Tariff Changes Research Articles

Profitability of Energy Storage for Raising Self-consumption of Solar Power: Analysis of Different Household Types in Germany

We study grid-connected residential photovoltaic (PV) systems with direct feed-in or self-consumption of solar power, and with optional energy storage enabling the share of self-consumption to rise. The focus is on different types of households and different locations in Germany. A net present value (NPV) approach is adopted to investigate the economic viability of the different cases. Global solar irradiation data for Germany are used for calculating the hourly performance of a PV system at a particular location. In a sensitivity analysis, the influence of the electricity price and the discount rate are analyzed. Residential PV systems with energy storage are found to be profitable for all household types investigated. Under the prevailing regulatory conditions, the NPV can be maximized for 100% self-consumption and no energy storage. For a profit-maximizing investor, maximum self-consumption combined with active load control is found to be optimal. The results are robust regarding the expected changes in the feed-in tariffs granted.

Explaining the Adoption of Renewable Energy Policies

Many advanced industrialized countries have, in recent years, experienced a significant expansion of energy production from renewables. Yet we know quite little about the dynamics of the underlying policy-choices in this area. Using new data on adoptions and changes in Feed-In Tariff and Green Certificate schemes in 26 advanced industrialized countries over 20 years, we examine both domestic driving forces as well as international determinants. The findings suggest that three factors play a particularly important role in pushing countries towards market-based support systems: characteristics of the existing energy supply system, a federalist structure of the political system, and EU membership. Particularly noteworthy is the finding that higher shares of fossil and nuclear energy in the national energy supply as well as higher CO2 intensity of the economy do not, as we had expected, stand in the way of policies for supporting renewables. To the contrary, they increase the likelihood of a country adopting such policies. We also find, howewer, that higher economic growth and higher growth in solar and wind energy capacity tend to reduce the political appetite for reforms of existing schemes.

The effects of irrigation modernization on the cost recovery of water in the Valencia Region (Spain)

The modernization of the irrigation systems has been the main strategy followed by the regional administration of the Valencia Region to cope with the structural water deficit of the region, which has been particularly severe during the last three decades. These policies have been oriented to the substitution of gravity irrigation systems for drip technology. The technological change has involved an important investment effort, developed by different public administrations and also the farmers and water users' associations (WUAs). This transformation, has also involved a change in the structure of costs of the WUAs. This paper analyzes the changes in costs and tariffs of irrigation after the important investments made in the modernization of irrigation. The effects of subsidies on the percentage of the cost recovery in the services of water for irrigation are also considered. All of them have developed modernization projects in the recent years. It can be concluded that conflict between two objectives proposed by the Water Framework Directive may exist. On the one hand, significant reductions of water supply are observed; meanwhile, on the other hand, the cost recovery percentage diminishes significantly.

European Community tariff preferences and foreign direct investment

The work looks at the impact of discriminatory tariff changes of a non-reciprocal character on the locational choices of multinational enterprises. The author offers an analytical framework within which the implications of non-reciprocal tariff preferences on the locational strategies of multinational enterprises are directly derived from the theory of economic integration and preferential trading. Then, the pattern of foreign direct investment in the counties that are recipients of EC tariff preferences is looked at, providing support for the the author’s hypothesis.

Welfare implications of trade liberalization and fiscal reform: A quantitative experiment

This paper studies the welfare implications of revenue-neutral trade liberalization and fiscal reform programs for developing economies using a multi-sector dynamic general equilibrium model of a small open economy. We analyze how different combinations of tariffs – on imported consumption goods, intermediate inputs, and capital goods – and taxes – on consumption, labor income and capital income – affect the transitional and long-run welfare. We report three main findings. First, trade liberalization programs financed by consumption and labor income taxes tend to result in substantial welfare gains, but financing the lost tariff revenue through capital income taxes can have an adverse impact on welfare. Second, a significant fraction of welfare changes is due to transitional effects stemming from the allocation of resources in response to changes in tariffs and taxes. Third, trade liberalization and fiscal reform programs often translate into much larger welfare gains in countries that are more open to international financial markets.

