public policy supports and export performance of bioenergy technologies a dynamic panel approach abstract this study investigates the effects of public policy supports on the export performance of bioenergy technologies it uses panel data from 18 countries from the 1992 to 2008 period panel unit root and cointegration tests are applied taking into account the results of structural break tests for each time series and testing for the presence in the panel of cross sectional dependence time series data on public supports and exports are integrated and cointegrated the results of dynamic ordinary least squares indicate that in the long term public r d expenditures have a positive effect on the exports the contribution of bioenergy to the total energy supply has a negative effect on the exports and gdp has a positive effect on the exports the contribution of bioenergy to total energy supply responds to deviations in the previous period from the long term equilibrium additionally blundell bond system generalized methods of moments estimations are made to determine dynamic causality in a panel vector error correction mechanism setting evidence of a positive strong and short term relationship from exports to r d expenditures and of a positive short term causality from exports to the contribution of bioenergy to total energy supply is found a positive strong bidirectional relationship between gdp and exports is also uncovered there is a positive strong bidirectional and short term relationship between gdp and the contribution of bioenergy to total energy supply finally some policy implications based on the results of this study are offered

the role of transnational dimensions in emerging economy technological innovation systems for clean tech the technological innovation system tis framework and its system functions have become a popular analytical tool for the study of clean tech innovation there is increasing attention for the role of emerging economies in global clean tech innovation but the applicability of tis to emerging economies cases is not entirely straightforward a key issue is the limited geographical considerations in particular transnational dimensions in tis whereas earlier perspectives on innovation in emerging economies have stressed the role of such transnational dimensions this paper elaborates transnational tis actor networks and institutions categorizes these in relation to tis functions and describes their potential to induce or block tis development in emerging economies we draw on insights from the perspectives of national learning systems international technology transfer and global production networks for this purpose we conclude that the potential effects of these transnational dimensions may be accurately grasped by the existing list of system functions lending credence to its further application of the tis framework on emerging economy case studies policy makers in emerging economies should recognize these transnational dimensions and seek to optimize their potential effect on domestic tis development taking in to consideration a realistic assessment of its role in the global tis

budgetary policies and available actions a generalisation of decision rules for allocation and research decisions the allocation problem in health care can be characterised as a mathematical programming problem but attempts to incorporate uncertainty in costs and effect have suffered from important limitations a two stage stochastic mathematical programming formulation is developed and applied to a numerical example to explore and demonstrate the implications of this more general and comprehensive approach the solution to the allocation problem for different budgets budgetary policies and available actions are then demonstrated this analysis is used to evaluate different budgetary policies and examine the adequacy of standard decision rules in cost effectiveness analysis the research decision is then considered alongside the allocation problem this more general formulation demonstrates that the value of further research depends on i the budgetary policy in place ii the realisations revealed during the budget period iii remedial actions that may be available and iv variability in parameters values

determinants of technical efficiency in the bioenergy industry in the eu28 region most previous bioenergy industry research has concentrated on how to implement a certain level of yield however few articles have paid attention to rational resource allocation to increase efficiency to enhance bioenergy production through proper use of available resources this study identified the effects of internal country specific and external macroeconomic determinants of technical efficiency level in the bioenergy industry for the eu28 region the study was established based on a conceptual framework suggesting a correlation between input use and level of technical efficiency a panel data analysis method was employed for the analysis and a panel regression analysis framework based on the fixed effect fe model and random effect re model was used to examine the potential determinants of technical efficiency level in the bioenergy industry for the eu28 region for the period between 1990 and 2013 the results indicate that the technical efficiency level of the bioenergy industry in developing countries is higher than in developed countries the empirical findings also suggest that technical efficiency has greater influence on pure technical efficiency levels capital input labor input gross domestic product inflation and interest rate significantly affected the technical efficiency of the bioenergy industry in the developing and developed countries in the eu28 region during the period of this study the findings clearly call for regulators and decision makers to review the technical efficiency level of the bioenergy industry within the eu28 region this study also provides better information and guidance to the boards of the bioenergy industry as they need to have a clear understanding of the influence technical efficiency has on bioenergy production performance moreover the results of this study have implications for investors who focus mainly on profits from their investments

