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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Sam Hill |
| Abstract: | China’s exceptional economic expansion has led to rising energy demand and pollution as well as other environmental pressures. Strong efforts by the government have moderated emissions of some types of air and water pollution from high levels but others, including greenhouse gas emissions, continue to rise. Poor air and water quality threaten human health, create other costs and reduce well-being. The 12th Five Year Plan aims at further reducing pollution and at other environmental improvements. To achieve these goals in a cost-effective manner wide-ranging reforms are needed. Reliance on command-and-control measures ought to make way gradually for well-implemented market-based approaches. Energy and water pricing need to be reformed to provide stronger incentives for end-users. So does pollution pricing. A carbon tax should be given serious consideration, especially if pilot carbon emissions trading schemes turn out to be difficult to implement. As well, stronger standards are needed, including for motor vehicles and fuels. Efforts to enhance environmental enforcement, particularly at the local level, will also be key to further progress. This Working Paper relates to the 2013 OECD Economic Survey of China (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/china).<P>Des réformes pour assainir l'environnement en Chine<BR>L’expansion économique exceptionnelle de la Chine a entraîné une demande croissante d'énergie et une hausse de la pollution ainsi que d'autres pressions environnementales. Les efforts soutenus du gouvernement ont modéré les émissions de certains types de pollution de l’air et de l’eau à des niveaux élevés, mais d'autres, y compris les émissions de gaz à effet de serre continuent d'augmenter. La mauvaise qualité de l'eau et de l’air menace la santé humaine, crée des coûts supplémentaires et réduit le bien-être. Le 12e plan quinquennal vise à réduire la pollution et à améliorer l'environnement. Pour atteindre ces objectifs d'une manière rentable de vastes réformes sont nécessaires. La dépendance à l'égard des mesures de commandement et de contrôle devrait faire place progressivement à une bonne mise en oeuvre des approches fondées sur le marché. Les prix de l'énergie et de l'eau doivent être réformés pour fournir des incitations plus fortes pour les utilisateurs finaux. Il en va de même pour la tarification de la pollution. Une taxe carbone devrait être sérieusement prise en considération, surtout si les régimes pilotes d'échange d'émissions de carbone se révèlent difficiles à mettre en oeuvre. De plus, des normes plus strictes sont nécessaires, notamment pour les véhicules à moteur et les carburants. Les efforts visant à renforcer le respect de l'environnement, en particulier au niveau local, seront également essentiels à de nouveaux progrès. Ce Document de travail se rapporte à l'Étude économique de la Chine de l’OCDE, 2013, (www.oecd.org/eco/etudes/chine). |
| Keywords: | health, environment, energy, renewable energy, China, air pollution, emissions trading scheme, carbon tax, cities, water pollution, pollution, environmental taxation, santé, environnement, énergie renouvelable, Chine, fiscalité environnementale, pollution de l'eau, pollution, taxe carbone, pollution de l’air, systèmes d'échange d'émissions |
| JEL: | I18 Q00 Q25 Q28 Q4 Q5 R48 |
| Date: | 2013–04–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1045-en&r=env |
| By: | Kablan, Sandrine |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts, first, to assess foreign aid effectiveness in fostering green city procedures in developing countries. For this purpose, we rely on the following aid effectiveness criteria: national ownership; harmonization; alignment and mutual acco |
| Keywords: | climate change; climate finance; foreign aid; green cities and buildings; carbon emissions |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2013-048&r=env |
| By: | Framstad, Nils Christian; Strand, Jon |
| Abstract: | Energy-intensive infrastructure may tie up fossil energy use and carbon emissions for a long time after investments, making the structure of such investments crucial for society. Much or most of the resulting carbon emissions can often be eliminated later, through a costly retrofit. This paper studies the simultaneous decision to invest in such infrastructure, and retrofit it later, in a model where future climate damages are uncertain and follow a geometric Brownian motion process with positive drift. It shows that greater uncertainty about climate cost (for given unconditional expected costs) then delays the retrofit decision by increasing the option value of waiting to invest. Higher energy intensity is also chosen for the initial infrastructure when uncertainty is greater. These decisions are efficient given that energy and carbon prices facing the decision maker are (globally) correct, but inefficient when they are lower, which is more typical. Greater uncertainty about future climate costs will then further increase lifetime carbon emissions from the infrastructure, related both to initial investments, and to too infrequent retrofits when this emissions level is already too high. An initially excessive climate gas emissions level is then likely to be worsened when volatility increases. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases,Climate Change Economics,Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Energy Production and Transportation,Environmental Economics&Policies |
| Date: | 2013–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6430&r=env |
| By: | Nwaobi, Godwin |
