorporating the societal cost of carbon factor in future energy and environmental policy could greatly enhance the actual cost-effectiveness performance. Besides, a reduction in the cost of occupancy sensors to approximately 60% of the current price level could also greatly shorten the discounted payback period of OBCs. Additionally, OBCs demonstrate significant potential in building decarbonization, with potential CO2 emissions savings of more than 5.56 million metric tons across the three building types and 40 selected cities. Finally, policy implications are provided to guide the incorporation of occupancy-based HVAC controls in future energy codes.

DO GROSS NATIONAL SAVINGS AND GROSS CAPITAL FORMATION CONTRIBUTE TO OMAN’S ECONOMIC GROWTH? AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

The purpose is to examine the long-term relationship & cointegration among gross domestic product (GDP), gross capital formation (GFC), and gross national savings (GNS) at the current price level in Oman. The study has taken secondary data from the last 10 years (2010–2021). The study design is longitudinal. The studies applied the correlogram test to check whether the series are stationary or not. and also, the Granger causality test to find the direction of the GDP, GFC, and GNS. This study further used the Eagle Granger residual-based cointegration test and DOLS approaches to identify the long-run cointegration between GDP and its independent variable. With the application of the correlogram test, it has been found that GDP and GFC are stationary at their current levels, whereas GNS is stationary at the first difference. The study reported that there is no significant relationship between saving, capital formation, and economic growth at current prices. However, the finding also that there is no long-run cointegration between GDP at current prices and GNS and GFC. As the study is based on the current price which affects nominal GDP, not real GDP. It has been suggested to increase the saving to achieve a constant growth rate.

Cost-Utility Comparison of Bevacizumab and Aflibercept in the Treatment of Central or Hemiretinal Vein Occlusion in the SCORE2 Trial

Retinal vein occlusion is the second most common retinal vascular disease. Bevacizumab was demonstrated in the Study of Comparative Treatments for Retinal Vein Occlusion 2 (SCORE2) to be noninferior to aflibercept with respect to visual acuity in study participants with macular edema due to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) or hemiretinal vein occlusion (HRVO) following 6 months of therapy. In this study, the cost-utility of bevacizumab vs aflibercept for treatment of CRVO is evaluated. To investigate the relative cost-effectiveness of bevacizumab vs aflibercept for treatment of macular edema associated with CRVO or HRVO. This economic evaluation study used a microsimulation cohort of patients with clinical and demographic characteristics similar to those of SCORE2 participants and a Markov process. Parameters were estimated and validated using a split-sample approach of the SCORE2 population. The simulated cohort included 5000 patients who were evaluated 100 times, each with a different set of characteristics randomly selected based on the SCORE2 trial. SCORE2 data were collected from September 2014 October 2019, and data were analyzed from October 2019 to July 2021. Bevacizumab (followed by aflibercept among patients with a protocol-defined poor or marginal response to bevacizumab at month 6) vs aflibercept (followed by a dexamethasone implant among patients with a protocol-defined poor or marginal response to aflibercept at month 6). Incremental cost-utility ratio. The simulation demonstrated that patients treated with aflibercept will have an expected cost $18 127 greater than those treated with bevacizumab in the year following initiation. When coupled with the lack of clinical superiority over bevacizumab (ie, patients treated with bevacizumab had a gain over aflibercept in visual acuity letter score of 4 in the treated eye and 2 in the fellow eye), these results demonstrate that first-line treatment with bevacizumab dominated aflibercept in the simulated cohort of SCORE2 participants. At current price levels, aflibercept would be considered the preferred cost-effective option only if treatment restored the patient to nearly perfect health. While there will be some patients with CRVO-associated or HRVO-associated macular edema who will benefit from first-line treatment with aflibercept rather than bevacizumab, given the minimal differences in visual acuity outcomes and large cost differences for bevacizumab vs aflibercept, first-line treatment with bevacizumab is cost-effective for this condition.

