Direct Government Investment Research Articles

Mitigating imported fuel dependency in agricultural production: Case study of an island nation's vulnerability to global catastrophic risks.

A major global catastrophe would likely disrupt trade in liquid fuels. Countries dependent on imported oil products might struggle to sustain industrial agriculture. Island nations importing 100% of refined fuels are particularly vulnerable. Our case study aimed to estimate the agricultural land area and biofuel volumes needed to feed the population of New Zealand in the absence of trade. Results showed that stored diesel would quickly be exhausted with ordinary use (weeks) and even with strict rationing (months). To preserve fuel, we found that farming wheat (requiring as little as 5.4 million liters [L] of diesel per annum) was more fuel-efficient than potatoes (12.3) or dairy (38.7) to feed the national population under a climate-as-usual scenario. In a nuclear winter scenario, with reduced agricultural yields, proportionately greater diesel is needed. The wheat would require 24% of current grain-cropped land, and the canola crop used as feedstock for the required biofuel would occupy a further 1%-7%. Investment in canola biodiesel or renewable diesel refineries could ensure supply for the bare minimum agricultural liquid fuel needs. Were subsequent analysis to favor this option as part of a fuels resilience response and as a tradeoff for routine food use, expansion in refining and canola cropping before a catastrophe could be encouraged through market mechanisms, direct government investment, or a combination of these. Logistics of biofuel refining scale-up, post-catastrophe, should also be analyzed. Further, biodiesel produced in normal times would help the nation meet its emissions reduction targets. Other countries should conduct similar analyses.

Navigating offshore aquaculture: Efficient strategies for policymakers in transition

Coastal aquaculture faces significant environmental challenges, prompting consideration of relocating mariculture activities further offshore, termed offshore aquaculture (OA). However, the associated risks and costs have impeded the OA's growth, underscoring the need for sound policy direction. Utilizing game models, we evaluate the advantages of various policy strategies and explore the complex dynamics between stakeholders, which enhances policymakers' decision-making abilities regarding the OA's evolution. Data-driven insights reveal that: 1) A lack of policy intervention in the OA can lead to fierce market competition and unequal resource distribution, adversely affecting societal prosperity. 2) Policies centered around direct government investment in OA system or subsidizing enterprise-led initiatives can paradoxically compromise both societal welfare and the OA's sustainable growth. 3) Our analysis shows that subsidizing OA product production and consumption effectively mitigates the constraints observed in the previously mentioned policies, promoting societal welfare, and expanding the OA sector. Additionally, this approach stimulates the maximum enterprise investment in OA system, even if other policies might seem more directly supportive. 4) Policy enactment often witnesses erratic strategies from decision-makers. Within this spectrum, OA enterprises are highly susceptible to strategic chaos, with government missteps having the gravest repercussions on market equilibrium. In summary, this paper examines the theoretical advantages and challenges of various policies, coupled with paying attention to the intricate interactions and potential chaos phenomena of decision-makers in different scenarios. These findings are then used to offer corresponding policy insights, thereby empowering policymakers to better guide OA development.

National team intervention and price efficiency differentiation under the impact of COVID-19

ABSTRACT This paper examines how the ‘national team’, a direct government investment policy, influences the price efficiency of listed companies in the Shanghai Stock Index (SSE). We find that stocks directly invested in by the national team show greater price efficiency than stocks without direct bailout. We also analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this price efficiency differentiation. The data period is divided into two sub-periods, and the results show that the price efficiency of stocks decreased after COVID-19. The reduction in price efficiency is more notable for stocks with direct government investment; the difference observed under national team investment in price efficiency is clearly reduced. Increased pessimistic investor expectations due to the pandemic could explain these changes. Our study provides novel evidence for the policy evaluation of national team intervention and a more detailed explanation about the decrease in financial market efficiency in the post-COVID-19 era.

Effects of project-specific government involvement actions on the attractiveness of port public-private partnerships among private investors

Appropriate governmental involvement actions can be one of the most critical factors in the success of port Public-private partnerships (PPPs). This study empirically investigates the effects of project-specific government actions on the attractiveness of port PPPs among foreign and domestic private investors, focusing on the impact of project initiation, fee requirement, and direct government investment in developing countries. Binary logistic regression and multiple linear regression are employed. It shows that project initiation, concession fee requirement, and direct government investment are more significantly related to the attractiveness of port PPPs among private investors. It also reveals a potential competing relationship between foreign and domestic private investors in port PPPs. A potential trade-off between benefits brought by direct government investment and too much government ownership in port PPPs is also highlighted. This study can assist planners and managers in identifying suitable actions to attract private investment in port PPPs.

