Consolidation Policies Research Articles

Consolidation of research libraries in Denmark

Since 2016 the Danish Ministry of Culture and Danish universities have pursued a policy of consolidation of research libraries. The main tool has been mergers and a significant result is the current Royal Danish Library (RDL). RDL is an institution in the Ministry of Culture with a turnover (2018) of 90m. € and a staff of 850 (650 FTE). Royal Danish Library (RDL) The easiest way to explain what has happened is to list the organisations which are now part of RDL: Royal Library, Copenhagen (nat...

Public Debt Consolidation and its Distributional Effects

We build a dynamic general equilibrium model with heterogeneous households, namely Rich and Poor, and capital–skill complementarity structure in the production function, to study aggregate and distributional implications of fiscal consolidation policies when the government uses a rich set of spending and tax instruments. Fiscal policy is conducted through constrained optimized fiscal rules. Our results show that, in the long run, fiscal consolidation enhances both aggregate efficiency and equity; however, it may hurt Rich households depending on which fiscal instrument takes advantage of the fiscal space created. Along the transition, wage inequality significantly increases due to the capital–skill complementarity structure of the production function. Specifically, this happens because debt consolidation crowds in capital and this favors Rich (skilled) households. On the other hand, the reduction in interest rates and government bonds lead to a decrease in Rich households’ income coming from capital and government bonds which eventually decrease income inequality. Finally, a rather novel finding is that the combination of asset and skill heterogeneity amplifies the increase in wage inequality in the early phase of fiscal consolidation.

Energy Independence and Energy Efficiency of Populated Areas in the System of Management

The idea of the essence of notions “energy independence” and “energy efficiency” was extended in the article taking into account the promising directions of developing energy saving, ensuring the harmonious system development. The energy policy in the populated localities of European countries was analyzed in the article and also their practical experience concerning the questions of energy independence and energy efficiency was studied. Special attention was paid to the Polish experience, because the country has the greatest number of energy independent populated localities among other European countries. The European experience of energy policy enabled to reveal economic, ecological, and social levers of forming and developing energy independence and energy efficiency of populated localities, forming the system of their management. The necessity of introducing consolidated state policy as to raising energy independence and energy efficiency of populated localities was proven, their priority directions and assistance in introducing the corresponding projects in the populated localities of Ukraine were determined. The necessity and peculiarities of energy management system for the need of project management in energy independence and energy efficiency of populated localities were investigated. Practical recommendations as to optimizing the management system of energy independence and energy efficiency of populated localities in Ukraine were developed

Fiscal Adjustments and Social Spending: An Analysis of the Indian Economy

The higher and unsustainable levels of debt have forced the economies to undergo consolidation policies to improve their fiscal position. However, such policies can impact both economic growth and welfare spending owing to their deficit dependence. The current study analyzed the debt dependence of welfare spending and tried to evaluate the impact of consolidation strategies on the long - term social and welfare spending in case of the Indian economy. The study employed the time - series data covering the time period from 1990 - 2018 concerning 13 variables broadly grouped under three headings, that is, spending on education, health, and welfare. The study utilized the technique of generalized method of moments technique (GMM). The study found that the deficit financing nature of the government is a significant determinant of social and welfare spending in the Indian economy. A 1% increase in the growth rate of deficit financing was found to augment the growth rate of spending on education by 0.13%, on health by 0.03%, on welfare by 0.15% with an overall impact of 0.11%. Such a debt dependence by the social and welfare spending raised doubts that a consolidation design may further endanger the already stagnating social and welfare spending. This is mainly if a consolidation programme pursued with an aim to infuse fiscal prudence heavily concentrates on the quantity rather than the quality of the design.

Controlling distribution inventory systems with shipment consolidation and compound Poisson demand

We consider a one-warehouse-multiple-retailer inventory system where the retailers face stochastic customer demand, modelled as compound Poisson processes. Deliveries from the central warehouse to groups of retailers are consolidated using a time based shipment consolidation policy. This means that replenishment orders have to wait until a vehicle departures, which increases the lead time for the retailers and therefore also the safety stock. Thus, a trade-off exists between expected shipment costs and holding costs. Our aim is to determine the shipment intervals and the required amount of safety stock for each retailer and the warehouse to minimize total cost, both for backorder costs and fill rate constraints. Previous work has focused on exact solutions which are computationally demanding and not applicable for larger real world problems. The focus of our present work is on the development of computationally attractive heuristics that can be applied in practice. A numerical study shows that the proposed heuristics perform well compared to the exact cost minimizing solutions. We also illustrate that the approaches are appropriate for solving real world problems using data from a large European company.

