European Prices Research Articles

Assessment of Supercell Storm-Induced Uprooting of Amenity Trees—Monetization of Environmental and Socio-Economic Losses

Amenity trees contribute to the overall quality of urban environments and are valued for their beauty and the benefits they bring to communities. However, the assessment of this capital commonly concludes with considerations of its vitality and decorativeness. Thus, this research provided a monetary assessment of losses caused by the supercell storm-induced uprooting of trees growing in three public green spaces utilized by the most vulnerable population (children aged 3–18 years). For these purposes, the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers (CTLA) formula was applied taking into account growth parameters, species dependence, and the specimens’ condition and location. Prices from national and European nurseries were utilized to obtain appropriate base values. The results indicate that the total appraised monetary loss amounted to EUR 495,864 (national) and EUR 1,528,481 (European prices). The species P. nigra, B. alba, T. tomentosa, F. excelsior, A. saccharinum, P. occidentalis, and P. cerasifera showed lower uprooting resistance with no clear species-specific responses, but there was an interaction of biotic, abiotic, and artificial influences. Understanding the complex factors influencing tree stability is crucial for urban planners and arborists to mitigate storm- and wind-related risks. Collaborative planning and participatory management are essential for safeguarding both economic and environmental interests and ensuring the safety of vulnerable populations in outdoor spaces.

Exposure and preparedness for wartime inflation in the EU: Retrospective cluster analysis

AbstractThe impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on energy prices contributed significantly to European price increases in 2022. The study aims to find a linkage between the performance of 24 EU countries during the energy inflation crisis and their preparedness, vulnerability or exposure. The verified hypotheses reflect on the role of initial conditions of countries and the one-year impact of energy inflation on their economic performance. The two-step analysis first creates six clusters of countries based on their energy, trade, financial and political vulnerability, and preparedness indicators. The second step is to explore the shifts of clusters in expectations on macroeconomic indicators. Specific patterns of country groups are explored in the value and evolution of wartime indicators of inflation, GDP growth, consumer and business confidence, as well as FX volatility. The exploration concludes that the entry variables of clustering are relevant, and the EU countries can be segmented by dependency, energy, financial, and political aspects. Thus, it is possible to verify the distance in risk and exposure among EU economies. The impact variables demonstrated that the extent of the inflationary effect depended on the initial conditions. In addition, the research identified protective short-term factors against energy inflation originating in a trade and war context.

The Price–Volume Dependences in the European and Chinese Carbon Markets: New Evidence from the Fractal Analysis

The price–volume nexus is essential for understanding and discriminating the structure of the carbon market. The current research investigates the price–volume dependences in the European carbon market and Chinese national carbon markets through fractal methods. The results demonstrate that prices have close connections with volumes at multi-time scales in both markets, and that the price–volume correlation coefficient series in the Chinese carbon market have more intense volatility, implying that it is more difficult for Chinese investors to reach consensus on prices at different time scales than European investors. In addition, there are bidirectional price–volume transmissions in both markets. Interestingly, in most cases, the influence from volume to price is much more apparent than that from price to volume in both markets, indicating that volume acts a more important role in the price–volume transmission. Finally, the European price–volume dependence has lower risk and higher efficiency than the Chinese price–volume dependence, which is due to the fact that the European market is more mature than the Chinese market. This study has both theoretical and practical applications for policymakers and investors to make optimum decisions relating to policy formation and risk management in the carbon market.

Energy prices in Europe. Evidence of persistence across markets

This paper deals with the behavior of energy price changes and how their shocks exert an impact on suppliers and consumers in different markets. For this purpose, a fractional integration model is used to evaluate the persistence and mean reversion in prices across the major European markets (Germany, France, Italy, UK, Spain). We compare the results with other major players as the US and Japan, to understand, first, if the European behavior is different, and second, if geopolitical shocks that are affecting this market are expected to be permanent. Empirical results show evidence of mean reversion properties in European prices, though some minor differences arise from market to market that apparently, are not associated with the energy generation strategies followed by each country. Thus, it will likely be expected following the current energy shocks the series will recover due to natural market forces, without the need for additional policies.