The Mechanism of Influencing Green Technology Innovation Behavior: Evidence from Chinese Construction Enterprises

The Green Technology Innovation Behavior (GTIB) of construction enterprises is crucial for promoting green development in the construction industry. In order to clarify the mechanism of action affecting the GTIB of construction enterprises, this paper considers the context of green development in the construction industry based on the vector autoregressive model and constructs a theoretical model of GTIB in construction enterprises. Time series data collected by the Chinese government (2000–2018) were used to analyze the mechanism of action of the factors influencing the GTIB of construction enterprises by EViews 10.0. The results of the paper showed the following: (1) direct government investment has the greatest impact on the GTIB of construction enterprises and has made a positive contribution; (2) the added value of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the construction industry has a relatively small impact on the GTIB of construction enterprises; (3) the role of environmental regulation on the GTIB of construction enterprises is non-linear. This paper further broadens the research to the factors influencing the GTIB of construction enterprises. Meanwhile, this paper provides a reference basis for local governments to formulate policies related to the GTIB of construction enterprises.

Economic assessment and regional adaptability analysis of CCHP system coupled with biomass-gas based on year-round performance

The combined cooling, heating and power system (CCHP) coupled with biomass-gas could meet energy consumption stably and have favorable thermal performance with a renewable energy contribution rate of 72.11%. The economic benefits of biogas-fueled CCHP system based on annual performance and regional adaptability are studied. Three government subsidy policies: direct government investment, electricity price subsidy for biomass power generation and government discount are selected to assess the effects of economic performance under different proportions. Net present value (NPV), investment payback period (PP) and internal rate of return (IRR) are used as economic evaluation indicators. Without policy subsidies, the NPV, PP and IRR in the cold area are 36,300 yuan, 12.26 years and 5.19%, respectively. Under the limitations of technology, the system is more suitable for areas with uniform cooling and heating load currently. Sensitivity analysis showed that the anaerobic fermenter and biogas slurry price have the greatest impact on the economic benefits. Based on electricity price subsidy (0.47 yuan/kWh), supplemented by direct government investment (20%) are suggested (PP is 8.0 years). It is proposed to form a unified mechanism of government lead, policy incline, enterprise investment and resident support for making the CCHP system coupled with biomass-gas develop vigorously.

Inovacije kao faktor razvoja preduzetništva sa naglaskom na Izrael i disruptivne inovacije

The subject of this paper are innovations, which play a crucial role in the development of entrepreneurship in the modern world. Sometimes it is enough for a company to make some important or even incremental innovation and to gain a market and competitive advantage. But sometimes, as in the case of the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer - Nokia, it is enough not to respond quickly enough before the emergence of a disruptive innovation and to lose 92% of the market as a result. Companies that have an environmental change rate faster than the rate of change of the company itself, i.e., those that implement innovations more slowly than the environment changes, are first doomed to lag behind others, and then also to become marginalized and eventually to disappear and be completely shut down. The importance of this paper is the innovation factor which remains paramount to the advancement of entrepreneurship, and whether it will be executed and driven in one way or another, by a government incentive or by the booming private sector, is irrelevant after all. China does this by direct government investment in innovation and innovative technologies, while in the US and to a lesser extent in Israel, it is happening in the free market. The countries of Scandinavia, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, as well as the "start-up nation", Israel, have a direct proportion of their GDP per capita and innovation index. This all tells us how important it is to support innovation. The induction, deduction, analysis, synthesis and, above all, desk research methods have been used for producing this paper.

Direct Government Investment: Perverse Privatization or New Tool of Government?

AbstractIn recent years, public administration scholars have called attention to a blurring of the boundaries between the public and private sectors. However, little attention has been focused on the administration of public programs that seek to impact private markets through direct government investment in private firms. The direct government investment approach is a new tool of government that has been applied in several countries and at multiple levels of government. Through an analytic mix of theory and attention to practice, this article leverages a deep case analysis of the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program to propose and utilize criteria for examining justifiable rationales for direct government investment, areas of administrative capacity necessary to manage such investments, and potential pitfalls of this new tool of government.