Determining the efficacy of consolidating municipal electric utilities in Ontario, Canada

Purpose This paper aims to examine empirically if the encouragement by government policy of merger and acquisition activity involving municipal and provincially owned electricity distribution utilities (LDCs) in the Province of Ontario has had positive effects in terms of value creation, operating performance and economies of scale. Design/methodology/approach It was anticipated that with LDC consolidation, there will be increased operational efficiency and improvement in the cost-effectiveness of the merged electrical utility. Using matched pairs dependent t-testing and Wilcoxon signed-rank testing, the authors compared data for three years before and after the merger or acquisition of 16 municipal utilities (616 total observations) to determine if there were any statistically significant changes (positive or negative) in measures of financial, operational and service efficiency. Findings The findings indicate statistically significant increases in debt as a percentage of shareholder equity in post-merger/acquisition utilities and consequently leveraged higher returns on equity. However, there were no statistically significant changes in financial, operational or service efficiency measures (with the exception of decreased efficiency in telephone response). Research limitations/implications A total of 16 mergers or acquisitions were reviewed involving 32 of 79 LDCs, with the research implications pointing to a need for existing policy to be reviewed to determine whether a more detailed examination is required by the provincial energy regulator, including a closer examination of managerial motives, before approving mergers between municipal electricity distributors. This research involves only a quantitative approach and further research would examine these transactions using qualitative measures for a deeper examination as to managerial motives. Practical implications The results suggest that the mergers or acquisitions to date have served only to increase shareholder risk without improvement in other financial, operational or service efficiencies, a contradiction to the rationale behind the Province’s merger policy. Social implications The consolidation policy for Ontario LDCs has not resulted in any statistically significant improvement in electricity rates or service for consumers. Originality/value This paper is the first examination of the effects of Ontario’s LDC consolidation policy in terms of specific financial, operational and service efficiency measures.

Bank Consolidation and Performance of the Nigerian Economy

This study empirically examined the relationship between banks’ consolidation and performance of the Nigerian economy from 1970 – 2017 using the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique. The findings revealed that Banks’ consolidation in Nigeria had a significant impact on the performance of the economy. Banks’ consolidation significantly facilitates and promotes banks’ credit to the economy and economic growth in Nigeria. The economy had performed better in the post-consolidation era than the pre-consolidation era. It is recommended that consolidation policy should be carried out periodically. Keywords : Banks Consolidation, banks’ credit, Nigerian Economy DOI : 10.7176/JESD/10-10-03 Publication date :May 31 st 2019

Guerra de Melilla y reajustes en Europa (1893-1894)

Se ha dicho que España careció de política exterior durante la Restauración. Se ha atribuido a esta carencia un papel decisivo en la derrota frente a los Estados Unidos. El «recogimiento», opción compartida por los gobernantes españoles con los de Italia, el Reino Unido, Alemania y Austria, nada tiene que ver con el aislamiento. Aquel significaba aceptación de las fronteras, política defensiva y no de conquista, concentración de los recursos en la estabilización de las instituciones y el desarrollo de la riqueza y, a partir de la segunda mitad de los ochenta, en la mejora de las condiciones de vida de las clases sociales. El artículo, parte de un proyecto de investigación, sitúa la posición de geoestratégica de España en el marco de una triple solidaridad: la de las monarquías europeas, la de la naciones mediterráneas, incluidas las del norte de Africa, y la de lo partidos políticos de cada país. Esa comunidad de intereses debería actuar como factor de cohesión en un momento en que la fluidez de la política europea creaba incertidumbres y alguna amenaza a la paz.

