This dissertation is concerned with tax rates for the use of commodities in general, and energy in particular. Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models are used to analyze the normative question of whether the tax rate for intermediate use by firms should be the same as the tax rate for final consumption by households. To answer this question, a distinction needs to be made between fiscal taxes for the purpose of raising revenue for the government, and Pigovian taxes for the purpose of changing behaviour. Concerning fiscal taxes, firms should not pay taxes on their use of inputs if the tax rates in final consumption are at their optimal level. If the tax rate for households is above the optimal level, intermediate use in firms should be taxed in order to increase the price of other commodities and reduce the distortion of relative prices. Essay 1 ascertains what factors determine the optimal relation between the tax rate for final consumption by households and intermediate use by firms. Essay 2 analyses Swedish energy taxes from the perspective of reducing global emission of CO2. It is found that the welfare maximizing tax rates are equal for households and firms not participating in emission trading, while firms that participate in emission trading should have a zero tax rate. Essays 3 and 4 deal with methodological issues. Essay 3 derives a new method for estimation of symmetric input-output tables from supply and use tables. This method solves the problem of negative coefficients, makes it possible to use both the industry and commodity technology assumptions simultaneously and enables the commodity technology assumption to be used even when the number of commodities is larger than the number of industries. Essay 4 describes the model used in the first two essays. The price structure developed here makes it possible to take into account price differences between different purchasers other than differences in tax rates. This essay also makes a comparison between the Swedish implementation of this model and other Swedish CGE-models used to analyse climate policy and energy taxation.

This thesis comprises a three papers. The chapters stand on their own. Each paper-chapter analyses a specific issue and contains introduction, theoretical framework, methods of analyses, results and findings. Each of the chapters offers new empirical, methodological and modelling contributions with new empirical evidence and findings, with new extensions and specifications for the gravity based and CGE based analytical tools. The thesis reflects my analysis of regional and international trade of Central Asia by analyzing the past economic ties of the CA with former Big Brother , Russia; the present heterogeneity of socio-economic environment of CA countries; and the future development of CA trade relations with the formation of the Eurasian (Re)Union. The Introductory Chapter binds together the other chapters by discussing the general background of the Central Asian institutional formation, transition and trade relations; the research motivations and methodology employed in this thesis. Afterwards come three substantive chapters. In the first chapter, the analysis of enhancing economic relations between Russia and CA in the post-Soviet period contradicts the post-colonial trade erosion theory. In the second chapter, how the open or isolationist policies followed by Central Asian countries affect the performance of local firms and MNEs, and linked to the economic performances of the countries, is investigated. In the third chapter, the impact of deeper Eurasian regional economic integration is assessed quantitatively in the context of asymmetry between the union members and the EU deeper integration project. The final chapter discusses the limitations and possible directions for future research.

This thesis develops a new structure that explicitly combines two CGE models, a national and a regional, in an integrated structure that gives the thesis model the name IRES, in short for the Integrated Regional Equation System. The typical features of the integrated structure are the adding-up conditions and the two-way linkages between the national and the regional modules facilitated by the interface shifters. The adding-up conditions ensure the two modules produce consistent results and updated databases. The inclusion of the interface shifters on the one hand plays a role in ensuring compatibility of results of the two modules, i.e. no distortion occurs because technical or taste changes are transferred across modules. On the other hand, the interface shifters assist the operation of IRES in different modes: the model can be used as a top-down model, a bottom-up model or an integrated model where national and regional shocks can be introduced at the same time. Hence, IRES has more flexibility in its application than a regional model or a national model alone, as IRES can make use of availability of data at any levels in the economy. IRES has a new labour market in which regional migration is no longer the only factor that settles the labour market as in the original setting of the MMRF model. Regional unemployment and regional participation rates are modelled to response to changes in regional employment growth using elasticities estimated econometrically in this thesis. IRES implements historical patterns of regional migration so that results of regional migration are consistent with observed patterns. Altogether, regional migration, regional unemployment and participation rates determine the equilibrium of the labour market. IRES adopts new approaches to modelling margin demands and indirect taxes. These new approaches are very effective in reducing the size of IRES but they do not compromise the use of the model. These approaches are readily applicable to any other regional CGE models.

