Economic Performance Indicators Research Articles

Optimally integrated waste heat recovery through combined emerging thermal technologies: Modelling, optimization and assessment for onboard multi-energy systems

This paper investigates waste heat (WH) valorisation on maritime vessels from a systemic perspective. It aims to demonstrate how a set of innovative waste heat recovery (WHR) technologies can synergistically work together to valorise waste heat in multiple ways. It proposes and develops a dedicated techno-economic analysis framework and model, surpassing previous literature that focused on individual technologies or specific combinations. Employing a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) approach, this study evaluates the dynamic and flexible operation of the WHR system throughout the round-trip journey of a vessel. Identifying the most profitable WHR system layout, determining the capacity of technologies, optimising the interconnections between technologies, and establishing strategic WH dispatching are all among the key objectives of the study.An average-scale vessel with a 36 MW diesel engine, is selected for this study which involves a 17-day journey with multiple stops in Northern Europe. The vessel adequately represents the complexity of onboard energy systems in terms of types and variability of demands, as well as WH availability. The proposed WHR system, which is tailored for the selected vessel, integrates three active technologies: an isobaric expansion engine (IEE) to contribute to mechanical power demand, a sorption system for providing cooling, and an advanced Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) for trigeneration of power, heating, and cooling. All technologies are supported by the passive WHR technology of Thermal Energy Storage (TES). The results show that deployment of the optimised WHR system onboard the selected vessel enhances energy efficiency by 5 to 7.5 percentage points and reduces fuel consumption by 13%. The study also explores economic key performance indicators (KPIs), such as the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) which is found at about 15%, clearly evidencing a compelling solution to ship owners. Additionally, the discussion includes a detailed analysis of the contribution of individual technologies in covering onboard demands, as well as their synergistic interactions.This work clarifies the role, value, and benefit of WHR technologies onboard, advancing the understanding from individual WH recovery interventions to a system-level approach. This is especially valuable in practice, considering its adaptability across various vessel types within the global fleet.

From biomass-derived fructose to γ-valerolactone: Process design and techno-economic assessment

This work proposes a process design and techno-economic assessment for the production of γ-valerolactone from lignocellulosic derived fructose at industrial scale, with the aim of exploring its feasibility, identifying potential obstacles, and suggesting improvements in the context of France.First, the conceptual process design is developed, the process modelled and optimized. Second, different potential scenarios for the energy supply to the process are analyzed by means of a set of economic key performance indicators, aimed at highlighting the best potential profitability scenario for the sustainable exploitation of waste biomass in the context analyzed. The lowest Minimum Selling Price for GVL is obtained at 10 kt/y plant fueled by biomass, i.e. 1.89 €/kg, along with the highest end-of-live revenue, i.e. 113 M€. Finally, a sensitivity and uncertainties analysis, based on Monte Carlo simulations, are carried out on the results in order to test their robustness with respect to key input parameters.

Evaluation of the efficacy of MONTANIDE™ GR01, a new adjuvant for feed-based vaccines, on the immune response and protection against Streptococcus agalactiae in oral vaccinated Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) under laboratory and on-farm conditions