Barriers to the Promotion of Agricultural Land Consolidation in Rural Areas from Farmers' Point of View (Case Study: Fash Dehedtan of Kangavar County)

Purpose- The present study aimed to investigate the most important obstacles to the promotion of agricultural land consolidation in the rural areas of Kangavar County. This study seeks to answer a key question: What are the main obstacles to the implementation of agricultural land consolidation policy in the villages of the study area? Design/methodology/approach- The present research is an applied one conducted in a descriptive-analytical method; field work was used for data collection and factor analysis was used for data analysis. The population of the study included 1216 land users. Using Cochran's formula, 211 questionnaires were developed and randomly distributed among the users. The stratified sampling method was used to determine the number of samples in the villages. Cronbach's alpha was used to determine the coefficient of validity of the questionnaire in the village; the validity of the questionnaire was 0.816, which indicated the data were suitable for the research. Findings- The findings show that ‘the factor of investment and fund’ accounts for 14.445% of the variance, which is the most important obstacle to the development of land consolidation in the rural areas. However, the lack of support of government agencies and organizations, infrastructural weaknesses, individual factors, lack of creativity, lack of intellectual participation and trust, lack of management and production practices, lack of knowledge and awareness, and lack of access to communication facilities in rural areas are important constraints on land consolidation in the rural areas of the study.

Political Costs of Tax-Based Consolidations

This paper studies the impact of tax-based consolidations on reelection outcomes. Using a granular database of tax-based consolidations for a panel of 10 OECD countries over the last 40 years, we find that tax reforms are politically costly but some reforms are costlier than others. Measures aimed primarily at reducing existing deficits and debt are costlier than tax consolidation policies for improving long-term growth prospects. Electoral costs are particularly high for broad-based indirect tax and corporate tax reforms. Voters tend to penalize governments less if tax consolidations are announced early in the government's term or if the government has a strong political mandate. Favorable economic conditions increase public support for tax-based consolidations. Personal income tax reforms are electorally salient if the reforms are frontloaded, announced during recessions, and in less progressive tax systems.

A Stakeholder-Based Evaluation of the Most Suitable and Sustainable Delivery Fleet for Freight Consolidation Policies in the Inner-City Area

Freight carriers, receivers and citizens in the inner-city area suffer the most from issues impacting last mile delivery due to exacerbated traffic congestion, limited parking and unsustainable delivery vehicles. Freight consolidation policies offer a sustainable solution to address these problems. The freight vehicles used in the consolidated deliveries could play a significant role in the sustainability and success of these policies. This paper applies a multi-stakeholder decision support approach to evaluate the suitability and potential of various delivery fleet configurations in addressing the perspectives and requirements of all stakeholders involved in last mile delivery to perform the consolidated delivery in the inner-city area. The Multi-Actor Multi-Criteria Analysis (MAMCA) framework was utilised to assess and rank various delivery configurations involving a combination of eco-friendly delivery vans, trucks and cargobikes based on the objectives of the stakeholders. The weight allocation of the criteria was determined through the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (F-AHP) method using responses collected from key actors representing all stakeholder groups in Melbourne, Australia. The multi-stakeholder analysis, which was performed using the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) method, suggested that the consolidated delivery should be performed using a combination of eco-friendly delivery vans and cargobikes to incorporate the concerns of the societal stakeholders and operational requirements of the business stakeholders. The mono-actor analysis revealed the heterogeneity of the stakeholders’ preferences and clashing views regarding the optimal delivery fleet. This highlights the importance of incorporating a multi-stakeholder perspective in the planning and selection of suitable urban freight policies. Accordingly, a suitable implementation plan for the consolidated delivery fleet was proposed to reflect the perspectives and requirements of these stakeholders.

Energy justice, the built environment, and solar photovoltaic (PV) energy transitions in urban Australia: A dynamic panel data analysis

This study contributes to an understanding of how the distribution of benefits and costs of energy production should occur. In doing so, this study draws attention to an uneasy tension between urban planning practice focused on urban consolidation and the promotion of solar photovoltaic panels in Australia’s capital cities. Specifically, this study investigates the impact of built environment and feed-in tariffs (FiTs) on the installation of solar rooftop photovoltaic (PV) in Australia’s capital cities. It uses a dynamic panel data model to analyse a unique dataset of solar PV panel installations at the postcode level for Australia’s capital cities over the period 2001–2015. The results of this study indicate that denser built environments can detract from solar PV panel installations in the short-run and in the long-run. These effects are distinct from the socioeconomic status of an area. Specifically, the results indicate that while increases in the density of the built environment detract from solar panel installations, these changes in the built environment appear to be more than offset by FiTs. The results point to the need to mitigate the risk of energy disadvantage entrenchment through urban consolidation policy.

