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on Project, Program and Portfolio Management |
| By: | Bekchanov, Maksud; Evia, Pablo; Hasan, Mohammad Monirul; Adhikari, Narayan; Godhalekar, Daphne |
| Abstract: | Open dumping of waste and discharging untreated wastewater into environment are key causes of environmental pollution in the developing world, including South Asian countries. Waste and wastewater however can be a source for recovering energy, nutrients and water if properly treated or recycled rather than a cause of pollution and diseases spread. The importance of adopting Resources Recovery and Reuse (RRR) technologies increases under growing demand for food and energy in contrast to depleting fossil fuel mines and groundwater reservoirs. However, institutional framework including the organizations and various stakeholders involved in the waste and wastewater management sectors, government policies and legislation, as well as financial arrangements and incentives to technological change play a pivotal role in adopting and scaling up RRR options. This study therefore focuses on institutional and financial aspects of challenges and opportunities for implementing RRR options in South Asia. It is argued that improving financial capacities, easing to obtain land use permits to expand RRR facilities, maintaining quality of RRR products (compost, biogas), and raising environmental awareness are imperative for the successful performance of the RRR projects in South Asia. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–11–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubonwp:280621&r=ppm |
| By: | Elisabetta Marinelli (European Commission – JRC); Alessio Cavicchi (Universita di Macerata); Annamaria Fiore (ARTI Puglia); Gigliola Paviotti (Universita di Macerata); Elisa Gerussi (European Commission – JRC Seville); Simona Iammarino (London School of Economics and Political Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Universities have been mainly included in the S3 debate as creators or vectors of knowledge, their higher education mission has been somewhat overlooked. For this reason, in March 2016, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission has started a project on the role of Higher Education in Smart Specialisation (HESS). This document reports the action-research activities conducted under the HESS project in the region of Puglia (IT). The authors explored two instruments at the opposite end of the higher education spectrum: Istituti Tecnici Superiori (ITSs), i.e. Higher Technical Institutes, a form of technology-based vocational education and training. Innovative Industrial Doctorates (IIDs). These new instruments have not been explicitly taken into account during the development and early implementation of the strategy; however, it has become increasingly important to reflect on the process of human capital creation for S3. The two instruments appear suited to this reflection as they implement curricula designed in collaboration with the local private sector and with an explicit focus on technological development and employability. The report explores the challenges and opportunities ITSs and IIDs pose, as a first step to understand their potential contribution to Smart Specialisation. |
| Keywords: | Smart Specialisation, Innovation, Vocational Training, Higher Education, Universities, Puglia, Apulia |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc113412&r=ppm |
| By: | Eskarne Arregui-Pabollet (European Commission - JRC); Mathieu Doussineau (European Commission - JRC); Markus Dettenhofer (CEITEC- Central European Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | The renewed EU agenda for higher education (European Commission, 2017) has emphasized that higher education institutions are not contributing as much as they should to innovation in their regions and countries. The engagement of universities in S3 has shown to be particularly important in countries and regions with weaker regional innovation systems and sub-critical public institutional capacity. The ability of universities to bring together education, research and innovation, places them as particularly important stakeholders to contribute to the research and innovation system. Nevertheless, becoming more engaged in regional innovation policies and S3 requires an important strategic vision and institutional change by HEIs to be able to engage in co-creation dynamics with quadruple helix actors. Moreover, the ability of universities to adjust their working agenda could require some change in their common practices. How they can manage this, mandates a governance framework which can allow for agility from institutes steeped in tradition. The issue of governance is complex, multi-dimensional, and often involves changes in policy, behaviour and outreach for a successful implementation of set objectives. Institutional governance in general and for universities in particular, implies setting in motion or overseeing various institutional processes and regulatory provisions to allow for the planned targets and outcomes to be achieved. The current policy brief proposes an analytical framework for university governance allowing the comparison and benchmarking of governance systems across EU member states, which could serve as guidance for university managers and policy makers to design the institutional incentives and funding programmes for increased engagement in S3. This analytical framework is experimented through a survey involving 74 European universities, the analysis of country annual reports of the Research and innovation observatory (RIO) and the knowledge generated in S2E project covering particularly EU13 countries and the higher education for Smart specialisation initiative (HESS). The main results and limits are commented and discussed with some recommendations. |
| Keywords: | UNIVERSITY GOVERNANCE, UNIVERSITY THIRD-MISSION, SMART SPECIALISATION STRATEGIES (S3), REGIONAL GROWTH, QUADRUPLE HELIX, UNIVERSITY-BUSINESS COLLABORATIONS, REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY INTERNAL GOVERNANCE |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc112706&r=ppm |
| By: | Galina Alova |
| Abstract: | Mining activities are energy-intensive and rely largely on fossil fuels to meet their energy demands. This exposes the mining sector to potential policy and regulatory risks, stemming from government efforts to shift the global economy to a low-emission development pathway, as envisaged by the Paris Agreement. At the same time, renewables have become an increasingly cost-competitive source of power generation. This has resulted in a business case for the adoption of solar and wind energy solutions in the mining sector, to reduce costs as well as carbon footprint of operations. The sector’s energy transition also presents an opportunity for resource-rich countries, including developing economies, to foster the synergistic development of higher value added domestic activities in the renewable energy sector. The shift of the mining industry to low-carbon energy has the potential to contribute to advancing the climate and sustainable development agenda, while also pursuing economic diversification objectives. However, the integration of new technologies into conventional power systems comes with risks and challenges. This paper aims to enhance the understanding of the key drivers for, and obstacles to, renewable energy integration in mining operations, based on a review of over 30 existing projects worldwide. The analysis identifies a need for an enabling policy environment, encompassing among others a competitive energy market structure and adequate energy infrastructure, to overcome current challenges and support the synergies between the development of the mining and renewable energy sectors. |
| Keywords: | carbon dioxide emissions, energy transition, mining, photovoltaic energy, renewable energy, sustainable development, wind power |
| JEL: | L72 Q32 Q42 |
| Date: | 2018–11–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:dcdaab:14-en&r=ppm |
| By: | Olena Havrylchyk |
| Abstract: | In a growing number of OECD countries policymakers are designing specific regulations for lending-based crowdfunding platforms. In March 2018, as a part of its Fintech action plan, the European Commission also presented its proposal for the EU-wide passporting regime. To evaluate these new regimes, this study collects information about the regulation of lending-based crowdfunding platforms in 17 OECD countries and proposes a theoretical framework to reflect about different regulatory regimes. In this context, we explore market failures in lending-based crowdfunding and identify regulatory challenges. Although lending-based crowdfunding platforms do not technically perform risk and maturity transformation, in some countries, flexible regulation allows them to experiment with different business models to provide services of credit risk management (via risk grades, provision funds, automated lending) and liquidity provision (via secondary markets). These platforms could perform the same functions as banks in the future, but there are theoretical reasons to believe that platform-based intermediation could be more stable than banking intermediation. The success of lending-based crowdfunding platforms hinges on their ability to solve moral hazard issues and overcome significant barriers to entry related to scale and scope economies, adverse selection, as well as funding cost advantage of incumbent large banks. There are also risks related to an excessive reliance on funding of leveraged and ‘too big to fail’ institutional investors that are prone to runs and moral hazard problems. |
| Keywords: | barriers to entry, financial regulation, Fintech, lending-based crowdfunding |
| JEL: | D40 G01 G21 G23 O33 |
| Date: | 2018–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1513-en&r=ppm |