COVID-19 and the Electricity Market

This chapter investigates the effects of COVID-19 on electricity consumption in some countries, especially in Iran. The effect of COVID-19 in the electricity industry and the amount of electricity consumption in Iran and in the countries that have been most affected have been studied. A study of COVID-19's impact on the world shows a reduction of about 15% in electricity demand during the short term of the COVID-19 outbreak. This amount varies from country to country. Studies show that the countries under study have experienced a relative decline in electricity demand in the short term, but with the continued prevalence of COVID-19 and the removal of some restrictions, the state of electricity consumption has more or less returned to pre-COVID-19 levels. It is worth noting that at the time of writing this chapter, the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

How Does Improvement in Commuting Affect Employees? Evidence from a Natural Experiment

We collect worker month-level panel data from two companies for a two-year period before and after the opening of a nearby subway station, which significantly improved public transportation commutes for some workers. We find a significant difference-in-differences increase (12.6% of the standard deviation) in bonus pay (which is strongly correlated to worker-level performance measures) for affected workers relative to unaffected coworkers. We find no evidence that the improved performance is a result of affected workers spending extra time at the workplace. We find suggestive evidence for a relative decline in turnover, consistent with a gain in utility for affected workers.

Application of the algorithm for calculating the boundaries of built-up areas from satellite images to calculating the areas of flooded land and the environmental potential of the territories of settlements

The processes of flooding of the territory of settlements cause significant economic damage to the national economy. Up-to-date space information provides research on flooding over large areas. Analysis of the dynamics of flooding in the Khabarovsk Region for 2016-2019 using remote sensing methods and statistical data analysis showed that the optimal software product for processing multi-time satellite images is the MapInfo Professional GIS application. It is established that the dynamics of the areas of flooded land in settlements has similar trends, significantly differing in quantitative indicators. The most favorable year was 2017, when the least amount of land was affected by flooding. In 2019, the amount of flooded land was the maximum. 2016 and 2018 occupy an intermediate position. The proportion of flooded land was the highest in large and medium-sized cities, the lowest in rural settlements, and the small towns occupied an intermediate position due to the landscape and geographical features of the research objects. The relative decline in the value of the territory environmental potential (EFP) was also the highest in large and medium-sized cities, and the lowest in rural areas. According to the years, the increase in the temporary decline in EFP due to flooding and withdrawal from economic use of land is as follows: 2017-2016-2018-2019, which is due to the dynamics of the hydrological and climatic characteristics of these years.

Citizens' candidates? Labour market experiences and radical right-wing candidates in the 2014 Swedish municipal elections

This article uses Swedish register data to study the labour market experiences of radical right-wing candidates. We look at different measures of economic insecurity (labour market participation trajectories, experience of unemployment in social networks, relative decline of men’s income and relative growth of jobs for foreign-born workers vis-a-vis natives) and examine whether they are predictors of candidates running for the Sweden Democrats, the main radical right-wing party in Sweden, as opposed to another mainstream political party. We find some confirmation for the notion that radical right-wing candidates are citizens’ candidates (Bó, Finan, Folke, Persson and Rickne, 2018) as far as labour market experiences of radical right-wing candidates are markedly different from mainstream party candidates. Those with turbulent or out-of-labour market labour market trajectories are much more likely to run for the Sweden Democrats, as opposed to other parties. Additionally, the same is true for candidates embedded in social networks with higher levels of unemployment, while working in high skilled industry markedly lowers probability of running for the Sweden Democrats, especially for male candidates with low educational attainment. We find no confirmation for decline in relative status of men and mixed results for ethnic threat hypothesis.

The effect of systematic screening of the general population on TB case notification rates

BACKGROUND: Understanding how TB case notification rates (TB-CNR) change with TB screening and their association with underlying TB incidence/prevalence could inform how they are best used to monitor screening impact.METHODS: We undertook a systematic review to identify articles published between 1 January 1980 and 13 April 2020 on TB-CNR trends associated with TB screening in the general-population. Using a simple compartmental TB transmission model, we modelled TB-CNRs, incidence and prevalence dynamics during 5 years of screening.RESULTS: Of 27,282 articles, seven before/after studies were eligible. Two involved population-wide screening, while five used targeted screening. The data suggest screening was associated with initial increases in TB-CNRs. Increases were greatest with population-wide screening, where screening identified a large proportion of notified people with TB. Only one study reported on sustained screening; TB-CNR trends were compatible with model simulations. Model simulations always showed a peak in TB-CNRs with screening. Following the peak, TB-CNRs declined but were typically sustained above baseline during the intervention. Incidence and prevalence decreased during the intervention; the relative decline in incidence was smaller than the decline in prevalence.CONCLUSIONS: Published data on TB-CNR trends with TB screening are limited. These data are needed to identify generalisable patterns and enable method development for inferring underlying TB incidence/prevalence from TB-CNR trends.

Relationship among state reopening policies, health outcomes and economic recovery through first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.

