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Full-Text Articles in Economics
Renewable Energy Access And Resilience In Urban Developing Areas: Distributed Solar Networks And Peer-To-Peer Energy Trading In Puerto Rico, Pascale Bronder
Renewable Energy Access And Resilience In Urban Developing Areas: Distributed Solar Networks And Peer-To-Peer Energy Trading In Puerto Rico, Pascale Bronder
Harvey M. Applebaum ’59 Award
This senior essay under the Environmental Studies major at Yale University explores the environmental and social benefits of applying innovative technology to the energy sector. Three types of energy networks are analyzed, focusing on the use of distributed energy and peer to peer energy trading on a blockchain platform. The benefits of distributed renewable energy networks can most strongly be applied to locations in need of more reliable, resilient, and cost-effective electricity. Puerto Rico is a case study. Methods include analysis of U.S. Energy Information Administration and Census Bureau data as well as personal interviews with Puerto Rican energy developers. …
Convergence Towards An Optimal Currency Area In The European Union, Santiago Botto Tornielli
Convergence Towards An Optimal Currency Area In The European Union, Santiago Botto Tornielli
Harvey M. Applebaum ’59 Award
This essay uses the European Union as a case study to analyze the conditions for an optimal currency area, the regional differences that give rise to divergences from optimal conditions, and how to measure divergence. The essay reviews the extensive body of theoretical literature on optimal currency areas (OCA), analyzes the historical evidence and documents that outline the economic institutions of the EU, and performs an empirical factor analysis on different possible indicators of convergence to identify to the most important variables. In the absence of adjustment mechanisms, economic geography plays an essential role in forming an OCA because members …
Moving The Needle: How Transparency Could Lower Costs And Improve Quality In United States Hospitals, Anna "Nina" Russell
Moving The Needle: How Transparency Could Lower Costs And Improve Quality In United States Hospitals, Anna "Nina" Russell
Harvey M. Applebaum ’59 Award
This thesis shows the limitations of price and quality information for improving the value of healthcare delivery in the United States. First, in four survey experiments to determine the impact of information on decision-making, consumers were more likely to choose the lower cost or higher quality option when relevant information was presented in straightforward ways with a minimized risk of information overload (n = 224, t = -3.7065, p = 0.0002). Second, hospitals on the U.S. News Best Hospital list between 2008 and 2011 were shown to be significantly more likely to be found in wealthy, highly populated areas, while …