Trade liberalization and the inter-industry wage premia: the missingf role of productivity

The literature concerning the effect of tariffs on the inter-industry wage premium has not addressed the role of total factor productivity (TFP) in determining both the wage premium and tariffs. This omission not only overlooks an important determinant of wage premium but also invalidates the use of the pre-reform tariff level as an instrument for the change in tariffs. Based on an analysis of Colombian data, I find that including TFP in the estimated model of the effects of tariffs on the wage premium leads to a 41% decrease in the effect of tariffs on the inter-industry wage premium relative to the model that omits TFP. More specifically, a 10 percentage point decrease in tariffs reduces the wage premium by 1.01%, whereas a 10% increase in TFP raise wage premium by 1.6%. This finding suggests the importance of using policies that boost productivity to offset the effect of tariffs on the wage premium.

The EU-CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)

Purpose – The entry into force of the EU-CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) marks the beginning of a new era of trade relations, from preferential treatment to reciprocity, between the member states of the European Union (EU) and the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. In light of the controversy regarding the impact of the agreement, an assessment is made on the static welfare impact it is likely to generate on consumers in Guyana. Design/methodology/approach – The assessment is done through the application of a partial equilibrium model to the 2008 import and tariff data of Guyana. The model captures the static welfare effect that will be occasioned by a change in tariff on imports. Findings – The study finds that there will be a static net welfare loss to the tune of US$31.01 million or 2.2 percent of Guyana's GDP obtained for 2008. The loss is due to a large trade diversion effect which is the product of the fact that over the years Guyana imported l...

Microeconometric Analysis of Residential Water Demand

This paper develops a structural model for obtaining price elasticities and evaluating consumer’s response to changes in nonlinear tariffs when only panel data on household consumption are available. The model and the empirical strategy address problems implied by nonlinear tariffs, existence of a fixed cost, and use of limited data, giving rise to a random effects model with a nonlinear individual effect. Results show that the estimated model does well at fitting data and demand is inelastic, although elasticity varies by initial consumption block. Then, I estimate welfare consequences of implementing several demand policies.

Electricity cost saving comparison due to tariff change and ice thermal storage (ITS) usage based on a hybrid centrifugal-ITS system for buildings: A university district cooling perspective

In this paper, the case study of a district cooling system of a university located in a South East Asia region (lat: 01°29′; long: 110°20′E) is presented. In general, the university has high peak ambient temperature of around 32–35°C coupled with high humidity of about 85% during afternoon period. The total electricity charge for the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak Campus is very high amounting to more than $314,911 per month. In this paper, a few district cooling schemes are investigated to provide “what-if analysis” and in order to minimize the overall electricity charges. Few scenarios designed for the application of centrifugal with and without ice-thermal storage (ITS) systems on the buildings were investigated. It was found that, due to the local tariff status, marginally saving can be achieved in the range of 0.08–3.13% if a new tariff is adopted; and a total of further saving of 1.26–2.43% if ITS is operated. This marginally saving is mainly due to the local tariff conditions and lower local temperature range (ΔT) which are less favorable as compared with those reported in the literature elsewhere.

Changes in hospital admissions and inpatient tariff associated with a Diabetes Integrated Care Initiative: Preliminary findings (与糖尿病综合护理计划相关的住院以及住院费用的变化：初步调查结果)

The Diabetes Integrated Care Initiative (DICI) has tested whether hospital admissions and total amounts paid for inpatient care have declined through closer (integrated) working between primary, secondary and community diabetes services in Cambridgeshire. Poisson regression models were used to compare the percentage change in hospital admissions, and tariff paid, before and after each of 43 months (April 2007 - November 2010). East Cambridgeshire and Fenland (ECF) practices were divided into those fully (n = 10) and less (n = 7) "engaged" with the intervention defined by the extent of their uptake of intervention components between July 2009 and June 2010. Other parts of the county were "controls". Among patients with diabetes in the fully engaged ECF practices, the monthly average hospital admission rate was 19.0% (13.9, 24.2) higher (7.7 hospital admissions per 1000 patients) and the monthly tariff paid was 28.8% (28.7, 28.9) higher (£19.60 per patient per month), at the time of introducing the DICI versus the pre-implementation period (April 2007 to June 2009). These differences, had dropped to 8.7% (1.9, 15.6) and 13.4% (13.2, 13.5) (£9.92 per patient per month) higher 12 months after introduction. Comparable reductions in the rate of increase were not seen among those without diabetes or in control areas. During the DICI, patients with diabetes from "fully engaged" practices experienced increased hospitalization and amount paid for in-patient care, the extent of which trended downwards by 12 months. Further time is needed to monitor whether this trend is sustained.