The Victorian College of Pharmacy: a case study of amalgamation failure and success in Australian higher education

Small specialist higher education institutions often face challenges when negotiating with larger partners. In 1988, John Dawkins, Australia’s federal Minister for Education, introduced sweeping reforms to create a Unified National System of higher education. Dawkins’ criteria for funding necessitated mergers for many smaller providers. The Victorian College of Pharmacy in Melbourne, Victoria, presents a case study of how one institution negotiated this policy and asserted its interests to achieve an optimal outcome. It rejected amalgamation with the University of Melbourne, reaching a superior arrangement with Monash University despite state and federal opposition. This article combines archival research from Melbourne and Monash Universities and the state government with interviews of key players. It examines the importance of institutional identity and how small institutions can navigate government policies of consolidation. It also focuses on the deleterious effects of inflexible government policy and how the College successfully overcame these challenges to complete its desired merger.

Assessing the Impacts of Land Consolidation on Agricultural Technical Efficiency of Producers: A Survey from Jiangsu Province, China

Since the year 2000, China has implemented large-scale land consolidation, which was used to reduce land fragmentation, enhance grain yield capability, facilitate land tenure transfer, and promote agricultural operational scale. However, the impacts of land consolidation on agricultural technical efficiency of producers in practice is not yet clear. A field survey was executed at two points of time during July 2010 and July 2016. A total of 900 producers were chosen from 30 land consolidation projects at random in the Jiangsu Province. The agricultural technical efficiency caused by land consolidation was calculated by using a stochastic frontier analysis method. The results of a stochastic frontier production function reveal that land tenure transfer, land fragmentation, non-agricultural income, and crop diversity has undergone significant changes after land consolidation. The overall agricultural technical efficiency of producers had also increased considerably and the average technical efficiency was estimated at 0.924 after land consolidation. Land consolidation directly promotes land tenure transfer while indirectly encouraging non-agricultural employment, which could improve agricultural technical efficiency of producers. Non-agricultural income and crop diversity had a significant correlation with agricultural technical efficiency, but land fragmentation after land consolidation does not significantly improve technical efficiency. These conclusions are helpful in understanding the impacts of land consolidation, which enriches the academic literature in related fields and improves the policy of land consolidation in China and other developing countries.

Fiscal Compact and Debt Consolidation Dynamics

We analyse the macroeconomic effects of a debt consolidation policy in the Euro Area mimicking the Fiscal Compact Rule (FCR). The rule requires the signatory states to target a debt-to-GDP ratio below 60%. Within the context of Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium models (DSGE), we augment a fully micro-founded New-Keynesian model with a parametric linear debt consolidation rule, and we analyse the effects on the main macroeconomic aggregates. To fully understand its implications on the economy, we study different debt consolidation scenarios, allowing the excess debt to be re-absorbed with different timings. We show that including a debt consolidation rule can exacerbate the effects of the shocks in the economy by imposing a constraint on the public debt process. Secondly, we note that the effect of loosening or tightening the rule in response to a shock is heterogeneous. Shocks hitting nominal variables (monetary policy shock) are not particularly sensitive. On the contrary, we prove that the same change has a more pronounced effect in case of shock hitting real variables (productivity and public spending shocks). Finally, we show that the macroeconomic framework worsens as a function of the rigidity of the debt consolidation rule. As a limiting case, we show that the effects on output, employment, real wages, inflation, and interest rates are sizable.

A stochastic process-based server consolidation approach for dynamic workloads in cloud data centers

With the development of information technology, there is a need for computational works everywhere and every time. Thus, people should be able to carry out their heavy computations without having the burden of purchasing expensive hardware and software. Cloud computing is an attractive solution to such needs, but the high energy consumption of physical machines in a Cloud data center is a matter of great concern. Therefore, some of the low-loaded machines can be turned off or switched into low energy mode using server consolidation approaches. In this paper, a Stochastic Process-Based Dynamic Server Consolidation (SB-DSC) policy is developed to reduce the total cost of data centers while satisfying the required quality of service. A novel algorithm, which we call it Stochastic Process-Based BFD (SBBFD), is employed in SB-DSC policy to perform virtual machine placements over time. SBBFD overcomes most drawbacks of other algorithms proposed in the literature. The simulation results on real workload data show that SB-DSC leads to a noticeable reduction in total cost in terms of power consumption, SLA violations, number of mode switching and number of migrations.