The real estate market in Ghana: the nexus between price and income levels

PurposeThis study aimed to identify the link between the income levels of government workers and the prices of real estate houses in Ghana to identify the prevailing mortgage gaps and to stimulate both reactive and proactive government policies backed by continuous stakeholder engagements under the new normal.Design/methodology/approachThe quantitative approach was used for this study. Two data collection methods were used to achieve the objectives of the study: the survey method, using a questionnaire to collect the primary data, and the use of documentary information as the source of secondary data. For the primary data, prices of two-bedroom and three-bedroom houses were collected. The secondary data collected were: (1) salary levels of government employees and (2) mortgage values prevailing. The three data sets were analysed and structured to identify the relationship between income levels and the prices of real estate houses within the prevailing mortgage system.FindingsIt will require a quadrupling of the salaries of only the highest income earners of government employees to afford the average price of a basic two-bedroom and three-bedroom housing in Ghana. Largely, government employees cannot afford these houses with the current price levels and the mortgage systems available. The real estate market in Ghana has not focused on lower-earning groups. The effects of the new normal resulting from the effects of Covid-19 require a paradigm change.Originality/valueThe paper established the relationship between salary levels of government employees and the process of basic accommodation types on offer in the Ghanaian market by the real estate industry: two- and three-bedroom houses. The findings will help real estate developers to consider their approach to housing designs and construction methods and the pricing to ensure that they meet the needs of the public sector workers who could form a large customer base.

From carbon polygon to carbon farm: The potential and ways of developing the sequestration carbon industry in the Leningrad Region and St Petersburg

Climate change is one of the most important global problems of the 21st century. The territory of Russia is located in an area of significant observed and forecasted climate change. Achieving Russia's carbon neutrality by 2060 requires the development of a national system for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions and uptake. To achieve this goal, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education launched a pilot programme to create a national network of carbon polygons. St Petersburg State University together with Voeikov Main Geophysical Observatory created the concept of Ladoga carbon polygon focusing the study the greenhouse gas absorption (or sequestration) potential of forest ecosystems typical for Northwest Russia. The evolution of this project assumes the establishment of a forest carbon farm (nature-based solutions). Based on the assumption that the territories of forest areas that were previously part of the state agricultural lands of the Leningrad region can be used for carbon farms (afforestation, enhanced carbon uptake by changing land use), an estimate of CO2 absorption has been made. For the total area of forest carbon farms of 677.9 · 103 ha, it was evaluated of 3700 ± 1900 kt CO2/year or (1000 ± 520) ·106kg С/ year. It is shown that the CO2 absorption of such carbon farms can offset up to 20 % of the total CO2 emission of the Leningrad Region and not more than 8 % of the total CO2 emission for the combined region consisting of Leningrad Region and St Petersburg. The economic effect of the operation of forest carbon farms can only be achieved in the long term. At the current price level per tonne of CO2 (35 USD/(t CO2 )), a 1 hectare of forest carbon farm would yield an income of 9500 USD over a 75-year lifetime. This determines the economic feasibility of creating carbon farms, which is also due to the potential for the production of carbon units based on them, which will either be traded on carbon exchanges or be taken into account as the results of activities aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

Credible Cost Formation of a Construction Investment Project at the Stage of Design Documentation Development

