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- Daniel, Aemiro Melkamu, 1988-
(author)
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Towards sustainable energy consumption : Electricity demand flexibility and household fuel choice
- 2020
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Paper [I] investigates household heterogeneity in valuing electricity contract attributes that include various load controls and information sharing to induce demand flexibility. Using a stated preference choice experiment conducted with Swedish households, this paper shows that, although a large proportion of households ask for substantial compensation, some households are willing to share their electricity consumption information and require relatively lower compensation to allow load controls. In addition, this paper finds that some households that are willing to provide flexibility by accepting load controls at a relatively low compensation ask for sizable compensation to share their electricity consumption information, and vice versa. From the perspective of the contract providers,Paper [II] uses a flexible model to accommodate heterogeneous decision rules in analysing data obtained from a discrete choice experiment aimed at eliciting Swedish households’ willingness to accept compensation for restrictions on household electricity and heating use during peak hours. The model combines behavioural processes based on random utility maximization with an elimination-by-aspects strategy, where the latter involves a two-stage decision process. In the first stage, respondents are allowed to eliminate from their choice set alternatives that contain an unacceptable level, in this case restrictions on the use of heating and electricity. In the second stage, respondents choose between the remaining alternatives in a rational utility maximizing manner. Our results show that about half of the respondents choose according to an elimination-by-aspects strategy, and considering elimination-by-aspects behaviour leads to a downward shift in elicited willingness-to-accept.Paper [III] tests the effect of a pro-environmental framing on households’ stated willingness to accept restrictions on their electricity use. We use a split-sample choice experiment and ask respondents to choose between their current electricity contract and hypothetical contracts featuring various load controls and monetary compensation. Our results indicate that the pro-environmental framing has little impact on the respondents’ choices. We observe a significant framing effect on choices and marginal willingness-to-accept for only a few contract attributes. The results further suggest that there is no significant framing effect among households that are already engaged in pro-environmental activities.Paper [IV] explores the socio-demographic and housing characteristics that influence household fuel choice and fuel use decisions in urban Ethiopia. The results indicate that, whereas households with a female head are more likely to combine traditional solid (firewood and charcoal) and modern (electricity) fuels for different uses, households with less-educated heads, many family members, and poor living conditions (fewer rooms) tend to use traditional solid biomass fuels. We find that households with an individual electricity meter are significantly less likely to use charcoal. Further, the results show the satiation effect of the increasing use of a fuel by households is relatively higher for firewood and lower for electricity.
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| 2. |
- Frazier-Wood, Alexis C., et al.
(author)
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Genetic variants associated with subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism identified through genome-wide analyses
- 2016
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In: Nature Genetics. - : Nature Research (part of Springer Nature). - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 48, s. 624-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Very few genetic variants have been associated with depression and neuroticism, likely because of limitations on sample size in previous studies. Subjective well-being, a phenotype that is genetically correlated with both of these traits, has not yet been studied with genome-wide data. We conducted genome-wide association studies of three phenotypes: subjective well-being (n = 298,420), depressive symptoms (n = 161,460), and neuroticism (n = 170,911). We identify 3 variants associated with subjective well-being, 2 variants associated with depressive symptoms, and 11 variants associated with neuroticism, including 2 inversion polymorphisms. The two loci associated with depressive symptoms replicate in an independent depression sample. Joint analyses that exploit the high genetic correlations between the phenotypes (vertical bar(p) over cap vertical bar approximate to 0.8) strengthen the overall credibility of the findings and allow us to identify additional variants. Across our phenotypes, loci regulating expression in central nervous system and adrenal or pancreas tissues are strongly enriched for association.
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| 3. |
- Simonen, Jakko, et al.
(author)
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The Covid-19 Pandemic and Regional Economic Resilience in Northern Finland, Norway and Sweden : a pre-study
- 2021
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The COVID-19 pandemic has been first and foremost a health crisis, but it has had severe negative impacts on northern economies. This pre-study report aims to provide a statistical review of the regional economic impacts as well as the recovery processes of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Arctic 5 cities in Northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway, i.e., Oulu and Rovaniemi in Finland, Luleå and Umeå in Sweden and Tromsø in Norway. Our cross-country regional research design makes it possible to study how the COVID-19 shock and the differences in national and regional containment regulations have affected these areas compared to the development in other regions and at the national level. This pre-study report will focus on the labour market effects of the pandemic and the role of sectoral structures in the Arctic 5 cities.