the irrelevance of inference a decision making approach to the stochastic evaluation of health care technologies the literature which considers the statistical properties of cost effectiveness analysis has focused on estimating the sampling distribution of either an incremental cost effectiveness ratio or incremental net benefit for classical inference however it is argued here that rules of inference are arbitrary and entirely irrelevant to the decisions which clinical and economic evaluations claim to inform decisions should be based only on the mean net benefits irrespective of whether differences are statistically significant or fall outside a bayesian range of equivalence failure to make decisions in this way by accepting the arbitrary rules of inference will impose costs which can be measured in terms of resources or health benefits forgone the distribution of net benefit is only relevant to deciding whether more information is required a framework for decision making and establishing the value of additional information is presented which is consistent with the decision rules in cea this framework can distinguish the simultaneous but conceptually separate steps of deciding which alternatives should be chosen given existing information from the question of whether more information should be acquired it also ensures that the type of information acquired is driven by the objectives of the health care system is consistent with the budget constraint on service provision and that research is designed efficiently

resource allocation for control of infectious diseases in multiple independent populations beyond cost effectiveness analysis traditional cost effectiveness analysis cea assumes that program costs and benefits scale linearly with investment an unrealistic assumption for epidemic control programs this paper combines epidemic modeling with optimization techniques to determine the optimal allocation of a limited resource for epidemic control among multiple noninteracting populations we show that the optimal resource allocation depends on many factors including the size of each population the state of the epidemic in each population before resources are allocated e g infection prevalence and incidence the length of the time horizon and prevention program characteristics we establish conditions that characterize the optimal solution in certain cases

an empirical and forecasting analysis of the bioenergy market in the eu28 region evidence from a panel data simultaneous equation model this study improves upon and applies a comprehensive panel data simultaneous equation model to the european union eu28 region s bioenergy market the goals are to estimate bioenergy quantities in domestic and international markets for the period from 1990 to 2013 and to apply a forecasting analysis for the eu28 s domestic and international bioenergy markets for the period of 2014 2020 the results demonstrate that biomass harvest and the domestic price in a domestic market have a significant influence on the supply function additionally domestic price has a negative relationship with the bioenergy market domestic demand in international markets competitive import prices play a primary role in the development of the bioenergy market import demand export prices and gdp also have primary influences on the export demand for bioenergy moreover the exchange rate has a positive and significant effect on export demand the results of a forecasting analysis for the future period of 2014 2020 has predicted slight increases in domestic supply domestic demand and import trends on the other hand it also predicted a sharp decline in the export demand trend between those same years this study contributes to the literature by providing policymakers and other energy policy stakeholders a reliable forward looking analysis of the potential condition of the domestic and international bioenergy markets in the eu28 region through the end of 2020

mathematical programming for the efficient allocation of health care resources previous discussions of methods for the efficient allocation of health care resources subject to a budget constraint have relied on unnecessarily restrictive assumptions this paper makes use of established optimization techniques to demonstrate that a general mathematical programming framework can accommodate much more complex information regarding returns to scale partial and complete indivisibility and program interdependence methods are also presented for incorporating ethical constraints into the resource allocation process including explicit identification of the cost of equity

