Mexico auction suggests positive renewables outlook

Subject Mexico's second renewable energy auction. Significance Mexico's energy regulator, the National Centre for Energy Control (CENACE), on September 28 published the definitive results of the second, long-term power purchase agreements for clean energy production. Twenty-three firms were assigned 57 contracts for wind, solar photovoltaic, hydropower and geothermal projects, which fulfilled more than 83% of the energy required by the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), the sole purchaser in the auction. Impacts A third long-term power auction will be held by April 2017 at the latest. The renewables sector's development will be limited as long as it faces stiff competition from cheap US natural gas imports. As residential electricity rates will not fall much in the short term, energy reform will be a sensitive issue ahead of the 2018 election.

Subject Mexican electricity prices. Significance On March 1, the state-owned power company, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), announced that industrial and commercial power rates would increase by up to 17.2% and 12.1%, respectively, over February levels. For a minority of high-consumption residential users, electricity rates also went up by up to 8% between February and March. However, low-consumption residential electricity rates --which apply to 99% of domestic users -- remained unchanged for a 27th consecutive month. Impacts Reform effects on power rates will only materialise when CFE losses are reduced, infrastructure grows, and natural gas generation increases. Power subsidies remain unsustainable long-term and will continue to act against the efficiency gains sought by the reform. Electricity rates will define whether private players can compete with the CFE, and will be key to defining the success of liberalisation. The government’s promise that electricity prices would remain stable after the energy reform could compound frustration as prices rise.


Subject The outlook for solar power in Mexico. Significance Mexico's second-largest solar park -- Central Los Santos Solar I -- began operations on April 18. Its inauguration followed the first long-term power auction to supply the state-owned utility Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) on March 28, and is part of a modest expansion of solar power infrastructure in the north of the country. Impacts The government plans to hold an electricity tender every year, with the terms released in April. The outcome of the second long-term power auction will be made public on September 30. According to Under-Secretary of Clean Energy Efrain Villanueva Arcos, the government may increase further its clean energy goals for 2021.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Alan Fun-Foo Chan ◽  
Keng-Kok Tee ◽  
Thanuja Rathakrishnan ◽  
Jo Ann Ho ◽  
Siew-Imm Ng

Learning outcomes After attempting the case, users are able to: analyse issues and problems faced by a call centre in Malaysia. Determine the root causes of the problems faced by call centre employees and generate alternative solutions to solve the problems faced by the company and to ensure the sustainability of the business. Case overview/synopsis This case was about the challenges faced by Daniel, the General Manager of an integrated security protection system company, Secure First (SF). Despite investing in the latest security technologies, conducting a major overhaul of the procedures, introducing an enhanced digital system at the call centre and providing training to the call agents, it was on the verge of losing its important long-term client due to its substandard performance. The client experienced major losses due to break-ins. After a thorough investigation, the problem surfaced in their call centre. Most of the staff were not familiar with the newly adopted system. The circumstances worsened when many of the call centre’s senior employees were tendering their resignations. The case discusses the aspect of employee satisfaction, staff performance that led to the turnover issue amongst employees in a call centre. The case explores what short-term and long-term strategies could Daniel suggest to change the call centre’s course to retain SF’s key account in times of desperation. Complexity academic level This case has a moderate level of difficulty and may be used in undergraduate students. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 6: Human resource management.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Navendu Prakash ◽  
Shveta Singh ◽  
Seema Sharma

