Hasil untuk "Special industries and trades"

Xinyi Zhu, Sheng Zhou, Fucong Xu et al.

Abstract The widespread integration of photovoltaic (PV) power, energy storage systems, and other demand‐side resources highlights the importance of optimal dispatching for the PV‐storage‐load virtual power plant (VPP). However, the fluctuation of the PV power generation and the uncertainty of the electricity prices exacerbate the economic operation risks of the VPP. To address these challenges, an optimal dispatching strategy for the PV‐storage‐load VPP is proposed, with due consideration given to the dual uncertainties of electricity prices and PV power output. Firstly, the conditional value‐at‐risk theory is employed to quantify the uncertainty risk of VPP revenue caused by electricity price fluctuations. Secondly, in view of the asymmetric fluctuation intervals of PV power output, a quantification method for PV uncertainty and dispatch robustness is developed using the confidence gap decision theory. Furthermore, by combining the regulation reserve model of multi‐type flexible resources, a robust optimization model for the PV‐storage‐load VPP is constructed with the objective of maximizing comprehensive operational revenue, which includes the provision of upward and downward reserve services. Finally, case studies based on a PV‐storage‐load VPP in a Chinese province are conducted to validate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed model. The simulation results indicate that the proposed robust optimization strategy effectively reflects the relationship between the uncertainty of PV power output and the risk preference of decision‐maker, mitigates the fluctuation risks of electricity prices to ensure the stability of the power system, and enhances the economic efficiency and flexibility of the PV‐storage‐load VPP operation.

Lingang Xiao, Yan Ma, Xingdong Gao et al.

Chlorophyll content measured by a Soil and Plant Analyzer Development (SPAD) meter is a key indicator of nitrogen status and photosynthetic capacity in greenhouse-grown tomatoes. However, hyperspectral data collected under greenhouse conditions are strongly affected by leaf posture, illumination variability, high-dimensional redundancy, and multicollinearity, which make small-sample modeling unstable To address these challenges, this study proposes an advanced and lightweight inversion framework integrating multiscale spectral enhancement, deep latent compression, ensemble modeling, and output calibration. A total of 240 leaf spectra (450–950 nm) were processed using Savitzky-Golay (SG) smoothing, fractional-order differentiation (FOD), and Morlet-L7 continuous wavelet transform (CWT) to enhance chlorophyll-sensitive structural features. A convolutional autoencoder (CAE) was used to extract 64-dimensional latent representations, which were fused with red-edge parameters, vegetation indices, and wavelet statistics to form a multi-source feature set. Support vector regression (SVR), gradient boosting regression tree (GBRT), kernel ridge regression (KRR), partial least squares regression (PLSR), and a lightweight Lightformer model were trained, and their out-of-fold (OOF) predictions were integrated through Ridge Stacking, followed by linear calibration. The proposed “Stacking + LinearCal” framework achieved R² = 0.782, RMSE = 1.451, and RPD = 2.156 on the independent test set (n = 72), outperforming all single models. SHAP analysis showed that CAE features, red-edge slope, red-edge inflection point (REIP), and near-infrared tail statistics within 940–950 nm contributed most to prediction. The framework demonstrates high accuracy, stability and interpretability, providing a practical basis for nutrient monitoring in greenhouse tomato production.

Fateme Maleki, saeed abbasi, Zahra Maleki

There are various methods to prevent river bank erosion, one of them is groin. These structures are used to control the natural movement of the bed and reduce the movement of sediments by reducing the power of the water flow. Groins are divided into permeable and impermeable types, the permeable form of which is used in rivers where the amount of suspended load is high. By reducing the speed of the flow in the groin field, the sedimentary materials are quickly deposited. This process and then creating a thick sedimentary layer, keeping the erosion flow away from the groin area and it provides the stable conditions necessary to protect the banks. In this study, the performance of parallel permeable groin and single permeable groin has been compared. For this purpose, a flume with a length of 5 meters, width of 30 cm and height of 30 cm has been used. Experiments have been conducted with 60 and 40% permeability rates in clear water conditions, and the observations from the experiments have been made in relation to the maximum scour depth and the changes in the topography of the flume bed have been compared.

Claudia Liz García Aleaga, Arletis Cruz Llerena, Osney Pérez Ones et al.

