Abstract The need for energy storage to balance intermittent and inflexible electricity supply with demand is driving interest in conversion of renewable electricity via electrolysis into a storable gas. But, high capital cost and uncertainty regarding future cost and performance improvements are barriers to investment in water electrolysis. Expert elicitations can support decision-making when data are sparse and their future development uncertain. Therefore, this study presents expert views on future capital cost, lifetime and efficiency for three electrolysis technologies: alkaline (AEC), proton exchange membrane (PEMEC) and solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC). Experts estimate that increased R&D funding can reduce capital costs by 0–24%, while production scale-up alone has an impact of 17–30%. System lifetimes may converge at around 60,000–90,000 h and efficiency improvements will be negligible. In addition to innovations on the cell-level, experts highlight improved production methods to automate manufacturing and produce higher quality components. Research into SOECs with lower electrode polarisation resistance or zero-gap AECs could undermine the projected dominance of PEMEC systems. This study thereby reduces barriers to investment in water electrolysis and shows how expert elicitations can help guide near-term investment, policy and research efforts to support the development of electrolysis for low-carbon energy systems.
Task-based models of AI and labor hold organizational structure fixed. We introduce agent capital: AI that reduces coordination costs, expanding spans of control and enabling endogenous task creation. Five propositions characterize how coordination compression affects output, hierarchy, manager demand, wage dispersion, and the task frontier. The model generates a regime fork: the same technology produces broad-based gains or superstar concentration depending on who benefits from coordination compression. Simulations with heterogeneous workers confirm sharp regime divergence. Economy-wide inequality falls in all regimes through employment expansion, but the manager-worker wage gap widens universally. The distributional impact hinges on who controls organizational elasticity.
The population and capital dynamics of three stylized investment systems are mathematically described using discrete-time difference equations with closed-form solutions. The models share a common capital budget equation but differ in their demographic laws, which are geometric, quasi-logistic, or epidemiologic (SIR-based). The quasi-logistic model is designed as an analytically tractable non-Ponzi investment system: it generalizes the geometric model (and, in the limit of a constant growth rate, reproduces classical Ponzi dynamics) while closely mirroring the behaviour of an SIR-based model with decreasing effective growth. In all cases, promised returns are modeled as fixed per-period payouts on initial investment with principal repaid upon exit, so that aggregate liabilities depend only on the current number of active investors. Within this unified framework, classical Ponzi schemes arise as special cases that inevitably collapse, while suitable parameter choices in the quasi-logistic and SIR-based versions generate finite-horizon, legally benign "no-Ponzi game" investment schemes with analytically transparent conditions for collapse, stability, and sustained operation.
It is widely claimed in investment education and practice that extending the investment horizon reduces risk, and that diversifying investment timing, for example through dollar-cost averaging (DCA), further mitigates investment risk. Although such claims are intuitively appealing, they are often stated without precise definitions of risk or a clear separation between risk and uncertainty. This paper revisits these two beliefs within a unified probabilistic framework. We define risk at the expectation level as a property of the generating distribution of cumulative investment outcomes, and distinguish it from uncertainty, understood as the dispersion of realized outcomes across possible paths. To enable meaningful comparisons across horizons and investment schedules, we introduce the notion of effective investment exposure, defined as time-integrated invested capital. Under stationary return processes with finite variance, we show that extending the investment horizon does not alter expected risk, expected return, or the risk-return ratio on a per-unit-exposure basis. In contrast, different investment timing strategies can induce distinct exposure profiles over time. As a result, lump-sum investment and dollar-cost averaging may differ not only in uncertainty but also in expected risk when compared at equal return exposure, although the resulting risk differences are of constant order and do not grow with the investment horizon. These results clarify why common narratives surrounding long-horizon investment and dollar-cost averaging are conceptually misleading, while also explaining why adopting such strategies under budgetary or timing constraints need not be regarded as irrational.