PurposeThis paper empirically examines the short-term and long-term associations between risk, capital and efficiency (R-C-E) in the Indian banking sector across 2008–2019 to answer the presence of causation or contemporaneousness in the R-C-E nexus.Design/methodology/approachThe paper focuses on three objectives. First, the authors determine short-term causality in the risk–efficiency relationship by studying the simultaneous influence of a wide array of banking risks on DEA-based technical and cost efficiency in static and dynamic situations. Second, the authors introduce bank capital and contemporaneously determine the interplay between R-C-E using seemingly unrelated regression equation (SURE) and three-staged least squares (3SLS). Last, the authors assess stability in inter-temporal associations using Granger causality in an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) generalized method of moments (GMM) framework.FindingsThe authors contend that high capital buffers reduce insolvency risk and increase bank stability. Technically efficient banks carry lesser equity buffers, suggesting a trade-off between capital and efficiency. However, capitalization makes banks more technically efficient but not cost-efficient, implying that over-capitalization creates cost inefficiencies, which, in line with the cost skimping hypothesis, forces banks to undertake risk. Concerning causal relationships, the authors conclude that inefficiency Granger-causes insolvency and increases bank risk. Further, steady increases in capital precede technical and cost efficiency improvements. The converse also holds as more efficient banks depict temporal increases in capitalization levels.Originality/valueThe paper is perhaps the first that acknowledges the influence of the “time” perspective on the R-C-E nexus in an emerging economy and advocates that prudential regulations must focus on short-term and long-term intricacies among the triumvirate to foster a stable banking environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Omer Unsal

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how firms’ relationships with employees define their debt maturity. The authors empirically test the role of employee litigations in influencing firms’ choice of short-term versus long-term debt. The authors study employee relations by analyzing the importance of the workplace environment on capital structure. Design/methodology/approach The author’s test hypotheses using a sample of US publicly traded firms between 2000 and 2017, including 3,056 unique firms with 4,256 unique chief executive officer, adopting the fixed effect panel model. Findings The authors document that employee litigations have a significant negative effect on the use of short-term debt and a significant positive affect on long-term debt. Employee litigations, along with legal fees, outcomes and charging parties, matter the most in explaining debt maturity. In addition, frequently sued firms abandon the short-term debt market and use less shareholders’ equity to finance their operations while relying more on the longer debt market. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the role of employee mistreatment in debt maturity choice. The study extends the lawsuit and finance literature by examining unique, hand-collected data sets of employee lawsuits, allegations, violations, settlements, charging parties, case outcomes and case durations.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lakshminarayana Kompella

Purpose This paper aims to explain transitions in a socio-technical system characterized by non-economic entities that influence economic activity, i.e. embeddedness and coalitions. The selected socio-technical system is an Indian electric network with an interventionist policy. Its embeddedness and coalitions drive the transition. The insights from such analysis expand socio-technical transition theory and provide valuable insights to practitioners in their policymaking. Design/methodology/approach The authors need to observe the effects of non-economic institutions in their setting. Moreover, in India, the regional policies influence decision-making; therefore, selected two Indian states. The two Indian states, along with their non-economic entities, provided diverse analytic and heuristic views. Findings The findings show that coalitions, with their embeddedness in the absence of any mediating policy systems, act as external pressures and influence innovation and the socio-technical system’s transition trajectory. Their coalitions’ embeddedness follows a shaping, not selection logic. Thereby influence innovations in cumulating as stable designs. Such an approach provides benefits in the short-term but not in the long-term. Research limitations/implications The study selected two states and examined two of the four trajectories. By considering other states, the authors can obtain more renewable energy investments and further insights into the transformational trajectory. Practical implications The study highlights the coalition dynamics specific to the Indian electric power network and its transition trajectories. The non-economic entities influenced transition trajectories, innovation and policymaking of the socio-technical system. Originality/value The study expands the socio-technical transition theory by including embeddedness. The embeddedness brings a shaping logic instead of a selection logic.


Kybernetes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 1894-1912
Author(s):  
Samra Chaudary

