When economists speak about education and human capital, they usually mean formal education. It is provided in schools and universities by formally qualified teachers. These are imparting knowledge that is laid down in curricula, and the result of the learning process is testified by certificates and diplomas conferred to those students who passed exams. Hence economists usually measure the availability of human capital in a society by the average number of years citizens attended schools and universities. Yet is formal education the only source of human...
ISET Economist Blog
A blog about economics in the South Caucasus.
Oct
14
Oct
11
In the first part of our article we pointed out that electricity generation by hydropower is subject to strong seasonal variations. We argued that the seasonality of hydropower reduces the profitability of new plants, as they deliver the highest output in the time of the year when electricity is relatively cheap anyway, while they produce rather little when electricity is expensive.
There are other problems why the potential of additional hydro power plants to solve Georgia’s energy problem are limited.
Chart 4 shows a simple projection for 2020: The pro...
Oct
07
Recently, the Georgian media abounded with alarming reports about a slowdown of foreign direct investments (FDI) in Georgia. Indeed, economic figures seem to support the view that there may be a turn in the FDI activity. The graph shows FDI in the first two quarters of each year from 2005 to 2013. There is obviously a huge volatility in the investment activity throughout those years, reflecting economic and political events like the war and the financial crisis in 2008. Yet since 2009, FDI activity was following a slow but steady upward trend.
This trend...
Oct
04
In our two-part article we discuss how combining wind and hydropower can help the Republic of Georgia to achieve energy independence and become a net energy exporter.
OVERVIEW
Due to the geomorphological characteristics of its territory and to its geographical location, the Republic of Georgia is rich in hydro resources. According to the Georgian Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, so far Georgia has been exploiting only about 20% of its hydro resource potential.
Since 2006 the Georgian government has been planning to utilize these resources to not...
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