scholarly journals Multiple-pollutant cost-efficiency: Coherent water and climate policy for agriculture

AMBIO ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (11) ◽  
pp. 1304-1313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanna Lötjönen ◽  
Markku Ollikainen
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Nutrient Runoff ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Marginal Costs ◽  
Cost Curves ◽  
Efficient Reduction ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Marginal Cost Curves

Abstract We examine the abatement costs for water and climate pollutants and their respective policies while accounting for cobenefits. We construct private and social marginal cost curves for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient runoff in Finnish agriculture. We find that the social marginal costs of reducing emissions that reflect the cobenefits are lower than the private costs. Accounting for greenhouse gas cobenefits from nutrient load reduction or water cobenefits from climate emissions reduction creates a gap between privately and socially optimal reduction levels. This gap varies depending on the valuation of cobenefits. The cost-efficient reduction of the focus pollutant is increased when cobenefits from the other pollutant are accounted for. For policies, this implies a higher cap or tax on the focus pollutant. We decompose the optimal tax rate to a basic tax on the focus pollutant and on an additional tax component depending on the level of cobenefits.

scholarly journals Estimating Adjustment Frictions Using Nonlinear Budget Sets: Method and Evidence from the Earnings Test

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander M. Gelber ◽  
Damon Jones ◽  
Daniel W. Sacks
Keyword(s):  
Adjustment Cost ◽  
Marginal Tax Rate ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
The Social ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Earnings Test ◽  
Social Security Earnings Test ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Induced Changes

We introduce a method for estimating the cost of adjusting earnings, as well as the earnings elasticity with respect to the net-of-tax share. Our method uses information on bunching in the earnings distribution at convex budget set kinks before and after policy-induced changes in the magnitude of the kinks: the larger is the adjustment cost, the smaller is the absolute change in bunching from before to after the policy change. In the context of the Social Security Earnings Test, our results demonstrate that the short-run impact of changes in the effective marginal tax rate can be substantially attenuated. (JEL H24, H31, H55, J22, J31)

scholarly journals Marginal cost curves for water footprint reduction in irrigated agriculture: guiding a cost-effective reduction of crop water consumption to a permit or benchmark level

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 3507-3524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abebe D. Chukalla ◽  
Maarten S. Krol ◽  
Arjen Y. Hoekstra
Keyword(s):  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Marginal Cost ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Subsurface Drip Irrigation ◽  
Irrigation Strategy ◽  
Cost Curves ◽  
Subsurface Drip ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Marginal Cost Curves

Abstract. Reducing the water footprint (WF) of the process of growing irrigated crops is an indispensable element in water management, particularly in water-scarce areas. To achieve this, information on marginal cost curves (MCCs) that rank management packages according to their cost-effectiveness to reduce the WF need to support the decision making. MCCs enable the estimation of the cost associated with a certain WF reduction target, e.g. towards a given WF permit (expressed in m3  ha−1 per season) or to a certain WF benchmark (expressed in m3  t−1 of crop). This paper aims to develop MCCs for WF reduction for a range of selected cases. AquaCrop, a soil-water-balance and crop-growth model, is used to estimate the effect of different management packages on evapotranspiration and crop yield and thus the WF of crop production. A management package is defined as a specific combination of management practices: irrigation technique (furrow, sprinkler, drip or subsurface drip); irrigation strategy (full or deficit irrigation); and mulching practice (no, organic or synthetic mulching). The annual average cost for each management package is estimated as the annualized capital cost plus the annual costs of maintenance and operations (i.e. costs of water, energy and labour). Different cases are considered, including three crops (maize, tomato and potato); four types of environment (humid in UK, sub-humid in Italy, semi-arid in Spain and arid in Israel); three hydrologic years (wet, normal and dry years) and three soil types (loam, silty clay loam and sandy loam). For each crop, alternative WF reduction pathways were developed, after which the most cost-effective pathway was selected to develop the MCC for WF reduction. When aiming at WF reduction one can best improve the irrigation strategy first, next the mulching practice and finally the irrigation technique. Moving from a full to deficit irrigation strategy is found to be a no-regret measure: it reduces the WF by reducing water consumption at negligible yield reduction while reducing the cost for irrigation water and the associated costs for energy and labour. Next, moving from no to organic mulching has a high cost-effectiveness, reducing the WF significantly at low cost. Finally, changing from sprinkler or furrow to drip or subsurface drip irrigation reduces the WF, but at a significant cost.

scholarly journals Finding Resources to Reduce Class-size

2001 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan Odden ◽  
Sarah Archibald
Keyword(s):  
School Finance ◽  
The State ◽  
State Funding ◽  
Funding Formula ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Marginal Costs ◽  
Full Day Kindergarten ◽  
Reduce Class Size ◽  
Grade 3 ◽  
The Cost