A model to assess water tariffs as part of water demand management

Water Conservation and Water Demand Management (WC/WDM) forms part of integrated water resource management and can be used as an economically viable alternative to the upgrade of infrastructure to balance supply and demand. In order to enable effective decision-making, a model was developed in this study to estimate expected water savings and the financial impact of a change in water tariff as a WC/WDM measure. This paper describes a model that was developed for municipalities to calculate the predicted change in water use and the associated income. The model takes into account variation in price elasticity per tariff block. The effectiveness of the model as a planning tool is illustrated through an appropriate example.Keywords: water demand management, price elasticity, change in water tariff, block tariff, WC/WDM model

The internal impact of a customs union; Baden and the Zollverein

Tariffs can affect the growth of states. But how do they affect regional growth within states? Using Baden's 1836 entry into the Zollverein, the customs union of German states, I investigate the internal impact of a change in tariffs. With a new data set of regional employment data I demonstrate that the Zollverein had a substantial positive effect. Two market access effects are shown, one follows the standard market access predictions and the second triggers the direct investment by Swiss entrepreneurs in German regions close to their home base. Furthermore occupational change within the crafts sector was shifting labour towards higher taxed occupations and towards the region close to Switzerland.

Cost of transcatheter aortic valve implantation and factors associated with higher hospital stay cost in patients of the FRANCE (FRench Aortic National CoreValve and Edwards) registry

Currently, several anatomical approaches and intervention sites can be used to perform transcatheter aortic valve implantations (TAVIs), often with no clinical indications for choosing one or another. While these choices can have an impact on resource consumption, no costing study is available in the European context to provide information on resource use and assist decision-making. To provide comparative data on the cost of the TAVI procedure, depending on anatomical approach and intervention site used, from a hospital perspective, and to analyze factors associated with cost of hospital stay. Multicentre national registry data were collected in 16 centres between January and October 2009. For 287 patients, a descriptive costing study and a multivariable analysis of hospital stay cost were performed. The mean cost of the TAVI procedure was €22,876 and the mean initial hospital stay cost was €35,164. The procedure cost, excluding valve cost, did not differ between anatomical approaches and was highest in the hybrid room and lowest in the catheterization laboratory. Factors associated with higher hospital stay cost were transapical approach, Society of Thoracic Surgeons score>10%, warfarin use at inclusion, complications during procedure and pacemaker implantation following valve implantation. If clinical considerations do not interfere, hospital staff may find it economically favorable to opt for the catheterization laboratory and against the hybrid room. The mean hospital stay cost is higher than the tariff paid in 2011, a difference that has grown since the change in tariff in 2012, representing an economic disincentive for the uptake of TAVI in France.

CPS disappointed over Drug Tariff changes

CPS disappointed over Drug Tariff changes

The Eurasian Customs Union among Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan: Can It Succeed Where Its Predecessor Failed?

In 2010, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan formed the Eurasian Customs Union and imposed the Russian tariff as the common external tariff of the Customs Union. In 2015 they formed the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) designed to promote the free flow of goods, services, labor and capital, as Armenia and the Kyrgyz Republic joined. Armenia, the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan all had to approximately double their average external tariff to implement the common external tariff. Russia has benefited from additional exports under the protection of the higher tariffs. Estimates reveal that the tariff changes resulted in substantial transfers from Kazakhstan to Russia (with similar impacts expected for Armenia and the Kyrgyz Republic) as importers in Kazakhstan now purchase lower quality or higher priced Russian imports that are protected under the tariff umbrella of the common external tariff. Transfers from the Central Asian countries to Russia were the reason the predecessor to the EAEU (known as EurAsEC) failed, so this bodes badly for the ultimate success of the EAEU. But Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization will substantially lower the common external tariff and reduce the transfers to Russia. Further, unlike EurAsEC, the EAEU aims to employ “deep integration,” e.g., to reduce non-tariff barriers and improve trade facilitation, create a single market, reduce trade distorting agricultural subsidies and harmonize some regulations. Estimates show that if substantial progress could be made in trade facilitation and reducing non-tariff barriers, this could make the Customs Union positive for Kazakhstan and other potential Central Asian members. And the right to work for migrants may dominate these issues for Armenia and the Kyrgyz Republic. Unfortunately, as of early 2016, the EAEU has not improved trade facilitation or reduced non-tariff barriers. To effectively implement the objectives of the EAEU, however, Russia will need to take the lead in ceding real authority to the Eurasian Commission and press for reforms, including those that reduce the substantial internal non-tariff barriers.