Introducción: El aceite de fusel actualmente constituye un desecho que posee en su composición una amplia gama de alcoholes que lo posicionan como un producto versátil para diversos sectores industriales. Objetivo: Obtener productos de alto valor comercial a partir de la caracterización de muestras de aceite de fusel y la simulación de procesos en el Aspen Hysys v10.0. Materiales y Métodos: Se caracterizaron tres muestras de aceite de fusel de una destilería cubana mediante cromatografía de gases. Se realizó un análisis estadístico de distribución normal entre las composiciones de las muestras y una prueba de hipótesis a partir del Statgraphics Centurion XVII. Se modeló una tecnología de destilación reactiva mediante el simulador Aspen Hysys v10.0 y los resultados fueron validados con los datos reportados en la literatura. Resultados y Discusión: En las caracterizaciones realizadas para las tres muestras de aceite de fusel hay presencia de alcohol isoamílico como componente mayoritario. Se obtuvo que las composiciones de estas no presentan diferencias significativas entre ellas. Con la tecnología de destilación reactiva se obtiene una mezcla de ésteres compuesta por 65,66 % vol. de acetato de isoamilo, 11,05 % vol. de acetato de isobutilo y en el destilado 40,16 % vol. de acetato de etilo. Se consumen 14 040 m3/año de agua de enfriamiento, 82 280 kg/año de vapor y 5 328 kg/año de fuel oil. Conclusiones: Con la tecnología de destilación reactiva de aceite de fusel se obtiene más del 45% de productos de gran valor agregado para la industria del bioetanol.

María Isabel Díaz-Molina, Luis Andrés Gómez Rodríguez, Zenaida Rodríguez-Negrín

Introducción: El balance de materiales en la obtención del producto intermedio G-0 garantiza que el producto sea consistentemente producido y controlado. Objetivo: Realizar los balances de materiales en las operaciones mecánicas y térmicas en la obtención del producto intermedio G-0. Materiales y Métodos: Se realizó el análisis de la masa de materiales de entrada y salida para los sistemas centrifugación de G-0 crudo, filtración de la suspensión a purificar de G-0 crudo, centrifugación y secado del PI G-0 y se determinó la composición mediante las técnicas disponibles y trabajos de investigación realizados con anterioridad. Para el cálculo de los resultados promedios de las corrientes con el programa Microsoft Office Excel® se tuvieron en cuenta 25 lotes producidos en los años 2016, 2017, 2018 y 2019. Resultados y Discusión: Los balances de materiales por lote en la obtención del PI G-0 en los sistemas Centrifugación G-0 Crudo, Centrifugación del PI G-0, Filtración y Secado, permitieron conocer el rendimiento real del producto deseado para 14 mole de furfural y las pérdidas en las corrientes residuales y por manufactura. En la operación de secado se cuantificó la eliminación de agua y solvente base húmeda y seca. Conclusiones: Los balances de materiales en las operaciones mecánicas y térmicas del proceso de obtención del producto intermedio G-0 permiten asegurar la consistencia del proceso. Los ensayos realizados a las especificaciones: características organolépticas, identificación por ultrafotometría UV VIS, intervalo de fusión y pureza del producto declaran la conformidad para su uso en la producción de la Furvina.

Fortune Ganda

By employing the GMM panel VAR framework, we examine the interplay among natural resource rents, technological innovation, financial development, and energy consumption in the BRICS from 1990 to 2020 on an annual basis. The findings of the study demonstrate a significant negative association between natural resources and technical innovation, as well as a negative relationship with financial development. While the notion of the natural resource curse is deemed invalid, the present study asserts that natural resources do indeed cause financial development. There is an insignificantly positive relationship between natural resources and energy use. There exists a significant negative association between financial development and technical innovation, while a positive association is shown between financial development and energy use. Primary energy consumption is negative (positive) and statistically significantly associated with natural resources (financial development), although that link is simply negative in the case of technological innovation. Technological innovation is positive and significantly related to variables (natural resources and energy consumption), while the link is insignificantly positive to financial development. The results of the causality test reveal a bidirectional relationship between energy consumption and technological innovation, with all variables showing a significant influence on each parameter. There exists a unidirectional causal relationship wherein natural resources influence financial development, natural resources influence technological innovation, and financial development influences technological innovation. Moreover, there is a unidirectional correlation that may be observed from energy use towards natural resources, financial progress, and technological innovation. The findings from the impulse response function indicate that there is a substantial increase in the proportion of each variable that can be explained by other parameters as we transition from the short-term to the long-term. The implications of the study findings are also presented.