the alcohol program the rational for the launching of the alcohol program from sugarcane in brazil in the mid 1970 s is described as an answer to the first oil crisis as well as a solution to the problem of the fluctuating sugar prices in the international market the technical characteristics of ethanol as a fuel are given as well as a discussion of the evolution of the cost of production environmental and social consequences regarding costs ethanol production was close to 100 dollars a barrel in the initial stages of the program in 1980 falling rapidly due to economies of scale and technological progress to half that value in 1990 followed by a slower decline in recent years considering the hard currency saved by avoiding oil importation through the significant displacement of gasoline by ethanol and the decrease in the amount of external debt that the displaced oil importation was able to provide it is possible to demonstrate that the alcohol program has been an efficient way of exchanging dollar debt by national currency subsidies which are paid by the liquid fossil fuel users even with this economic gains for society the continuity of the program is difficult to maintain two solutions to this problem are discussed internal expansion of the use of ethanol and exports to industrialized countries where it could be used as an octane enhancer the main attractiveness of the program the reduction of co2 emissions as compared to fossil fuels is stressed mainly as a solution for industrialized countries to fulfill their commitments with the united nations framework climate change convention

facilitating the financing of bioenergy projects in sub saharan africa abstract the purpose of this paper is to identify and develop potential solutions on how to facilitate the financing of bioenergy projects in sub saharan africa we focus on four main areas that have been identified from empirical research in achieving this objective these are i financing ii markets iii trade and iv policy the sources utilised consist of primary and secondary data compilation and analysis of particular relevance are the results of a market survey undertaken on funding opportunities where the perspectives of both project developers as well as project financiers are taken into account results indicate that the four areas cannot be treated autonomously as they not only overlap but impact each other there are a number of difficulties for biofuel ventures not least the nature of the projects themselves but also around the financing and political landscape of these enterprises common solutions which cross cut the four areas are the need to raise awareness and the skillsets in areas including financing opportunities markets policy technical aspects among a range of stakeholders involved in biofuel ventures there is also a necessity to create a supporting framework for the emerging carbon trading related activities in africa

cost effectiveness utility analyses do current decision rules lead us to where we want to be despite the growing literature on economic evaluation of health care programmes little attention has been paid to the theoretical foundations of cost effectiveness and cost utility analyses and the validity of the decision rules adopted as methods of achieving the stated goals we show that although applications of the techniques can be used to pursue some managerial objectives in the context of highly constrained environments such applications are inconsistent with both welfare economic objectives and the interpretations of the findings of these applications alternative strategies are identified as potential and practical methods for pursuing welfare economic objectives

biofuel support policies in europe lessons learnt for the long way ahead biofuel consumption in the eu is growing rapidly but major efforts will need to be undertaken if the eu s objectives for 2010 and beyond are to be achieved this article analyses the strengths and weaknesses of different biofuel support policies based on the experiences gained in pioneering countries and explores scenarios for their possible impacts in the long term it comes to the conclusion that important pre conditions such as fuel standards and compatibility with engines are in place or being introduced on an eu wide basis current and future policy support therefore focuses on creating favourable economic or legal frameworks to accelerate the market penetration of biofuels the ambitious targets endorsed in terms of biofuel market shares require the implementation of efficient policy instruments at the same time large consumption volumes and the advent of innovative production technologies make it possible for member states to promote specific types of biofuels depending on their main objectives and natural potentials this will require complementary instruments such as subsidies for production facilities user incentives or feedstock subsidies

the emerging liquid biofuel market in argentina implications for domestic demand and international trade while the world s transport energy matrix is still strongly linked to limited and heavily polluting fossil fuels new markets are appearing for the production and use of alternative transport fuels such as liquid biofuels due to an interconnected global economy such markets today are developing on a global scale with actors looking to meet local as well as potential international demand the aim of this paper is to describe and evaluate the emergence of markets for liquid biofuels in argentina it reveals that biodiesel production for international supply is likely to emerge in the short run up to 2010 giving the opportunity to be switched back to local supply in the medium run post 2010 it also suggests that a bioethanol market demand and supply does not seem to be likely in the short run and it is highly uncertain in the medium run as the most influential actors oppose its development on the other hand the current constellations of the biodiesel market appear to leave many uncertainties regarding its sustainability especially in regard to a limited role of small and medium sized enterprises and a suitable and diversified biodiesel feedstock currently the focus lies solely on very large scale production of biodiesel derived from soybean oil for the export market