Streptococcosis, an emerging infectious disease caused by Streptococcus agalactiae, has had adverse effects on farmed tilapia. Several vaccines have been developed to prevent this disease and induce a specific immune response against S. agalactiae infection. In this study the use of MONTANIDE™ GR01, a new adjuvant for oral vaccination, was optimized for use in tilapia under laboratory and field studies. In the laboratory trial the immune response and protective efficacy of two doses of MONTANIDE™ GR01, 20 % (w/w) and 2 % (w/w), included into the feed-based adjuvanted vaccines were assessed comparatively. Following immunization, the innate immune parameters studied in serum, including lysozyme, myeloperoxidase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase activity, were all increased significantly. Furthermore, specific IgM antibodies against S. agalactiae were induced significantly in serum post-vaccination, with higher levels observed in both groups that received the feed-based adjuvanted vaccine. Under both injection and immersion challenge conditions, the relative percent survival for the feed-based adjuvanted vaccine groups ranged from 78 % to 84 %. Following use of the low dose concentration of MONTANIDE™ GR01 for oral vaccination of tilapia in cage culture systems, several innate immune parameters were effectively enhanced in the immunized fish. Similarly, the levels of specific IgM antibodies in the serum of feed-based vaccinated fish were significantly enhanced, reaching their highest levels 2–5 months post-vaccination. Cytokines associated with innate and adaptive immunity were also examined, and the expression levels of several genes showed significant up-regulation. This indicates that both cellular and humoral immune responses were induced by the feed-based adjuvanted vaccine. The economic impact of a feed-based adjuvanted vaccine was examined following vaccination, considering the growth performance and feed utilization of the fish. It was found that the Economic Performance Index and Economic Conversion Ratio were unaffected by vaccination, further demonstrating that there are no negative impacts associated with administering a feed-based vaccine to fish. In conclusion, the data from this study indicate that MONTANIDE™ GR01 is a highly valuable adjuvant for oral vaccination, as demonstrated by its ability to induce a strong immune response and effectively prevent streptococcal disease in Nile tilapia.

A 16-Year Analysis of Aesthetic Surgery Volume and Its Association with U.S. Economic Performance

Abstract Goals/Purpose Historically, demand for plastic surgery has been associated with the performance of the United States (US) economy. Over the past two decades, the US has weathered a recession, several presidential election cycles, and has seen a rise in the use and influence of social media. Each of these events has led to varying effects on the economy, which undoubtedly have had an impact on plastic surgery demand and expenditures. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the relationship between indicators of economic performance and the popularity and profitability of aesthetic surgery from 2006 to 2022. Methods/Technique Data from the Aesthetic Society’s (AS) Aesthetic Plastic Surgery National Databank and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ (ASPS) Plastic Surgery Statistics Report was collected from 2006 to 2022. Surgical procedures analyzed included the most commonly performed cosmetic surgeries: breast augmentation, breast reduction, mastopexy, abdominoplasty, liposuction, blepharoplasty, facelift, and rhinoplasty. The non-surgical botox injections and dermal fillers were also included. A total of 24 variables were examined, including the 10 procedures and two composite variables—total surgical procedures and total injectables; case change percent difference and patient expenditures percent difference were recorded for each of these. Within the corresponding period, economic indices were collected, including personal disposable income per capita (PDI), consumer price index (CPI), medical care services CPI, average gross domestic product per capita (GDP), and annual average closing prices of the NASDAQ, S&P 500, and the Dow Jones (DOW). Pearson correlation tests were used to analyze the strength of association between each financial indicator and case volumes and expenditures for each procedure included in the ASPS and AS reports. Results/Complications From 2006 to 2020 ASPS data demonstrated GDP year-over-year (YOY) change that was positively correlated with case volume and expenditures across 13 out of the 24 different procedure metrics (54.2%). From 2006 to 2016, AS data was positively correlated with the performance of NASDAQ, S&P500, and DOW in 12 of the 24 procedure metrics (50%). GDP YOY change closely followed suit with positive correlations to 11 variables (45.8%). YOY change of PDI, CPI, and medical care services CPI were less frequently associated amongst both data sets. For ASPS data, YOY medical services CPI change was negatively associated with five variables, indicating that as medical services CPI increased, volume of procedures and expenditures decreased. PDI YOY change was not significantly associated with any variables. In the AS dataset between 2006 and 2016, CPI YOY change was not found to be significantly associated with any variables. Across 2019–2022, CPI YOY and disposable YOY change were found to be significantly associated with three variables each. Conclusion Our study suggests that aesthetic plastic surgery procedures and expenditures are most positively correlated with GDP. Stock market indices are additional financial indicators which have significant positive correlations with plastic surgery case volume and expenditures. Inflation indicators were less frequently correlated. Over this timeframe, several important financial events have occurred including the Great Recession, a stock market selloff in 2015 and 2016, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Each of these events, along with several election cycles and the increasing influence of social media and popular culture, have had variable impacts on consumers and the demand for aesthetic plastic surgery. Plastic surgeons should be familiar with US and global financial markets as they fluctuate with current events. While plastic surgery prices and demand may be difficult to anticipate, this study elucidates several factors that may be used by plastic surgeons as a bellwether for their practice.