A perishable product shipment consolidation model considering freshness-keeping effort

Based on Quality-based policy and Quantity-and-Quality-based policy proposed in this paper, the corresponding perishable products shipment consolidation stochastic models by integrating freshness-keeping effort decision are formulated. For each policy, analytical results give conditions and expressions of adopting these policies and freshness-keeping effort. Numerical experiments show: (i) the positive effect of fresh investment on cost, (ii) the changing tends of policy parameters, freshness-keeping efforts and cost based on all parameters, (iii) the superiority of Quantity-and-Quality-based policy over Quality-based policy in most operational environment and (iv) the cost improvement under Quantity-and-Quality-based policy than other existing shipment consolidation policies.

Under the radar? ‘Soft’ residential densification in England, 2001–2011

Urban compaction policies have been widely adopted in developed countries in pursuit of more sustainable cities. Compactness is achieved through a process of ‘densification’, of developing and using land and buildings more intensively. However, empirical evidence on the processes and outcomes of urban densification is lacking. The paper addresses this lacuna. It considers densification in England, a country that has long experience of applying policies of urban containment and consolidation; and one where new data sources allow the analysis of recent land use change at a level of detail not hitherto possible. In England between 2001 and 2011, the bulk of additional dwellings were accommodated within urban areas, increasing their density. Yet, there were wide inter- and intra-regional variations in the pattern of densification: for example, in the contributions of large scale, formal development and of small scale, informal, gradual change – of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ densification – to the process. The significant differences in local experiences of densification that result raise major issues for policy.

THE POLICY OF FINANCIAL CONSOLIDATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE FACE OF EXTERNAL SHOCKS

Topic . The article discusses the policy of progressive fiscal consolidation carried out in developed countries and in Russia. There is also a characteristic of fiscal policy in Russia. Purpose. We aim to identify the actual effects of the policy of financial consolidation in terms of a tight dependence on the cyclical development of the world economy. Methodology. We used the methodology of macroeconomic analysis, systemic approach, statistical methods (cluster analysis), and methods of mathematical statistics and econometrics. Results . The rising debt of the developed countries in conditions of chronic budget deficit actualized the task of fiscal consolidation. Initially, the idea of fiscal consolidation was to implement a progressive consolidation, i. e. the reduction of budget expenditures, which would contribute to the formation of the financial potential. In turn, the financial potential is realized in the form of a budget surplus that could be used to reduce the tax burden and rise of spending in the future. Literature indicates on the effect of reproduction of the austerity measures due to changes in budget institutions; it limits the ability to stimulate the economy through measures of fiscal policy. Thus, the approach to the implementation of fiscal policy is offset, in the direction of tightening. The analysis of fiscal policy in Russia since the late 1990s does not allow concluding that its character corresponds to the ideas of progressive fiscal consolidation. Despite the creation of a significant budget surplus in times of boom, it practically was not used for the task of stimulating economic development. Conclusions . The policy of fiscal consolidation, ongoing in Russia, primarily aimed at solving a narrow range of budget issues and is not intended for the future to stimulate the economy.

Land fragmentation and production diversification: A case study from rural Albania

We analyze the impact of land fragmentation on production diversification in rural Albania. Albania represents a particularly interesting case for studying land fragmentation as the fragmentation is a direct outcome of land reforms. The results indicate that land fragmentation is an important driver of production diversification of farm households in Albania. We find that land fragmentation stimulates significantly more diversification for subsistence farm households than for market-oriented households. Our findings have two key policy implications: (i) the consolidation policies that relocate and enlarge plots would have a significant impact on reducing agricultural production diversification; and (ii) land fragmentation contributes to the nutritional security improvement by increasing the variety of foodstuffs produced by subsistence farm households.