Introduction. The credible cost formation mechanism of a construction investment project’s life cycle stages is considered. The cost of the project depends on diverse components: the duly designed project, the cost calculation method, the choice of suppliers and contractors, the construction time frame, etc. All calculations are based on the estimated cost of the project made at the design stage.Materials and methods. Transition to the input costing method turns to be an advancement in determining the estimated cost of construction at the design stage. The main problem here is the lack of a unified database providing the data on the cost of resources at the current price level for each region. The proposed solution is transferring the functions of replenishing the Federal State Information System of Pricing in Construction (ФГИС ЦС) database from the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation to the regions of Russia.Results. The transition to the input costing method will allow the regions to hold the information on the credible estimated cost of facilities planned to be built in the forthcoming years. The increasing amount of standard design projects will enable solving a number of cost management issues at the design stage. The projects that proved to be successful can be reused many times because all possible errors were debugged, the proposed solutions were tested on the facilities already built. The use of the standard design projects will allow to prepare and verify the project design documentation quicker. The time assigned for designing will reduce and no additional questions will arise in the process of construction. The application of information modeling technologies fosters the projects’ quality enhancement.Discussion and conclusion. The mechanisms proposed by the authors will enable projects’ quality enhancement, reduce the cost and timing of design works, as well as make it possible to determine the credible cost of construction at the design stage, which is the basis for determining the volume of investment and calculating the cost of a facility at the stages of planning and implementation of the project.

Techno-Economic Analysis of Fluidized Bed Combustion of a Mixed Fuel from Sewage and Paper Mill Sludge

The treatment and disposal of sewage sludge is one of the most important and critical issues of wastewater treatment plants. One option for sludge liquidation is the production of fuel in the form of pellets from mixed sewage and paper mill sludge. This study presents the results of the combustion of pelletized fuels, namely sewage and paper mill sludge, and their 2:1 and 4:1 blends in a fluidized bed combustor. The flue gas was analysed after reaching a steady state at bed temperatures of 700–800 °C. Commonly used flue gas cleaning is still necessary, especially for SO2; therefore, it is worth mentioning that the addition of paper mill sludge reduced the mercury concentration in the flue gas to limits acceptable in most EU countries. The analysis of ash after combustion showed that magnesium, potassium, calcium, chromium, copper, zinc, arsenic, and lead remained mostly in the ash after combustion, while all cadmium from all fuels used was transferred into the flue gas together with a substantial part of chlorine and mercury. The pellets containing both sewage and paper mill sludge can be used as an environmentally friendly alternative fuel for fluidised bed combustion. The levelized cost of this alternative fuel is at the same current price level as lignite.

A Comparison Study of Doctor-Patient Internet Interactions in Traditional and Modern Medicine: Empirical Evidence from Online Healthcare Communities

Online healthcare platforms serve not just as a medical knowledge-sharing community but also bring about effective interactions between professional physicians and patients. However, it is unclear whether online technology adoption affects such interactions in the same way between traditional Chinese medicine and modern medical departments. By utilizing a large sample of online doctor-patient interaction information from 168,870 doctor-specific interactive webpages recorded in a famous Chinese online healthcare community, this paper studies the differences between 17,513 traditional medicine doctor homepages and 151,357 others from more than 100 different specialty areas. Our chosen platform is representative since it covers about 800,000 physicians working at over 10,000 hospitals across all major provincial regions in China. We document that online medical service users tend to accept and use online health care services. However, patients seeing Chinese medicine doctors exhibit the following unique characteristics. They still prefer choosing doctors according to third-party information and may be reluctant to pay for the current online service price level. This problem is hard to overcome by the platform in the short run. Patients need a long-term process to adapt to the upgraded medical environment gradually. Therefore, establishing a personalized doctor recommendation system has become the most urgent demand presently.

Profitability ratios of the world's leading publicly traded oil and gas corporations as an indicator of the investment attractiveness of domestic vertically integrated oil and gas companies