Национальные проекты России: новые возможности и перспективы развития для предприятий-участников проекта «Производительность труда»

The article is devoted to the implementation specifics of the National Project Labor Productivity in Russia, among the main initiatives of which are increase of productivity growth, competitiveness and efficiency of Russian enterprises, and developing competencies necessary to improve industrial culture. The main purpose of the study was to analyze how effectively the measures implemented within the framework of the national project influence the improvement of conditions for effective work at the enterprises, and contribute to management structure improvement, economical production, logistics systems development and sales activities optimization. According to the experts, following an increase of labor productivity without unnecessary investments, such measures will allow increasing the enterprises’ incomes by increasing output, reducing production time, and reducing inventories of work in progress. The presentation of the material of the article within the framework of the chosen topic is based on the use of methods of studying and detailed analysis of literature on the subject of the research, as well as official sources and documents developed by the Government of the Russian Federation and devoted to the prospects of labor productivity increase at medium and large enterprises of non-primary sectors of the economy. The authors described the essence and main initiatives of the National Project Labor Productivity in detail, listed the main conditions for an enterprise to receive comprehensive state support, considered the features of individual programs operating under the project, and conducted comparative analysis of economic performance indicators of the enterprises operating in Orel region and directly involved in this project. Based on the results of the data study provided by official sources on the progress of the planned activities related to personnel training, production processes digitalization, preferential financing of participating companies, it was concluded that systemic measures of targeted support by the Government of the Russian Federation for manufacturers within the framework of the National Project are quite effective.

Analysis of the economic activity of an online store using web analytics tools

The modern e-commerce market is an economic environment with a high level of competition. That is why achieving commercial success in it largely depends on the ability of trade organizations to analyze and optimize their activities based on the data provided by web analytics services. The article highlights the importance of web analytics for evaluating and improving the performance of an online store. The opportunities provided by the two leading tools in this area, Google Analytics and Yandex Metrica, are reviewed. The focus is on conversion analysis, understanding the target audience and optimizing marketing efforts. The article offers a comprehensive approach to the use of web analytics in order to increase economic efficiency and ensure sustainable growth of economic performance indicators of an online store.

A 16-Year Analysis of Aesthetic Surgery Volume and Its Association With US Economic Performance.

Abstract Background Historically, demand for plastic surgery has been associated with the performance of the United States (U.S.) economy. Objectives This study evaluates the relationship between economic performance indicators and the popularity and profitability of aesthetic surgery from 2006 to 2022 considering several recessions and the rise of social media. Methods Data was collected from the Aesthetic Society's (AS) Aesthetic Plastic Surgery National Databank and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ (ASPS) Plastic Surgery Statistics Report from 2006 to 2022. Procedures analyzed included the most performed cosmetic surgeries, as well as neuromodulator injections and dermal fillers. Pearson correlation tests were used to analyze the strength of association between eight financial indicators and case volumes and expenditures for each procedure. Results From 2006 to 2020, ASPS data demonstrated gross domestic product (GDP) per capita year-over-year (YOY) change that was positively correlated with case volume and expenditures across 13 out of the 24 different procedure metrics (54.2%). From 2006 to 2016, AS data was positively correlated with the YOY change of the NASDAQ, S&P500, and Dow Jones in 12 of the 24 variables (50%). This was followed by GDP YOY change, with positive correlations to 11 variables (45.8%). YOY change of consumer-level finances and inflation indicators were less frequently associated amongst both data sets. Conclusion Our study shows that aesthetic plastic surgery procedures and expenditures correlate with GDP. While aesthetic surgery demand may be difficult to anticipate, this study elucidates several factors plastic surgeons may use as a bellwether for their practices.