Resource-specific Orders in European Day-ahead Market Under Different Pricing Rules

This paper addresses two issues that concern the electricity market participants under the European day-ahead market (DAM) framework, namely the feasibility of the attained schedules and the non-confiscation of cleared volumes. To address the first issue, new resource-specific orders, i.e., thermal orders for thermal generating units, demand response orders for load responsive resources, and energy limited orders for storage resources, are proposed and incorporated in the existing European DAM clearing problem. To address the second issue, two approaches which lead to a non-confiscatory market are analyzed: ① discriminatory pricing with side-payments (U.S. paradigm); and ② non-discriminatory pricing excluding out-of-money orders (European paradigm). A comparison is performed between the two approaches to investigate the most appropriate pricing rule in terms of social welfare, derived revenues for the sellers, and efficiency of the attained results. The proposed model with new resource-specific products is evaluated in a European test system, achieving robust solutions. The feasibility of the attained schedules is demonstrated when using resource-specific orders compared with block orders. Finally, the results indicate the supremacy of discriminatory pricing with side-payments compared with the current European pricing rule.

What can the EU do to address the high natural gas prices?

Natural gas prices worldwide increased on the back of the COVID economic recovery in 2021. European prices skyrocketed when the dominant external supplier, Gazprom, started to withhold supplies in Q4 2021. This analysis uses market modelling to assess and compare the effectiveness of various measures to mitigate the gas – and by extension energy – price crisis in the short and longer term. First, the realization of the 5th PCI package adopted by the European Commission in November 2021 would significantly reduce EU prices, especially in the Eastern Member States that tend to be more dependent on the single external supplier. At the same time, the billions of euros that would be poured in risk becoming stranded assets in the long-term with tightening climate regulations. Secondly, uniform voluntary demand response has significant potential to reduce prices, especially in the Eastern Member States. Thirdly, the introduction of European strategic gas reserves can bring temporary price relief but is not a cost-efficient solution. However, security of supply considerations can outweigh the negative economic outcomes.

HPR103 Pricing Negotiations of ASMR IV Drugs in France: Impact of the Latest LEEM-CEPS Framework Agreement

On March 5th, 2021, a new LEEM-CEPS framework agreement was signed for 3 years, setting notably the conditions under which drugs with an ASMR IV can claim a list price consistent with the prices in 4 European markets (Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom). This study aimed at analyzing the impact of this agreement on ASMR IV price, and more particularly whether drugs eligible for the European Price Guarantee have benefited from a consistent French price.

Option pricing and risk hedging for Apple

The Black Sholes Merton (BSM) model is one of the fundamental stochastics models in quantitative finance and the Merton Jump diffusion (MJ) model. This paper examines how BSM, and MJ behave on the European pricing based on 10 options chosen for Apple Inc, with BSM using RRS, SSE, and Historical Volatility, and MJ using SSE as calibration methods. Then delta-neutral hedging strategy is performed using the BSM on the historical data collected from the concessive 10 days. The BSM with RRS and SSE when pricing should be preferred, and the results are similar. The MJ and the BSM using Historical Volatility, however, do not work well when pricing. The delta-neutral hedging strategy is not ideal in this case, since it results in lower profits. The result possesses valuable insights for quantitative finance that calibration methods can significantly influence the accuracy of pricing, and the hedging method can limit the maximum profit.