| Abstract: | As at today, it is an indisputable fact that the climate is changing and there is a scientific consensus that the world is becoming a warmer place principally attributable to human activities. Regrettably, the physical impacts of future climate change on humans and the environment will include increasing stresses on and even collapses of ecosystems, biodiversity loss, changing timing of growing seasons, coastal erosion, and ocean acidification as well as shifting ranges for pests and diseases. Consequently, development goals are threatened by climate change with heaviest impacts on poor countries and poor people. In particular, African countries will bear the brunt of effects of climate change, even as they strive to overcome poverty and advance economic growth. For these countries, climate change threatens to deepen vulnerabilities, erode hard-won gains and seriously undermine prospects for development. Using environmental impact and sustainability applied general equilibrium model, this paper argues that climate change will negatively affect agricultural productivity in Africa. Although the obligations to mitigate and adapt to climate change (and to go green) may be costly, it can actually represent an opportunity for African economies. As latecomers, Africa has indeed an opportunity to be at the forefront of the green revolution by implementing green development strategies based on low energy –intensity, low-carbon emissions and clean technologies. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Global Warming, Sustainable Development, Carbon Dioxide, Emissions, Methane, Nitrox Oxide, Simulations, Africa, Climate Finance, Abatement, Mitigation, Policies, Green Growth, Green Economy, Environment, Strategies, Perspectives, Challenges, Development Models, Temperature, Agriculture, Productivity, Poverty, Global Partnership, Ocean, Earth, Greenhouse Gases, Envisage, Cge Model, Energy Climate Change, Global Warming, Sustainable Development, Carbon Dioxide, Emissions, Methane, Nitrox Oxide, Simulations, Africa, Climate Finance, Abatement, Mitigation, Policies, Green Growth, Green Economy, Environment, Strategies, Perspectives, Challenges, Development Models, Temperature, Agriculture, Productivity, Poverty, Global Partnership, Ocean, Earth, Greenhouse Gases, Envisage, Cge Model, Energy |
| JEL: | D5 D62 H2 I3 L50 O1 O13 O14 O19 O2 O21 O3 O30 O33 O4 Q0 Q2 Q3 Q4 R0 |
| Date: | 2013–05–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46807&r=env |
| By: | Amigues, Jean-Pierre; Lafforgue, Gilles; Moreaux, Michel |
| Abstract: | We characterize the optimal exploitation paths of two perfect substitute primary energy resources, a non-renewable polluting resource and a carbon-free renewable one. Both resources can supply the energy needs of two sectors. Sector 1 is able to reduce its carbon footprint at a reasonable cost owing to a CCS device. Sector 2 has only access to the air capture technology, but at a significantly higher cost. We assume that the atmospheric carbon stock cannot exceed some given ceiling. We show that it is optimal to begin by fully capturing the sector 1's emissions before the ceiling is reached and next, to deploy the air capture in order to partially abate sector 2’s emissions. The optimal carbon tax is first increasing during the pre-ceiling phase and next, it declines in stages down to 0. |
| Keywords: | Climate change; Energy; CCS; Air capture; Carbon tax. |
| JEL: | Q32 Q42 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:27164&r=env |
| By: | Moreaux, Michel; Withagen, Cees |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:27162&r=env |
| By: | Linn, Joshua (Resources for the Future); Mastrangelo, Erin; Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | The Clean Air Act has assumed the central role in US climate policy, directing the development of regulations governing greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired power plants. This paper examines the operation of coal-fired generating units over 25 years to estimate the marginal costs and potential magnitude of emissions reductions from improving their efficiency. We find that a 10 percent increase in coal prices causes a 0.2 to 0.5 percent heat rate reduction, broadly consistent with engineering assessments. We also find that coal prices have a significant effect on utilization. The results are used to compare cost-effectiveness of alternative policies. |
| Keywords: | efficiency, regulation, greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, coal, performance standards |
| JEL: | L94 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-05&r=env |
| By: | Fell, Harrison; Linn, Joshua (Resources for the Future); Munnings, Clayton (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | A variety of renewable electricity policies to promote investment in wind, solar, and other types of renewable generators exist across the United States. The federal renewable energy investment tax credit, the federal renewable energy production tax credit, and state renewable portfolio standards are among the most notable. Whether the benefits of promoting new technology and reducing pollution emissions from the power sector justify these policies’ costs has been the subject of considerable debate. We argue in this paper that the debate is misguided because it does not consider two important interactions between renewable electricity generators and the rest of the power system. First, the value of electricity from a renewable generators depends on the generation and investment it displaces. Second, a large increase in renewable generation can reduce electricity prices, increasing consumption and emissions from fossil generators, and offsetting some of the environmental benefits of the policies. Two policy conclusions follow. First, existing renewable electricity policies can be redesigned to promote investment in the highest-value generators, which can greatly reduce the cost of achieving a given emissions reduction. Second, subsidies financed out of general tax revenue reduce emissions less than subsidies financed by charges to electricity consumers. |
| Keywords: | renewable portfolio standard, production tax credit, investment tax credit, feed-in tariff, clean energy standard, cost-effectiveness, intermittency, wind energy, solar energy |
| JEL: | Q40 Q54 L94 |
| Date: | 2012–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-12-54&r=env |
| By: | Newell, Richard G.; Pizer, William A.; Raimi, Daniel |
| Abstract: | Carbon markets are substantial and they are expanding. There are many lessons from experiences over the past eight years -- fewer free allowances, better management of market-sensitive information, and a recognition that trading systems require adjustments that have consequences for market participants and market confidence. Moreover, the emerging international architecture features separate emissions trading systems serving distinct jurisdictions. These programs are complemented by a variety of other types of policies alongside the carbon markets. This sits in sharp contrast to the integrated global trading architecture envisioned 15 years ago by the designers of the Kyoto Protocol and raises a suite of new questions. In this new architecture, jurisdictions with emissions trading have to decide how, whether, and when to link with one another, and policymakers overseeing carbon markets must confront how to measure the comparability of efforts among markets and relative to a variety of other policy approaches. |