the impact of energy prices on the volatility of ethanol prices and the role of gasoline emissions abstract the contribution of renewable energy resources is vital for a country s economic growth by providing high efficiency in energy as well as an effective tool for the confrontation of climate change in particular concerning the eu an increase in the consumption of renewable energy resources as a proportion of the total energy consumption by its member states was set as an objective until 2020 ethanol has been widely used as a substitute to conventional energy like gasoline and oil the present paper surveys the role of alternative energy prices and gas emissions in the formation of the ethanol prices the results of the empirical survey confirmed the existence of a sole relationship among the variables employed according to the results obtained an increase in the volume of emissions or in gasoline prices results in an increase in ethanol prices while the opposite is confirmed in the case of crude oil he elasticity of ethanol prices to the increase of the emissions is another result worth mentioning indicative of the significant role of the emissions in the formation of ethanol prices

developments in international solid biofuel trade an analysis of volumes policies and market factors abstract this paper presents and analyses international solid biofuel trade and concludes upon interactions with bioenergy policies and market factors it shows that trade has grown from about 56 to 300 pj between 2000 and 2010 wood pellets grew strongest i e from 8 5 to 120 pj other relevant streams by 2010 included wood waste 77 pj fuelwood 76 pj wood chips 17 pj residues 9 pj and roundwood 2 4 pj intra eu trade covered two thirds of global trade by 2010 underlying markets are highly heterogeneous generally though trade evolved whenever supply side market factors coincided with existing emerging demand patterns market factors and policies both defined trade volumes though policy changes did not have as prominent effects on trade developments as in the liquid biofuel sector economic viability is the key limiting factor main exporting countries have low feedstock costs and already existing wood processing industries trade relevant aspects are the commodity s monetary value determined by its homogeneity heating value and bulk density consumer markets are diverse in residential heating demand trade patterns have been influenced by local biofuel availability and short term price signals i e mainly price competitiveness and investment support for boilers stoves commodities are mainly sourced regionally but price differences have triggered a growing trade the industrial segment is greatly influenced by policy frameworks but more mature e g established routes trade is strictly linked to margins defined mainly by policies and combustion technologies uncertainties in the analysis are due to data gaps across and within databases regarding import export declarations to estimate bioenergy related trade anecdotal data was indispensable we believe datasets should be streamlined across international institutions to eventually enable reporting of global trade beyond digit 6 level research is needed to provide further insights into informal markets interrelations between trade factors are particularly relevant when mapping future trade streams under different policy trade regime scenarios

a portfolio decision analysis approach to support energy research and development resource allocation abstract research sponsored by the us department of energy doe aims to facilitate a clean and independent energy future for the nation strategic planning for energy research and development r d can be complex and dynamic in part due to federal budgetary constraints and volatility managing r d funding to advance energy technologies in spite of these challenges is a crucial component of the nation s long term energy policy this study demonstrates a portfolio decision analysis pda approach to support r d resource allocation decisions for the doe office of fossil energy s carbon capture and storage r d program a multi attribute value model uses technology readiness levels trls and other metrics to represent the overall objectives of the r d program in order to evaluate alternative research portfolios given limited funding mathematical optimization identifies efficient funding allocations for each technology program area to maximize the multi attribute value generated from the total budget this is especially useful for responding to externally imposed budget changes as the case study demonstrates explicitly funding the most value generating options leads to greater expected r d programmatic value than typical strategies of equal or proportional distributions of a budget change among technology program areas