Sustainability Transitions and the Problem of Governance

There remain only a few contrarians to the notion that the human-environment relationship requires signifi cant changes, that we require some sort of ‘transition’. The transition to a ‘green economy’, ‘clean tech’, ‘green urbanism’ and sustainable development represent a few of these proposals. We can readily observe transitions toward the fi rst three concepts. Many countries have promoted greening their economies through direct government investment and incentives for fi rms to adopt energy saving measures or green their supply chains. Similarly, ‘clean tech’ clusters have been promoted to imagine and develop a new generation of environmentally friendly technology. Finally, cities are following suit, or leading in some ways, greening campaigns (e.g. Beatley, 2000). Congestion charges, cleaner running publ ic t ranspor t, bicycle lanes, and green space are key areas of interest for urban planners and developers alike. The ‘green’ transition is a needed step forward, to be sure. However, it also represents some of the easiest of wins because the ‘market’ can now ‘recognize’ the value of these interventions. Sustainabil ity transitions, true sustainability transitions, are in a different category altogether. This Regional Survey examines the tension between green and sustainable in the context of governance. For many, ‘sustainability’ and ‘green’ have become synonymous. We see it differently. As we alluded to above, greening represents one form of transforming the human-environment relationship. It’s about using less electricity, which has a direct impact on a fi rm’s bottom line, or a consumer’s purse. It’s about substitution of materials, from using less toxic materials in the supply chain (sometimes) to using ‘ubiquitous’ bamboo for fl ooring rather than oak or cherry, for example. Finally, it’s about urban regeneration through green retrofi ts, densifi cation, and building more bike paths and creating green spaces. Greening is a line of products from an LED light above your oven to a 75m2 uber designed, energy effi cient fl at in the transition neighbourhood of Zurich West. While these are ‘green’ they are not sustainable in the Brundtland sense. Brundtland, and the policy processes and proscriptions that followed in its name, require that we consider a tripartite set of concerns: economic prosperity, ecological integrity, and social equity. Green might capture two of the three. It almost certainly leaves out the social equity piece. Governance is a process where various stakeholders come together to accomplish a goal. However, governance is also about power, and who has it. It determines who qualifi es as a stakeholder and how they can represent themselves. Governance defi nes who makes the fi nal decision. It also determines the offi cial account of the issue it was trying to resolve. With these factors in mind, one can imagine how the social equity piece might get left out of the concept of ‘greening’. Yet, how do greening and sustainability become synonymous? One way is through governance. Greening is good for an economic activity, but sometimes, especial ly in the case of local and regional development, sustainability is better. As many people have pointed out: who can be against sustainability? Governance is the complex and power-laden process through which these issues are adjudicated. Governance can make what is ‘green’ appear ‘sustainable’. Explicit sustainability transitions research, as van den Bergh and Bruinsma state, “shifts the attention from a vague end goal to stimulating transition processes as a more concrete step” (2008). The main idea in this sense is “that a system-wide approach is needed, which takes into account sector interactions as well as the complex relations between the technologies, inst itut ions and behaviour of fi rms and consumers” (van den Bergh and Bruinsma, 2008). In this vein, for example, Truffer and Coenen (2012) examine the regional dimension of the sustainability transitions mapping out the contours of a geography of transitions.

The Financial Crisis: The Cause and the Cure?

This discussion paper lays the foundation for formulating an effective policy to address the current financial crisis facing the United Kingdom. The paper calls for an aggressive and coordinated intervention by the Treasury and the Bank of England including (i) the creation of two Government Sponsored Entities, (a Consumer Bank with a mandate to provide loans directly to consumers and a SME Bank) and (ii) for the Bank of England to establish a taskforce to work with the troubled banks to write down the value of their illiquid and non-performing loans and that the Bank of England (as opposed to the Treasury) should directly inject capital into these troubled banks. The paper also calls for targeted tax cuts to allow the consumer to undertake an orderly deleveraging and for direct government investment to resuscitate the economy.

Government Investment in Cultural Capital: A Methodology for Comparing Direct Government Support for the Arts in the U.S. and the U.K.

