Relevant Economic Activity Research Articles

Setting priorities for the conservation of marine vertebrates in Brazilian waters

The global panorama of biodiversity loss has motivated international agreements to enhance the protection of the oceans. Given the conflicting interests arising from multiple uses of seascapes and finite funds for conservation, developing cost-effective strategies for marine biodiversity conservation is crucial to support decision making. Here, we identified sites in Brazilian waters that would maximize species representation and avoid potential conflicts with relevant economic activities. We compared conservation benefits provided by three conservation-planning scenarios that incorporated the distribution of 750 marine vertebrate species, while considering established marine protected areas (MPAs) and blocks concessioned for the oil and gas industry. The results showed that a MPA network encompassing 10% of the study area with high conservation priority would cover between 85.8 and 86.5% of species distributions, on average. We found that incorporating existing MPAs and areas concessioned for oil and gas exploitation in the prioritization process caused only a small loss in representation of near-threatened and threatened species. Our results highlight, therefore, that it is possible to reconcile current offshore oil and gas production with the expansion of the national MPA network, without significant losses in species' representation. These results represent a preliminary assessment of spatial priorities for conservation of marine vertebrates in Brazilian waters. They can be used to prompt a dialog with social actors, in order to expand the national MPA system.

Estimating the Job Impacts of Environmental Regulation

In the face of strong policy interest in the possible regulation–jobs linkage and weak analytical evidence to support a generalizable conclusion, what should a regulatory agency like the Environmental Protection Agency do in a regulatory impact analysis (RIA)? Initially, an RIA should start with a clear concept of what the regulatory agency is trying to estimate. Much of the popular debate is looking for a total job effect. Yet one thing we do know is that, in aggregate, there will not be a net job change unless the economy deviates from its normal rate of full employment. The gist of our literature review suggests that looking to historic data for stable statistical relationships between regulatory spending and job changes, even in a single industry, is tenuous at best. However, the intuition is relatively easy to trace out with certain assumptions: (1) added costs imply added activity that entails added jobs; (2) higher product prices or other regulatory limits imply less production that entails fewer jobs. Taking an average employment rate per dollar of relevant economic activity, coupled with an assumed demand elasticity, these effects can be multiplied out into job changes, although such simple calculations must be tested by validating key assumptions or exploring the estimates sensitivity to alternatives. New estimates by Belova, Gray, Linn and Morgenstern [(2013a).Environmental Regulation And Industry Employment: A Reassessment. Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau Discussion Paper, CES 1336, July.] indicate that extending and expanding the widely cited approach by Morgenstern, Pizer and Shih [(2002). Jobs Versus the Environment: An Industry-Level Perspective.Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 43, 412–436] is unlikely to be successful. Finally, more effort is needed to inform the public about the potential job impacts of new regulations, especially the distinction of these impacts from long-term technological and economic trends.

Replacement Migration and Changing Preferences: Immigrant Workers in Cleaning and Domestic Service in Portugal

This paper analyses processes of replacement faced by immigrant workers in the labour market by looking at the two most relevant economic activities for the integration of immigrant women: cleaning and domestic service. For most of its immigration history, Portugal relied on immigrants from Lusophone African (PALOP) countries—mostly from Cape Verde—to supply the workforce necessary to complement native workers in these activities. However, as the immigration scenario changed at the end of the 1990s with the arrival of Eastern European and Brazilian women, so did the hiring options available to employers. At the same time, immigration from PALOP countries underwent a consolidation process, with implications for the immigrants’ own working preferences and integration processes. The objective of this paper is to address the changes that occurred in the integration of immigrant workers in these two low-skilled activities between 1998 and 2006 and in the light of both employers’ and workers’ preferences and their respective labour market strategies. The underlying hypothesis is that the prevailing working conditions in each of these activities condition both employers’ and workers’ preferences and their implementation, thereby producing different outcomes in terms of processes of replacement migration and the substitution of workers.

Long-term effects of pig slurry on barley yield and N use efficiency under semiarid Mediterranean conditions

Intensive pig farming is a relevant economic activity in Mediterranean areas, which generates large amounts of pig slurry (PS) as a by-product. Pig slurry represents a valuable resource for low-fertility Mediterranean soils, capable of supplying organic matter and plant nutrients, particularly N. The cumulative and residual effects of PS on winter barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) yield and N use efficiency were investigated in a seven-year field experiment under semiarid Mediterranean conditions. Treatments included five rates of PS ranging from 30 to 150m3ha−1 applied either every year or only once at the beginning of the experiment, an annual mineral N fertilization (traditional in the study area), and a control with no fertilization. Plant-available N content in soils after harvest increased with the annual application of PS with respect to the mineral fertilization and the control treatment, especially in dry years. Yearly variations in water availability also shaped the response of barley to PS fertilization. In general, the annual application of PS affected positively grain yield and biomass production. Residual effects were evident for the second and third barley crop. Cumulative N uptake by the barley crop increased with increasing the rate of PS (up to 120tha−1), while N use efficiency decreased, which suggested an increasing risk of leaching and contamination of ground water. As a whole, our data indicate that the annual application of 30m3ha−1 of PS (equivalent to an average of 67kgNha−1) may result in barley yields similar to those obtained with the traditional mineral fertilization, while safely adhering to European regulations for the use of N in agriculture. The application of PS at rates higher than 60m3ha−1 may result in better yields, but also in significantly lower N use efficiency and a higher potential environmental impact.