modelling production cost scenarios for biofuels and fossil fuels in europe competitive production costs compared to conventional fuels are imperative for biofuels to gain market shares as current tax advantages for biofuels are only temporary comparing production costs of different biofuels with fossil fuels is a challenge due to the complexity of influencing factors the objective of this research paper is threefold 1 to project future bio fuel feedstock prices based on the crude oil price development the price index for agricultural products growth in world population growth in wealth per capita income and change in energy consumption per capita 2 to simulate production costs under consideration of likely economies of scale from scaling up production size and technological learning and 3 to compare different biofuels and fossil fuels by scenario analysis a calculation model for biofuel production is used to analyse projected production costs for different types of biofuels in europe for 2015 and 2020 unlike engineering oriented bottom up approaches that are often used in other biofuel studies the macro economic top down approach applied in this study enables an economic comparison and discussion of various fuel types based on reference scenarios of crude oil prices of 50 100 150 and 200 per barrel depending on the specific raw material prices as well as the conversion costs the analysis delivered a differentiated view on the production costs and thus on the competitiveness of each individual type of fuel the results show that 2nd generation biofuels are most likely to achieve competitive production costs mid to long term when taking into account the effects from technological learning and production scale size as well as crude oil price scenarios between 50 and 200 per barrel for both reference years in all crude oil price scenarios bioethanol from lignocellulosic raw materials as well as biodiesel from waste oil are associated with high cost saving potentials which enable them to outperform fossil fuels and 1st generation biofuels

hospital insurer bargaining an empirical investigation of appendectomy pricing employers increased sensitivity to health care costs has forced insurers to seek ways to lower costs through effective bargaining with providers what factors determine the prices negotiated between hospitals and insurers the hospital insurer interaction is captured in the context of a bargaining model in which the gains from bargaining are explicitly defined appendectomy was chosen because it is a well defined procedure with little clinical variation our results show that certain hospital institutional arrangements e g hospital affiliations hmo penetration and greater hospital concentration improve hospitals bargaining position furthermore hospitals bargaining effectiveness has diminished over time and varies across states

simulation for assessing the liberalization of biofuels abstract global biofuel consumption has been growing in recent years as different countries worldwide have been exploring alternatives and complements to gasoline and diesel fuel for transport this is due to a hike in oil prices and their increasing volatility as well as both a high dependence of the transport sector on oil and also because arguably the supply chain of biofuels emits less co2 than that of fossil fuels biofuels have been available around the world for a while with the aid of some government support brazil pioneered this renewable solution for transport from the early 1930s as the country had little access to local fuels while oil and other alternatives became more expensive biofuels are currently widely considered as part of the solution to affordable fuels for transport this paper makes use of a system dynamics model to analyse the current leading policies aiming at increasing the penetration of biofuels in this context and given multiple uncertainties that include technology evolution and fuel prices scenario analysis has been considered for the examination of different extreme though plausible futures simulations under extreme scenarios helped in assessing the possibility of removing incentives that is leaving decisions to an open market and a partial reduction of subsidies this paper concludes that for the case of colombia the potential of biofuels seems promising

a review of biofuel policies in the major biofuel producing countries of asean production targets policy drivers and impacts since the turn of this century development of biofuels have progressed rapidly in indonesia malaysia philippines and thailand the major biofuels producing countries in the asean association of south east asian nations the article analyses the biofuel polices underlying drivers and way forward for sustained biofuel development in these countries favorable regulatory and economic mechanisms have played an important role in the production utilization and market penetration of biofuels in these countries a large variety of biofuel support policies are in place ranging from policy targets blending mandates tax incentives and other financial schemes to stimulate the development and adoption of biofuels indonesia is leading the region in biodiesel production and thailand is leading in ethanol production though each of these countries have had occasional setbacks in their production in totality there has been positive growth in biofuel production and an upward trend in future is likely with increased demand consumption enforcement of mandates and realization of policy targets the biofuel development of these countries is motivated by several factors mainly their concerns for energy security e g to reduce the dependence of oil imports and socio economic development e g to increase income generating opportunities climate change is not the primary motive of these countries to pursue biofuel development however sustainable production of biofuels and reliance on second generation biofuels can provide opportunities for these countries to translate their growth potential into economic revenues under carbon finance and thus address greenhouse gas emissions and climate change concerns

