Economic Surplus Research Articles

Theoretical study on demand-side management to reduce imbalance between electricity supply and demand

The gap between electricity supply and demand, which is the electricity imbalance, can have negative economic impacts on retail electricity suppliers. This paper presents a methodology for designing demand response (DR) programs while mitigating the negative impacts. The DR programs require the retailers to set target electricity consumption and prices of economic incentives for customers who cooperate with the DR programs. First, the target electricity consumption is determined by solving a problem of social welfare maximization in which the objective function is the sum of economic surplus of the retailers and their customers and impacts of electricity imbalance. The optimal electricity prices or the optimal rebate levels are then calculated under the principle that rational customers act to maximize their economic surplus. Through numerical simulations, the authors confirmed that the proposed methodology mitigated the impacts of electricity imbalance. Meanwhile, results of the numerical simulations showed that in practical situations, there were cases where the retailers unable to reduce the electricity imbalance profitably. Therefore, the authors additionally discuss ways to assess the electricity imbalance, which motivates the retailers to reduce the imbalance, in such cases.

A decision-making model for joint energy and reserve scheduling of wind power producers with local intraday demand response exchange market

In this paper, a three-stage stochastic bi-level optimization framework is presented for optimal participation of wind power producers (WPPs) in day-ahead (DA), intraday, and balancing markets. In this framework, to leverage demand response (DR) services, a peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading platform is implemented that allows local load aggregators (LAs) to contribute to the intraday markets improving both LAs’ and WPP’s benefits. Participating in the intraday DR exchange (IDRX) market enables WPP to purchase DR services from LAs, to reduce the penalty cost on the deviation between the day-head bidding and the real-time dispatch. A Stackelberg game for the bi-level decision-making model captures the conflict of interests between the WPP and LAs, in which, the upper level seeks to maximize WPP profit, while the lower level aims to maximize LAs’ economic surplus. The bi-level model is converted into its equivalent single-level mixed-integer quadratic problem (MIQP) employing the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions and strong duality theorem. Simulation results show that participation of the WPP in the IDRX market and employing spinning reserve and DR services for compensating the uncertainties are greatly dependent on its risk preferences and increase its expected profit in all conditions, significantly.

Valuasi Ekonomi Taman Nasional Ujung Kulon

The integrated development of tourism is done through cross-sectoral coordination so that the development can make a huge stride. The goals of this study are to estimate the economic valuations to measure the ability/willingness to pay of visitors; to analyze the prospects of fisheries resources management in Ujung Kulon National Park; and to formulate marine tourism model of Ujung Kulon National Park. This study was conducted on the 1.619,68 Ha area of utilization zones in Ujung Kulon National Park, covering 1.518,91 Ha land area and 100,77 Ha of water area. The used study method was survey method which was quantitative and qualitative along with questionnaires as the instrument. Purposive sampling method was applied to collect data. Data analysis used was economic surplus and willingness to pay. The result obtained was the demand of marine recreation at utilization zones in Ujung Kulon National Park was determined by cost of travel, length of visit and education. The total value of Willingness to Pay in one year was Rp 512.898.500,00. The mentioned value was the projected value of willingness and ability of people to pay for conservation area of the marine protected area and marine tourism in Ujung Kulon. The goals of marine tourism that had been enacted by people was then coordinated with central government. The process of marine tourism development was expected to be able to positively improve other regional development. The outcome of the study was hoped to provide improvement on marine tourism management at Ujung Kulon National Park Keywords: tourism, marine, Ujung Kulon National Park

Inequitable Distribution of Global Economic Benefits from Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccination.