This study investigates the impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on economic growth in South Asian countries, utilizing annual panel data from five SAARC member states (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) over the period 1980-2017. Data sourced from the World Development Indicators and Penn World Table were analyzed using static panel models, including Ordinary Least Squares, Fixed Effects, Random Effects, and Generalized Least Squares regressions. The empirical findings reveal that FDI exhibits a consistently positive but statistically insignificant correlation with economic growth across all model specifications. In contrast, domestic investment and human capital development emerge as significant and robust positive determinants of growth. Control variables such as government consumption and inflation show expected negative, though generally insignificant, associations with growth. The results imply that for the sampled South Asian economies, enhancing domestic investment and fostering human capital are more critical for driving economic expansion than relying on FDI inflows. Consequently, policymakers should prioritize strategies that strengthen local investment climates and improve educational and skill-building institutions to boost productivity. While FDI's role remains complementary, its insignificant immediate impact suggests the need for further research into the conditional factors such as institutional quality, financial market development, and trade policies that might mediate its effectiveness in fostering long-term growth within the region.
Fuelled by advancements in science and technology, traditional finance struggles to fulfil current demands, highlighting the need for optimization in technological finance to promote high-quality development. This paper mainly discusses the development status, major problems and countermeasures of science and technology financing in China. This document highlights that companies involved in science and technology face significant financing demands and substantial risks, whereas the backing from conventional financial systems is inadequate. Additionally, it notes issues such as the misalignment between the financial framework and innovation, a tendency for short-term investments, and a weak connection between investment and credit. In light of these challenges, this paper suggests measures such as refining the multi-tier capital market, enhancing the bank credit system, increasing the availability of long-term funding, improving the legal and regulatory framework, and optimizing the connection between investment and credit. These steps aim to strengthen the financing capacity of science and technology firms, facilitate the industrial application of technological innovations, and promote the close integration of technology and finance.
This article comprehensively reviews the legal systems governing natural asset entitlement, extraction, land use, and environmental conservation in Indonesia and Pakistan. Both countries allow government control over underground resources, but Indonesia has made greater strides in applying sustainability standards, conducting community consultations, and establishing innovative revenue distribution models to open access to environmental litigation. In contrast, Pakistan focuses on energy investments but faces similar environmental and land tenure issues. The normative legal research relied on secondary sources and employed statutory and comparative approach. The analysis reveals Indonesia's emphasis on institutionalizing sustainable and inclusive environmental practices, ensuring indigenous territoriality, environmental rehabilitation, revenue-sharing trusts, and constitutional environmental rights. Pakistan retains centralized control over resource extraction and energy revenue allocation, causing disparities in sustainability compliance, indigenous communities near extractive sites, and residents' communal land tenure deprivation. Developing economies aim for sustainable growth, with Indonesian governance exemplifying a shareable legal order and complex multi-stakeholder regulations, while Pakistan illustrates the limitations of centralized energy facilities without comprehensive stakeholder engagement. Although both countries grapple with biodiversity loss and climate change effects, this comprehensive review identifies legal innovations and conservation management approaches to align conservation priorities with national development goals based on natural capital assets
Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence
Carlos Felbol, Francisco Moraga, María Teresa Cerda
et al.
Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology offers a promising solution for enhancing the stability and reliability of renewable energy systems, particularly in regions with high solar resource availability like Chile. However, CSP deployment faces significant challenges, including technological mistrust, high costs, and regulatory barriers that hinder its growth. This study provides an in-depth analysis of global CSP successes and identifies key strategies and challenges relevant to Chile's context through a mixed-methods approach, including a comprehensive literature review and stakeholder interviews with key players in the Chilean CSP industry. The results reveal significant technological, regulatory, and financial barriers to CSP deployment, including issues with thermal energy storage (TES) systems, specifically the failures of molten salt tanks. Despite recent declines in CSP capital expenditures and the potential for further cost reductions, the study highlights the critical need for regulatory reforms and tailored policy support to address current market and technological limitations. Key recommendations include enhancing R&D investments to improve TES reliability, streamlining permitting processes, and fostering public-private partnerships to unlock CSP's full potential. The findings underscore the necessity of strategic incentives and business model innovations to enable the commercial-scale deployment of CSP in Chile, ultimately supporting the country's decarbonization goals and strengthening energy security.