Subject. The article focuses on the key profitability ratios of twenty five leading publicly traded oil and gas companies from 2006 through 2018. The analysis encompasses ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum, Devon Energy, Anadarko Petroleum, EOG Resources, Apache, Marathon Oil, Imperial Oil, Suncor Energy, Husky Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, TOTAL, Eni, Equinor (Statoil), PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC, Petrobras, PAO Gazprom, PAO NK Rosneft, and PAO LUKOIL. Objectives. The aim of the study is to trace key trends in key profitability ratios of corporations in the oil and gas industry, to identify the key trends in their change within the studied period, and to establish those factors that led to this transformation. Methods. The study is based on methods of comparative and financial-economic analysis, summarizing financial reporting data. Results. I determined the dynamics of changes in key profitability indicators in the stock market sector of the industry and established the main factors that contributed to this transformation, based on the results of a comprehensive analysis of balance sheets of 25 oil and gas companies. I revealed a decrease in the profitability of the leading publicly traded oil and gas companies within the studied period, which was especially clearly manifested in the midst of the global financial and industry crises. The most difficult situation is observed in a number of independent US companies. The main reason for the drop in the profitability of the stock market sector of the industry is that the costs of core activities outstrip the corresponding revenue in terms of growth, mainly due to the costs of depreciation, depletion, and amortization. Another important factor was a significant increase in the book value of non-current assets. The study unveils that the specific burden of income tax per unit of net revenue from core activities is gradually decreasing in the stock market sector of the oil and gas industry. Conclusions. The profitability of the oil and gas stock market sector is deteriorating, however, the current price level allows the leading companies to generate net income.

From Dynamics to Novelty: An Agent-Based Model of the Economic System.

The modern economy is both a complex self-organizing system and an innovative, evolving one. Contemporary theory, however, treats it essentially as a static equilibrium system. Here we propose a formal framework to capture its complex, evolving nature. We develop an agent-based model of an economic system in which firms interact with each other and with consumers through market transactions. Production functions are represented by a pair of von Neumann technology matrices, and firms implement production plans taking into account current price levels for their inputs and output. Prices are determined by the relation between aggregate demand and supply. In the absence of exogenous perturbations the system fluctuates around its equilibrium state. New firms are introduced when profits are above normal, and are ultimately eliminated when losses persist. The varying number of firms represents a recurrent perturbation. The system thus exhibits dynamics at two levels: the dynamics of prices and output, and the dynamics of system size. The model aims to be realistic in its fundamental structure, but is kept simple in order to be computationally efficient. The ultimate aim is to use it as a platform for modeling the structural evolution of an economic system. Currently the model includes one form of structural evolution, the ability to generate new technologies and new products.

Technology Focus: High-Pressure/High-Temperature (March 2022)

What a difference a year can make. Oil and gas prices have reached and stabilized at levels that have not been seen for over half a decade, demonstrating that the adage “low oil prices are the remedy of low oil prices” is still true. Let us now see if we are again at the cusp of a new period of exuberance and if the cyclical nature of oil prices could soon show its grim face once more. A key industry discipline required to delay, or maybe even avoid, another price collapse is the planning and execution of high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) projects. Perhaps the movement of some financial institutions toward considering environmental, social, and governance aspects when deciding to fund oil and gas projects will provide the beneficial longer-term stabilization of the current oil and gas price levels. More than ever, the saying “the easy/cheap oil is over” is true, and that requires a more-stable economic environment than we had in past years to assure the world’s uninterrupted energy and chemical feedstock supply, an important share of which will come from HP/HT reservoirs. For this year, I think we can see where the activity currently is from the available HP/HT related papers of the past year or two. A predominance of papers came from Chinese companies enthusiastically embarking on these challenging projects to secure their domestic energy needs and reporting their technology innovations and learning curves in interesting case studies. I was able to find some geographic diversity by including case studies from the Middle East as well, where good ideas and innovative low-cost approaches have enabled economically feasible project delivery in tough times. Notably absent in the choice of papers were the traditional HP/HT areas of the deep Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea. But maybe the more favorable oil and gas prices will spawn some new activity in these areas as well, if the regulatory and fiscal environment also improves. Reading this year’s case studies, some of the more experienced engineers among us will notice that, on some occasions, known challenges have been encountered that, in our experience, had been successfully mitigated in previous projects. This is likely a weakness from the Great Crew Change, where the knowledge preservation and transfer may not always have happened satisfactorily. The cut-throat cost-saving environment of the past few years, combined with the worldwide health crisis leading to curtailed travel and many workshops and conferences being canceled, certainly contributed to this lack of information flow as well. This is why it is so important to engage in SPE through online interest/discussion groups to find the necessary expertise in our pool of members. With this recommendation, I hope you will read the 2022 featured papers with interest and take them as encouragement and a source of good ideas for the years of greatly improved activity levels before us. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. IPTC 20148 - Solid Management Optimization for Offshore Big-Bore HP/HT Sour Gas Well Cleanup by Ardian Nengkoda, Saudi Aramco, et al. SPE 199052 - One of the Deepest Wells Drilled in Bolivia: High Pressure and Temperature in More Than 9 Months of Drilling, No Casing Wear Detected by Russell Mertens, WWT International, et al. SPE 202250 - Next-Generation Ceramic Sand Screens as Openhole Completion Solution in High-Rate Erosive and Corrosive Well Environment at Dvalin HP/HT Field, Offshore Norway by Robert Ritschel, Wintershall DEA, et al.