Sustainable model for financial viability of decentralized biomass gasifier based power projects

This paper made a modest attempt for designing a sustainable model for financial viability of biomass gasifier power projects for enhancing electricity access in India and other developing countries. For long term sustainability of distributed generation projects in remote rural areas, viability from both project implementing agency (PIA) and the end-users need to be ensured. The minimum required prices of electricity from both PIA and end-user perspective have been estimated. While for PIA the cost recovery is the key for viability, the affordability to pay the electricity cost is crucial for the end users. Analysis carried out in this paper on the basis of data obtained from operational projects implemented in India reveal that it is essential to operate the system at a higher capacity utilization factor. While this can be achieved though creating convergence with locally relevant economic activity, it is also observed that micro-enterprises cannot pay beyond a certain price of electricity to keep it sustainable. This paper sets forth a case for developing a regulatory mechanism to extend the tariff fixation for the projects and providing cross-subsidies to ensure long term sustainability of off-grid project.

Oleoresin yield of Pinus elliottii plantations in a subtropical climate: Effect of tree diameter, wound shape and concentration of active adjuvants in resin stimulating paste

The production of oleoresin from Pinus trees is a relevant economic activity in developing countries, since it provides terpenes used in the chemical industry. The oleoresin production by trees of Pinus elliottii in southern Brazil was investigated. Trees of approximately 28 years of age were individually analyzed for oleoresin yield using the bark streak method of wounding for resin tapping. Plain wounding and wounding followed by application of commercial resin stimulant paste, composed of an ethylene precursor (CEPA) and sulphuric acid, were used as reference treatments. The optimum concentrations of CEPA and sulphuric acid in the stimulant paste were investigated in relation to oleoresin yield, as well as the shape of wound and tree diameter. The replacement of CEPA with auxin in the resin stimulant paste was also evaluated. The results showed that both horizontal and V-shaped streaks are equivalent for oleoresin yield. Trees with larger diameter at breast height, defined as the trunk diameter 1.4 m above the ground (22–23.5 cm) yielded more oleoresin than their smaller counterparts (18–19.5 cm). Oleoresin yield was equivalent with stimulant pastes containing between 1.5 and 4.5% CEPA. Trees exposed to stimulant pastes containing from 3 to 4.5% CEPA had average year oleoresin yield above 5 kg. The use of 20% sulphuric acid in the stimulant paste resulted in higher oleoresin yields. Auxin (2,4-D at 1 mM) was effective in replacing CEPA in the stimulant paste, particularly in smaller DBH trees or after 1 year of application in larger DBH individuals. In conclusion, cost reductions on resin tapping can be achieved by adjusting stimulant paste components and managing subsets of trees in specific fashion based on DBH ranges.

An Input-output Model for Decision Support in Energy-economy Planning - a Multiobjective Interactive Approach

In this paper an energy-economy planning model is developed, aimed at providing decision support to planners and decision makers in the study of the interactions between the energy system and the whole economy. For this purpose a multiple objective linear programming (MOLP) model is developed by using the coefficients of an input-output table, where the energy sectors as well as the relevant economic activity sectors are disaggregated. The results provided by the MOLP model with a set of data representative of the Portuguese situation are analyzed using the STEM interactive method.

Demographic factors and land-use planning in the small islands of Southern Europe

Since the end of the 1970s, the southern European countries have shown an exceptional reduction in fertility rate. From the highest levels among the developed nations, these countries dropped beneath the substitution rate level: in Greece there is an average of about 1.5 children per woman, and Italy (starting three to four years ago), with 1.3 children per woman, is now the country with the lowest fecundity rate in the world. Land-use planning in southern European small islands therefore requires substantial revision. In the areas where western civilization began, which are highly populated and have a long history, cultural and ethnic aspects of tradition are fundamental to environmental management and to the defense of historical heritage. They also place a strong value on sustaining tourism, the most relevant economic activity, that allows them to survive and maintain a high welfare level. For some decades they have had populations with a marked presence of young people and high emigration rates, but now they are fast becoming dominated by the elderly and must prepare for a period of fast reduction in youth of the workforce, while the peripheral areas of Asia and Africa are entering a sudden demographic growth phase.