The benefits of smoothing demand peaks in the electricity market has been widely recognised. European countries such as Spain and some of the Scandinavian countries have recently given to the consumers the possibility to face the spot prices instead of having a fixed tariffs determined by...

Different policies aim at transforming the European energy sector. To support decision making in this context, energy system models with a central-planning approach are frequently used. However, private sector investments are required to realise this transformation and there is a shift towards...

When judging the distributional impact of a sin tax, what matters is not just how much low-income people would pay but how much the tax would benefit or harm them overall. In this paper, we assess the consumer welfare impact of a fat tax net of its expected benefits computed as savings from...

What happens when motor fuel prices rise? In the US, the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) collects information about car ownership and use, and travel during a typical day, for over 100,000 households. It is conducted only once every 8 years, and does not include a longitudinal component,...

This paper analyzes the optimal choices of an entrepreneur who operates in a regulated sector, under uncertainty and asymmetric information. The entrepreneur chooses the firm's capital structure and the provision of effort, while the regulator sets a price rule that establishes the firm's...

Although drinking water amounts to 1.03% of the total water available daily for Italian consumers, this service is not easily replaced with other goods. Water is a basic need, and its consumption should be ensured for everyone. Yet the scarcity of this resource implies that any loss should be...

<i> Determinants of Total Factor Productivity in the Italian Regions </i> (by Guido Ascari e Valeria Di Cosmo) - ABSTRACT: This paper investigates the determinants of TFP for Italian regions. We find strong evidence in favour of the factors commonly suggested by the theoretical literature. In...

This paper investigates the determinants of TFP for Italian regions. We find strong evidence in favour of the factors commonly suggested by the theoretical literature. In particular, R&D expenditures and the number of researchers are positively related to regional TFP. Moreover, human capital is...