| Keywords: | carbon market, tradable permit, allowance, climate change, greenhouse gas |
| JEL: | Q54 Q52 Q58 F53 D04 |
| Date: | 2012–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-12-51&r=env |
| By: | Brick, Kerri; Van der Hoven, Zoe; Visser, Martine |
| Abstract: | International and domestic efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions require a coordinated effort from heterogeneous actors. This experiment uses a public good game with a climate change framing to consider whether cooperation is possible in just such a climate change context. Specifically, we examine whether groups of heterogeneous individuals can meet a collective emissions reduction target through individual contributions. Participants represent two different sectors of society with differing marginal costs of abatement. Thus, the equity considerations that make climate change such a contentious issue are implicit in the experiment framing. Subjects are able to communicate with one another in order to coordinate contribution strategies. The results indicate that participatory processes and stakeholder engagement play an important role in promoting cooperation—even when heterogeneity is present. However, heterogeneity makes it more difficult for groups to reach consensus on how to distribute an abatement burden. Further, the non-binding nature of the agreement results in significant levels of free-riding. In addition, heterogeneity appears to provide disadvantaged player-types with a justification for free-riding. Ultimately, the results indicate that participatory processes alone are not sufficient to induce widespread compliance with a mitigation obligation. |
| Keywords: | public good, framing, communication, heterogeneity, emissions reduction target |
| JEL: | H41 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-12-14-efd&r=env |
| By: | Beyene, Abebe D.; Bluffstone, Randall; Mekonnen, Alemu |
| Abstract: | REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, “plus” afforestration) is a tool that supports forest carbon-enhancing approaches in the developing world in order to mitigate and hopefully reverse climate change. A key issue within REDD+ is to appropriately bring in the almost 25% of developing country forests that are effectively controlled by communities. Many authors have discussed the social aspects of appropriateness, but there is limited analysis of the actual carbon sequestration potential of better-managed community controlled forests (CCFs). Drawing on an analytical framework that relies heavily on the common property and social capital literatures, our paper contributes to closing this research gap and sheds light on whether community forest management structures should be given serious consideration as REDD+ partners in the battle to mitigate climate change. Using household and community level data from four regional states in Ethiopia, we examine whether CCFs with design features known to be associated with better management appear to sequester more carbon than community systems with lower levels of these characteristics. The empirical analysis suggests that the quality of local level institutions may be important determinants of carbon sequestration. Developing country CCFs may therefore play a positive role within the context of REDD+ and other carbon sequestration initiatives. However, because of the nature of our data, results should be considered indicative. Better and smarter data combined with innovative techniques are needed to conclusively evaluate linkages between CCFs, carbon sequestration and REDD+. |
| Keywords: | carbon stock, local institutions, REDD, rural Ethiopia |
| JEL: | Q23 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–03–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-07-efd&r=env |
| By: | Robinson, Elizabeth J.Z.; Albers, H.J.; Meshack, Charles; Lokina, Razack B. |
| Abstract: | REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) aims to slow carbon releases caused by forest disturbance by making payments conditional on forest quality over time. Like earlier policies to slow deforestation, REDD must change the behaviour of forest degraders. Broadly, it can be implemented with payments to potential forest degraders, thus creating incentives; through payments for enforcement, thus creating disincentives; or through addressing external drivers such as urban charcoal demand. In Tanzania, community-based forest management (CBFM), a form of participatory forest management (PFM), was chosen as the model for implementing REDD pilot programs. Payments are made to villages that have the rights to forest carbon. In exchange for these payments, the villages must demonstrably reduce deforestation at the village level. Using this pilot program as a case study, we provide insights for REDD implementation in sub-Saharan Africa. We pay particular attention to leakage, monitoring and enforcement. We suggest that implementing REDD through CBFM-type structures can create appropriate incentives and behavioural change when the recipients of the REDD funds are also the key drivers of forest change. When external forces drive forest change, however, REDD through CBFM-type structures becomes an enforcement program, with local communities rather than government agencies being responsible for the enforcement. That structure imposes costs on local communities, whose local authority limits the ability to address leakage outside the particular REDD village. In addition, for REDD to lead to lower emissions, implementation will have to emphasize conditionality of payments on measurable decreases in forest loss. |
| Keywords: | REDD, community-based forest management, leakage, Tanzania |
| Date: | 2013–03–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-06-efd&r=env |
| By: | Chen, Zexian; He, Jingjing |
| Abstract: | The current climate change crisis has repeatedly alerted mankind to the urgency of tackling this pressing global challenge before it is too late. Developing countries, which have contributed negligibly to the present climate change problem are, neverthele |
| Keywords: | foreign aid, climate change, capacity building, climate change related capacity building |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2013-046&r=env |
| By: | Arndt, Channing; Thurlow, James |
