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This paper examines the role of the media in shaping the public debate on finance and the economy, and the way this impacts on social change both at the level of policy and of individual behaviours. It is founded in debates about financialisation and neoliberalism which focus on the shift of power to large corporations and the way society has been transformed by the corporatisation of public life. One result of these structural developments is an increasingly integrated political and media culture which promotes the interests of the market and operates to limit the information available to audiences in understanding the issues. Alternative solutions to economic problems are effectively removed from public debate as shown through a discussion of media representations of the current economic crisis and possible responses to it. This limiting of alternatives is implicated in the shaping of sympathetic attitudes to ‘preferred’ views and actions and can facilitate preferred directions in social change at the level of policy by limiting the potential for effective resistance. Whilst the relationship between the media, attitudes and behaviours is complex, behavioural change, as reflected in, say, home-owning trends, is most likely to occur when media accounts are supported by policy moves.

Concerns over the re-distributive effects of individual transferable quotas (ITQ’s) have led to restrictions on their tradability. We consider a general equilibrium model with firm dynam- ics to evaluate the redistributive impact of changing the tradability of ITQs. A change in tradability would happen, for example, if permits are allowed to be traded as a separate asset from ownership of an active firm. If the property right is associated with ownership of an active firm, the permit can be leased in each period but it is not possible to exit the industry and keep the right. However, allowing the permits to be traded as a separate asset has two effects. First, it leads to a greater concentration of production in the industry. Second, it directly converts a non-tradable asset into a tradable one, and this is equivalent to giving a lump sum transfer to all firms. The first effect implies a concentration in revenues, while the second implies a redistribution of wealth. We calibrate our model to match the observed increase in revenue inequality in the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) U.S. Fishery. We show that although observed revenue inequality –measured by the Gini coefficient– increases by 12%, wealth inequality is reduced by 40%.

International fisheries agencies recommend exploitation paths that satisfy two features. First, for precautionary reasons exploitation paths should avoid high fishing mortality in those fisheries where the biomass is depleted to a degree that jeopardise the stock’s capacity to produce the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY). Second, for economic and social reasons, captures should be as stable (smooth) as possible over time. In this article we show that a conflict between these two interests may occur when seeking for optimal exploitation paths using age structured bioeconomic approach. Our results show that this conflict be overtaken by using non constant discount factors that value future stocks considering their relative intertemporal scarcity. Financial aid from the European Commission (MINOW H2020-SFS-2014-2, number 634495, MYFISH, FP7-KBBE-2011-5, number 289257) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy Competitiveness (ECO2012-39098-C06-01, ECO2012-39098-C06-05 and ECO2012-35820) is gratefully acknowledged. Peer reviewed

ABSTRACTMore than 80% of U.S. syndicated loans contain at least one fee type and contracts typically specify a menu of spreads and fee types. We test the predictions of existing theories on the main purposes of fees and provide supporting evidence that: (1) fees are used to price options embedded in loan contracts such as the drawdown option for credit lines and the cancellation option in term loans, and (2) fees are used to screen borrowers based on the likelihood of exercising these options. We also propose a new total‐cost‐of‐borrowing measure that includes various fees charged by lenders.

The European Central Bank (ECB) publishes internal macroeconomic forecasts quarterly. We examine the effects of publishing these forecasts in two steps. We assess whether they influence private forecasts and whether they may be considered as an enhanced means to implement policy decisions or a different policy instrument. We provide original evidence that ECB inflation projections are able to influence private inflation expectations. We also find that ECB projections give information about future ECB rate movements, and that the ECB rate has a different impact if complemented with ECB projections. We conclude that ECB projections enable private agents to correctly interpret and predict policy decisions.

The socio-ecological system dominated by pastureland in the Asteroussia Mountains (Crete, Greece) was analyzed over a long time interval (1945–2010) to identify the most relevant system’s characteristics and changes. Vegetation cover and land-uses have been quantified by analyzing aerial photographs exploring the whole study period. Soil characteristics have been assessed by carrying out an extensive field survey for the last reference year (2010) and by estimating the average soil loss for the past period using the PESERA soil erosion model validated by field measurements. Based on environmental, social and economic attributes, three major periods characterizing the socio-ecological system of Asteroussia Mountains have been distinguished. During the first and second period, the land was satisfactorily managed with moderate–low soil erosion rates despite the adverse (prevailing) soil, topographic and climate conditions for vegetation growth. The third time interval featured a rapid growth in the livestock density causing increased soil erosion rates, loss in plant productivity, and a generalized over-exploitation of natural resources. As a consequence, the desertification process has significantly increased in the last period. The analysis of the long-term evolution of socio-ecological system provided evidence to understand the main drivers of land degradation and to recommend mitigation policies specifically addressing Mediterranean pastureland.

The increasing share of distributed energy resources poses a challenge to the distribution network operator (DNO) to maintain the current availability of the system while limiting the investment costs. Related to this, there is a clear trend in DNOs trying to better monitor their grid by installing a distribution management system (DMS). This DMS enables the DNOs to remotely switch their network or better localize and solve faults. Moreover, the DMS can be used to centrally control the grid assets. Therefore, in this paper, a control strategy is discussed that can be implemented in the DMS for solving current congestion problems posed by the increasing share of renewables in the grid. This control strategy controls wind turbines in order to avoid congestion while mitigating the required investment costs in order to achieve a global cost-efficient solution. Next to the application and objective of the control, the parameter tuning of the control algorithm is discussed.