This thesis uses innovative approaches to analyse energy policy interventions aimed at enhancing the environmental sustainability of energy use as well as its consequential welfare implications. First, we examine the relationship between energy efficiency improvement and CO2 emissions at the macro level. We use the Index Decomposition Analysis to derive energy efficiency by separating out the impact of shifts in economic activity on energy intensity. We then employ econometric models to relate energy efficiency and CO2 emissions accounting for non-economic factors such as consumers lifestyle and attitudes. The applications for 13 OPEC and 30 OECD countries show that at the country-group and individual country level, increase in energy intensity for OPEC is associated with both deteriorations in energy efficiency and shifts towards energy-intensive activities. The model results suggest that the reduction in energy efficiency in general go in tandem with substantial increases in CO2 emissions. The decline in energy intensity for OECD can be attributed mainly to improvements in energy efficiency which is found to compensate for the impact on CO2 emissions of income changes. The results confirm the empirical relevance of energy efficiency improvements for the mitigation of CO2 emissions. The method developed in this chapter further enables the separate assessment of non-economic behavioural factors which according to the results exert a non-trivial influence on CO2 emissions. Secondly, having empirically confirmed the relationship between energy efficiency improvements and CO2 emission at the macro level in Chapter 2, we investigate potential underlying drivers of energy efficiency improvements taking into account potential asymmetric effects of energy price change in Chapter 3. This is crucial for designing effective and efficient policy measures that can promote energy efficiency. In addition to the Index Decomposition Analysis used to estimate the economy-wide energy efficiency in Chapter 2, we also use Stochastic Frontier Analysis and Data Envelop Analysis as alternative methods. The driving factors are examined using static and dynamic panel model methods that account for both observed and unobserved country heterogeneity. The application for 32 OECD countries shows that none of the three methods leads to correspondence in term of ranking between energy efficiency estimates and energy intensity at the country level corroborating the criticism that energy intensity is a poor proxy for energy efficiency. The panel-data regression results using the results of the three methods show similarities in the impacts of the determinants on the energy efficiency levels. Also, we find insignificant evidence of asymmetric effects of total energy price but there is proof of asymmetry using energy specific prices. Thirdly, in Chapter 4 we offer an improved understanding of the impacts to expect of abolishing fuel price subsidy on fuel consumption, and also of the welfare and distributional impacts at the household level. We develop a two-step approach for this purpose. Key aspect of the first step is a two-stage budgeting model to estimate various fuel types elasticities using micro-data. Relying on these estimates and the information on households expenditure shares for different commodities, the second step estimates the welfare (direct and indirect) and distributional impacts. The application for Nigeria emphasises the relevance of this approach. We find heterogeneous elasticities of fuel demand among household groups. The distributional impact of abolishing the kerosene subsidy shows a regressive welfare loss. Although we find a progressive loss for petrol, the loss gap between the low- and high-income groups is small relative to the loss gap from stopping kerosene subsidy, making the low-income groups to suffer a higher total welfare loss. Finally, from the highlighted results, we draw the following concluding remarks in chapter 5. Energy efficiency appears a key option to mitigate CO2 emissions but there is also a need for additional policies aiming for behavioural change; energy specific prices and allowing for asymmetry in analysing the changes in energy efficiency is more appropriate and informative in formulating reliable energy policies; the hypothesis that only the rich would be worse-off from fuel subsidy removal is rejected and the results further suggest that timing of the fuel subsidy removal would be crucial as a higher international oil price will lead to higher deregulated fuel price and consequently, larger welfare loss.

Submitted by Bruno Rodrigues Domingues (xistaum@hotmail.com) on 2013-03-04T01:01:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Verificação_ciclos_v5.pdf: 974726 bytes, checksum: d8c2d7df3a1ea76b56106d878af8ede0 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzinei Teles Garcia Garcia (suzinei.garcia@fgv.br) on 2013-03-04T13:11:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Verificação_ciclos_v5.pdf: 974726 bytes, checksum: d8c2d7df3a1ea76b56106d878af8ede0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-03-04T13:12:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Verificação_ciclos_v5.pdf: 974726 bytes, checksum: d8c2d7df3a1ea76b56106d878af8ede0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-05 / Este trabalho se propõe a avaliar a existência de ciclos de margem de subscrição no mercado segurador brasileiro para os grupos de ramos de automóvel, patrimonial, responsabilidade civil e transportes a partir de dados da SUSEP. É feita uma introdução em seguros, uma revisão dos artigos que foram realizados no mundo sobre o assunto assim como os estudos discorrendo sobre as possíveis causas para a existência destes ciclos. Em seguida são apresentadas as técnicas econométricas de séries de tempo estruturais e o teste HEGY utilizadas para a verificação dessa hipótese. Foram encontrados ciclos nos grupos de ramos de automóveis, patrimoniais e transportes e não encontramos evidências de ciclos para responsabilidade civil e nem para o agregado de ramos. Os resultados desse estudo sobre a existência, ou não dos ciclos, assim como sua duração considerando as particularidades de cada tipo de ramo, periodicidade das séries e utilização ou não da despesa de comercialização foram analisados para cada grupo de ramos, considerando suas particularidades. Finalmente se fez um comparativo dos resultados obtidos nesse estudo com o que está na literatura para diversos outros mercados de seguros de outros países. / This study examines the existence of underwriting cycles in the Brazilian insurance market for four lines of insurance: marine, property, motor and liability using data from SUSEP. An overview of insurance is given as well as a quick explanation of insurance accounting practices in Brazil. A review of the literature published over this subject and the possible causes of these cycles are provided as well. The econometrics techniques are presented and an alternative methodology for verifying cycles is proposed. The analyses of the results were made in two steps. First a comparison between the results per lines was made considering specificities of each line. The results were then compared with the results from other countries. Evidences of cycles were found for the automobile, marine and property lines, in contrast to liability and when the lines were aggregated.