The price of curing cancer

BackgroundHealth care systems around the world struggle with high prices for new cancer drugs. The purpose of this study was to conduct a gedankenexperiment and calculate how much health expenditures would change if a cure for cancer through pharmaceutical treatment were made available. The cancer cure was conceived to eliminate both cancer deaths and the underlying morbidity burden of cancer. Furthermore, the cure was hypothesized to arrive in incremental steps but at infinitesimally small time intervals (resulting, effectively, in an immediate cure).MethodsThe analysis used secondary data and was conducted from the viewpoint of the German social health insurance. As its underlying method, it used a cause-elimination life-table approach. To account for the age distribution of the population, the study weighted age-specific increases in remaining life expectancy by age-specific population sizes. It considered drug acquisition costs as well as savings and life extension costs from eliminating cancer. All cancer drugs that underwent a mandatory early benefit assessment in Germany between 2011 and 2015/16 and were granted an added benefit were included. Data on age- and gender-specific probabilities of survival, population sizes, causes of death, and health expenditures, as well as data on cancer costs were taken from the German Federal Office of Statistics and the German Federal Social Insurance Office.ResultsBased on the cause-elimination life-table approach and accounting for the age structure of the German population, curing cancer in Germany yields an increase in average remaining life expectancy by 2.66 life years. Based on the current incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of new cancer drugs, which is on average €101,493 per life year gained (€39,751/0.39 life years), the German social health insurance would need to pay €280,497 per insuree to eliminate cancer. Dividing this figure by current average remaining lifetime health expenditures yields a ratio of 2.07, which represents a multiplier of current health expenditures.ConclusionsEliminating cancer at current price levels would more than triple total health expenditures in Germany. As the current price of a cure requires a drastic reduction of non-health consumption, it appears that current prices for cancer drugs already on the market (i.e., small steps towards a cure) need careful reconsideration.

The Optimal Rate of Subsidies on Smart Greenhouse Farming System Installation Costs

This study derives the optimal subsidy rate on the installation expenses of smart greenhouse farming system (SGFS) to maximize farm income. To derive the optimal support rate, this study determines the adoption rates of SGFS by the rate of subsidy using TOA-MD model, and estimated the price flexibility of tomato using inverse demand function. The adoption rate of SGFS by tomato farms at the current price level increases rapidly with 50% to 100% subsidy rates. The estimated the price flexibility coefficient of tomato is -5.12 which implies that 1% increase in tomato production induces 5.12% decrease in the price. Using the determined SGFS adoption rates and the estimated price flexibility of tomato, this study finds that the changes in farm income by adopting SGFS gradually increase from 35,210,000 KRW/ha without subsidy to 38,420,000 KRW/ha with the 55% subsidy rate, then the farm income changes rapidly decrease and turn to negative at the 73% subsidy rate. Hence, we can conclude that the optimal support rate on the SGFS installation costs is 55% to maximize farm income.