| Abstract: | We apply a probabilistic approach to the evaluation of climate change impacts in the Zambeze River Valley. The economic modeling relies on an economywide modeling approach. Taking a distribution of shocks as inputs, we create hybrid frequency distribution |
| Keywords: | Climate change, uncertainty, economic impacts, economywide model, Mozambique |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2013-042&r=env |
| By: | Beasley, Blair (Resources for the Future); Woerman, Matt (Resources for the Future); Paul, Anthony (Resources for the Future); Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future); Palmer, Karen (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Several recent studies have used simulation models to quantify the potential effects of recent environmental regulations on power plants, including the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), one of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s most expensive regulations. These studies have produced inconsistent results about the effects on the industry, making general conclusions difficult. We attempt to reconcile these differences by representing the variety of assumptions in these studies within a common modeling platform. We find that the assumptions, and their differences from the way MATS will be implemented, make a substantial impact on projected retirement of coal-fired capacity and generation, investments that are required, and emissions reductions. Almost uniformly, the actual regulation, when examined in its final form and in isolation, provides more flexibility than is represented in most models. We find this leads to a smaller impact on the composition of the electricity generating fleet than most studies have predicted. |
| Keywords: | sulfur dioxide, mercury, air toxics, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, electricity, technology, generation |
| JEL: | Q47 Q53 Q58 |
| Date: | 2013–04–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-10&r=env |
| By: | Juan Miguel Benito-Ostolaza (Departamento de Economía-UPNA); Nuria Osés-Eraso (Departamento de Economía-UPNA) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a general model of common resource extraction where we introduce payments for environmental services to encourage resource users to give up extraction. The goal is to reach a balance between resource use and conservation. As the essence of conservation is dynamic, we use a dynamic model to study the implementation of the compensation scheme. A stable heterogeneous equilibrium can be reached where both extractors and non-extractors live together. We analyze how the success of the compensation depends on factors such as the elasticity of demand and the biological characteristics of the resource. |
| Keywords: | common resource, overcapacity, payment for environmental ser- vices, compensation, replicator dynamics |
| JEL: | Q20 Q29 C61 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nav:ecupna:1305&r=env |
| By: | Federico Boffa; Stefano Clò; Alessio D'Amato |
| Abstract: | We compare a carbon tax and a cap and trade mechanism in their propensity to induce carbon-reducing technological adoption, when investments are undertaken under uncertainty. In our setting, risk-neutral firms affect the variance and the correlation of the shocks they are exposed to through their technological choice,making uncertainty endogenous. We find that uncertainty associated with a given technology always impacts expected profits under a carbon tax, while under a cap and trade this is the case only as long as the shocks are not correlated across the firms; if,instead, shocks are perfectly correlated,uncertainty has no impact on profits. As a result, we show that, while under a carbon tax, initially symmetric firms tend to have symmetric strategies in equilibrium (either of adoption, or non adoption), a cap and trade system might also induce asymmetric adoption. Finally, we discuss several policy applications of our work, including an analysis of the effects of combining feed-in tariffs with carbon tax or cap and trade. |
| Keywords: | carbon tax, cap and trade, technology adoption, endogenous uncertainty |
| JEL: | L5 Q58 O33 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:itt:wpaper:2013-5&r=env |
| By: | Sinha, Paramita; Cropper, Maureen L. (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | We value climate amenities by estimating a discrete location choice model for households that changed metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) between 1995 and 2000. The utility of each MSA depends on location-specific amenities, earnings opportunities, housing costs, and the cost of moving to the MSA from the household’s 1995 location. We use the estimated trade-off between wages and climate amenities to value changes in mean winter and summer temperatures. At median temperatures for 1970 to 2000, a 1°F increase in winter temperature is worth less than a 1° decrease in summer temperature; however, the reverse is true at winter temperatures below 25°F. These results imply an average welfare loss of 2.7 percent of household income in 2020 to 2050 under the B1 (climate-friendly) scenario from the special report on emissions scenarios (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2000), although some cities in the Northeast and Midwest benefit. Under the A2 (more extreme) scenario, households in 25 of 26 cities suffer an average welfare loss equal to 5 percent of income. |
| Keywords: | climate amenities, discrete choice models, migration, welfare impacts of temperature changes |
| JEL: | Q5 Q51 |
| Date: | 2013–01–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-01&r=env |
| By: | Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future); Woerman, Matt (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | The parsimony of economic theory provides general insights into an otherwise complex world. However, even the most straightforward organizing principles from theory have not often taken hold in environmental policy or in the decentralized climate policy regime that is unfolding. One reason is inadequate recognition of a variety of institutions. This paper addresses three ways the standard model may inadequately anticipate the role of institutions in the actual implementation of climate policy: multilayered authority across jurisdictions, the impressionistic rather than deterministic influence of prices through subsidiary jurisdictions, and the complementary role of prices and regulation in this context. The economic approach is built on the premise that incentives affect behavior. We suggest an important pathway of influence for economic theory is to infuse incentive-based thinking into existing institutions and the conventional regulatory framework. In a complex policy regime, incentives can be shaped by shadow prices as well as market prices. |