This article discusses how a medium-sized school district in Wisconsin was able to reallocate resources to reduce class sizes in grades K-5 without spending more money or increasing its tax rate. Previous research on resource reallocation found that the bulk of reallocated resources were those supporting categorical program services. This district was able to use a different strategy. As a growing district, its marginal costs of adding an extra class of students were much less than its average expenditures per pupil, which were reimbursed by the state school finance formula. As the district grew, therefore, it acquired excess revenues. Also, by implementing full-day kindergarten, the district acquired more excess revenues because this added (0.5 pupil) X (Number of kindergartners) to its current enrollment, and the cost of educating these students was less than the amount they received from the state funding formula. It then used these revenues to reduce class sizes to between 15 and 20 in all Kindergarten through grade 3 classrooms and to between 15 and 22 for grades 4-5.

scholarly journals The costs of icebreaking services: an estimation based on Swedish data

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Lindborg ◽  
Peter Andersson
Keyword(s):  
Marginal Cost ◽  
Fixed Costs ◽  
External Effects ◽  
Marginal Costs ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Pricing Schemes ◽  
Swedish Data

AbstractIn winter, the sea around Sweden and Finland as well as parts of the waters around Canada, Russia and the USA become ice covered, and ships may require assistance from icebreakers to proceed to their destinations. This paper accordingly analyses the cost structure and estimates the cost of icebreaking operations at sea, including the costs of external effects of the icebreakers’ emissions, and analyses the consequences of different pricing schemes for financing icebreaking services. A regression analysis was carried out based on data from icebreaking services in Sweden over 14 winters from 2001/2002 to 2015/2016. The social marginal cost of an average assistance operation (which may involve more than one ship) is estimated at EUR 6476 and for each assisted ship EUR 5304. The same cost is EUR 907 per running hour for the icebreakers and EUR 1990 per hour a ship is assisted. Each additional nautical mile sailed by an icebreaker costs society EUR 141 and each assisted nautical mile EUR 234. The marginal cost is found not to be related to winter severity. Despite the significant social marginal costs, not including large fixed costs, icebreaking in Sweden and Finland is free of charge. The advantages and disadvantages of four pricing models that can be applied to cover at least parts of the costs to society are discussed. All models could create new distortions, but a price per assisted hour may be worth applying in practice.

scholarly journals Marginal cost curves for water footprint reduction in irrigated agriculture: guiding a cost-effective reduction of crop water consumption to a benchmark or permit level

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abebe D. Chukalla ◽  
Maarten S. Krol ◽  
Arjen Y. Hoekstra
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Marginal Cost ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Irrigation Strategy ◽  
Cost Curves ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Marginal Cost Curves

Abstract. Reducing the water footprint (WF) of the process of growing irrigated crop is an indispensable element in water management, particularly in water-scarce areas. To achieve this, information on marginal cost curves (MCCs) that rank management packages according to their cost-effectiveness to reduce the WF need to support the decision making. MCCs enable the estimation of the cost associated with a certain WF reduction target, e.g. towards a given WF permit (expressed in m3 per hectare per season) or to a certain WF benchmark (expressed in m3 per tonne of crop). This paper aims to develop MCCs for WF reduction for a range of selected cases. The soil-water-balance and crop-growth model, AquaCrop, is used to estimate the effect on evapotranspiration and crop yield and thus WF of crop production due to different management packages. A management package is defined as specific combination of management practices: irrigation technique (furrow, sprinkler, drip or subsurface drip); irrigation strategy (full or deficit irrigation); and mulching practice (no, organic or synthetic mulching). The annual average cost for each management package is estimated as the annualised capital cost plus the annual costs of maintenance and operations (i.e. costs of water, energy, and labour). Different cases is considered, including: three crops (maize, tomato and potato); four types of environment; three hydrologic years (wet, normal and dry years) and three soil types (loam, silty clay loam and sandy loam). For each crop, alternative WF reduction pathways were developed, after which the most cost-effective pathway was selected to develop the MCC for WF reduction. When aiming at WF reduction one can best improve the irrigation strategy first, next the mulching practice and finally the irrigation technique. Moving from a full to deficit irrigation strategy is found to be a no-regret measure: it reduces the WF by reducing water consumption at negligible yield reduction, while reducing the cost for irrigation water and the associated costs for energy and labour. Next, moving from no to organic mulching has a high cost-effectiveness, reducing the WF significantly at low cost. Finally, changing from sprinkler or furrow to drip or sub-surface drip irrigation reduces the WF but at significant cost.