Strutturata in 3 articoli, la tesi analizza il ruolo delle foreste all’interno delle politiche climatiche. Il Capitolo 1 valuta diversi tentativi di rappresentazione della mitigazione land-based - di cui il carbonio forestale rappresenta un importante componente - e offre spunti per migliorare la ricerca in quest’ambito. I Capitoli 2 e 3 presentano due diversi approcci modellistici sul ruolo delle foreste nella mitigazione climatica, all’interno di un modello di equilibrio generale computazionale. Entrambi i metodi assumono un impegno unilaterale Europeo nel ridurre del 20% e 30% le emissioni di CO2 entro il 2020. Il primo approccio, sviluppato nel Capitolo 2, viene rifinito nel Capitolo 3, dove le scelte di allocazione della terra risultano pienamente endogene e il carbonio derivante dall’intensificazione e l’estensificazione forestale è modellizzato separatamente. L’attribuzione di un ruolo alle foreste riduce costi della politica climatica, corrispondenti prezzi del carbonio, e l’effetto leakage. I risultati si presentano qualitativamente simili per entrambe le analisi. Nonostante le foreste europee possano alleviare lo sforzo di mitigazione dei settori energy-intensive, la loro contribuzione come unica strategia di abbattimento risulta insufficiente per il raggiungimento dei targets di riduzione delle emissioni. Un miglior risultato si otterrebbe se altre regioni prendessero parte agli accordi di stabilizzazione climatica. / This thesis, structured in 3 Chapters, analyses the role of forests within a climate policy framework. Chapter 1 critically assesses main existing approaches attempting to represent land-based mitigation, of which forest carbon is a prominent component. It offers important insights on aspects to be improved when modelling land-using activity and forestry. Chapters 2 and 3 present two different methods to model the role of forests in climate mitigation within a global computable-general-equilibrium-model (CGE). Both approaches assume Europe independently committed to reduce CO2 emissions of 20% or 30% by 2020. The first methodology, presented in Chapter 2, is further refined in Chapter 3, to render landowners’ choices on land allocation fully endogenous, and to model carbon from forestry intensification and extensification separately. Envisioning a role for forests reduces climate policy costs, the corresponding carbon price, as well as the leakage effect. These outcomes result qualitatively similar in sign for both analysis. Although European forests can alleviate the burden on energy-intensive sectors, their contribution as a stand-alone abatement strategy results insufficient to comply with the emissions reduction targets. A better result would have been reached if other regions were allowed to take part in climate stabilization agreement.

Il cambiamento climatico e la pressione antropica sulle risorse idriche rendono le politiche di gestione dell’acqua primordiali nell'agenda dei policy makers. Nel mio lavoro, inizialmente, presento una rassegna della letteratura in materia di modelli di Equilibro Generale Calcolabile (CGE) che incorporano l’acqua. In tale ambito, propongo la seguente classificazione: (i) la concorrenza tra i settori per l’uso di acqua; (ii) le politiche di prezzo e delle tariffe sull’acqua, (iii) l'acqua e le questioni commerciali, (iv) i modelli CGE ed altri modelli. In secondo luogo, analizzo gli effetti della siccità per l'economia del Kenya attraverso un modello CGE statico, calibrato sulla Matrice di Contabilità Sociale (SAM) del Kenya (2003). Il Kenya è stato scelto perché Paese particolarmente esposto a ricorrenti siccità (ad esempio negli anni 1994, 1998-2000, 2001 e 2003) che hanno duramente colpito le popolazioni più vulnerabili del paese, cioè quelle concentrate nelle zone aride e semiaride (ASAL). Inoltre, propongo l'introduzione di schemi di tassazione, al fine di produrre un extra-reddito che possa essere reinvestito per aumentare l'efficienza del settore idrico in Kenya o per trasferimenti alle famiglie rurali più povere. Infine, riproduco l'attuazione del progetto “Arid Land and Resource Management Project” (ALRMP) di FAO e Banca Mondiale. I risultati mostrano che, in primo luogo, gli effetti di una riduzione della dotazione di acqua sono più robusti di quelli derivanti da un aumento della dotazione d'acqua. In secondo luogo, la simulazione di uno scenario di siccità - in cui non solo la dotazione di acqua, ma anche la disponibilità di terra e la produttività di attività selezionate sono ridotti - fornisce un quadro più coerente dei risultati. In terzo luogo, tassare “raw water” (il fattore di acqua) può influenzare negativamente i redditi degli abitanti delle zone rurali. Infine, Il ALRMP ha un impatto positivo sulla riduzione degli effetti negativi della siccità sulle ASAL in Kenya. / Climate change and human pressure on water resources make water management policies primordial in the agenda of policy makers. I first propose a literature review of the works on Water Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Models suggesting the following classification: (i) competition between sectors; (ii) water pricing policies and tariffs; (iii) water and trade issues; (iv) CGE and