In this paper I attempt to redress the lack of comparative cultural policy research between the United States and the United Kingdom. Specifically, I seek to develop and test a methodology of direct government investment in cultural capital. the new methodology will be presented in three parts. in the first part, the relevant literature in comparative cultural policy research is comprehensively reviewed for the strengths and weaknesses of currently available methodologies. in the second part, Throsby's (1995; 1999; 2001) concept of cultural capital is augmented by Austrian capital theory and analogized to the realm of natural capital in order to articulate the policy dimensions of sustainable development in cultural capital. in the third part, three quantitative metrics are then derived from the theoretical work and are empirically applied to assess and compare direct national government support for the arts in the U.S. and the U.K. Preliminary observations are offered in the conclusion.

EARLY 1930'S: A UNIQUE PERIOD IN FISCAL EVOLUTION?

The early 1930's brought significant institutional and policy changes, which then had a long lasting effect on the country's social and commercial life. New, powerful and highly discretionary instruments became at the disposal of the State which, combined with traditional tariffs, began to be used by it to regulate trade flows. Together with direct government investment in the production of good and services, they became the most important public policy instruments used to determine the development structure of the country in the following decades. Chile also lost its monetary anchor during the Great Depression, making very significant inflationary price level expansions possible. In the case of specific goods, these price expansions then offered an opportunity for State interventions into the relative price structure. Whatever the precise underlying cause for such a policy, from 1932 onwards, government began to manage relative prices, for which the necessary legal framework, including strong enforcement instruments, was also approved in the latter year. At the same time, the above mentioned trade inhibiting instruments began to be used to make price controls viable. In particular, multiple exchange rates and the accompanying import quota system, gave price controls real content. Ongoing inflationary pressures transformed price fixing into a permanent and increasingly significant public activity. The above mentioned government interventions began with the Great Depression, but it is important not to loose sight of the fact that the increasingly discretional role of the State in the economy, especially its executive power, is of older data. For example, also in the 1920's, significant institutional redesign took place. The role of the market and Parliament in resource allocation decreased,

Government Policy and Economic Development in Germany and Japan: A Skeptical Reevaluation

Recent studies, when taken together, suggest that the bureaucratic elites of nineteenth-century Germany and Japan were much less successful in stimulating economic development than has been traditionally asserted. Direct government investment was neither extensive nor successful. Government-sponsored institutional change, notably in financial structures, had little if any beneficial impact. Development in both nations resulted from the gradual emergence of a commercial culture, and on world factors exogenous to government policy. The bureaucratic elites failed to adjust to changed circumstances, instead leading both nations into disastrous wars. These results call into question development strategies based on central government control.

A Theory of Nonmarket Failure: Framework for Implementation Analysis

THE principal rationale for public policy intervention lies in the inadequacies of market outcomes. Yet this rationale is really only a necessary, not a sufficient, condition for policy formulation.1 Policy formulation properly requires that the realized inadequacies of market outcomes be compared with the potential inadequacies of nonmarket efforts to ameliorate them. The "anatomy" of market failure provides only limited help in prescribing therapies for government success.2 That markets may fail to produce either economically optimal or socially desirable outcomes has been elaborated in a well-known and voluminous

THERMAL DISCHARGES AND PUBLIC POLICY DEVELOPMENT1

ABSTRACT The generation of electric energy in steam‐electric power plants is accompanied by the discharge of large quantities of waste heat into the environment. In most cases, this heat is released into natural bodies of water at temperatures relatively close to ambient. In certain locations, such as the Chesapeake Bay, discharges of waste heat may triple in the next decade. It is expected that past practices of thermal discharge, if continued into the future, will result in significant damages to other legitimate users of the water resource, both present and future. This paper reviews the economic causes of these potential damages, and describes the role of public policy as one of removing such causes through regulation incentive or intervention. Possible public policies are reviewed, including prohibition, standards, various types of dollar incentives such as taxes and subsidies, marketable effluent permits, and direct government investment. The innovative power plant siting program recently adopted in Maryland is also discussed. It is concluded that no statements can be made regarding the comparative efficiency or effectiveness of the various policies at the present state of knowledge. It is recommended that policy‐makers adopt mixed strategies, preserving as many options as possible for dealing with similar problems in the future.