Whom to send to Doha? The shortsighted ones!

Analyses of the effects of trade policies focus on comparisons of two different steady states, restricting the investigation to the long run. In order to account for the adjustments and to capture the relevant transmission mechanisms of changes in trade costs, such as market size, entry and exit, as well as productivity changes of firms, we base our trade policy analysis on a dynamic new trade theory model. This approach has two advantages. (i) It allows us to take account of the transitional process after a change in tariffs. (ii) It allows us to take account of the shortsightedness of policy makers. We show that Nash-equilibrium tariffs based on a dynamic trade model are lower than Nash-equilibrium tariffs based on a static model. We also show that shortsighted politicians tend to set lower tariffs than politicians with a longer planning horizon.

Trade and market selection: Evidence from manufacturing plants in Colombia

We examine the link between trade liberalization and aggregate productivity, with a focus on improved market selection resulting from a reduction in trade barriers and in the dispersion of these barriers across producers. Our analysis exploits tariff changes across sectors after the Colombian trade reform. An additional advantage of our analysis is that our TFP measure does not include demand and price effects. We find that reduced trade protection makes plant survival depend more closely on productivity. Using a dynamic simulation, we find that enhanced selection increases aggregate productivity substantially. Trade liberalization also increases productivity of incumbent plants and improves the allocation of activity. We find larger effects on allocative efficiency with our TFP measure than with a traditional measure including price effects.

The Birth of Exporters: Entry and Scale of Firms in Punjab’s Export Sectors

In this paper we analyze which factors affect new firm entry and the scale of new firms in the export clusters of Punjab. Our analysis looks at local conditions (such as the degree of concentration in an industry, the employment of firms of that industry already located in a region, the employment of firms of all industries located in that region) and international conditions (such as the real exchange rates of Pakistan’s major trading partners and tariff rates). The results show that more export sector firms will enter highly concentrated industries and that firm entry increases significantly as a result of a depreciation in the trade-weighted real exchange rate, while the impact of changes in trade partner tariffs is not significant

Customs Union and Kazakhstan's Imports

Summary The paper provides an empirical analysis of the early impact of formation of the customs union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia and associated changes in imports schedule on the structure of Kazakhstan’s imports. Trade creation effects appear to have been insignificant. At the same time the change in tariffs appears to have created some trade diversion, with a significantly negative impact on imports from China in particular and a significantly positive impact on imports from within the customs union. The magnitude this effect is relatively small, however. The results tentatively suggest that the benefits of the new tariff policy per se to Kazakhstan are limited at best. Larger benefits could come from gradual liberalization of services sectors and market access within the economic union.

Impact of Spectrum Refarming on Tariffs

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recommended in April 2012 that spectrum held by incumbent operators in the 900 MHz band be refarmed and substitute spectrum be provided in the 1800 MHz band so that the vacated 900 MHz band can be liberalized and auctioned for provision of IMT services without distorting the level playing field between incumbent and new operators. This paper presents a method for calculation of expected change in tariffs as a result of these recommendations. It also presents a critique of the methodology adopted by Mason (2012) wherein it was reported that refarming would result in a 30 paisa increase in tariffs. The paper is limited to the above and does not delve into whether or not the recommendations on refarming should be accepted by the Department of Telecommunications; or the nature of the consultative process adopted by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. As per the results of methodology adopted, and in complete contrast to the results of Mason (2012), there will be a 1.6 paisa reduction in tariffs if the licenses expiring between 2014 and 2016 are refarmed. Similarly, there will be a 1.7 paisa reduction in tariffs if the licenses belonging to Private Sector Undertakings are additionally refarmed. Further, the paper demonstrates that there is significant incentive for most private incumbent operators with spectrum in the 900 MHz band to willingly migrate to the 1800 MHz band.