Many low- and middle-income countries have been slow to introduce the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) into their routine childhood immunization schedules despite a high burden of disease. We estimated the global economic surplus of PCV, defined as the sum of the net value to 194 countries (i.e., monetized health benefits minus net costs) and to vaccine manufacturers (i.e., profits). We further explored the distribution of global economic surplus across country income groups and manufacturers and the effect of different pricing strategies based on cross-subsidization, pooled procurement, and various tiered pricing mechanisms. We found that current PCV pricing policies disproportionately benefit high-income countries and manufacturers. Based on the 2021 birth cohort, high-income countries and manufacturers combined received 76.5% of the net economic benefits generated by the vaccine. Over the two decades of PCV availability, low- and middle-income countries have not received the full economic benefits of PCV. Cross-subsidization of the vaccine price for low- and middle-income countries and pooled procurement policies that would relate the vaccine price to the value of economic benefits generated for each country could reduce these inequalities. This analysis offers important considerations that may improve the equitable introduction and use of new and under-utilized vaccines.

Leave no stone unturned: Exploring the metaproteome of beerstone for the identification of archaeological beer production

In archaeological contexts, identifying processes of beer production and consumption has contributed to our understanding of agriculture, labor mobilization, economic surplus, feasting, gender dynamics, social structure, tribute, community, identity and politics. Nevertheless, in the absence of pictorial representations and characteristic objects, beer brewing is difficult to identify in the archaeological record, and molecular methods are often limited by constraints of preservation and specificity. A potential target for studies of ancient beer production are residues formed during brewing activity, including beerstone, a calcium oxalate residue. Here, we apply shotgun proteomics analyses to a sample of modern beerstone to explore this residue's capacity as a marker for beer in archaeological contexts. The beerstone proteome was compared to the protein profiles of ungerminated and germinated barley to identify key proteins indicative of malted grains which may be encased by the residue. Proteins matching to barley grain (Hordeum vulgare) and Baker's/Brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) were successfully identified in the beerstone. In particular, we identified hordeins, lipid transfer proteins, trypsin/α-amylase inhibitors, and protein Z, which are barley proteins abundant in proteomic characterisations of beer. In comparison to ungerminated and germinated barley grains, we find that beerstone preserves only a subset of the barley proteome, with the residue being more reflective of the final brewing product than of earlier brewing steps such as malting. Overall, we demonstrate that beerstone has potential to entrap and preserve proteins reflective of the beer-making process and identify proteins that we might anticipate in future archaeological analyses.

Non-parametric tests of behavior in the commons

Commons problems present behavioral dilemmas, with tensions between individual and collective rationality. When users of a common-pool resource are not effectively excluded, the collective behavior of individuals pursuing their self-interests dissipates economic surplus. We derive a non-parametric test of whether individuals' collective behavior in resource extraction is consistent with the canonical commons model, namely Nash tragedy-of-the-commons behavior. Our approach allows for an arbitrarily concave, differentiable production function of total inputs and for heterogeneous agents with arbitrarily convex, differentiable costs of supplying inputs. We extend the test to allow for unobserved total output. We also define distance from the data to the model and develop statistical tests using the distance metric. Applying our approach to panel data of Norwegian commercial fishing vessels, we find the results of our test are consistent with the economic intuition that, in the absence of property rights, tragedy-of-the-commons behavior dissipates surplus. Significantly, we find property rights reforms move firms away from Nash tragedy-of-the-commons behavior.

On tariff elimination, trade harmonization, and household well‐being: A study of the GST rollout in India

AbstractThe transformative research agenda encourages the pursuit of questions emphasizing societal welfare and well‐being outcomes rather than (just) focusing on narrow, incremental business‐related outcomes. This paper addresses that premise by examining those households at the social and economic bottom of the pyramid (BOP) that are intended to benefit most from the removal of trade barriers. The removal of these barriers should enable supply chains to yield commercial and welfare efficiency in terms of economic surpluses. The Goods and Services Tax legislation implemented in India in 2017 sought to do just that, serving as the experimental testbed for our investigation. Yet, as our analysis of more than 50,000 unique households in the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey data indicates, those at the social and geographic BOP see less benefit than others from the same policy intervention. This runs counter to the intended consequences of such policies. We employ a middle‐range theorizing approach grounded in the Theory of Customs Unions to inform and substantiate our hypotheses, which are tested using a stochastic frontier analysis and truncated regression. The results hold implications for policymakers and organizations seeking to elevate the efficacy of supply chains orchestrated by and serving BOP populations.