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| 4. |
- Simonen, Jaakko, et al.
(author)
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The Covid-19 pandemic and regional economic resilience in northern Finland, Norway, and Sweden – a pre-study
- 2021
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The COVID-19 pandemic has been first and foremost a health crisis, but it has had severe negative impacts on northern economies. This pre-study report aims to provide a statistical review of the regional economic impacts as well as the recovery processes of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Arctic 5 cities in Northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway, i.e., Oulu and Rovaniemi in Finland, Luleå and Umeå in Sweden and Tromsø in Norway.Our cross-country regional research design makes it possible to study how the COVID-19 shock and the differences in national and regional containment regulations have affected these areas compared to the development in other regions and at the national level. This pre-study report will focus on the labour market effects of the pandemic and the role of sectoral structures in the Arctic 5 cities.The aim of our long-term research, which is based on this pre-study, is to analyse the short- and long-run regional economic impacts as well as the recovery processes of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Our goal is to provide valuable information about successful and less successful practices in these regions and thereby provide policy recommendations for the future. Regional effects will be analysed from the point of view of regional resilience.
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| 5. |
- Simonen, Jaakko, et al.
(author)
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The COVID-19 pandemic and regional economic resilience in northern Finland, Norway, and Sweden – bouncing back or not?
- 2023
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In: Arctic Yearbook. - : University of the Arctic Thematic Network (TN) on Geopolitics and Security. - 2298-2418. ; , s. 251-274
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The COVID-19 pandemic has been first and foremost a health crisis, but it has also had severe negative impacts on the global economy. It has shaken regional economies, especially labour markets, over the last two years. Arctic regions are no exception. The aim of this article is to analyse the regional economic impacts, as well as the recovery processes, of the COVID- 19 pandemic in Arctic 5 cities in Northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway (Oulu and Rovaniemi in Finland, Luleå and Umeå in Sweden and Tromsø in Norway).In many countries, including Finland, Sweden and Norway, governments decreed various types of lockdown policies to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to such policies, the pandemic has had an asymmetrical impact not only on individuals but also on communities and regions. This has given new urgency to a place-based approach to regional development, mitigating territorial inequalities. Our goal is to study how hard the Arctic 5 cities have been hit by the COVID-19 shock and how well they have been able to absorb, adapt to and recover from the crisis. The research question thus focuses on the resilience of the regions.In this study, we focus on the analysis of public statistics concerning the development of labour markets. We also analyse changes in human behaviour during the pandemic using the information provided by Google Mobility data. These mobility data and labour market indicators are used to measure regional economic and social resilience. Our research shows that, for example, regional socioeconomic structures have played an important role in how well the regions have been able to withstand the pandemic and recover from it. Differences in national containment regulations have also affected this development. These cross-border comparisons provide information on how well different measures in different regions across national borders have functioned and what impacts they have had on regional economies, especially on labour markets and people’s mobility.
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| 6. |
- Vesterberg, Mattias, et al.
(author)
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Real-time pricing revisited: Demand flexibility in the presence of micro-generation
- 2018
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In: Energy Policy. - : Elsevier. - 0301-4215 .- 1873-6777. ; 23, s. 642-658
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An understanding of household demand response (DR) is important in view of increasingly smart grids in which high shares of renewable supply are being promoted. In addition, an important development in the Nordic market relates to increasing thrust on household solar photo-voltaic (PV) panels. In view of the potential for interaction between dynamic pricing-driven and PV generation-driven load changes, an analysis of the combined effects in relation to the system profile is important, not least because this can affect the nature of benefits to households and to the grid. Using a unique and detailed dataset on household electricity consumption, in combination with simulated solar panel micro-generation data, these aspects are explored here using a demand framework drawn from the previous literature. Our findings indicate that even with low price responsiveness, household response to dynamic pricing can lead to load changes with sizeable benefits. In addition, the introduction of PV panels appear to be beneficial to the electric grid, largely due to the time pattern of winter PV generation. Overall, our findings provide tentative support to the hypothesis that dynamic pricing, by incentivizing households to provide demand response at appropriate times, can aid in integration of renewables.
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