Policy Support Through Modeling and Evaluation: Methodological Challenges and Practical Solutions

Native American reservations are among the most economically disadvantaged regions in the United States; lacking access to economic and educational opportunities that are exacerbated by “energy insecurity” due to insufficient connectivity to the electric grid and power outages. Local renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and biomass offer energy alternatives but their implementation encounters barriers such as lack of financing, infrastructure, and expertise, as well as divergent attitudes among tribal leaders. Biomass, in particular, could be a source of stable base-load power that is abundant and scalable in many rural communities. This case study examines the feasibility of a biomass energy plant on the Cocopah reservation in southwestern Arizona. It considers feedstock availability, cost and energy content, technology options, nameplate capacity, discount and interest rates, construction, operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, and alternative investment options. This study finds that at current electricity prices and based on typical costs for fuel, O&M over 30 years, none of the tested scenarios is presently cost-effective on a net present value (NPV) basis when compared with an alternative investment yielding annual returns of 3% or higher. The technology most likely to be economically viable and suitable for remote, rural contexts—a combustion stoker—resulted in a levelized costs of energy (LCOE) ranging from US$0.056 to 0.147/kWh. The most favorable scenario is a combustion stoker with an estimated NPV of US$4,791,243. The NPV of the corresponding alternative investment is US$7,123,380. However, if the tribes were able to secure a zero-interest loan to finance the plant’s installation cost, the project would be on par with the alternative investment. Even if this were the case, the scenario still relies on some of the most optimistic assumptions for the biomass-to-power plant and excludes abatement costs for air emissions. The study thus concludes that at present small-scale, biomass-to-energy projects require a mix of favorable market and local conditions as well as appropriate policy support to make biomass energy projects a cost-competitive source of stable, alternative energy for remote rural tribal communities that can provide greater tribal sovereignty and economic opportunities.

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Why do the national financial and monetary policies not boost the economy?

Finance and Credit ◽

10.24891/fc.26.7.1496 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (7) ◽

pp. 1496-1521

Author(s):

N.I. Kulikov ◽

M.A. Kulikova ◽

A.A.S.R. Mobio

Keyword(s):

Central Bank ◽

Policy Support ◽

Gdp Growth ◽

Government Contracts ◽

Monetary Policies ◽

The Past ◽

Russian Economy ◽

Yearly Average ◽

Analysis And Synthesis ◽

The Government

Subject. This article assesses the reasons why the economic policy of the Government and Central Bank of Russia does not cause the economic advance. The article tries to find out why the two strategic programmes adopted over the past ten years have not been implemented in most indicators. Objectives. The article aims to analyze the results of financial and monetary policies in Russia over the past ten years, and establish why the Russian economy has been growing within one percent yearly average all these years, and its share in the world economy has not grown, but got reduced even. Methods. For the study, we used the methods of analysis and synthesis. Results. The article proposes certain measures and activities to move to soft financial and monetary policies of the State and corresponding changes in the structure of the Russian economy. This will help ensure six to seven percent GDP growth annually. Conclusions. High loan rates have become the main obstacle to GDP growth in Russia. It is necessary to accept concrete actions and decisions concerning the Bank of Russia key rate, expansion of the functions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, industrial policy, support of consumer demand, long-term government contracts for the real sector enterprises, etc.

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Research on Serendipity: The Methodological Challenges of Time and Language

Proceedings of the Annual Conference of CAIS / Actes du congrès annuel de l'ACSI ◽

10.29173/cais927 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Lori McCay-Peet ◽

Anabel Quan-Haase ◽

Dagmar Kern ◽

Peter Mutschke

Keyword(s):

Work Task ◽

Methodological Challenges

We explore the words academics (N = 26) in Germanyuse to describe unexpected and useful experienceswith information. We further report on the perceptionsof a portion of the participants’ experiences during anexploratory work task and a follow-up survey designedto capture reports of serendipity several days later.Nous explorons les mots que les universitaires (N =26) utilisent en Allemagne pour décrire desexpériences inattendues et utiles lors demanipulations d’information. Par ailleurs, nousrendons compte des perceptions d’une partie desexpériences des participants au cours d’une sessionde travaux exploratoires et une enquête de suiviconçue pour enregistrer les mentions de sérendipitéplusieurs jours plus tard.