Impact and adoption of feed technologies at Nharira-Lancashire Dairy Scheme

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the impact and adoption of nutrition technologies and their effect on milk production at the Nharira-Lancashire dairy scheme. Sixty households (30 from each scheme) were randomly selected and interviewed by use of a semi-structured questionnaire. Fisher’s exact and Monte Carlo tests were carried out to determine the association between farmer experience and feed technology. Logistic regression was used to rank farmers’ awareness and adoption of feed technologies. The results indicated that farmers have been exposed to at least five new feed technologies and adoption is influenced by education status, sex, age and gender of household head (P < 0.05). Feed technology adoption was in the order: silage 70.83% > sunflower cake 41.66% > legume reinforcement 27.1% > legume trees 16.66% > napier fodder 8.33% > urea treatment 4.17%. Milk yield was affected by month and year (P < 0.05). The impact of adoption was below anticipation, as indicated by lack of economic surpluses. A cost-benefit analysis needs to be carried out for all feed technologies within the study area to streamline viable options.

Immigration and Business Dynamics: Evidence from U.S. Firms

Abstract This paper studies the impact of immigration on U.S. local business dynamics using a comprehensive collection of survey and administrative data. It finds heterogeneous impacts across the employer productivity distribution that favor higher-productivity firms and lead to increases in average local earnings. Responses to immigration along the exit margin are particularly important. Immigrant inflows cull establishments from low-productivity firms while preserving establishments from high-productivity firms. Overall, reduced exit accounts for 43% of immigrant-induced job creation and 41% of immigrant-induced earnings growth. A general equilibrium model proposes a mechanism that ties immigrant workers to high-productivity employers and shows how accounting for changes to the employer productivity distribution can yield substantially larger estimates of immigrant-generated economic surplus than canonical models of labor demand.

Measuring Arms: Introducing the Global Military Spending Dataset

Military spending data measure key international relations concepts such as balancing, arms races, the distribution of power, and the severity of military burdens. Unfortunately, missing values and measurement error threaten the validity of existing findings. Addressing this challenge, we introduce the Global Military Spending Dataset (GMSD). GMSD collates new and existing expenditure variables from a comprehensive collection of sources, expands data coverage, and employs a latent variable model to estimate missing values and quantify measurement error. We validate the data and present new findings. First, correlations between economic surplus and military spending are currently higher than at any point in the last two-hundred years. Second, updating DiGiuseppe and Poast’s (2018) analysis, we find larger substantive effects. Specifically, we find that the (negative) effect of a democratic ally on military spending is three times larger, and the (positive) effect of an increase in GDP is five times larger than previously estimated.

Analysis of the Economic Impact of Research and Agricultural Extension of Sesame in Burkina Faso

This study aims to assess the economic impact of research and extension as for improved sesame varieties in Burkina Faso. Indeed, the effectiveness of the use of financial resources allocated to research and extension is a concern for donors and governments of different countries. The economic surplus model was used as an analytical tool for this study. Thus, data were collected from research, extension and statistical data production structures. This method evaluates the impacts in terms of shift of the supply curves. The results of the model show that it is benefitting to invest in cowpea research. In fact, in this study, the internal return rate is about 69% for the period ranging from 2006 to 2018, with a net added value nearly 372 billion FCFA. Such high rates could only be achieved through the relevance of the research results and their dissemination / adoption. Therefore, for a development of the sesame sector and an improvement of producers ‘income, the investment in the research is essential.