Thiago José Arruda de Oliveira, Stefan Hubertus Dorner, Rodrigo Estevam Munhoz de Almeida

Em vista dos confrontos armados na Ucrânia e as suas consequências negativas para o agronegócio brasileiro, analisou-se o seu nível de dependência com os fertilizantes importados. Justificou-se o estudo devido à elevação nos custos de produção agrícola e às limitações internas no fornecimento de insumos a montante. Para tanto, empregaram-se dados secundários oficiais e análises gráficas e econométricas que identificaram quais os elementos com maior nível de prioridade para os plantadores de soja e milho do Brasil.  Os resultados apontaram que todos os componentes da formulação NPK (nitrogenados, fosfatados e potássios) importados se correlacionam com a produção e produtividade dos grãos em estudo. Nesse contexto, destacou-se a ureia, da qual a Petrobras era um dos fornecedores até 2015. Portanto, a mitigação da subordinação estrangeira no agronegócio brasileiro, passa, a princípio, pela reformulação do setor petroquímico nacional. Abstract: Recent armed conflicts in Ukraine have caused negative effects on Brazilian agribusiness. Fertilizer supply has been strongly dependent on imported products, focus of this research. Increased costs of national food production due to shortage of national fertilizer production were the main motives for this paper. Data was obtained by governmental institutions and submitted to visual and econometric analysis. It was intended to identify which fertilizer inputs have been crucial for soy and maize producers in Brazil. The results suggested that all elements of NPK (nitrogenous, phosphate, and potassium) were correlated to production and profitability. Furthermore, urea is a core input which Petrobras produced until 2015. In conclusion, the mitigation of external dependence on Brazilian agribusiness requires a reframing of national petrochemical industry.    

Dilcy Morgana Barros Maciel Cabral Davino, Ianara Acioli de Freitas Melo, Samara Almeida de Souza Griz et al.

 Introdução: A automedicação, prática rotineira vivenciada por grande parte da população, consiste no consumo de um determinado medicamento sem prescrição médica, para aliviar os sintomas e tratar doenças. Quando praticada corretamente, a automedicação pode também contribuir para aliviar financeiramente os sistemas de saúde pública. Porém, o uso indiscriminado dos medicamentos, pode acarretar resultados indesejáveis. A informação adquirida sobre o uso de medicamentos proporciona maior confiança para a prática entre os estudantes universitários, em especial, os da área da saúde. No Brasil, mais pesquisas e ações precisam ser realizadas, pois há deficiência de dados úteis para combater a automedicação irresponsável, estimulando o uso racional de medic amentos conforme recomendado pela OMS. Objetivo: Avaliar o perfil de consumo de medicamentos por graduandos do curso de farmácia, além de esclarecer e conscientizar os futuros profissionais farmacêuticos sobre automedicação, pois serão os principais responsáveis por orientar a população sobre os riscos dessa prática. Método: Foi realizado um estudo transversal de caráter descritivo com abordagem quantitativa, com acadêmicos matriculados no 1o semestre de 2018 em todos os períodos do curso de farmácia de uma instituição de ensino superior, no município de Maceió-AL. Os dados foram coletados, após a aprovação do Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa (CEP) divulgada através do Parecer Consubstanciado (número: 2.436.431), através da aplicação de um questionário semi-estruturado e assinatura do Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido (TCLE) pelos alunos concordaram em participar da pesquisa. Resultados: O estudo contou com amostra de 225 graduandos, sendo 74,2% do sexo feminino, prevalecendo a faixa etária de 21 a 30 anos e o estado civil solteiro. Apesar de 88,4% relatar ter conhecimento sobre a automedicação, os resultados indicaram a prática por parte dos discentes, pois 68,4% informou se automedicar, 58,2% adquirem medicamentos sem receita, 86,2% estocam medicamentos em casa, as principais classes consumidas são os analgésicos, na forma farmacêutica de comprimidos e o principal motivo foi para dores em geral, tanto para automedicação como de uso contínuo. Quanto à influência no uso de medicamentos, 56,0% consultam o farmacêutico, 32,9% receberam indicações por parte de familiares, amigos ou vizinhos e 53,3% as propagandas de medicamentos chamam atenção para compra, principalmente por TV/Rádio. Quando analisada a mudança de no perfil de consumo dos graduandos, notou-se que 72,30% mudou seu comportamento, e destes, 84,4% reduziram o consumo de medicamentos. Conclusão: Felizmente, foi verificado que existe uma mudança positiva no comportamento de consumo com redução em todos os períodos, provavelmente relacionada ao conhecimento adquirido durante a graduação, tendo consciência dos danos que a automedicação inconsciente pode causar à saúde.