| Keywords: | climate change, institutions, federalism, subsidiarity, efficiency, shadow prices, incentives, regulation |
| JEL: | Q54 H77 D02 |
| Date: | 2013–03–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-03&r=env |
| By: | Federico Boffa (Institut d'Economia de Barcelona); Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto (Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional - CREi); Amedeo Piolatto (Universidad de Alicante) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies fiscal federalism when voter information varies across regions. We develop a model of political agency with heterogeneously informed voters. Rent-seeking politicians provide public goods to win the votes of the informed. As a result, rent extraction is lower in regions with higher information. In equilibrium, electoral discipline has decreasing returns. Thus, political centralization reduces aggregate rent extraction. When the central government provides public goods uniformly across space, the model predicts that a region’s benefits from centralization are decreasing in its residents’ information. We test this prediction using panel data on pollutant emissions and newspaper circulation across the United States. The 1970 Clean Air Act centralized environmental policy at the federal level. In line with our theory, we find that centralization induced a faster decrease in pollution in less informed states. |
| Keywords: | Political centralization, Government accountability, Imperfect information, Interregional heterogeneity, Elections, Environmental policy, Air pollution. |
| JEL: | D72 D82 H73 H77 Q58 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ivi:wpasad:2013-03&r=env |
| By: | Dikgang, Johane; Muchapondwa, Edwin |
| Abstract: | The restitution of parkland to the Khomani San “bushmen” and Mier “agricultural” communities in May 2002 marked a significant shift in conservation in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and environs in South Africa. Biodiversity conservation will benefit from this land restitution only if the Khomani San, who interact with nature more than do other groups, are good environmental stewards. To assess their attitude toward biodiversity conservation, this study used the contingent valuation method to investigate the values the communities assign to biodiversity conservation under three land tenure arrangements in the Kgalagadi area. For each community and land tenure arrangement, there are winners and losers, but the winners benefit by more than the cost that losers suffer. The net worth for biodiversity conservation under the various land tenure regimes ranged from R928 to R3,456 to R4,160 for municipal land, parkland, and communal land respectively for the Khomani San, compared to R25,600 to R57,600 to R64,000 for municipal land, parkland, and communal land respectively for the Mier. Both communities have the highest preference for the implementation of the biodiversity conservation programme on communal land. There are no significant differences in the WTP between the two communities when adjusted for annual median household income; hence, the Khomani San can be trusted to become good environmental stewards. However, in order for all members of the local communities to support biodiversity conservation unconditionally, mechanisms for fair distribution of the associated costs and benefits should be put in place. |
| Keywords: | biodiversity, contingent valuation, Khomani San, land restitution |
| JEL: | Q01 Q53 Q57 |
| Date: | 2012–10–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-12-10-efd&r=env |
| By: | Beasley, Blair (Resources for the Future); Morris, Daniel (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Several different economic models have been applied to try to understand how new regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could impact coal-fired generation in the United States as well as the electricity system as a whole. This paper provides an overview of many of the key studies and the models used to analyze the potential impacts of EPA’s rules. The regulations surveyed include the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), the proposed Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 316(b) rule, and the proposed Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) rule. The models generally agree that these regulations will result in coal plant retirements, though there is far less agreement on how much generation may retire. Assumptions about the price of natural gas and the expected stringency of regulations play a key role in determining modeling results. The models provide useful guidance for policymakers when considering the potential impact of EPA regulation. |
| Keywords: | Clean Air Act, electricity, EPA regulation, modeling, power plant retirement |
| JEL: | C69 L51 Q47 Q48 Q52 |
| Date: | 2012–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-12-52&r=env |
| By: | Chinowsky, Paul S.; Schweikert, Amy E.; Strzepek, Niko L.; Strzepek, Kenneth |
| Abstract: | The African Development Bank has called for US$40 billion per year over the coming decades to be provided to African countries to address development issues directly related to climate change. The current study addresses a key component of these issues, t |
| Keywords: | climate change, roads, infrastructure, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2013-041&r=env |
| By: | Huang, Jikun |
| Abstract: | Agricultural development is facing great challenges in meeting global food security and is expected to face even greater difficulties under climate change. The overall goal of this paper is to examine how foreign aid in particular can be used to achieve t |
| Keywords: | climate change, finance, foreign aid, agriculture, mitigation, adaption |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2013-047&r=env |