Socio-economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dairy farm households in West Bengal state

India is one of the leading economies that have been stuck hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and the stringent measures were put in place to combat it. Among several sectors, dairy sector is the most affected as dairy products are highly perishable and rely on time-sensitive supply chains. Though studies are available on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dairy sector, there are no studies on COVID-infected dairy farm households. The present study was an attempt to assess the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on infected and uninfected dairy farm households in West Bengal. The study covered pre-lockdown, lockdown (both 1st and 2nd wave) and post-lockdown phases of COVID-19 pandemic. The primary data was collected from 150 dairy farm households (COVID-19 infected-75 and uninfected-75) in Murshidabad and Nadia districts of West Bengal. Dairy Economic Performance Index consisting of number of milch animals, milk yield, marketed milk, milk procurement price, concentrate price and veterinary cost was developed using principal component analysis. In order to make infected and uninfected groups statistically comparable, propensity score matching technique was employed. The index values were compared between matched infected and uninfected groups over different phases of COVID-19 pandemic. Dairy households incurred significant economic losses during the lockdown and post-lockdown periods due to increase in cost of concentrates, decline in the number of milch animals and drop in milk procurement prices. Dairy households faced constraints in procuring dry fodder, concentrate feed and in accessing veterinary care. COVID-19 infected dairy farm households had a greater socio-economic hurdle than that of uninfected households.

Thermodynamic Analysis and Economic Assessment of Organic Rankine Cycle Integrated with Thermoelectric Generator Onboard Container Ship

In July 2023, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) presented an updated strategy for decarbonizing maritime transport and achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It is therefore imperative to explore innovative solutions to achieve a blue economy and maximize energy efficiency on-board ships. For this reason, the current study aims to integrate the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and thermoelectric generator (TEG) on board a container ship to generate electrical energy and reduce fuel consumption. The combined system will benefit from the waste heat of a marine diesel engine installed on board. The current study uses R245fa as the organic liquid and analyzes the effects of varying the evaporation pressure on the energetic and economic performance indicators by modeling the combined system in Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software. The results show that the energy efficiency of the ORC system increases from 12.3% at 3.5 bar to 17.3% at 8 bar. In comparison, the energy efficiency of the TEG unit is 6.9% at different evaporation pressures. In addition, the energy efficiency of the TEG-ORC system is 18.3% with an output of 1386 kW at 8 bar, which is an increase of 30.5% compared to the value at 3.5 bar. This generated power reduces fuel consumption by around 1580 ton/year. From an economic point of view, the energy production cost of the combined system is USD 618/kWh and USD 614/kWh at the lowest and maximum evaporation pressure, respectively. Fuel costs and CO2 tax expenditures could be reduced by up to USD 1.169 million/year and USD 0.47 million/year, respectively, through the combined TEG-ORC system.

Farming of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Italy: Structural Features and Economic Results

In recent years, the primary sector in Italy and elsewhere has been profoundly affected by climate change and a deep economic crisis, mainly linked to stagnating prices and rising production costs. Because of this situation, we are witnessing renewed interest in alternative agricultural productions, which are characterized by their resilience and sustainability, including medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). This sector is characterized by a certain heterogeneity due to the great variety of species and their wide range of uses. Although these characteristics contribute to the sector’s economic success, they also hinder its study due to commodity complexity and limited data availability. At the farm level, the situation is complicated by the fact that MAP cultivation is often embedded in complex cropping systems, and more rarely, is practiced exclusively or predominantly. In light of these considerations, we concentrated solely on the agricultural phase of the supply chain, using data available in the Farm Accountancy Data Network. We aimed to examine the main structural characteristics and economic outcomes of Italian farms that grow MAP, as well as the profitability of some of the species. To ensure accurate species classification, only MAPs exclusively designated for botanical use in the Italian National List were considered. The analysis of farm economic performance indicators (gross output, variable costs, gross margins, etc.) focused mainly on the species most represented in the sample: saffron, rosemary, lavender, oregano, and sage. The results indicate that the total gross output and gross margin show the best performance in the case of saffron (66,200 and 57,600 EUR/ha, respectively) and rosemary (27,500 and 22,000 EUR/ha, respectively). However, for saffron, the biggest cost concerns propagation (purchase of bulbs), amounting to 50% of the variable costs, whereas fertilization ones are particularly high for sage and rosemary.