Toshisuke Maruyama, Sanshiro Fujii, Hiroshi Takimoto

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a critical concern for water management and hydrological cycle; thus, studies of ET have been performed to aid irrigation and water resource planning. Moreover, global warming-related studies are critical, as sensible heat contributes to warming, while the latent heat flux contributes to cooling. Recently, FLUXNET2015, a large energy flux dataset comprising climatic elements, was updated with a corrected heat balance relationship. In this study, we aim to applicability of the inverse analysis (IA) for estimating farmland ET. Practically, we evaluated the estimated ET (LEest) consistency using IA, which compared common climate data with observed data (LEobs) from US-Ne1 (irrigated), US-Ne2 (irrigated), and US-Ne3 (non-irrigated) land in FLUXNET2015. For an hourly time step, net radiation (Rn) and heat flux into the ground (G) were reasonably allocated into sensible (H) and latent (LE) heat fluxes, and LEobs was reasonably reproduced by LEest. For daily and monthly time steps, LEobs was reproduced well by LEest, with similar accuracies. For a yearly time step, LEobs was reproduced by LEest with an R2 of 0.933. Reasonability of the IA method also confirmed ET in crop growing season by comparing LEobs and LEest. A cooling effect under the canopy was observed on irrigated farmland in eight of the 22 analyzed years, whereas non-irrigated farmland did not exhibit a cooling effect. The maximum cooling effect was 4.26 °C of the monthly average. The results confirm that IA can be applied to non-irrigated and irrigated farmland if a cooling effect is not observed. IA can therefore be used to improve farmland water utilization because of accurate LEest and determining the capacities of irrigation facilities. The findings can be used to evaluate cooling effects on farmland, as well as reasonable allocations of Rn into H and LE, which promote the advancement of global warming issues.

Shakeel Ahmad, Haifeng Jia, Anam Ashraf et al.

Water is one of the essential natural resources for human beings. However, rising worldwide water demand and a significant decline in availability due to a lack of dynamic management and over-extraction have resulted in a complex scenario in terms of water availability. The current paper examines water resources and their management, methodologies, aims, and scope. Through the perspective of water resources and their management in Pakistan, 93 research publications were critically analyzed using a systematic review technique. The technique includes a systematic review of existing literature on water resource management, with particular emphasis on policy, governance, and environmental challenges. The study results demonstrate gaps and weaknesses in existing laws and regulations, alongside the threats to water resource management due to population expansion, urban development, climate change, and water contamination. To properly address these problems, the current study proposed a comprehensive framework for water resource management. This framework includes a national water policy that argues for sustainability and improves institutional strength. Infrastructure development, climate change adaptation, and examining social and environmental variables are all emphasized as important problems. Furthermore, it is essential to emphasize the importance of education and raising knowledge about water resource management among the general public and relevant stakeholders. By following these recommendations and the proposed OECD key principles on water governance, Pakistan may make significant progress towards achieving sustainable water management, aligning with its development objectives, and ensuring clean and safe water availability for future generations.

S. Kriglstein, A. L. Martin-Niedecken, J. Spjut et al.

Esports are video games played competitively for fun and profit at both amateur and professional levels. Esports have matured into an independent sports sector similar to traditional sports, including support for international events and governing bodies. The esports industry has become a growing mainstream phenomenon, with young audiences representing the sports audiences of the future. With the increased awareness of esports among gaming communities and its potential to engage and entertain sports fans, esports has entered the zeitgeist. The Covid-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions to people's leisure activities and to the sporting industry, which had to cancel or postpone many events. This article highlights the key findings from the recent esports-focused workshops on spectatorship and high-performance gaming, and a special interest group (SIG) held at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), paving the way for future studies and use cases in HCI.

Ahmad Iravani, V. Feldrappe, A. Ehrenberg et al.