| By: | Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future); Palmer, Karen (Resources for the Future); Munnings, Clayton (Resources for the Future); Weber, Paige; Woerman, Matt (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | National and subnational economies have started implementing carbon pricing systems unilaterally, from the bottom up. Therefore, the potential linking of individual cap-and-trade programs to capture efficiency gains and other benefits is of keen interest. This paper introduces a two-tiered framework to guide policymakers, with an interest in North American policy outcomes. One tier discusses program elements that need to be aligned before trading of allowances across programs can occur. The second identifies benefits of incremental alignment of program elements even prior to trading between programs—which we call “linking by degrees.” We apply this framework to California’s cap-and-trade program and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. These programs are already linking through cooperation and sharing of information. Many aspects of the program designs are ready for the exchange of allowances within a common market; however, the difference in allowance prices remains an issue to be considered before formal linking could occur. |
| Keywords: | greenhouse gas, climate change, climate policy, policy coordination |
| JEL: | Q58 H77 |
| Date: | 2013–04–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-04&r=env |
| By: | Krishna, Vijesh V.; Mehrotra, Meera Bhatia; Teufel, Nils; Bishnoi, Dalip Kumar |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cimmsp:147109&r=env |
| By: | Jeuland, Marc; Whittington, Dale |
| Abstract: | This article develops a “real options” approach for planning new water resources infrastructure investments and their operating strategies in a world of climate change uncertainty. The approach is illustrated with an example: investments in large new multipurpose dam alternatives along the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. The approach incorporates flexibility in design and operating decisions – the selection, sizing, and sequencing of new dams, and reservoir operating rules. The analysis relies on a simulation model that includes linkages between climate change and system hydrology, and tests the sensitivity of the economic outcomes of investments in new dams to climate change and other uncertainties. Not surprisingly, the results for the Blue Nile basin show that there is no single investment plan that performs best across a range of plausible future climate conditions. The value of the real options framework is that it can be used to identify dam configurations that are both robust to poor outcomes and sufficiently flexible to capture high upside benefits if favorable future climate and hydrological conditions arise. The real options approach could be extended to explore design and operating features of development and adaptation projects other than dams. |
| Keywords: | ile Basin, real options, dams, climate adaptation, cost-benefit analysis, Ethiopia, Monte Carlo simulation |
| JEL: | D81 O22 Q25 Q42 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–03–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-05-efd&r=env |
| By: | Anabela Botelho (NIMA, Universidade do Minho) |
| Abstract: | Along with the increased provision of healthcare by private outpatient healthcare facilities within the EU countries, there is also an increase on waste generation from these facilities. A significant fraction of this waste is amongst the most hazardous of all wastes arising in communities, posing significant risks to people and the environment if inappropriately managed. The growing awareness that mismanagement of healthcare waste has serious environmental and public health consequences is reflected in the European waste legislation, aiming at waste prevention at the source and emphasizing the “management” aspects of the waste management process. Whether the increasingly large numbers of private healthcare facilities comply with the existing European waste legislation, and whether compliance with such legislation affects the fraction of healthcare waste classified as hazardous is an understudied subject. Using a large survey of private outpatient healthcare facilities, this study finds that although compliance with the law is far from ideal, it is the strongest factor influencing hazardous waste generation. These findings suggest that more public investments in monitoring healthcare facilities’ compliance with the law in EU countries is warranted, along with increased efforts to raise the facilities’ awareness of the cost savings brought about by compliance with the existing healthcare waste legislation. |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nim:nimawp:49/2013&r=env |
| By: | Anabela Botelho (NIMA, Universidade do Minho); Ariel Dinar (Water Science and Policy Center, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside); Lígia M.Costa Pinto (NIMA, Universidade do Minho); Amnon Rapoport (A. Gary Anderson School of Business Administration, University of California, Riverside) |
| Abstract: | Experimental studies of common pool resource (CPR) dilemmas are frequently terminated with collapse of the resource; however, there is considerable evidence in real-world settings that challenge this finding. To reconcile this difference, we propose a two-stage model that links appropriation of the CPR and provision of public goods in an attempt to explain the emergence of cooperation in the management of CPRs under environmental uncertainty. Benchmark predictions are derived from the model, and subsequently tested experimentally under different marginal cost-benefit structures concerning the voluntary contribution to the provision of the good. Our results suggest that the severity of the appropriation problem is significantly mitigated by the presence of an option for voluntarily contributing a fraction of the income surplus from the appropriation phase to the provision of the public good. |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nim:nimawp:50/2013&r=env |
| By: | Fant, Charles; Gebretsadik, Yohannes; Strzepek, Kenneth |
| Abstract: | The past reliance on historical observed weather patterns for future investment in basic infrastructure planning (e.g., irrigation schemes, hydropower plants, roads, etc.) has been questioned considerably in recent years. For this reason, efforts to study |
| Keywords: | climate Change, Zambezi, southern Africa, investment risk, system model, water resource |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2013-039&r=env |
| By: | Schlosser, C. Adam; Strzepek, Kenneth |