Marketing Mix Modelling has been used since the 1950s, leveraging statistical inference to attribute media investments to sales. Typically, regression models have been used to model the relationship between the two. However, the media landscape evolves at an increasingly rapid pace, driving the need for more refined models which are able to accurately capture these changes. One class of such models are Bayesian structural time series, which are the focal point in this thesis. This class of models retains the relationship between media investments and sales, while also allowing for model parameters to vary over time. The effectiveness of these models is evaluated with respect to prediction accuracy and certainty, both in and out-of-sample. A total of four different models of varying degrees of complexity were investigated. It was concluded that the in-sample performance was similar across models, yet when it came to out-of-sample performance models with time-varying performance outperformed their static counterparts, with respect to uncertainty. Furthermore, the functional form of the intercept influenced the uncertainty of the forecasts on extended time horizons. / Marketing mix modellering har använts sedan 1950-talet för att dra slutsatser om hur mediainvesteringar påverkar försäljning, med hjälp av statistisk inferens. Vanligtvis har regressionmodeller använts för att modellera relationen mellan de två. Men medielandskapet utvecklas allt snabbare, vilket kräver mer sofistikerade modeller som kan fånga upp dessa förändringar på ett mer precist sätt. En klass av sådana modeller är Bayesianska strukturella tidsseriemodeller, som är fokus för detta arbete. Denna klass av modeller bibehåller den strukturella relationen mellan mediainvesteringar och försäljning, samtidigt som de också tillåter modellparametrarna att variera över tid. Effektiviteten hos modellerna bedöms med avseende på noggrannhet och säkerhet, både tränings- och testdata. Totalt fyra olika modeller med varierande komplexitet undersöktes. Det konstaterades att prestandan på träningsdata var likvärdig mellan modellerna, men när det gällde testdata presterade modeller med tidsvarierande parametrar bättre än sina statiska motsvarigheter, med avseende på osäkerhet. Dessutom påverkade den funktionella formen av interceptet osäkerheten hos prognoserna över längre tidshorisonter.

Le monde est actuellement confronté à une transition du marché de l'énergie qui est influencée notamment par la dynamique de la croissance économique globale, les négociations relatives aux changements climatiques et des prix de plus en plus volatils. Cette évolution rapide des réglementations et de la macro-économie transformera les conditions de la demande d'énergie, obligeant les gouvernements à acquérir un ensemble croissant d'outils quantitatifs pour mieux évaluer les résultats de leurs politiques fiscales. Cette thèse aborde cette problématique en analysant, par une approche basée sur les élasticités, les différentes facettes de la demande d'énergie dans le but d'achever une consommation énergétique durable. Cette approche est complémentée par l'analyse par grappes, la décomposition structurelle ainsi que par diverses outils économétriques appliques conjointement à l'échelle mondiale et nationale. Une attention particulière est faite sur la modélisation de la demande des marchés subsidiés notamment des pays du Conseil de Coopération du Golfe Arabique / The world is currently witnessing a transition in the energy scene that is significantly characterized by global economic growth dynamics, climate change negotiations and volatile energy prices. Rapidly evolving regulatory and macro-economic environments heavily impact on the demand-side of energy, forcing governments to acquire an ever-increasing set of quantitative tools to better assess the results of their taxation policies.This thesis addresses some of these issues by analyzing various facets of energy demand in order to generate sensible demand and price elasticities with real-life applications in sustainable energy management. For that purpose, a combination of cluster, decomposition and multiple econometric analysis is undertaken at global, regional and country-specific levels for households complemented by a policy analysis. A special focus is made on modeling consumer demand behavior for resource-rich economies of the Gulf Cooperation Countries, and the potential impact of removing residential electricity subsidies on the net societal welfare of Saudi Arabia.