Home Sweet Home: the Effect of Sugar Protectionism on Emigration in Italy, 1876-1913

Protectionist policies have often relevant effects at the regional level. This paper analyzes the impact of sugar import duties on emigration in nineteenth century Italy. Both for climatic reasons and the nature of the soil, the cultivation and processing of sugar beets was geographically concentrated. Our theoretical model illustrates how a tariff that favours local producers may affect residents' incentives to migrate abroad. Using a new set historical data, the predictions of the model are tested through quasi-experimental methods which use the exogenous variation in sugar cultivation across areas to estimate the effect of interest. Results show that protectionism reduced the relative incentive to migrate away from sugar-producing areas.     

Political coalitions,local leaders and the internationalization of local public services in Italy

The liberalization of European markets in the provision of public services led some utility companies to expand their domain beyond their national borders. However, the effect of internationalization on the governance of public services at the local level in the host countries remains understudied. The opening of public service markets and their internationalization change the circumstances in which local politicians make their decisions. Through the analysis of the interplay between institutional contexts and the strategies local actors, this article maps the processes underpinning the integration of foreign and domestic companies in the delivery of local services in Italy since the late 1990s, with a particular focus on water and transport.     

我国钢结构住宅产业化发展的现状、问题与对策

钢结构住宅在原材料生产阶段、建造阶段、使用阶段、拆除及回收再利用阶段等整个生命周期具有显著的循环经济特征,符合节能、节地、节水、节材和环保的要求,是我国住宅产业化最理想的住宅体系之一。该文紧密围绕我国钢结构住宅产业化背景及发展现状,全面总结了我国钢结构住宅产业化与国外的差距,系统梳理了钢结构住宅在我国产业化进程中面临的瓶颈问题,提出了我国发展钢结构住宅产业化的主要对策,可为我国发展钢结构住宅产业化提供参考。     

Landslide types and their relationships with weathering in a Calabrian basin,southern Italy

The basin of the Alaco River, in the Serre Massif of Calabria (Italy), is characterized by outcropping Palaeozoic granitoid rocks. The complex neotectonic history of the area and adverse climatic conditions, both active at least since the Quaternary, resulted in deep weathering of the crystalline rocks. Field observations, integrated with laboratory and in situ tests, allowed the weathering profile to be defined following the six-fold scheme proposed by the Hong Kong Geotechnical Control Office. The weathered rocks evidence a wide variety of mass movements, which were mapped over the entire basin. Debris flow-type instabilities dominate in the residual and saprolitic soils, while falls and slides are more significant in the less weathered rocks. In view of the complex vertical and lateral weathering in the rock mass and the high to very high overall susceptibility of the outcropping rocks to landsliding, it is difficult to postulate any direct relationships between individual types of mass movement and weathering grade.     

Long-term studies (1871–2000) on acidification and recovery of lakes in the Bohemian Forest (central Europe)

This paper evaluates long-term changes in the atmospheric depositions of S and N compounds, lake water quality, and biodiversity at eight glacial lakes in the Bohemian Forest over the past 130 years. This time interval covers (i) the ‘background’ pre-acidification status of the lakes, (ii) a period of changes in the communities that can be partly explained by introduction of fish, (iii) a period of strong lake acidification with its adverse impacts on the communities, (iv) the lake reversal from acidity, which includes the recent status of the lakes. The lake water chemistry has followed—with a characteristic hysteresis—both the sharp increase and decline in the deposition trends of strong anions. Remarkable changes in biota have mirrored the changing water quality. Fish became extinct and most species of zooplankton (Crustacea) and benthos (Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera) retreated due to the lake water acidification. Independent of ongoing chemical reversal, microorganisms remain dominant in the recent plankton biomass as well as in controlling the pelagic food webs. The first signs of the forthcoming biological recovery have already been evidenced in some lakes, such as the population of Ceriodaphnia quadrangula (Cladocera) returning into the pelagial of one lake or the increase in both phytoplankton biomass and rotifer numbers in another lake.     

Urban drainage in Ireland – embracing sustainable systems

The current approach to stormwater management in Ireland requires that outflows from new developments are restricted to greenfield values that would have occurred prior to development. This typically involved the use of holding tanks constructed within developments to attenuate stormwater from where it was released at a reduced rate via a control structure to a nearby drainage network or watercourse. Improved drainage policies now require that sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) are used to meet this objective. This study presents an evaluation of perceived issues that may impede the adoption of new policies. The findings are based on surveys and focus groups of practitioners involved with the planning and design of drainage systems. Although the study indicates that benefits of SuDS are reasonably well understood, their use, for many reasons, has remained less popular. Concerns with ongoing maintenance and long‐term responsibility of SuDS remain impediments to the embracing of these systems in drainage strategies.     

Part Hare, Part Tortoise – Explaining patterns in Norwegian public utilities reforms 1990–2010

In this article we compare four Norwegian public utilities sectors: the electricity industry, the e-com industry, the railway and the postal service. All sectors have been subject to public policy reforms since the 1980s, though reform content and degree varies. In the electricity industry Norway is a liberalization forerunner - a virtual reform “hare”, to borrow from Olsen’s (1996) Aesop’s fable metaphor. In other network industries such as the railway Norway is a reform “tortoise”. We seek to answer the question: How and why has governance of the four industries been reformed? We explore four possible explanations for similarities and differences across sectors: technological change, market conditions, agency and European Union (EU) regulation. We cannot identify a national model for reforms across these sectors. We find single factors standing out in the explanation of the reforms in the various sectors. The puzzle is that it is different factors in different sectors.     

Smart Grids in the EU with smart regulation: Experiences from the UK,Italy and Portugal

The paper describes the integration between what used to be a passive element of the energy value chain – the grid – and both upstream and downstream elements. The evolution of communications among the elements has permitted a more robust and adaptable structure that already is being implemented: the Smart Grid. The paper relates the evolution of EU policy concerning both the development and the rolling-out of solutions to exploit the potential of the Smart Grid concept and describes what has been done by the regulators of three countries that share the same goal but seek to attain it via distinct paths. The article starts with a justification of the need for more integrated networks and a definition of the Smart Grid. A second part covers the risks and difficulties of implementation within an established network, introducing the role of the regulator. The third part describes EU policy response and three different approaches by regulators in the UK, Italy and Portugal, showing how in each case policy is influenced by characteristics of their respective national electricity markets in terms of competition dynamics.     

Education,practice and professionalism: a comparative history of the development of urban and regional planning in Italy and Australia

This paper outlines the historical relationship between planning legislation, planning practice and planning education in Italy and Australia by identifying the positive and negative roles of institutional influences and the emergence of professional planning communities. The key findings revolve around the gap between plan preparation and plan implementation, and the role of institutions and professional communities in resisting political interference and maintaining a technocratic imperative within planning systems. While the exertion of professional power can be seen to achieve positive planning and development outcomes, it is often at the expense of the democratic traditions that have come to characterize postmodern planning systems.     

Post-Soviet forest fragmentation and loss in the Green Belt around Moscow, Russia (1991–2001): a remote sensing perspective

Recent changes in the post-Soviet Russia suggest rapid privatization of previously protected green space around many metropolitan areas. Nowhere is the trend more apparent than near the capital Moscow. Since 1992, formerly protected forests of the Green Belt have been heavily pursued for elite suburban housing development. With the help of two Landsat images (1991 and 2002) and some on-theground analysis, we investigate areas that have experienced the most mature forest loss. We also examine the spatial pattern of this change, as measured objectively by landscape metrics. Within 20 km from the beltline, about 14.6% of the forested land was converted to suburban residential and commercial uses in the 10-year period. The amount of mature forest loss ranged from 14 to 35% per district, but was partially compensated by some new tree plantings and reforestation for a combined tree cover loss of 14.6% for the entire area, including the city of Moscow. If the city proper is excluded, the loss in the suburban green belt was 12.4%. While this is a moderate decrease, it still represents a trend towards less tree cover and more suburban development in the immediate vicinity of a large city, which is likely to result in worsening air quality and negative impacts on wildlife and opportunities for public recreation in suburban forests in the near future.     

武汉地区地源热泵系统的应用调研与发展前景分析

对武汉地区地源热泵工程进行了较全面的调研,根据调查情况汇总分析了地源热泵工程分布特点、运行特性和经济环境效益,并指出应用地源热泵技术的多方面技术和经济优势,揭示了利用地源热泵技术在武汉地区实施供热、供冷具有良好的条件和发展前景.     

Energy-saving potential by improving occupants’ behavior in urban residential sector in Hangzhou City, China

Besides technical measures, occupants’ behavior is one of the most important issues with respect to energy efficiency in households. This paper will discuss the relationship between electricity consumption and household lifestyle and evaluate the energy-saving potential by improving occupants’ behavior in domestic life through energy-saving education. After 124 households in three typical residential buildings in Hangzhou city of China being selected as research subjects, a series of surveys were conducted: (1) recording of the monthly electricity uses of all subject households from March 2007 to July 2008; (2) energy-saving education to the half of the households before July 2008; (3) a comprehensive survey about the household lifestyle of all subject households in the beginning of August 2008. By comparison analysis of the survey data, major findings are as follows: (1) residential electricity consumption will increase continually in the next years in China, because of the improvement of people's living standard and more dependency on electric appliances; (2) improving occupants’ behavior in domestic life can save more than 10% household electricity use; and (3) some effort on residential energy savings should be shifted from technological measures to improving occupants’ behavior in ordinary domestic life.     

A long‐run analysis of push and pull factors of internal migration in Italy. Estimation of a gravity model with human capital using homogeneous and heterogeneous approaches

We estimate a gravity model of internal migration with human capital across Italian regions during the 1970–2005 time period. The estimates confirm that the macroeconomic variables are the main drivers of migration flows. As for human capital, while at destination it has had no role, at origin it has worked as a restraining factor. Such a restraining role has mainly worked in the Centre‐North to South direction. We interpret this result in terms of agglomeration economies that makes the Centre‐North as the core and the South as the periphery of Italy. We have framed our analysis inside a cointegration setup and applied both homogeneous and heterogeneous estimators, proving that heterogeneous estimators are more appropriate.