Concrete is widely used in constructions such as industrial floors or airducts in steel- and casting industry where it is often exposed to long-term or cyclic elevated temperatures. For these applications, thermal stability of concrete is of vital importance. The strength reduction dueto elevated temperatures depends on the temperature level and concrete composition. In this study, the effects of blast-furnace slag cement (CEM III/A) and basaltic aggregates were investigated at temperatures 250◦C to 700 ◦C in comparison to conventional Portland cement (CEM I) containing quarzitic aggregates. The concretes were cyclically exposed to high temperatures. Special attention was paid to mass loss, residual compressive and residual flexural strength depending on type of cement and aggregate as well as the number of thermal cycles. Mass loss and strength loss increased with increasing maximum temperature level, as expected. It was generally observed that concretes containing CEM III/A displayed significantly higher residual mechanical properties for almost all temperature levels. Concretes containing a combination of CEM III/Awith basaltic aggregates showed significantly higher stability at elevated temperatures compared to other concrete mixtures. It is further shown that apart from the maximum temperature the number of thermal cycles is important for the residual mechanical properties.

Agnieszka Gałecka

The aim of the study was to assess the cost effectiveness of farms in Poland compared to the European Union, depending on the type of farming. The value and cost structure of the studied farms were determined and the cost-production relation was assessed. The research covered farms participating in the FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network) European system for collecting accountancy data from farms. As a part of the main objective, an analysis of the structure and dynamics of costs of the researched farms and the cost-production relationship were assessed. The research period covered the years 2013-2018. On the basis of the conducted research, a high cost burden on production was found both in Poland and the entire EU. In the cost structure, direct costs had the largest share, which were particularly important in farms focused on animal production. There was a differentiation in both the cost structure and cost effectiveness depending on the type of farming. The highest production costs were characteristic for farms of the agricultural type – other grazing livestock, and the lowest for farms specialized in horticultural crops and breeding milk cows. In 2018, compared to 2013, there was an increase in the cost effectiveness of Polish farm production, while a slight decrease in the EU average. The increase in costs and the increase in the cost effectiveness of Polish farm production testifies to a general increase in the prices of production factors used in agricultural production and a decrease in cost competitiveness on the European market.

Yufeng Chen, Mingxin Chen, Tao Li

In order to make China's carbon emission policies effectively, it is necessary to estimate the CO2 emissions reduction reasonably of each province in China. This study aims to establish a new measurement method by employing an Inverse Data Envelopment Analysis (InvDEA) with frontier changes to evaluate China's CO2 emissions reduction. We construct a comparable value of CO2 emissions by projecting the production points onto the target plane and compare the actual value with the comparable value. The results show that (1) China's CO2 emissions reduction is basically in line with the expectation and exists spatial agglomeration characteristics. (2) In the final year of each Five-Year Plan of China, regional governments across China would redouble their efforts to reduce emissions. (3) The national CO2 emissions reduction is mainly dominated by efficiency change, while only East China is by technological progress. Based on research findings, specific strategies of management are suggested for different regions.

M. Hassan, C. Godde, S. McDonald

This year, once again, socio-economic and environmental extremes have posed a significant threat to global rangelands, from tragic desert locust outbreaks across East Africa, Asia and the Middle East, devastating drought, flooding, and fires in Australia, to a global pandemic that greatly disrupted trades and access to resources. Despite these challenges, once again, rangeland socialecological systems have demonstrated substantial potential for resilience, from adapting farm management practices, to diversifying sources of incomes through carbon farming, to revealing depths of solidarity amongst local communities during challenging times. Local and global pressures on rangelands are likely to increase under climate change and other future global trends. As such, it is crucial, now more than ever, to share experiences about handling variability and uncertainty. The suite of adaptation strategies that has been developed in response to existing variability may also not be enough, and more transformational adaptation options and resilience pathways need exploring. In September 2019, theAustralianRangeland Society held its 20 biennial conference in Canberra-Australia on the theme ‘Resilient future rangelands – integrating environment and livelihoods.’ This conference provided the momentum and ground for this Special Issue. The articles are derived from keynote addresses, presentations, a ‘world café’ session and a survey of the conference participants. In addition to the common format of scientific reports and review articles, contributions to this Special Issue include more opinion-oriented or agendasetting short perspective and commentary pieces, to better capture the outcomes of the conference. This Special Issue focusses on the diversity of approaches required to increase rangelands resilience. Bringing together Australian Aboriginal, scientific and local knowledge, strengthening human capacity in rangelands, and proposing new industries are only some of the valuable ideas proposed in the articles. As with previous editions, the conference presented a great opportunity for a younger generation of scientists, rangeland managers and other stakeholders to learn from people involved in the rangelands in the past few decades. It was also a valuable opportunity for us to share our own experiences and ideas. Only this precious exchange of knowledge can pave the way for continuing the quest towards resilient and viable rangelands. We are very grateful for the authors’ excellent contributions, and wish you an enjoyable and insightful read.