On the Use of Game Models in Theories of International Relations

1961 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. Quandt
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Operations Research ◽  
Model Building ◽  
National Income ◽  
Keynesian Model ◽  
Cost Curves ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Reality ◽  
Normative Models ◽  
Marginal Cost Curves

Among all the social sciences, the art of model building is perhaps best developed in economics.Models or theories are conceptualizations of and abstractions from reality; they rely intrinsically on ldquo;if-thenrdquo;statements and should lead to testable propositions if they are to be of any use at all.It would be difficult to give a brief description of all the important characteristics of economic models, for there are numerous types, designed to describe or explain completely different aspects of economic reality. Most of them contain as essential ingredients some statements about the technical environment (e.g., marginal cost curves rise after a certain point) and some statements about human motivation (e.g., the entrepreneur desires to maximize profits; the consumer maximizes utility).The models themselves can have either descriptive or normative use. The Keynesian model or theory “explains” the factors diat cause the level of national income to be what it is and allows one to deduce the direction of change in national income resulting from changes in the parameters. The usefulness of such a descriptive model is determined by whether or not its conclusions are testable propositions. Normative models, most frequently encountered in economics in welfare economics and in operations research, also utilize statements about environment and motivations but do not pretend to predict; infact they merely prescribe. The test of the usefulness of such normative models is whether ornot their prescriptions are at least in principle imple—mentable.

Tax maneuver in the oil industry: Provisional results and risks for further implementation

2020 ◽  
pp. 28-43
Author(s):  
A. S. Kaukin ◽  
E. М. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Oil Industry ◽  
Oil Products ◽  
Oil Refining ◽  
State Budget ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Oil Companies ◽  
Reform Plan ◽  
Alternative Variant ◽  
Calculation Results ◽  
The Cost

The paper analyzes the consequences of the abolition of the export duty on oil and oil products as a necessary step to stimulate energy efficiency of Russia’s economy and eliminate underdevelopment provoked by a long-term subsidizing of inefficient oil refining sector in Russia. The calculation results have shown that even taking into account several deviations from the planned scenarios of changing the parameters of tax regulation of the oil industry in 2014— 2019, the tax maneuver brought over 3.5 trillion rubles (in 2019 — 148 billion rubles) to the state budget in 2014—2017, mainly due to an increase in the base mineral extraction tax rate, and contributed to an increase in the depth of oil refining from 72% to 85%. In addition, the article analyzes possible risks associated with the current plan for reforming the taxation of the industry until 2024 and proposes an alternative that could level some of them. A comparative analysis of the effects of the tax maneuver under the current reform plan and the alternative variant suggests that the latter will allow to achieve a greater total budgetary effect in four years, reduce the cost of subsidizing domestic oil refining, increase the efficiency of Russian vertically integrated oil companies, and reduce the growth rate of oil products prices in the retail market.

Constructing Images of Deviance: A Look at State Intervention into the Problem of Wife-Battery

1983 ◽  
Vol 31 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 60-76
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Social Problem ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Structural Position ◽  
Wife Battering ◽  
The Social ◽  
Class Context ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Cost

Patricia Morgan's paper describes what happens when the state intervenes in the social problem of wife-battering. Her analysis refers to the United States, but there are clear implications for other countries, including Britain. The author argues that the state, through its social problem apparatus, manages the image of the problem by a process of bureaucratization, professionalization and individualization. This serves to narrow the definition of the problem, and to depoliticize it by removing it from its class context and viewing it in terms of individual pathology rather than structure. Thus refuges were initially run by small feminist collectives which had a dual objective of providing a service and promoting among the women an understanding of their structural position in society. The need for funds forced the groups to turn to the state for financial aid. This was given, but at the cost to the refuges of losing their political aims. Many refuges became larger, much more service-orientated and more diversified in providing therapy for the batterers and dealing with other problems such as alcoholism and drug abuse. This transformed not only the refuges but also the image of the problem of wife-battering.

scholarly journals Comparison of LPWAN Technologies: Cost Structure and Scalability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Istiak Hossain ◽  
Jan I. Markendahl
Keyword(s):  
Communication Technology ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Cost Structure ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Area Network ◽  
Wide Area Network ◽  
Generic Framework ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
The Cost

AbstractSmall-scale commercial rollouts of Cellular-IoT (C-IoT) networks have started globally since last year. However, among the plethora of low power wide area network (LPWAN) technologies, the cost-effectiveness of C-IoT is not certain for IoT service providers, small and greenfield operators. Today, there is no known public framework for the feasibility analysis of IoT communication technologies. Hence, this paper first presents a generic framework to assess the cost structure of cellular and non-cellular LPWAN technologies. Then, we applied the framework in eight deployment scenarios to analyze the prospect of LPWAN technologies like Sigfox, LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, LTE-M, and EC-GSM. We consider the inter-technology interference impact on LoRaWAN and Sigfox scalability. Our results validate that a large rollout with a single technology is not cost-efficient. Also, our analysis suggests the rollout possibility of an IoT communication Technology may not be linear to cost-efficiency.

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