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In this paper we discuss the European regulation policy regarding vertical separation in communications and electricity industries. In the electricity sector the discussion concerns ownership unbundling while in communications the recent regulatory debate is about functional separation. We conclude that for electricity, ownership unbundling seems to be the best option to achieve competition in wholesale markets although there is still some risks concerning investment. Instead, for the communication sector the regulatory options are deeply dependent on the intensity of network competition between operators that combine different technological platforms. Technology also seems to be a key driver for diverse regulatory approaches concerning the unbundling requirement. ; peer-reviewed

The maximum entropy bootstrap for time series is applied in this study to investigate the nexus between carbon emissions from electricity generation and the gross domestic product, using a bivariate framework for eight Middle Eastern countries between 1995 and 2017. The sample under study includes oil-producing countries such as Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. As the electricity generation in these economies relies mainly on oil and gas, finding out the existence and direction of the relationship between the two considered variables has remarkable implications for policymakers and governments in these countries to achieve both higher economic growth and environmental protection. As expected, this nexus is validated for all countries in the sample but not in all models, time periods, and lags. Therefore, policymakers can set appropriate electricity conservation policies based on these varied empirical findings to boost economic growth with minimum environmental degradation. ; published

The need to decarbonize economic production processes is undeniable and has been considered by most countries worldwide. Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) technologies appear among the most promising routes to the decarbonization process. We propose an equilibrium model where final-goods production uses labor and energy, and energy is generated using non-polluting RES and polluting fossil fuels. The government implements a Green Tax Reform (GTR), where it imposes a tax on emissions and uses revenues to finance subsidies to RES and support to CCS technologies. We test how results change according to the priority given to RES or to CCS support. Our results show that prioritizing RES support achieves better economic results and potentially also better environmental results. Overall, our empirical simulation demonstrates that resource substitution has a stronger benefit than decarbonizing fossil fuels.

Ter bases para uma melhor, mais profunda e sustentada discussão acerca de um conteúdo e problema selecionados será um dos desafios que se pode enfrentar quando uma técnica de pesquisa tradicional, como a análise de conteúdo, é aplicada num formato menos comum, como é o caso da análise de conteúdo etnográfica. O objetivo deste artigo é o de desenvolver uma discussão crítica acerca da análise de conteúdo etnográfica, uma abordagem específica que combina vários recursos técnicos, permitindo novas medidas para atingir resultados intrigantes e ricos e para uma discussão aprofundada, considerando um corpus ou material de análise selecionado. Este artigo pretende contribuir para fornecer uma visão crítica da análise de conteúdo etnográfica, as suas vantagens e limitações, assim como do seu potencial como um foco alternativo e estratégico. O tipo de resultados esperados desta implementação técnica é tanto textual como de natureza estatística, o que permite uma abordagem mais compreensiva e focada em múltiplos detalhes do processo de construção categórico.

The 2008-2012 financial crisis experienced in the Europe has impacted both the politics of energy and the activity of agents that operate at the level of production, trading or distribution of energy. 2010 year marks the increasing severity and peaking of sovereign debt crisis, mainly in EU peripheral countries, but having significant economic effects on entire EU. This article characterizes the business context and presents an analysis of the environmental, social, economic and financial information, generically reported by European electric utilities in 2010 to characterize the impact of the financial crisis on their performance. European electricity utilities were chosen as the object of the present study, both because having a large impact on society, economy and environment and because integrating a regulatory and market specific context. Having to deal with a crescently challenging scenario drived by EU policies, electric utilities were also strongly affected by economic, social and financial consequences of the crisis. The use of PCA techniques allowed identifying a set of indicators representative of the drivers and challenges of that particular period of time, which was determinant for coming developments.

AbstractThe concordance between infants' emotion regulation styles with different partners has not been consistently analysed nor have the relational correlates of such potential across‐partners similarities. We explored these issues by assessing 10‐month‐olds' (59.6 percent boys) emotion regulation styles separately with mother and father and by evaluating mother–infant and father–infant interaction quality. The sample consisted of 50 low‐risk families. Two home visits were conducted and similar procedures were adopted for each visit. Parent–infant interaction quality was assessed during daily routines and during free play; both parents independently completed a temperament questionnaire. Infant emotion regulation was assessed in a semi‐structured problem‐solving task: adaptive vs. maladaptive (under and over‐regulation) styles. As predicted, infants' emotion regulation with their mothers and fathers were related. However, only father–infant interaction quality predicted infants' emotion regulation concordance: lower interaction quality was associated with maladaptive concordance compared with non‐concordance and higher interaction quality was associated with adaptive concordance compared with non‐concordance. Our results support the claim that by the end of the first year of life, infants use similar emotion regulation styles with mother and father and point to father–infant interaction as an important correlate of emotion regulation across‐parents.