a model to optimize investments in health technologies quality of care and research funds for health technologies compete with funds for implementing health technologies as well as funds for conducting research to reduce uncertainty around treatment and implementation cost effectiveness no study has yet shown how to allocate a combined budget for health technologies implementation and research the purpose of this work was to present an allocation model with the goal to maximize health based on a constrained optimization formulation we show that considering opportunities to invest in implementation and research may justify considerable disinvestment in health technologies this may reduce the willingness to pay for new health technologies significantly

bio energy policies in a global context abstract against the background of an increasing global demand for bio energy the need for sustainability standards and a certification system ensuring sustainable production and trade has grown rapidly nevertheless there is currently no specific forum for discussions on how to deal with biomass trade at the multilateral level distortions in agricultural and energy trade regimes the myriad of standards and the lack of a clear biomass classification in the multilateral trade regime suggest that bio energy products may not deliver sustainable development gains for all trading partners this paper analyses then the global impact of bio energy policies on biomass production and trade paying particular attention to sustainable development in the bio energy sector it examines how a possible reduction and elimination of trade barriers as well as a phasing out of trade distorting support measures would contribute to the development of a global sustainable bio energy market

forest based bioenergy in china status opportunities and challenges forest based bioenergy is gaining global popularity due to its multiple benefits and increased global energy needs in this study the current status of forest based bioenergy in china was reviewed and the opportunities and challenges were analyzed the latest national development plan for forest based bioenergy was also discussed it can be concluded from the study that forest based bioenergy is still in the beginning stage in china but will grow rapidly in the next decade due to abundant resources and strong government support however there are major constraints that need to be addressed including unstable feedstock supply low market interest and investments inadequate r d and competition from other forest products the national development plan sets up a mid term goal for developing forest based bioenergy but more supporting policies are required to guarantee its successful implementation

too difficult to govern an assessment of the governability of transport biofuels in the eu transport biofuels are currently the subject of heated debate in the eu in the past decade the deployment of these technologies has been justified by claims of attractive environmental geopolitical and rural development benefits however expectations have rapidly turned into deep criticism regarding the sustainability of these technologies and the desirability of pursuing the biofuel path this situation has generated an on going controversy and policy deadlock at eu level this study explores these issues from a governance perspective employing the concept of system governability derived from interactive governance theory it attempts to shed some light on the problems facing the governance of biofuels and on how the quality of the governance system could be improved the analysis showed that the governability of the system decreased substantially in the period 2003 2012 due to increasing governing needs and decreasing governing capacity the quality of the governance system can be improved by i improving governing capacity by reducing conflicts among governing actors advancing consistency among institutions and creating capacity at international and global level and ii promoting advanced technologies and adjusting societal ambitions and expectations regarding biofuels

future perspectives of international bioenergy trade abstract according to the iea world energy outlook 2012 primary demand for bioenergy will strongly increase up to the year 2035 the demand for biofuels and biomass for electricity is expected to triple these changes will have an impact on the regional balance of demand and supply of bioenergy leading to both increasing trade flows and changes in trade patterns the gfpm timer and poles models have been selected for a detailed comparison of scenarios and their impact on global bioenergy trade in ambitious scenarios 14 26 of global bioenergy demand is traded between regions in 2030 the model scenarios show a huge range of potential bioenergy trade for solid biomass in ambitious scenarios bioenergy trade ranges from 700 mt to more than 2 500 mt in 2030 for liquid biomass the ambitious scenarios show a bioenergy trade in the range of 65 360 mt in 2030 considering the currently very small share of internationally traded bioenergy this would result in huge challenges and require tremendous changes in terms of production pretreatment of biomass and development of logistic chains

ethanol and trade an analysis of price transmission in the us market abstract this paper examines the price transmission mechanisms between domestic ethanol and imported ethanol in the us market using a multivariate johansen approach the data and model support one cointegrating relationship between the prices of domestically produced ethanol imported ethanol and other relevant products gasoline crude oil and corn the rejection of weak exogeneity of the imported ethanol price and corn price implies that these two prices would adjust to changes in the price linkage those empirical findings indicate that the impact of eliminating trade barriers on the imported ethanol price would spillover to the domestic ethanol price and subsequently to corn price