| Abstract: | Projections of regional changes in seasonal surface-air temperature and precipitation for the eastern and western Zambezi River Basin regions are presented. These projections are cast in a probabilistic context based on a numerical hybridization technique |
| Keywords: | Zambezi, regional, climate, change, risk |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2013-040&r=env |
| By: | Sabrina Auci (University of Palermo); Laura Castellucci (University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Donatella Vignani (University of Rome "Tor Vergata" and ISTAT) |
| Abstract: | The separation of powers and responsibilities has evolved over time in Italy given that political ideals have been pushing towards a greater decentralization for the last twenty years. Under environmental federalism issues, an interesting case of study - capable of being empirically treated - is the attribution of power to the Regional governments over the management of mining and quarrying. This process, however, -- started in the '70s with the Presidential Decree N. 616 of 1977. By examining Regional Laws, this paper highlights how the policy makers have a misleading perception of the real value of raw mineral resources domestically extracted and that these seem closer to common goods rather than to public goods. By using official statistics, the aim of our econometric analysis is to verify both the existence of an inverse supply curve between mining and quarrying domestic producer price index - considered as a dependent variable - and non-energy producing mineral quantity extracted and the effect of the Italian Regions Responsibility over mining and quarrying activity on mining and quarrying domestic producer price index, controlling for construction sector value added, R&D national expenditure and Openness to international trade in the period 1980-2009. |
| Keywords: | public goods, environmental federalism, non-renewable resources, mining and quarrying |
| JEL: | H41 H7 Q3 |
| Date: | 2013–04–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:277&r=env |
| By: | Walls, Margaret (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Residential buildings are responsible for approximately 20 percent of U.S. energy consumption, and single-family homes alone account for about 16 percent. Older homes are less energy efficient than newer ones, and although many experts have identified upgrades and improvements that can yield significant energy savings at relatively low, or even negative, cost, it has proved difficult to spur most homeowners to make these investments. In this study, I analyze the energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) impacts from three policies aimed at improving home energy efficiency: a subsidy for the purchase of efficient space heating, cooling, and water heating equipment; a loan for the same purchases; and efficiency standards for such equipment. I use a version of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s National Energy Modeling System, NEMS-RFF, to compute the energy and CO2 effects and standard formulas in economics to calculate the welfare costs of the policies. I find that the loan is quite cost-effective but provides only a very small reduction in emissions and energy use. The subsidy and the standard are both more costly but generate emissions reductions seven times larger than the loan. The subsidy promotes consumer adoption of very high-efficiency equipment, whereas the standard leads to purchases of equipment that just reach the standard. The discount rate used to discount energy savings from the policies has a large effect on the welfare cost estimates. |
| Keywords: | energy efficiency, building retrofits, welfare costs, cost-effectiveness |
| JEL: | L94 L95 Q40 |
| Date: | 2012–12–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-12-47&r=env |
| By: | Vetter, Henrik |
| Abstract: | The efficiency of the Pigouvian tax suggests that price-based regulation is the proper benchmark for efficient regulation. However, results due to Carlton and Loury (1980, 1986) question this; when harm depends on scale effects a pure Pigou tax is inefficient regulation in the long run. In this note we make precise that there is an efficient tax scheme for controlling harm as long as social optimum exists. In particular, the efficient tax scheme is based on a tax rate equal to marginal harm. Hence, price regulation is the right benchmark for regulation even in the presence of scale effects in the harm function. -- |
| Keywords: | externalities,scale effects,Pigou-taxes |
| JEL: | D61 D62 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201329&r=env |
| By: | Kim, Kijin |
| Abstract: | Since the beginning of the Clean Air Act, firms operating in regulated counties have faced with higher costs, which consequently had an impact on local labor markets. This paper investigates the effects of the air quality regulation on local manufacturing wages. Taking into account wage spillover explicitly into the model distinguishes this paper from existing studies in which spillover was ignored or was not a major focus. Using the 1982-2007 Census of Manufactures and the historical pollutant-specific nonattainment status for all counties, I construct the wage model with fixed effects partly based on the model specification in Greenstone (2002). I find the wage reduction in emitters induced by the regulations ranging from 2% to 10% depending on the pollutant, which in the 2005 dollar amount are equivalent to loss of roughly $800~$4,000 a year. I also find that the regulation effects are not uniform across industries: petroleum & coal, chemical & allied products and paper & allied products are influenced most among emitters. I find an evidence of the existence of spillover, but it is not so evident in the preferred fixed effects model. |
| Keywords: | Wage, Spillover, Clean Air Act, Spatial Panel, Spatial 2SLS, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:crae13:147489&r=env |
| By: | Mallawaarachchi, Thilak |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare93:147721&r=env |
| By: | Anand, P.B. |
| Abstract: | Water and sanitation sectors have been the .natural. subjects of aid for several decades. However, these sectors also were among those most affected by changes in aid approaches and tools. The aim of this paper is to capture some of the complexity in asse |
| Keywords: | water supply, sanitation, health, aid, effectiveness |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2013-025&r=env |
| By: | Miriam Frey (IOS Regensburg); Carmen Wieslhuber; Daniel Frey |