Purpose The paper takes a behavioral approach by making use of the prospect theory to unveil the impact of salience on short-term and long-term investment decisions. This paper aims to investigate the group differences for two types of investors’ groups, i.e. individual investors and professional investors. Design/methodology/approach The study uses partial least square-based structural equation modeling technique, measurement invariance test and multigroup analysis test on a unique data set of 277 active equity traders which included professional money managers and individual investors. Findings Results showed that salience has a significant positive impact on both short-term and long-term investment decisions. The impact was almost 1.5 times higher for long-term investment decision as compared to short-term decision. Furthermore, multigroup analysis revealed that the two groups (individual investors and professional investors) were statistically significantly different from each other. Research limitations/implications The study has implications for financial regulators, money managers and individual investors as it was found that individual investors suffer more with salience heuristic and may end up with sub-optimal portfolios due to inefficient diversification. Thus, investors should be cautious in fully relying on salience and avoid such bias to improve investment returns. Practical implications The study concludes with a discussion of policy and regulatory implications on how to minimize salience bias to achieve optimum and diversified portfolios. Originality/value The study has significantly contributed to the growing body of applied behavioral research in the discipline of finance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 641-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan A. Rodgers ◽  
Jiju Antony ◽  
Zhen He ◽  
Elizabeth A. Cudney ◽  
Chad Laux

Purpose The purpose of this paper, builds on previous studies that explored the research patterns over 15 years, is to consider the current status of the integration of Lean and Six Sigma. More specifically, this research addresses whether Lean and Six Sigma are stronger together and explores the reasons why Lean researchers and practitioners may be less likely to integrate Six Sigma in their work. Design/methodology/approach The research utilises a survey of 25 established and respected academics and practitioners from 16 countries. The questionnaire is analysed using a direct content approach and coded in NVivo. Findings The findings suggest that challenges may lie in the perception and understanding of statistics as well as short-term rather than long-term focus on improvement. The findings also suggest that academics and practitioners believe that Lean Six Sigma has developed over time and will continue to develop and improve as a methodology rather than being replaced with a new methodology. Research limitations/implications The survey has a sample size of 25, albeit all respondents are established and very experienced practitioners and academics. Practical implications For organisations that are introducing or refreshing their continuous improvement initiatives, this research identifies some of the challenges and provides the opportunity to address them to maximise the opportunities for success and sustainability. Originality/value The value of this paper is that it further addresses the debate over the integration of Lean and Six Sigma for many organisations which still employ Lean alone, but beyond this it explores how they will continue to develop and whether they are a permanent edition to the quality management landscape or a transition to something else.


2005 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 767-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zofia Czosnyka ◽  
Marek Czosnyka ◽  
John D. Pickard

Abstract Object. The appearance of numerous B waves during intracranial pressure (ICP) registration in patients with idiopathic adult hydrocephalus syndrome (IAHS) is considered to predict good outcome after shunt surgery. The aim of this study was to describe which physical parameters of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) system B-waves reflect and to find a method that could replace long-term B-wave analysis. Methods. Ten patients with IAHS were subjected to long-term registration of ICP and a lumbar constant-pressure infusion test. The B-wave presence, CSF outflow resistance (Rout), and relative pulse pressure coefficient (RPPC) were assessed using computerized analysis. The RPPC was introduced as a parameter reflecting the joint effect of elastance and pulsatory volume changes on ICP and was determined by relating ICP pulse amplitudes to mean ICP. Conclusions. The B-wave presence on ICP registration correlates strongly with RPPC (r = 0.91, p < 0.001, 10 patients) but not with CSF Rout. This correlation indicates that B waves—like RPPC—primarily reflect the ability of the CSF system to reallocate and store liquid rather than absorb it. The RPPC-assessing lumbar short-term CSF pulse pressure method could replace the intracranial long-term B-wave analysis.


2014 ◽  
Vol 960-961 ◽  
pp. 1562-1566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teng Yu Ge ◽  
Bu Han Zhang ◽  
Jun Li Wu ◽  
Bing Jie Jin ◽  
Shuang Zhao ◽  
...  

Microgrid can be applied in different locations, relative to traditional power technology. It can improve the reliability of users of electricity and power system operation. Distributed power in microgrid needs real-time and multi-objective optimization management. This paper discusses functions and structure of microgrid energy management system(MGEMS) when connected with the main grid. Problems in long-term and short-term energy management of microgrid are discussed. From the point of view of the software platform, the system structure of MGEMS software are proposed. On this basis, this paper discusses the way to construct modules of MGEMS and their functions.


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