Dependence structure between the international crude oil market and the European markets of biodiesel and rapeseed oil

Being an environmentally friendly fuel obtained from rapeseed oil, biodiesel is used extensively in Europe. However, the dependence structure between global crude oil prices and the European prices of biodiesel and rapeseed oil is understudied and unclear. In this paper, we address this gap by utilizing asymmetric copulas and cross-quantilogram approaches on daily data. The results of the DCC-Student-t copula indicate that during bearish periods the conditional connectedness between crude oil prices and biodiesel (rapeseed oil) prices are stronger than during bullish periods, indicating increased co-movement with a decline in crude oil prices. The application of cross-quantilogram indicates that an increase in crude oil price positively influences biodiesel prices reflecting an asymmetric dependence structure among the assets. There is evidence of shifts in the dynamics of quantile dependency during periods of financial and economic turmoil. Overall, the results show a significant dependence between the global crude oil market and the European markets of biodiesel and rapeseed oil in specific periods and under specific market conditions, which have important implications for policymakers and investors.

Assessing US Pharmaceutical Policy and Pricing Reform Legislation in Light of European Price and Cost Control Strategies.

This article compares the pharmaceutical pricing policies employed by public and private insurers in the United States with seven price and spending control strategies employed in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Differences between American and European policies explain why American pharmaceutical prices and per capita spending are higher than in European nations. The article then analyzes two recent bills as examples of significant American reform ideas-H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (introduced in 2019) and the Build Back Better Act (BBBA, introduced in 2021)-and compares them with European cost control strategies. Key drug price provisions of the BBBA were incorporated into the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). H.R. 3 would have used an international (mostly European) price index to cap U.S. prices; the BBBA would cap Medicare prices at a discount from average U.S. market prices. Neither bill would employ the key cost control strategies that European nations do. Both bills would have significantly less impact on prices than legislation that employs European-style cost controls. This article proposes steps that Congress could take in line with European strategies to lower purchase prices and costs for patients. These measures would have to overcome political obstacles that currently stymie reform.

Europe in World Natural Gas Market: International Transmission of European Price Shocks

The paper applies the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) framework with 250 days rolling window to the analysis of the interconnectedness of regional markets for natural gas in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and the US. Transmission of European gas market fundamentals to other regional gas markets is assessed by using carbon price in the EU Emissions Trading System and European gas storage capacity utilization. The latter is proven to be a significant component in the cointegrating equation that links natural gas prices in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. It is shown that gas prices in all three regional markets are pairwise cointegrated while cointegration between gas and oil prices is absent in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region and weak in the US. It is also concluded that fundamental factors of the European gas market influence gas price dynamics not only in Europe, but also in the Asia-Pacific region and, to a lesser extent, the US. In sum, the increasing importance of LNG import in European natural gas consumption has given a strong impetus to the formation of the global natural gas market.

Price changes and within-class competition of cancer drugs in the USA and Europe: a comparative analysis.

Cancer drugs are a major component of pharmaceutical spending in the USA and Europe. The number of approved cancer drugs continues to increase. More new drugs with overlapping mechanisms of action and similar approved indications might be expected to decrease prices within drug classes. We compared patterns of price changes for cancer drugs within the same class in the USA and in two European countries (Germany and Switzerland) with national mechanisms for drug price negotiation. For this comparative analysis, we identified cancer drugs approved for the treatment of solid cancers in the USA and Europe (Germany and Switzerland) between Jan 1, 2009, and Dec 31, 2020, using the US Food and Drug Administration's Drugs@FDA database and the European Medicines Agency's publicly available database. We considered cancer drugs as within-class competitors if they were approved for the same indication and had the same biological mechanism. We calculated monthly treatment prices for each drug, median price changes at launch and over time, and differences within and across drug classes. European price data were converted to US dollars by applying the exchange rates on Dec 1, 2020, and prices were adjusted for inflation. Median changes in the drugs' monthly treatment prices at 2 and 4 years after market entry across and within drug classes were also assessed. For the USA, correlations in relative price changes between all pairs of drugs within and across drug classes were calculated with Spearman's rank correlation. Our study cohort comprised 12 drug classes covering nine indications. With the exception of one drug, increasing prices were observed within and across all drug classes in the USA (median 6·07% [range -3·60 to 33·83] 2 years after market entry, and 15·31% [-4·15 to 54·64] 4 years after market entry). By contrast, in Europe, prices generally decreased over time or did not increase more than inflation (2 years after market entry: -21·01% [range -50·72 to 12·71] in Germany and -1·48% [-26·81 to 1·69] in Switzerland; 4 years after market entry: -25·54% [-51·81 to 11·63] in Germany and -13·02% [-43·83 to 18·31] in Switzerland). In the USA, most prices changes within and across drug classes occurred at the end and beginning of the year (ie, from Dec 1 to Jan 31). In the USA, correlation for price changes was r=0·29 (SD 0·36) for within-class drugs and r=0·28 (0·36) for drugs across drug classes. Competition within classes of cancer drugs generally did not constrain rising prices in the USA. Price negotiations, as practised in Germany or Switzerland, could help address the high prices of cancer drugs in the USA. Swiss Cancer Research Foundation (Krebsforschung Schweiz), Swiss National Science Foundation, and Arnold Ventures.