| Abstract: | Abstract This paper deals with the hypothesis that natural resources are important in forming convergence clubs. We check this hypothesis by applying a dependence and an endowment measure of natural resource abundance and a regression tree analysis. The results indicate that for the Kazakh regions natural resources indeed play an important role in forming convergence clubs. It is further shown that rather natural resource endowment than resource dependence determines initial conditions and thereby convergence clubs. |
| Keywords: | Convergence clubs, Natural resources, Regression tree, Kazakhstan |
| JEL: | O13 O47 O53 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ost:wpaper:329&r=env |
| By: | Marshall, Graham R.; Wall, Lisa M.; Jones, Randall E. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2013–04–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare93:147733&r=env |
| By: | Pillai, Unni; Cruz, Kyle |
| Abstract: | The price of solar panels has fallen rapidly over the last few decades. Using an extensive dataset of prices, costs, output, sales and technical characteristics of firms in the solar industry during 2005-2011, this paper investigates the factors that have contributed to the decline in costs and prices. While previous studies have attributed learning-by-doing and static scale economics as the main drivers of cost reduction, we find that these do not have any significant effect on cost once four other factors are taken into account, namely, (i) reduction in the cost of a principal raw material, (ii) increasing presence of solar panel manufacturers from China, (iii) technological innovations, and (iv) increase in investment at the industry level. Together, these suggest that innovations in the upstream industries that supply the solar panel industry with raw materials and capital equipment have been important drivers of technological progress in the solar panel industry. |
| Keywords: | Solar, Photovoltaics, Technological Change, Learning |
| JEL: | L6 O3 O30 Q40 Q42 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46657&r=env |
| By: | Zeynalov, Ayaz |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to test whether institutional governance and its performance is a main driving force to achieve a positive relationship between natural resources and economic growth in the long run. The main objective is to ascertain what kind of institutional governance would be needed to distribute natural resource wealth in such a way so as to achieve economic stability, and what specific policies are needed to avoid the curse in resource-rich developing countries. The research makes an attempt to interpret the role of institutional governance, as reflected by the indicators, in the context of resource-rich, post-Soviet countries. The main finding is that an abundance of natural resources does not guarantee economic growth, where sustainable economic growth can be guaranteed, only if the resource-rich country has good institutional governance. |
| Keywords: | economic growth, natural resources, institutional governance, post-Soviet countries |
| JEL: | O11 O43 O53 Q32 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46850&r=env |
| By: | Stevens, François |
| Abstract: | The influence of geomorphology on the spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) has been studied for a large range of scales and conditions. The larger SOC stocks found in dry valleys and concave footslopes of the Belgian loam belt have been explained jointly by the transfer of sediments along the slope and the reduced decomposition rate of buried organic matter. While erosion effect on SOC has been simulated at the hillslope scale, it is generally not considered in SOC inventories and prediction models at regional scale. However, more precise large scales inventories are demanded by the carbon modelling community. The goal of this paper is to characterize the relative importance of geomorphology on the SOC horizontal and vertical variability across whole agricultural region. The large historic dataset of soil horizons Aardewerk together with 147 recently sampled profiles was exploited for cost efficiency reasons. Mean profiles for different soil properties classes were compared. Various topographic indices were computed from a digital elevation model, and their potential to predict SOC content at different depth was quantified using multiple regression and terrain morphologic classification. Both dataset were able to show differences in mean SOC profile among soil properties classes, but only the new profiles dataset shows a clear relationship between SOC content and topographic indices. The various errors in then historic data set (e.g., positioning errors) may explain these limitations. This study thus brings in evidence the major control of topography on SOC vertical distribution in a region where observed heterogeneities for other commonly involved factors are limited. However, the large amount of unexplained variability still limits the usefulness of SOC content spatial prediction and should be addressed by alternative spatial methods. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:louvai:info:hdl:2078.1/127858&r=env |
| By: | Chiara Martini; Silvia Tiezzi |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to identify the drivers of the Willingness to Pay (WTP) for air quality improvements in Italy. A better understanding of which factors, besides income, influence the willingness to pay for air quality improvements is important to guide future air quality policy. We estimate the WTP for air quality improvements in Italy using a novel approach (Ebert, 2007) and a unique dataset obtained by merging data on Italian households’ monthly current expenditure and information on a bundle of air pollutants’ concentrations. We find a WTP for air quality improvements between 2 and 10 Euros/month per household. We then consider how WTP varies by location of the household, the level of air quality and over time. We find higher WTP values for the Northwest and the Centre of Italy where the big metropolitan areas are located. We also observe that the WTP for air quality improvements declines as the level of air quality improves. Finally, the value of improvements in air quality decreases over time, maybe signaling a change of preferences. |
| Keywords: | Willingness to Pay, Air Quality Improvements, Demand Systems |
| JEL: | H22 H23 D63 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:674&r=env |