Measuring liquidity in agricultural land markets

PurposeLiquidity is an important aspect of market efficiency. The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, this paper aims to discuss indicators that provide information about liquidity in agricultural land markets. Second, this paper aims to reflect on determinants of market liquidity and analyze the relationship with land prices. Third, this paper aims to conduct an empirical analysis for Germany that illustrates these concepts and allows hypothesis testing.Design/methodology/approachThis study reviews liquidity dimensions and measurement in financial markets and derives indicators applicable to farmland markets. In an empirical analysis, this study exhibits the spatial and temporal variability of land market liquidity in Lower Saxony, a German federal state with the highest agricultural production value. This study uses a rich dataset that includes 72,547 sale transactions of arable land between 1990 and 2018. The research focuses on volume-based (number of transactions, volume and turnover) and time-based (trading frequency and durations) measures. A panel vector autoregression and Granger causality tests are applied to investigate the relation between land turnover and land prices.FindingsThe paper confirms the thinness of farmland markets but also reveals regional and temporal heterogeneity of land market liquidity. This study finds that the relation between market liquidity and prices is ambiguous. This study concludes that a high demand from expanding farms absorbs supply shocks regardless of the current price level in agricultural land markets.Originality/valueEven though the relevance of agricultural land markets’ thinness is widely acknowledged in the literature, this paper is one of the first attempts to measure liquidity in agricultural land markets and to explain its relationship with land prices.

Techno-economic assessment of mechanical recycling of challenging post-consumer plastic packaging waste

Increasing plastic recycling rates is crucial to tackle plastic pollution and reduce consumption of fossil resources. Recycling routes for post-consumer plastic fractions that are technologically and economically feasible remain a challenge. Profitable value chains for recycling mixed film and tray-like plastics have hardly been implemented today, in sharp contrast to recycling of relatively pure fractions such as polyethylene terephthalate and high-density polyethylene bottles.This study examines the economic feasibility of implementing mechanical recycling for plastic waste such as polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene films and mixed polyolefins. In most European countries these plastic fractions are usually incinerated or landfilled whilst in fact technologies exist to mechanically recycle them into regranulates or regrinds.Results show that the economic incentives for the recycling of plastic packaging depend predominantly on the product price and product yield. At current price levels, the most profitable plastic fraction to be recycled is PS rigids, with an internal rate of return of 14%, whereas the least profitable feed is a mixed polyolefin fraction with a negative internal rate of return in a scenario with steadily rising oil prices. Moreover, these values would be substantially reduced if oil prices, and therefore plastic product prices decrease. Considering a discount rate of 15% for a 15-year period, mechanical recycling is not profitable if no policy changes would be imposed by governments. Clearly low oil prices may jeopardize the mechanical recycling industry, inducing the need for policies that would increase the demand of recycled products such as imposing minimal recycled content targets.

Price Effects of the Austrian Fuel Price Fixing Act: A Synthetic Control Study

Fuel prices are commonly perceived to be excessively high, which regularly triggers political discussions about fuel price regulations. Consumers demand stricter fuel price regulations to provide transparency about the current price level and to protect them from sudden price fluctuations. Such regulations are already in place in several countries, but whether they indeed help lower the overall fuel price level is unclear. In this paper, we study the effect of Austria's Fuel Price Fixing Act on gasoline and diesel price levels. Using the synthetic control method, we construct a counterfactual and estimate Austria's price trends in absence of the intervention. Our empirical results suggest that, immediately after the Fuel Price Fixing Act came into effect, gasoline prices are 23.4% lower than the synthetic control predicts. The effect on diesel prices appears to be less pronounced and amounts to 6.6% lower prices. Austria's fuel price regulation seems to have been effective in terms of gasoline prices but may need further refinements to effectively tackle diesel prices as well.