Capitalization and Capital Return in Boreal Carbon Forestry

In this paper, an attempt is made to determine an intangible capitalization premium based on an expected further value increment of forest stands. Such premium cannot be determined through exponential interpolation. Firstly, any discount rate depending on maturity proposes clearcuttings soon after thinning as a computational artifact. Secondly, exponential interpolation with a constant discount rate violates an internal consistency criterion as the rotation age increases. Omitting the intangible capitalization premium, the carbon stock of boreal forest can be increased in a variety of ways (albeit at the expense of a capital return rate deficiency). A small excess volume can be economically gained by increasing sapling density. Greater excess volume is best achieved by restricting thinnings. A large excess volume is best achieved by omitting thinnings. Regardless of the technique used, enhanced carbon storage requires financial compensation in terms of a carbon rent. With the present European emission prices, there is no financial difficulty in establishing such a carbon rent arrangement.

POSA211 Are Orphan Drugs in France Priced According to International Prices and Which Factors Could Influence the Negotiated Prices?

The orphan drug status in the European Union aims to promote investment by creating incentives. The primary objective of this analysis is to compare the prices of orphan drugs in France to that of four other European countries: Germany (post-amnog), Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. 17 orphan drugs priced in France between January 2016 and May 2021 were selected. Only products reimbursed first in an orphan indication and with public prices available were included. Daily treatment costs, first price publication date and price evolution in each country were collected. A one-to-one analysis was conducted to account for drugs not available in a country. Out of the 17 products, 11 (65%) had their lowest price in France. The mean daily treatment cost in France was significantly lower than in the UK (-20,73%; P-value = 0.0123), Italy (-18,57%; P-value = 0.0109) and Spain (-15,98%; P-value = 0.0288). The difference with Germany (+4,5%) was not statistically significant (P-value = 0.579). A trend appeared when observing the launch sequence of countries: the UK usually obtained a price first followed by other countries with a lower published price. The drop in price compared to the UK was substantial for Germany and France. In a linear regression model, the two best factors that explained the treatment cost were the population size and level of Added Medical Value (adjusted R2 = 0,7305; P-value < 0.001). These findings suggest that France grants a lower listed price than its reference countries for orphan drugs. Pricing decisions seem primarily based on the number of people to treat. The new 2021 framework agreement with the CEPS could change this. Indeed, orphan drugs will access European prices with an AMV level of IV. This status should guarantee a price at least equal to the lowest price in the four countries considered.

Fundamental Responsiveness in European Electricity Prices

We estimate fundamental pricing relationships in selected European day-ahead electricity markets. Using a fractionally integrated panel data model with unobserved common effects, we quantify the responsiveness of hourly electricity prices to two fundamental leading indicators of day-ahead markets: the predicted load and renewable generation. The application of fractional cointegration analysis techniques gives further insight into the pricing mechanism of power delivery contracts, enabling us to measure the persistence of fundamental shocks.