Ahmad Zaki Mubarok, Solisa Vania Joelita Sembiring

Cookies are one of the snacks, usually made from wheat flour and have high carbohydrate and fat but low fiber contents. In the present study, dahlia tuber flour was used to substitute wheat flour to produce fiber-rich cookies. The effect of dahlia tuber flour and wheat flour ratio and the addition of margarine were studied. The optimum formulation was obtained by Derringer’s desirability function, by comparing the closeness value of the physical properties of cookies made from dahlia tuber flour with control cookies made from wheat flour as a target. The result showed that optimum formulation to produce fiber-rich cookies obtained by using dahlia tuber flour and wheat flour ratio of 30:70 and margarine 75%, with total desirability (D) value of 0.84.

Yulmira Yanti, Arnetti Arnetti, Imam Rifai

Basal stem rot (Ganoderma boninense) is one of the main diseases of oil palm. The objective of the research was to obtain indigenous rhizobacteria (RBI) isolate which have the ability increase growth and to control basal stem rot on oil palm seedlings in planta. Experimental research consists of 3 stages by using Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Indigenous rhizobacteria isolate testing as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and to control of G. boninense on pre-nursery of oil palm consisted of 29 treatments (27 RBI isolates, without G. boninense inoculation as positive control, and G. boninense inoculation as negative control) with 5 replications each. Data were analyzed by variance, if the result significantly different, it was continued by using Least Significance Different (LSD) at 5% level. The results showed that two of the best isolates were RZ2E 2.1 and RZ2E 1.2 which were able to increase growth and were able to suppress the development of basal stem rot G. boninense.

E. A. Radkova, I. N. Petrova, K. A. Leus et al.

Clinical study report is one of the main documents during the drug development. The preparation of the clinical study report requires knowledge of Russian and foreign legislation, awareness of guidelines and recommendatioins issued by the professional associations as well as the effective process management. This article provides an overview of the current Russian and international regulatory documents and recommendations of professional organizations on the content and structure of the clinical study report, and describes an example of an algorithm for preparing the report from the earliest stages (data processing) to writing the final report with interpretation of study results.

Mahir Sarfati, Mohammad Reza Hesamzadeh, Pär Holmberg

Electricity markets employ different congestion management methods to handle the limited transmission capacity of the power system. This paper compares production efficiency and other aspects of nodal and zonal pricing. We consider two types of zonal pricing: zonal pricing with Available Transmission Capacity (ATC) and zonal pricing with Flow-Based Market Coupling (FBMC). We develop a mathematical model to study the imperfect competition under zonal pricing with FBMC. Zonal pricing with FBMC is employed in two stages, a day-ahead market stage and a re-dispatch stage. We show that the optimality conditions and market clearing conditions can be reformulated as a mixed integer linear program (MILP), which is straightforward to implement. Zonal pricing with ATC and nodal pricing is used as our benchmarks. The imperfect competition under zonal pricing with ATC and nodal pricing are also formulated as MILP models. All MILP models are demonstrated on 6-node and the modified IEEE 24-node systems. Our numerical results show that the zonal pricing with ATC results in large production inefficiencies due to the inc-dec game. Improving the representation of the transmission network as in the zonal pricing with FBMC mitigates the inc-dec game. Keywords: Congestion management, Zonal pricing, Flow-based market coupling

Andrew J. Seltzer, J. Borland

This article examines the effects of the Victorian Factory and Shops Act, the first minimum wage law in Australia. The Act differed from modern minimum wage laws in that it established Special Boards, which set trade-specific minimum wage schedules. We use trade-level data on average wages and employment by gender and age to examine the effects of minimum wages. Although the minimum wages were binding, we find that the effects on employment were modest, at best. We speculate that this was because the Special Boards, which were comprised of industry insiders, closely matched the labor market for their trades.