rational expectations and tax policy experimental market evidence abstract experimental markets are used to test whether 1 1 subjects forecasts of future and unknown policy conform to the rational expectations hypothesis and 2 2 subjects purchases of commodities are made in anticipation of such policy forecast results confirm previous studies that support adaptive expectations on the other hand subjects exhibited a type of as if rationality by learning to alter their commodity purchases intertemporally in anticipation of fiscal changes this ability was only slightly diminished when policy was stochastic or when the micro economies were in disequilibrium and in chaos

international bioenergy trade a review of past developments in the liquid biofuel market policies aimed to promote biofuels locally had tremendous effects on global market developments across the past decade this article develops insights into the interaction of these policies and market forces via a comprehensive collection and analysis of international production and trade data it shows that world biofuel production and trade has grown exponentially from below 30 pj in 2000 to 572 pj in 2009 for biodiesel from 340 pj in 2000 to over 1540 pj in 2009 for fuel ethanol the eu has dominated world biodiesel whereas the us and brazil have led fuel ethanol production world net biofuel trade reached 120 130 pj in 2009 and was directed towards the most lucrative markets for biodiesel this has been the eu whose imports rose to 92 pj in 2008 and remained at 70 pj in 2009 regarding fuel ethanol both the us and the eu have been prime destinations for competitively priced exports the vast majority of which originated in brazil international biofuel trade is both supply and demand driven the demand side was shaped by support policies which generally increased the domestic market value of biofuels trade developed wherever these policies prices were not accompanied by respective measures it is found that import duties largely influenced trade volumes whereas trade routes were mainly driven by tariff preferences trade regimes appear to have been designed and adapted unilaterally along national interests causing market disruptions trade inefficiencies and disputes to avoid these it is important to explicitly consider international trade implications of national trade policies a prerequisite is to improve the understanding of the underlying complex and interwoven links within the market the current lack of adequate homogeneous international reporting of biofuel production and trade statistics could be bridged via internationally standardized custom clarifications trade factor interrelations also need to be investigated further

nash bargaining model of hmo premiums this paper estimates a model of commercial hmo premiums based on nash s axiomatic approach to bargaining between hmos and employers the bargaining models incorporate variables that measure the power of the parties to affect the division of potential gains from a contract it is found that an increase in the number of competing hmos increases the employer s bargaining power and leads to lower premiums especially for for profit hmos it is also found that employers bargaining power over non profit hmos is positively related to the ratio of the hmo s administrative expenses total expenses

uncertainty and value of information when allocating resources within and between healthcare programmes a two stage stochastic mathematical programming formulation has been developed to optimally allocate resources within and between healthcare programmes when there is an exogenous budget and the parameters of the healthcare models are variable and uncertain this formulation solves the optimal resource allocation problem and calculates the expected value of acquiring additional information to resolve the uncertainties within the allocation it is shown that the proposed formulation has several advantages over the chance constrained and robust mathematical programming methods

opportunities and barriers for international bioenergy trade recently the international trade of various bioenergy commodities has grown rapidly yet this growth is also hampered by some barriers the aim of this paper is to obtain an overview of what market actors currently perceive as major opportunities and barriers for the development of international bioenergy trade the work focuses on three bioenergy commodities bioethanol biodiesel and wood pellets data were collected through an internet based questionnaire the majority of the 141 respondents had an industrial background geographically two thirds were from mainly western europe with other minor contributions from all other continents results show that import tariffs and the implementation of sustainability certification systems are perceived as potentially major barriers for the trade of bioethanol and biodiesel while logistics are seen mainly as an obstacle for wood pellets development of technical standards was deemed more as an opportunity than a barrier for all commodities most important drivers were high fossil fuel prices and climate change mitigation policies concluding to overcome some of the barriers specific actions will be required by market parties and policy makers import tariffs for biofuels could be reduced or abolished linked to multinational trade agreements and harmonization including provisions on technical standards and sustainability requirements