Margarita Robaina
University of Aveiro
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Publication
Featured researches published by Margarita Robaina.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research | 2018
Victor Moutinho; Mara Madaleno; Margarita Robaina; José Villar
This paper analyzes a set of selected German and French cities’ performance in terms of the relative behavior of their eco-efficiencies, computed as the ratio of their gross domestic product (GDP) over their CO2 emissions. For this analysis, eco-efficiency scores of the selected cities are computed using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique, taking the eco-efficiencies as outputs, and the inputs being the energy consumption, the population density, the labor productivity, the resource productivity, and the patents per inhabitant. Once DEA results are analyzed, the Malmquist productivity indexes (MPI) are used to assess the time evolution of the technical efficiency, technological efficiency, and productivity of the cities over the window periods 2000 to 2005 and 2005 to 2008. Some of the main conclusions are that (1) most of the analyzed cities seem to have suboptimal scales, being one of the causes of their inefficiency; (2) there is evidence that high GDP over CO2 emissions does not imply high eco-efficiency scores, meaning that DEA like approaches are useful to complement more simplistic ranking procedures, pointing out potential inefficiencies at the input levels; (3) efficiencies performed worse during the period 2000–2005 than during the period 2005–2008, suggesting the possibility of corrective actions taken during or at the end of the first period but impacting only on the second period, probably due to an increasing environmental awareness of policymakers and governors; and (4) MPI analysis shows a positive technological evolution of all cities, according to the general technological evolution of the reference cities, reflecting a generalized convergence of most cities to their technological frontier and therefore an evolution in the right direction.
Archive | 2019
Margarita Robaina; Mara Madaleno
Tourism activities are, by their nature, traditionally resource intensive, particularly in energy, water, soil and raw materials. The efficiency of resource allocation becomes extremely important if sustainable development of these activities is to be pursued. On the other hand, the environmental impact through the generation of waste and pollution of air and water become even more worrying since the environment is itself an input into tourism activities. In this way, this chapter presents the concept of eco-efficiency applied to tourism, that is, the production of goods and services while incurring less impact on the environment and less consumption of natural resources. This chapter has a particular focus on energy, exploring the energy efficiency of tourism activities and the possibility to shift inputs towards renewables. Associated mainly with fossil energy consumption, is the emission of greenhouse gases by tourism activities as transport, accommodation, restaurants and attractions, contribute in this way to air pollution and climate change. This chapter also focuses on ‘eco-innovation in tourism’, as a path to sustainable technologies ensuring eco-efficiency and clean production processes in areas such as construction, integrated water cycles, energy conservation and waste management relating to tourism. The chapter will cover both theoretical perspectives and data analysis, suggesting a number of ways in which public policies, and specifically tourism policy and governance, could be effective in minimizing environmental tourism impacts.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research | 2018
Victor Moutinho; Mara Madaleno; Pedro Macedo; Margarita Robaina; Carlos Marques
This article intends to compute agriculture technical efficiency scores of 27 European countries during the period 2005–2012, using both data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) with a generalized cross-entropy (GCE) approach, for comparison purposes. Afterwards, by using the scores as dependent variable, we apply quantile regressions using a set of possible influencing variables within the agricultural sector able to explain technical efficiency scores. Results allow us to conclude that although DEA and SFA are quite distinguishable methodologies, and despite attained results are different in terms of technical efficiency scores, both are able to identify analogously the worst and better countries. They also suggest that it is important to include resources productivity and subsidies in determining technical efficiency due to its positive and significant exerted influence.
international conference on the european energy market | 2017
Margarita Robaina; Mara Madaleno; Marta Ferreira Dias
Since the high importance of eco-innovation for a sustained pursuit of energetic and environmental objectives, we analyze to what extent innovative Portuguese companies are concerned with the inclusion of innovations that improve energy efficiency. We use a panel sample of Portuguese companies and data from Community Innovation Survey for the period 2008–2010 that includes 3296 product and/or processes innovative firms. Using a logit model the determinants of energy efficiency innovations are studied. The results give special highlights to belonging or not to an economic group and the access to public finance as the main determinants. It also seems that organizational innovation comes usually hand by hand with eco-innovation. Consequently, it is highlighted the need to design cross-cutting policies to generate incentives for innovative firms in Portugal, and by sectors, to jointly tackle the challenges associated with energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.
international conference on the european energy market | 2016
Margarita Robaina; Mara Madaleno; Victor Moutinho
The Iberian Peninsula is one of the European regions most affected by climate change (European Environmental Agency). Given the peculiarity of these two countries (Portugal and Spain) in the integration of the electricity market and on the similarity of energy and environmental policies adopted in both, it is relevant to study the relationship between variables such as CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and economic growth in the past and predict their relationship in the future. Panel VAR was implemented, including forecast error variance decomposition and impulse response functions, using data from 1975 to 2012 for selected economic sectors. It was noticed that as CO2 decreases, energy consumption decreases in the short-run, but economic activity increases, may be due to the mix of fossil fuels used in economic activity. Reducing energy consumption changes CO2 emissions with simultaneous change in technology used in energy resources. Results also reveal differences among the two countries.
Ecological Indicators | 2017
Victor Moutinho; Mara Madaleno; Margarita Robaina
Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews | 2016
Victor Moutinho; Margarita Robaina
Energy Procedia | 2016
Mara Madaleno; Victor Moutinho; Margarita Robaina
international conference on the european energy market | 2018
Margarita Robaina; Miguel Ferreira Dias
Revista Turismo & Desenvolvimento | 2018
Celeste Amorim Varum; Mara Madaleno; Margarita Robaina; Marta Ferreira Dias