Effects of Government Price Policies on Major Agricultural Commodities in Andhra Pradesh, India

This study was concerned with analysis of export competitiveness and quantification of impact of price policies in Andhra Pradesh on net social loss in production and consumption, and welfare gain of farmers and consumers and change in Government revenue with respect to major food grains and commercial crops. Policy Analysis Matrix and Partial Equilibrium Model in the Marshallian economic surplus framework are employed in this study. The findings from Policy Analysis Matrix revealed that, on the input side, the farmers are more subsidized for rice and maize, as Nominal Protection coefficient on Tradable Inputs are less than one across all the major importing countries (unlike for chickpea, cotton lint and chilies (dry)). However, from the output side (Nominal Protection coefficient on Tradable output), the farmers producing rice, maize and chilies (dry) are more protective compared to social prices. Considering both input and output policies together, the farmers are simultaneously protective (Effective Protection Coefficient) for rice and maize and hence, the overall transfer from society to farmers is positive (Subsidy Ratio to Producers). The findings from Partial Equilibrium Model showed that total net social loss was found to be positive implying protectionism favoured the farmers across all the selected commodities. Further, the net social loss in production turned out to be positive confirming the main postulate of this study—a price greater than the equilibrium price will reduce the quantity demanded. The protectionist policies further led to a positive effect of trade liberalization on the welfare in the State and an increase in foreign exchange earnings, except for chickpea (in view of its net-importer status). Unlike farmers, consumers in Andhra Pradesh suffered welfare loss due to higher domestic prices over border prices for rice, maize and chilies (dry), However, there is a considerable increase in Government revenue due to pricing policies formulated by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The welfare gains to farmers are negative for chickpeas and cotton in view of higher domestic prices compared to border prices. So, the key point evident is that due to protectionism, the magnitude of net loss to consumers’ welfare compared to welfare gain of farmers is higher between Rs. 21916 lakh to Rs. 23768 during TE 2020-21 implying welfare transfers from consumers to farmers. Thus, the Government of Andhra Pradesh is spending an enormous amount of money to keep the protection policies going for the benefit of farmers. However, considering the net importer status of chickpeas, the Government should further escalate the subsidy both in production and marketing programs.

Implications for Economic Sustainability of Food Systems from Reductions in Household Food Waste: The Case of the Australian Apple Industry

Households are among the greatest contributors to food waste generation, particularly in fresh fruit and vegetables. From a policy perspective, reductions in household food waste are generally perceived to generate positive outcomes; however, the economic impacts are transmitted throughout the food value chain. In this paper, an Equilibrium Displacement Model (EDM) of the Australian apple industry is used to demonstrate the potential changes in economic welfare among apple industry participants from a reduction in household demand for food waste. Overall, there is an industry loss of economic surplus with apple growers, wholesalers, processors, and retailers who are adversely impacted. Domestic consumers potentially gain from increased food security at lower prices; however, the direction and magnitude of the change in consumer welfare are ambiguous and dependent on the treatment of consumer surplus on food waste in economic surplus calculations. This ambiguity likely has implications for current policies to combat food waste. The distributional impacts of changes in economic welfare among industry stakeholders emphasise the need for a collaborative approach to the food waste problem.

The Economic Value of Onion Farming Land and Its Impact on Farming Activities in Lambu District, Bima Regency

The research aims to: (1) Analyze the economic value of land (land rent) for shallot farming, both as land rent and economic surplus; (2) Analyze the costs and income of shallot farming in Lambu District, Bima Regency, NTB; and (3) Knowing farmers' perceptions of shallot farming activities. The research method is an exploratory-descriptive research method. This research was conducted in 2 (two) locations which are centers for the development of superior shallot commodities in Lambu District, Bima Regency, NTB, namely: Rasabou Village and Lambu Village. The number of samples at each location was 15 farmer households. Data were analyzed descriptively. The results show that: (1) The economic value of land as an economic surplus (land rent or economic rent or reaches) IDR 80,510,400/ha (94.45% comes from the economic surplus of dry season shallots); while the rental price (contact rent) is IDR 20,00,000 (66.25% is the dry season rental value); (2). The average production cost for red onion farming is IDR 87,582,200, while the production value reaches IDR 150,375,000, - resulting in a profit of IDR 62,792,800/ha; (3) The high profits and large absorption of labor in shallot farming have resulted in the emergence/judgment of farmers and farm workers that dry season farming (shallots) is more important than the rainy season (rice or other crops).

