Bank of Valletta has issued the 47th edition of the BOV Review. This edition of the popular publication features four informative papers and is available for download from Bank of Valletta’s website www.bov.com.
The first paper entitled “The Smeed Report And Road Pricing: The Case of Valletta, Malta" is authored by Professor Stephen G. Ison, Professor of Transport Policy, at Loughborough University, UK and Dr Maria Attard, from the Institute for Sustainable Development, University of Malta,
The paper deals with what is called the Smeed report after Reuben Smeed, the Chair of a panel dealing with Road Pricing in the UK in 1964. The Report details the requirements for a road pricing system, which were seen as either important or desirable. These requirements are still relevant today and are applicable to the Controlled Vehicular Access (CVA) system in force in Valletta. The aim of this paper is to compare the Valletta scheme against the requirements for a road pricing system outlined in the Smeed Report with the intention of ascertaining whether there are any lessons that can be learnt which are of benefit to those, world-wide, considering the introduction of a road pricing scheme.
“The Role of Monetary Policy in the Economic Recovery following the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis with Special Reference to Small States”, by Dr Carmen Saliba, is the second paper in this journal and analysis the role of monetary policy in the economic recovery following the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, with special reference to small states. The study is based on published data on 178 countries applied to an econometric model.
The third paper entitled "Tourism Impact on Water Consumption in Malta" authored by Eman Mangion. The paper deals with the demand on natural resources, mainly the supply of water, created by an influx of tourists. Water is very limited and very precious to small islands, with low precipitation. Studies by the author indicate that a tourist consumes more water than a local resident and puts forward suggestions to the tourism industry on how to economise on water, through appropriate water management strategies.
"Small Country Participation in the EU Research Programmes" is the title of Anthea Fabri’s paper. This paper examines Malta’s participation in the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development and compares the performance with other small Member States, namely Cyprus, Estonia, Luxembourg and Slovenia, within the context of previous Framework Programmes. Research, innovation and education constitute the Knowledge Triangle and are the three central and strongly interdependent drivers of the knowledge economy (European Commission, ERA, 2012). The EU’s Framework Programme is the main instrument for funding research and for implementing the EU’s research and innovation policy agenda.
Download your copy at: http://www.bov.com/page.asp?p=10805