Advances in partial disassembly line balancing: A state-of-the-art review

As sustainable manufacturing practices increasingly prioritize the efficient and environmentally conscious disassembly of products, understanding the nuances of partial disassembly line balancing (PDLB) becomes essential. In our study, we conducted an in-depth analysis of 53 PDLB studies, published from 2008 to 2024, to understand the current trends and gaps in this domain. Our research methodology involved a systematic collection of material, descriptive analysis, careful category selection, and rigorous material evaluation. This approach enabled us to construct a comprehensive taxonomy tailored to PDLB, distinguishing it from classical disassembly line balancing (DLB) literature. Our findings reveal a noticeable surge in PDLB research in the last three years, reflecting its growing relevance in sustainable manufacturing. The study highlights that deterministic disassembly conditions, economic performance indicators, and iterative heuristic approaches are the focal points in recent PDLB research. This insight is critical for guiding future investigations in the field. Our taxonomy not only categorizes existing research in PDLB but also sheds light on under-explored areas, offering a clear direction for upcoming studies. This paper contributes to the literature by providing a detailed review of PDLB-specific elements such as problem characteristics, disassembly levels, objectives, constraints, and solution methods, thus paving the way for further advancements in sustainable manufacturing practices.

Quantifying the Impact of Sustainable Practices on Business Operations

Based on the business context, resilience and sustainability seem to have multiple dimensions and connections. Administrative sustainability strategies can help a company develop and become more resilient. With the use of a sustainability maturation index (SMI), this study attempts to analyze how the financial success of a business is affected by its approach to sustainable development. As resilience abilities are closely linked to the SMI, this study proposes to explore the initial integration of both sustainable development and resilience criteria into a single framework. To determine whether there could be an interaction between the SMI and economic performance indices, planned conversations were used to gather data from 35 different firms. The investigation disproves widely circulated claims, demonstrating that there is no meaningful correlation between profitability and sustained business operations. It's noteworthy to point out that market emphasis, organizational size, and firm place of origin do not significantly correlate with SMI. One could argue that to evaluate the effects of environmentally friendly procedures, a company's multi-dimensional performance, which includes both financial and non-financial measurements, should be considered. In addition, more research is required to identify the nonfinancial metrics of success that businesses use to measure resilience and sustainable development to create a cohesive framework that facilitates trade-off evaluation.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on the economic performance of G20 countries

This paper aims to examine the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the performance of the Group of Twenty (G20) countries by analyzing the economic performance of these countries before and after the war, analyzing and measuring empirically from 2000 to 2022. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has prompted many researchers to study the impact of the conflict on the economic performance of the world’s most prosperous countries. Furthermore, the influence of global commerce has demonstrated that the Russia-Ukraine war has impacted the global trade imbalance, harming the economic performance of the 27 European Union (EU) nations (Misini & Tosuni, 2023b). The methodology is based on a comparison of each of the G20 country’s economic performance indexes (EPIs) to the countries of the EU. These countries’ performance will be evaluated using the most essential macroeconomic indicators: unemployment, inflation, fiscal deficit, and yearly economic growth. In addition, this paper will examine the influence of the Russia-Ukraine war on the economic performance of these countries (G20). The analysis employed dot plot analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, and regression to conduct a more scientific investigation. The findings reveal that nations with high inflation as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war had lower economic performance, while those with low inflation had higher economic performance. Countries with lower inflation have produced greater economic results. Turkey and Argentina have experienced significant swings in economic performance. Economic growth and the budget deficit have had a favorable impact on the G20 countries’ economic performance.