An Ex-post Impact Assessment of Seed-to-Seed Mechanization in Maize in Telangana State, India

In Telangana, India, maize is cultivated in large areas next to rice and cotton. Considering the importance of the crop, Professor Jayashankar Telangana state Agricultural University (PJTSAU) is focusing on the development of new maize hybrids and agro-technologies that increase yield and income for farmers and reduce input and management costs. In order to evaluate the impacts of seed-to-seed mechanization technology, the Economic Surplus (ES) approach was applied in the present study that quantifies aggregate social benefits which includes producer and consumer surplus. Results revealed a total surplus of Rs. 19.61 lakhs, mainly benefiting producers (72.09 per cent) and consumers (27.91 per cent). The investment in seed-to-seed mechanization demonstrated a promising 23 per cent internal rate of return (IRR), a net present value (NPV) of Rs. 3.2 lakhs, and a favorable BC ratio of 1.67:1. The results of study found that the adoption of novel technology increased farm income and reduced the labour cost.

Conjectures of British Investment, Tax Revenues, and Deficit Amounts from the Thirteenth to the Nineteenth Century using the Concept of Economic Surplus

This article attempts to estimate trends in the levels of public and private investment, and national government surpluses and deficits from accumulated capital income, taxation, and rents estimated by different economic historians for England and the UK by utilizing the concept of Paul Baran and Paul Sweezy’s economic surplus. The data support historical accounts that income per capita growth begins to increase around the 1600s in Britain, perhaps due to the level of capital, tax, and land income achieving an adequate threshold amount. According to some historians, this would also be about the time of capitalism’s ascent as the dominant economic system in Britain. Even then, dramatic increases in investment and economic growth do not appear until the late eighteenth century when investment and deficits reach even higher levels. The new estimates developed in this article are offered as additional macroeconomic data supplements to works created by other authors and researchers and submitted as a demonstration of the concept of economic surplus and the power of threshold levels of private and public investment. Most of all they also give some support to Baran and Sweezy’s notion of a society’s economic surplus coming from labor exploitation and being used to further investment and government expenditures.

Assessment of Economic Surplus Generated at the European Balancing Platforms

Assessment of Economic Surplus Generated at the European Balancing Platforms

A New Biopesticide for the Control of Fruit Flies in Organic Mango Production: An Ex-Ante Assessment of Returns to Research Using Economic Surplus Model

A New Biopesticide for the Control of Fruit Flies in Organic Mango Production: An Ex-Ante Assessment of Returns to Research Using Economic Surplus Model

Analysis of the Economic Impact of Research and Agricultural Extension of Sesame in Burkina Faso

This study aims to assess the economic impact of research and extension as for improved sesame varieties in Burkina Faso. Indeed, the effectiveness of the use of financial resources allocated to research and extension is a concern for donors and governments of different countries. The economic surplus model was used as an analytical tool for this study. Thus, data were collected from research, extension and statistical data production structures. This method evaluates the impacts in terms of shift of the supply curves. The results of the model show that it is benefitting to invest in cowpea research. In fact, in this study, the internal return rate is about 69% for the period ranging from 2006 to 2018, with a net added value nearly 372 billion FCFA. Such high rates could only be achieved through the relevance of the research results and their dissemination / adoption. Therefore, for a development of the sesame sector and an improvement of producers ‘income, the investment in the research is essential.

MASSIVE PREHISTORIC PIT SITES IN SOUTHERN IBERIA: CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES AND LESSONS LEARNED

SummaryArchaeological sites characterized by significant concentrations of pits (‘pit sites’) were widespread in prehistoric Europe. In southern Iberia, many pit sites date back to the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods (fourth‐third millennia BCE), and often display massive numbers of pits. Deciphering the social, economic, and symbolic significance of such sites, composed of hundreds or even thousands of pits, holds deep historical implications. What do these pits mean, and how were they used? If they functioned as grain storage pits, as many believe, did they represent a substantial economic surplus? Unfortunately, many of these sites have been inadequately published and remain poorly known north of the Pyrenees. This paper aims to contribute to the broader understanding of prehistoric pit sites in Europe by providing an overview of southern Iberian pit sites, and of the debates that have developed around their interpretation.