other models. Secondly, the effects of droughts on the Kenyan economy are studied by means of a static CGE model, calibrated on the 2003 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) of Kenya. As a water scarce Sub-Saharan country, Kenya is among those countries considered particularly exposed to drought problems. This has been witnessed in recent years by several recurring droughts (1994, 1998-2000, 2001, and 2003) which have harshly hit the most vulnerable part of the country, namely the Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASAL). Besides, I propose the introduction of several taxation schemes in order to produce an extra revenue to be either reinvested in increasing the efficiency of the water sector in Kenya, or redistributed to the poorest rural households. Finally we simulate the implementation of the UN-FAO and World Bank “Arid Land and Resource Management Project” (ALRMP). The results show that, firstly, the effects of reducing water endowment are stronger than when increasing water endowment. Secondly, simulating a drought scenario – where not just water endowment but also availability of land and the productivity of selected activities are reduced - gives a more coherent picture of the outcomes. Thirdly, taxing raw water (the water factor) may negatively affect rural dwellers as they are owners of water resources. Finally, I found that the ALRMP has a positive impact on mitigating the negative effects of droughts in Kenyan ASAL.

Festivals have become a global phenomenon and now serve as a platform to promote the leisure and tourism industry within a nation. These events have an undisputed economic effect – not only on the hosting community – but also on the global community. Despite the encouraging community support and the socio-economic impact and spin-offs that are generated by means of such events, the financing of art festivals remains an intricate issue. The fact remains that not all festivals are financially self-sustainable and so require extensive sponsorship in order to ensure the continuation of the event. Limited government funding available due to budget constraints curbs the financial support forthcoming from municipalities and so forces event organisers to seek alternative funding to ensure the survival and feasibility of events. This responsibility places an additional burden on event organisers and so necessitates the use of assessment tools in order to convince private and public institutions or individuals to invest in such events through sponsorships. During an extensive literature study, it became apparent that the need exists to re-assess fully the economic impact analysis of events. The literature revealed that varying models are used to conduct economic impact analyses. In order to establish a concise framework within which to conduct an economic assessment, it was decided to select only the most-used models – Computable General Equilibrium (CGE), Input-Output (I-O) and Social Accounting Matrix (SAM). The dilemma facing tourism economists is to determine which economic assessment approach is most effective as every methodology has its own advantages and disadvantages. In addition, the type and size of an event also plays a fundamental role when selecting an appropriate measuring tool. This research was further motivated because of the existing gap that exists in the South African context for no study has yet been conducted where the various models that assess economic impact have been applied to the collated data of the same event. This study thus aims to provide an overview and a comparison of competing and supplementing methodologies for modelling the regional economic dynamics and the impacts of events. It further investigates the manner in which regional CGE, I-O and SAM based (multiplier) models operate towards capturing the region-specific, inter-regional and multi-regional production, consumption and factor market patterns as result of expenditures incurred during events. An analysis of the virtues and the limitations of these economic assessment methodologies suggests that it may be the considerations such as the data collection/compilation, expected output, research objectives and costs involved that ultimately determine the choice of a specific modelling framework. While addressing the problem stated above, this study produced the following three articles that are now embodied in the work: * Article 1 - “Critical assessment of economic impact analyses of the ABSA Klein Karoo National Arts Festival”, and * Article 2 - “Critical assessment of economic impact analyses of the Aardklop National Arts Festival”. Article 2 investigated and compared the economic assessment results when applying specific constructed models, being the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) and Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) for the appropriate provinces, to the available data obtained from previous surveys conducted at the 2010 ABSA Klein Karoo National Arts Festival and from the Aardklop National Arts Festival. The two articles indicated that when different models of assessment are applied to the same data set of an event, the economic impact results might differ significantly. This may serve as a warning to economic assessors, academics and researchers that economic impact results can be misleading and therefore the application thereof should be handled with the utmost care in order to avoid misinterpretations and misconceptions. * Article 3, “Assessing the economic impact of the Aardklop National Arts Festival: a feast of models to opt for – or not?” In this article, data from a visitor and business survey conducted at the 2010 Aardklop National Arts Festival was used in the analyses made by applying SAM, CGE and I-O regional models constructed for South Africa’s Northwest Province. Results from these analyses were then compared in order to give researchers and practitioners a better insight and clarity regarding which approach works best for the economic assessment of an arts festival. This article highlighted the fact that the measured economic impact results differ when various models that are applied to the same event. It also became evident that the most conservative economic impact was measured by an I-O model, followed with a higher SAM measurement, while CGE revealed the highest economic assessment. The most significant contribution of this study is embedded in the fact that within the South African context – and even globally – it is the first study of its kind that aimed to determine the economic impact by means of applying more than one assessment model to the data set of a single event. Further, this study provides guidelines for event organisers, academics and economic advisors to follow in conjunction with the existing body of knowledge and practical implementation structures when assessing the economic impact of events. / Thesis (PhD (Tourism Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Festivals have become a global phenomenon and now serve as a platform to promote the leisure and tourism industry within a nation. These events have an undisputed economic effect – not only on the hosting community – but also on the global community. Despite the encouraging community support and the socio-economic impact and spin-offs that are generated by means of such events, the financing of art festivals remains an intricate issue. The fact remains that not all festivals are financially self-sustainable and so require extensive sponsorship in order to ensure the continuation of the event. Limited government funding available due to budget constraints curbs the financial support forthcoming from municipalities and so forces event organisers to seek alternative funding to ensure the survival and feasibility of events. This responsibility places an additional burden on event organisers and so necessitates the use of assessment tools in order to convince private and public institutions or individuals to invest in such events through sponsorships. During an extensive literature study, it became apparent that the need exists to re-assess fully the economic impact analysis of events. The literature revealed that varying models are used to conduct economic impact analyses. In order to establish a concise framework within which to conduct an economic assessment, it was decided to select only the most-used models – Computable General Equilibrium (CGE), Input-Output (I-O) and Social Accounting Matrix (SAM). The dilemma facing tourism economists is to determine which economic assessment approach is most effective as every methodology has its own advantages and disadvantages. In addition, the type and size of an event also plays a fundamental role when selecting an appropriate measuring tool. This research was further motivated because of the existing gap that exists in the South African context for no study has yet been conducted where the various models that assess economic impact have been applied to the collated data of the same event. This study thus aims to provide an overview and a comparison of competing and supplementing methodologies for modelling the regional economic dynamics and the impacts of events. It further investigates the manner in which regional CGE, I-O and SAM based (multiplier) models operate towards capturing the region-specific, inter-regional and multi-regional production, consumption and factor market patterns as result of expenditures incurred during events. An analysis of the virtues and the limitations of these economic assessment methodologies suggests that it may be the considerations such as the data collection/compilation, expected output, research objectives and costs involved that ultimately determine the choice of a specific modelling framework. While addressing the problem stated above, this study produced the following three articles that are now embodied in the work: * Article 1 - “Critical assessment of economic impact analyses of the ABSA Klein Karoo National Arts Festival”, and * Article 2 - “Critical assessment of economic impact analyses of the Aardklop National Arts Festival”. Article 2 investigated and compared the economic assessment results when applying specific constructed models, being the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) and Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) for the appropriate provinces, to the available data obtained from