A solution approach for decision-making on vessel fleet sustainability focusing on alternative fuels in a life-cycle basis

International Maritime Organization has launched a set of different regulatory frameworks focusing on maritime pollution prevention mechanisms and practicing different solution approaches. A multi-dimensional life-cycle analysis on vessels and maritime fuels (fossil & alternative low carbon fuels) can make an important contribution to the IMO's long-term carbon neutrality target for 2050. A typical vessel's operational profile contributes on approx. 80% of greenhouse gas emissions and 50% of total costs respectively during its lifetime. Therefore, the investigation of ships operational benchmarks following a lifecycle analysis approach could create suitable decision-making support tools for different optimization problems regarding alternative green fuels. This paper proposes a solution approach to evaluate current vessel fleet operational benchmarks for different ship categories and provide a decision-making support mechanism to tackle important operational problems during ship's lifetime. The proposed approach contains an evaluation mechanism to determine the suitable economic and environmental key performance indicators necessary to properly evaluate the multi-dimensional sustainability of the examined case studies with respect to the IMO (MARPOL) environmental regulations.

STUDY OF THE GENERAL SITUATION OF IT IN UKRAINE IN DETERMINING THE FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE SEGMENT

The article is devoted to analyzing and researching Ukraine's technology segment. This study was conducted due to the importance of the segment for developing countries and the importance of understanding the main factors of influence that allow for improving the economic performance of the segment's entities. The article analyzes the general situation of the technology sector in Ukraine. Various methods of analysis were used. One was the comparison method, which included indicators for the technology and information segments since these segments form the country's ITC sector. The article reflects trends and analyzes specific segment indicators. Hence, an upward trend was analyzed and derived to indicate the number of units involved in the technology segment. The predominance of micro and mini entities in the segment was confirmed, which confirms the previously conducted tests for Central and Eastern Europe when reviewing certain countries. It is noted that the central economic units representing Ukraine's IT segment are individual entrepreneurs. The study demonstrates the dynamics and analysis of economic performance indicators of the segment. Three main groups of factors of possible impact on the performance of economic entities were presented. Hence, the tax burden on the basic taxes in the form of income, profit, and social tax was analyzed. Since individual entrepreneurs represent most entities in the IT segment, the tax base was studied at the general rates and when deriving separate data for the IT segment. The educational component was demonstrated to familiarize and understand the growth trend in the number of students majoring in IT. The third group of factors was represented by the costs of specialists involved in the segment's work, such as the total segment's personnel costs and the average monthly salary. In general, the trend in the indicators in the article is demonstrated as an upward trend. The general analysis presented in the article allowed to derive a model of dependence of the net profit of IT segment entities in Ukraine on the factors of influence when determining only specific indicators of influence using the methods of static base analysis. The final model was obtained by conducting a panel least squares modeling with the test for omitted variables.

ANALISIS KINERJA EKONOMI DAERAH HASIL PEMEKARAN (STUDI KOMPARATIF KABUPATEN PASAMAN BARAT, DHARMASRAYA, SOLOK SELATAN)

Regional Autonomy is implemented so that regions can explore regional potential and be independent in managing existing resources. One of the policies for implementing regional autonomy is the granting of authority to regions to carry out expansion as part of community aspirations. After regional expansion, regions are required to be able to overcome their economic problems, such as increasing economic growth, reducing poverty rates, reducing unemployment rates, improving income distribution, and reducing development inequality. This research aims to see how far the regions resulting from this expansion have developed, An evaluation was carried out by measuring the Economic Performance Index (IKE) in the three districts resulting from the expansion, namely West Pasaman district, Dharmasraya district, and South Solok district. The economic performance index is the result of the average rate of economic growth, the ratio of district GRDP to provincial GRDP, GDP rate per capita, and poverty level. This research uses secondary data with descriptive analysis. The research results show that Dharmasraya district is a district with a better economic performance index than West Pasaman district and South Solok district.
  
  

Access to DTP-Based Combination Vaccines in Asia-Pacific Countries between 2019 and 2022.