European natural gas prices continue to bite

European natural gas prices continue to bite

An adaptive Monte Carlo algorithm for European and American options

Abstract. In this paper, a new adaptive Monte Carlo algorithm is proposed to solve systems of linear algebraic equations (SLAEs). The corresponding properties of the algorithm and its advantages over the conventional and previous adaptive Monte Carlo algorithms are discussed and theoretical results are established to justify the convergence of the algorithm. Furthermore, the algorithm is used to solve the SLAEs obtained from finite difference method for the problem of European and American options pricing. Numerical tests are performed on examples with matrices of different size and on SLAEs coming from option pricing problems. Comparisons with standard numerical and stochastic algorithms are also done which demonstrate the computational efficiency of the proposed algorithm.

The significance of climate variability on early modern European grain prices

Grain was the most important food source in early modern Europe (c. 1500–1800), and its price influenced the entire economy. The extent to which climate variability determined grain price variations remains contested, and claims of solar cycle influences on prices are disputed. We thoroughly reassess these questions, within a framework of comprehensive statistical analysis, by employing an unprecedentedly large grain price data set together with state-of-the-art palaeoclimate reconstructions and long meteorological series. A highly significant negative grain price–temperature relationship (i.e. colder = high prices and vice versa) is found across Europe. This association increases at larger spatial and temporal scales and reaches a correlation of -,0.41 considering the European grain price average and previous year June–August temperatures at annual resolution, and of -,0.63 at decadal timescales. This strong relationship is of episodic rather than periodic (cyclic) nature. Only weak and spatially inconsistent signals of hydroclimate (precipitation and drought), and no meaningful association with solar variations, are detected in the grain prices. The significant and persistent temperature effects on grain prices imply that this now rapidly changing climate element has been a more important factor in European economic history, even in southern Europe, than commonly acknowledged.

DOI: 10.1002/chemv.202100049 Author: ChemistryViews Published Date: 31 Mai 2021 Copyright: Wiley-VCH GmbH thumbnail image: Renewable Energy Is Growing – But Not Fast Enough Related Articles News: Technical Corn Oil for Renewable Diesel News: Investing in Renewable Fuels News: Together Must Be The Motto in Europe Magazine: Brewery Waste as Renewable Energy Source For the first time, renewables have overtaken fossil

DOI: 10.1002/chemv.202100049 Author: ChemistryViews Published Date: 31 Mai 2021 Copyright: Wiley-VCH GmbH thumbnail image: Renewable Energy Is Growing – But Not Fast Enough Related Articles News: Technical Corn Oil for Renewable Diesel News: Investing in Renewable Fuels News: Together Must Be The Motto in Europe Magazine: Brewery Waste as Renewable Energy Source For the first time, renewables have overtaken fossil

Price coordination in the Spanish oil market: The monday effect

Spanish premium oil operators have been accused of coordinating gasoline price cuts on Mondays. The objective of this practice, known as the “Monday effect” was to lower the official prices of automotive fuels - that was collected on Mondays - so as Spain was not at the top of the European price ranking. This behavior presumably ceased in May 2013 when Government began to consider the average prices of the entire week instead of Mondays prices. In order to test whether this anticompetitive behavior existed and ceased after the change in the data collection methodology, we employ a novel database that includes retail prices for all petrol stations in Spain in the period 2012–2013. Using a difference-in-difference estimator, we exploit this regulatory change to econometrically identify and confirm that: i) the three main companies, with 70% of the market share, have systematically established lower prices on Mondays, and that this is unjustified by either cost or demand; ii) this price reduction was small during 2012, but increased significantly in the first half of 2013. iii) following the change in the collection of price data by the government, the average Monday effect ‘disappeared’ from the Spanish gasoline market. Our results highlight the price coordination capacity of dominant oil operators in Spain and suggest that authorities that monitor cartels should be much more active in promoting competition in this sector, for example, by facilitating the entry of low-cost or independent stations and/or by being particularly alert to evidence of collusive behavior. Likewise, this coordination capacity must be taken into account when evaluating mergers in this sector and/or imposing fines.