previous surveys conducted at the 2010 ABSA Klein Karoo National Arts Festival and from the Aardklop National Arts Festival. The two articles indicated that when different models of assessment are applied to the same data set of an event, the economic impact results might differ significantly. This may serve as a warning to economic assessors, academics and researchers that economic impact results can be misleading and therefore the application thereof should be handled with the utmost care in order to avoid misinterpretations and misconceptions. * Article 3, “Assessing the economic impact of the Aardklop National Arts Festival: a feast of models to opt for – or not?” In this article, data from a visitor and business survey conducted at the 2010 Aardklop National Arts Festival was used in the analyses made by applying SAM, CGE and I-O regional models constructed for South Africa’s Northwest Province. Results from these analyses were then compared in order to give researchers and practitioners a better insight and clarity regarding which approach works best for the economic assessment of an arts festival. This article highlighted the fact that the measured economic impact results differ when various models that are applied to the same event. It also became evident that the most conservative economic impact was measured by an I-O model, followed with a higher SAM measurement, while CGE revealed the highest economic assessment. The most significant contribution of this study is embedded in the fact that within the South African context – and even globally – it is the first study of its kind that aimed to determine the economic impact by means of applying more than one assessment model to the data set of a single event. Further, this study provides guidelines for event organisers, academics and economic advisors to follow in conjunction with the existing body of knowledge and practical implementation structures when assessing the economic impact of events. / Thesis (PhD (Tourism Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

No description available.

Submitted by Lucas Pedreira do Couto Ferraz (lucaspcf@gmail.com) on 2010-09-28T19:40:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Thesis_PhD.pdf: 996294 bytes, checksum: cf266060bc6c236aa36c8a4e4775224d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Andrea Virginio Machado(andrea.machado@fgv.br) on 2010-09-29T12:58:30Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Thesis_PhD.pdf: 996294 bytes, checksum: cf266060bc6c236aa36c8a4e4775224d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2010-10-01T17:44:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Thesis_PhD.pdf: 996294 bytes, checksum: cf266060bc6c236aa36c8a4e4775224d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-04-16 / This work presents a fully operational interstate CGE model implemented for the Brazilian economy that tries to quantify both the role of barriers to trade on economic growth and foreign trade performance and how the distribution of the economic activity may change as the country opens up to foreign trade. Among the distinctive features embedded in the model, modeling of external scale economies, port efficiency and land-maritime transport costs provides an innovative way of dealing explicitly with theoretical issues related to integrated regional systems. In order to illustrate the role played by the quality of infrastructure and geography on the country‟s foreign and interregional trade performance, a set of simulations is presented where barriers to trade are significantly reduced. The relative importance of trade policy, port efficiency and land-maritime transport costs for the country trade relations and regional growth is then detailed and quantified, considering both short run as well as long run scenarios. A final set of simulations shed some light on the effects of liberal trade policies on regional inequality, where the manufacturing sector in the state of São Paulo, taken as the core of industrial activity in the country, is subjected to different levels of external economies of scale. Short-run core-periphery effects are then traced out suggesting the prevalence of agglomeration forces over diversion forces could rather exacerbate regional inequality as import barriers are removed up to a certain level. Further removals can reverse this balance in favor of diversion forces, implying de-concentration of economic activity. In the long run, factor mobility allows a better characterization of the balance between agglomeration and diversion forces among regions. Regional dispersion effects are then clearly traced-out, suggesting horizontal liberal trade policies to benefit both the poorest regions in the country as well as the state of São Paulo. This long run dispersion pattern, on one hand seems to unravel the fragility of simple theoretical results from recent New Economic Geography models, once they get confronted with more complex spatially heterogeneous (real) systems. On the other hand, it seems to capture the literature‟s main insight: the possible role of horizontal liberal trade policies as diversion forces leading to a more homogeneous pattern of interregional economic growth.