The Asia-Pacific countries are highly diverse in health and economic conditions that may impact vaccine access and uptake. Our study aimed to characterize patterns of health access to DTP-based combination vaccines in 10 countries from 2019 to 2022 using the IQVIA-MIDAS database. The availability, affordability, and accessibility were compared across countries by national health and economic performance indicators using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Our findings showed that the three aspects of access to DTP-based vaccines varied substantially in the Asia-Pacific region, with higher levels in countries with better health and economic performance. Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine accessibility fluctuates significantly in lower-income countries, with DTP coverage rates falling by more than 14% in the Philippines and Indonesia between 2019 and 2021. For availability and affordability, Singapore and Malaysia from high-income groups were largely affected, which may be related to health expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product (Coefficient = 0.39, p = 0.03). Our study indicates that greater attention needs to be paid to national health expenditure and routine immunization services to improve vaccine disparities and increase the robustness and resilience of the vaccine supply chain during public health emergencies.

La transition vers une prospérité durable - Un modèle macroéconomique écologique stock-flux cohérent pour le Canada

This paper presents a stock-flow consistent (SFC) macroeconomic simulation model for Canada. We use the model to generate three very different stories about the future of the Canadian economy, covering the half century from 2017 to 2067: a Base Case Scenario in which current trends and relationships are projected into the future, a Carbon Reduction Scenario in which measures are introduced specifically designed to reduce Canada's carbon emissions, and a Sustainable Prosperity Scenario which incorporates additional measures to improve environmental, social and financial conditions across society. The performance of the economy is tracked using two composite indicators constructed especially for this study: an environmental burden index (EBI) which describes the environmental performance of the model; and a composite sustainable prosperity index (SPI) which is based on a weighted average of seven economic, social and environmental performance indicators. Contrary to the widely accepted view, the results suggest that ‘green growth’ (in the Carbon Reduction Scenario) may be slower than ‘brown growth’. More importantly, we show (in the Sustainable Prosperity Scenario) that improved environmental and social outcomes are possible even as the growth rate declines to zero.

MPPT Strategy of Waterborne Bifacial Photovoltaic Power Generation System Based on Economic Model Predictive Control

At present, the new energy industry represented by photovoltaics has become the main force to realize the optimization of China’s energy structure and the goal of “double carbon”; with the absence of land resources, the waterborne bifacial photovoltaic has ushered in a new opportunity. Therefore, in order to address the problem that the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of photovoltaics (PV) could not take into account, the dynamic economic performance in the control process, an economic model predictive control (EMPC), is proposed in this work to realize the MPPT of the waterborne bifacial PV power generation system. Firstly, the model of the bifacial PV module is constructed by combining the ray-tracing irradiance model and considering the effect of water surface albedo on the irradiance absorbed by the module. Secondly, the EMPC controller is designed based on the state-space model of the system to maximize the power generation as the economic performance index, and to solve the optimal input variables time by time to achieve a rolling optimization with the operational requirements of the system itself as the constraints. Thirdly, the MATLAB/Simulink (R2022a) simulation experimental results verify that the EMPC strategy could be utilized to achieve MPPT of the waterborne bifacial PV power generation system, according to the changes of environment. Finally, it is also demonstrated that the bifacial PV power generation system that employed the EMPC strategy outperformed the traditional MPPT algorithm, with respect to both output power tracking velocity and accuracy, and the power generation could be improved by about 6% to 14.5%, which significantly enhances the system’s dynamic process economics.

Three types of income inequality: a comparison of left behind places and more developed regions in the EU

Abstract Despite the growing interest in subjective inequality, little is known about the relation between this and more objective measures of inequality, especially in the light of regional disparities. This study focuses on the patterns of actual income inequality and two subjective measures in NUTS 2 EU regions. By accounting for multiple indicators of economic (under)performance, we show that actual inequality is positively related to people’s perceptions in left behind places, but not in more developed regions. Furthermore, both residents of less developed or—‘left behind’—regions and those of more developed regions exhibit a preference for lower levels of income inequality.