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The Science of Wisdom in a Polarized World: Knowns and Unknowns

10.31234/osf.io/w9ygc ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Igor Grossmann ◽

Nic M. Weststrate ◽

Monika Ardelt ◽

Justin Peter Brienza ◽

Mengxi Dong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Problem Solving ◽

Best Practices ◽

Cognitive Sciences ◽

Methodological Challenges ◽

The Common ◽

Empirical Approaches ◽

And Training ◽

Contextual Differences

Interest in wisdom in the cognitive sciences, psychology, and education has been paralleled by conceptual confusions about its nature and assessment. To clarify these issues and promote consensus in the field, wisdom researchers met in Toronto in July of 2019, resolving disputes through discussion. Guided by a survey of scientists who study wisdom-related constructs, we established a common wisdom model, observing that empirical approaches to wisdom converge on the morally-grounded application of metacognition to reasoning and problem-solving. After outlining the function of relevant metacognitive and moral processes, we critically evaluate existing empirical approaches to measurement and offer recommendations for best practices. In the subsequent sections, we use the common wisdom model to selectively review evidence about the role of individual differences for development and manifestation of wisdom, approaches to wisdom development and training, as well as cultural, subcultural, and social-contextual differences. We conclude by discussing wisdom’s conceptual overlap with a host of other constructs and outline unresolved conceptual and methodological challenges.

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The Role of Late-Night Infotainment Comedy in Communicating Climate Change Consensus

10.31234/osf.io/ufg9r ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Edward John Roy Clarke ◽

Anna Klas ◽

Joshua Stevenson ◽

Emily Jane Kothe

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Policy Support ◽

Mitigation Policy ◽

Behavioural Intentions ◽

Late Night ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Climate Action ◽

Adaptation Policies ◽

Diverse Audience

Climate change is a politically-polarised issue, with conservatives less likely than liberals to perceive it as human-caused and consequential. Furthermore, they are less likely to support mitigation and adaptation policies needed to reduce its impacts. This study aimed to examine whether John Oliver’s “A Mathematically Representative Climate Change Debate” clip on his program Last Week Tonight polarised or depolarised a politically-diverse audience on climate policy support and behavioural intentions. One hundred and fifty-nine participants, recruited via Amazon MTurk (94 female, 64 male, one gender unspecified, Mage = 51.07, SDage = 16.35), were presented with either John Oliver’s climate change consensus clip, or a humorous video unrelated to climate change. Although the climate change consensus clip did not reduce polarisation (or increase it) relative to a control on mitigation policy support, it resulted in hyperpolarisation on support for adaptation policies and increased climate action intentions among liberals but not conservatives.

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STATE SUPPORT FOR «GREEN» INVESTMENTS AND MARKET «GREEN» FINANCING: FOREIGN EXPERIENCE

Innovatics and Expert Examination ◽

10.35264/1996-2274-2019-1-97-108 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 97-108

Author(s):

L.S. Kabir

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

Government Support ◽

Policy Support ◽

Green Economy ◽

Economic Policies ◽

State Support ◽

Green Technologies ◽

Foreign Countries ◽

The Government ◽

Green Investments

The present study reveals the trends and features of the current state of financing the foreign countries’ transition to a new «green» economic growth model. To summarize the contemporary experience of countries’ integration into public administration practice the approaches and standards in the field of «green» investments financing.The subject of the study is the set of measures implemented by countries to develop sources of finance for «green» economy projects.Tasks: 1) to consider the principal directions of the «green» investments state policy support, its purpose, and the tools used; 2) to identify the market’s role in the «green» economy financing; 3) to clarify the main issues constraining private investments in «green» projects. The countries’ approach to «green» economic growth financing is examined in the present paper by means of common methods of scientific knowledge.There reviewed the arguments justifying the government support for «green» investments. There revealed the problems constraining the market «green» financing development and speculations about their origins. The study concludes that the countries’ economic policies are aimed at improving the existing model’s efficiency, not at the transition to the new «green» economy model. Thus, through the state support tools, there being generated strong signals signifying the creation of favorable market conditions for the functioning of a new economy sector – the sector of «green» technologies.

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