State governments in the U.S. have been facing difficult decisions involving tradeoffs between economic and health-related outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite evidence of the effectiveness of government-mandated restrictions mitigating the spread of contagion, these orders are stigmatized due to undesirable economic consequences. This tradeoff resulted in state governments employing mandates at widely different ways. We compare the different policies states implemented during periods of restriction (“lockdown”) and reopening with indicators of COVID-19 spread and consumer card spending at each state during the first “wave” of the pandemic in the U.S. between March and August 2020. We find that while some states enacted reopening decisions when the incidence rate of COVID-19 was minimal or sustained in its relative decline, other states relaxed socioeconomic restrictions near their highest incidence and prevalence rates experienced so far. Nevertheless, all states experienced similar trends in consumer card spending recovery, which was strongly correlated with reopening policies following the lockdowns and relatively independent from COVID-19 incidence rates at the time. Our findings suggest that consumer card spending patterns can be attributed to government mandates rather than COVID-19 incidence in the states. We estimate the recovery in states that reopened in late April was more than the recovery in states that did not reopen in the same period– 15% for consumer card spending and 18% for spending by high income households. This result highlights the important role of state policies in minimizing health impacts while promoting economic recovery and helps planning effective interventions in subsequent waves and immunization efforts.

Possible scenarios for China-U.S. Relations by 2030

<p>The rise of China and relative decline of the United States have caused a heated debate on a possible power shift in the Asia-Pacific. Whether China and the U.S. will become friends or enemies remains an unanswered question. This necessitates a thorough study on the future of China-U.S. relations and how they will affect the strategic chessboard in the region. This Thesis examines the possible scenarios of China-U.S. relations by 2030. It argues that while the nature of China-U.S. relations is characterized by strategic competition, increasing interdependence between the two countries requires them to cooperate and co-exist with each other. If current trends continue, by 2030, the most likely scenarios for China-U.S. relations will, in descending order, be a continued China-U.S. strategic competition in peaceful co-existence, a new Cold War, a G-2 style condominium, and a predominance by China over the U.S. in the Asia-Pacific. The Thesis also finds that unlike the past, China-U.S. relations will be increasingly influenced by external factors and unpredictable events or crises. Each of the scenarios in China-U.S. relations will have a different but equally profound impact on the security architecture in the region, especially the ASEAN-led mechanisms for regional security cooperation. These results suggest that at times of power shifts between the U.S. and China, scenario-based planning can be a viable policy option for countries in the Asia-Pacific.</p>

Possible scenarios for China-U.S. Relations by 2030

<p>The rise of China and relative decline of the United States have caused a heated debate on a possible power shift in the Asia-Pacific. Whether China and the U.S. will become friends or enemies remains an unanswered question. This necessitates a thorough study on the future of China-U.S. relations and how they will affect the strategic chessboard in the region. This Thesis examines the possible scenarios of China-U.S. relations by 2030. It argues that while the nature of China-U.S. relations is characterized by strategic competition, increasing interdependence between the two countries requires them to cooperate and co-exist with each other. If current trends continue, by 2030, the most likely scenarios for China-U.S. relations will, in descending order, be a continued China-U.S. strategic competition in peaceful co-existence, a new Cold War, a G-2 style condominium, and a predominance by China over the U.S. in the Asia-Pacific. The Thesis also finds that unlike the past, China-U.S. relations will be increasingly influenced by external factors and unpredictable events or crises. Each of the scenarios in China-U.S. relations will have a different but equally profound impact on the security architecture in the region, especially the ASEAN-led mechanisms for regional security cooperation. These results suggest that at times of power shifts between the U.S. and China, scenario-based planning can be a viable policy option for countries in the Asia-Pacific.</p>

Modification and optical degradation of thin multilayers under VUV/UV radiation from compressed plasma flows

Coaxial plasma accelerators are under consideration for generation of compressed plasma flows which are suitable for emitting of powerful broadband radiation (including the VUV/UV ranges). The using of different gases in a chamber allows to control the spectrum. For inert gases the upper value of energy is limited by its first ionization potential (for neon ≈ 21.55 eV). For air the maximum energy is limited by ≈ 6 eV. Such technical systems are suitable for studying of optical properties stability for thin multilayers and the other coatings. Such tests were fulfilled for bilayers based on HfO2/SiO2 pair on silica substrates which is stable for laser radiation in the visible and IR ranges. It was found that a single exposure of the radiation (for neon and air) caused a relative decline of the radiation durability in ≈ 1.03…1.14 times. Spectral measuring demonstrated that the maximum decline of transmission (up to of ≈ 3…4%) was detected for exposures in neon in the range of 320…450 nm.

Robots Don't Pay Taxes: Deindustrialization and Fiscal Decline

Deindustrialization has fundamentally reshaped the economic geography of the United States. Between 1993 and 2007 alone, increasing automation—the use of industrial robots to perform tasks done by human workers—led to the loss of upwards of 750,000 jobs, primarily in the industrial Midwest and Northeast. Prior research demonstrates the social consequences of manufacturing’s decline extend beyond its impact on workers to undermine the health and economic prospects of entire communities. But through which mechanisms? This study examines the impact of increasing automation on local government finance. Exploiting spatial variation in the adoption of industrial robots, we find each additional robot per 1,000 workers is associated with a 10 percent relative decline in local government own-source revenues, a decline that is only partially offset by intergovernmental transfers. Moreover, we find that each robot per 1,000 workers leads to an 8 percent decline in K-12 education spending and a 30 percent decline in health spending. Our findings provide direct evidence of an oft-theorized but rarely examined mechanism through which place directly shapes life chances. We use our theoretical framework to motivate a Fiscal Sociology of place that centers the role of fiscal structures in the production of place-based inequalities.