Submitted by Geandra Rodrigues (geandrar@gmail.com) on 2018-03-23T11:39:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 marianarezendeesilva.pdf: 2448635 bytes, checksum: 7a91fde9d65f686013a08919648c2f64 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2018-03-23T12:17:35Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 marianarezendeesilva.pdf: 2448635 bytes, checksum: 7a91fde9d65f686013a08919648c2f64 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-23T12:17:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 marianarezendeesilva.pdf: 2448635 bytes, checksum: 7a91fde9d65f686013a08919648c2f64 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-18 / O agravamento dos efeitos do aquecimento global, a volatilidade do preço do petróleo e a preocupação com a segurança energética são questões que contribuem para o aumento dos incentivos para a produção de biocombustíveis e o desenvolvimento de políticas relacionadas. A partir dos anos 2000 regiões como dos Estados Unidos e União Europeia lançaram os mandatos de biocombustíveis, políticas que estabelecem metas de consumo e produção de combustíveis renováveis até o ano de 2020. O crescimento da demanda interna não é acompanhado de um crescimento na oferta interna, precisando assim, importar etanol ou biodiesel. É nesse cenário que surge o Brasil como possível provedor de etanol para essas regiões por conta da disponibilidade de terras para a expansão do cultivo da cana-de-açúcar, a alta produtividade dessa commodity e o conhecimento da tecnologia de produção. O principal objetivo dessa dissertação é analisar o papel do Brasil no mercado mundial de biocombustíveis e identificar as implicações causadas pelas políticas de combustíveis renováveis de regiões como Estados Unidos e União Europeia. Para esse fim, foi construído um modelo de Equilíbrio Geral Computável a partir do Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP), denominado GTAP-BIOBR. Nesse modelo estão desagregados os setores de biocombustíveis o que favorece a análise do comércio de etanol da cana, que tem como principal produtor o Brasil. A estratégia de análise empregada foi de simular três cenários com choques nas exportações brasileiras de etanol para os Estados Unidos e União Europeia no ano de 2020. Os resultados revelam que a produção de etanol no Brasil cresceria em todas as situações, acompanhado do crescimento do nível de atividade econômica. Por outro lado, o preço do etanol da cana sofreria uma queda e ocorreria perda de bem-estar econômico no país em consequência da piora dos termos de troca. / The worsening effects of global warming, the volatility of oil prices and the concern about energy security are issues that contribute to increasing incentives for the production of biofuels and the development of related policies. Since the 2000’s, regions such as the United States and the European Union have launched the biofuel mandates, policies that set targets for consumption and production of renewable fuels by the year 2020. The growth of domestic demand is not accompanied by a growth in domestic supply, thus needing to import ethanol or biodiesel. It is in this scenario that Brazil emerges as a possible supplier of ethanol to these regions because of the availability of land for the expansion of sugar cane cultivation the high productivity of this commodity and the knowledge of production technology. The main objective of this dissertation is to analyze the role of Brazil in the world biofuels market and to identify the implications caused by the renewable fuel policies of regions such as the United States and the European Union. For this purpose, a Computable General Equilibrium model was constructed from the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) called GTAP-BIOBR. In this model, the biofuels sectors are disaggregated, which favors the analysis of the sugarcane ethanol trade, whose main producer is Brazil. The analysis strategy employed was to simulate three scenarios with shocks in Brazilian ethanol exports to the United States and the European Union in the year 2020. The results show that ethanol production in Brazil would increase in all situations, accompanied by the growth of the level of economic activity. On the other hand, the price of sugarcane ethanol would suffer a fall and there would be a loss of economic welfare in the country as a result of the worsening terms of trade.