|
on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Max Franks (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Berlin Institute of Technology); Ottmar Edenhofer (Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Berlin Institute of Technology and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research); Kai Lessmann (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research) |
| Abstract: | Fiscal considerations may shift governmental priorities away from environmental concerns: Finance ministers face strong demand for public expenditures such as infrastructure investments but they are constrained by international tax competition. We develop a multi-region model of tax competition and resource extraction to assess the fiscal incentive of imposing a tax on carbon rather than on capital. We explicitly model international capital and resource markets, as well as intertemporal capital accumulation and resource extraction. While fossil resources give rise to scarcity rents, capital does not. With carbon taxes the rents can be captured and invested in infrastructure, which leads to higher welfare than under capital taxation. This result holds even without modeling environmental damages. It is robust under a variation of the behavioral assumptions of resource importers to coordinate their actions, and a resource exporter's ability to counteract carbon policies. Further, no green paradox occurs - instead, the carbon tax constitutes a viable green policy, since it postpones extraction and reduces cumulative emissions. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Pricing, Green Paradox, Infrastructure, Optimal Taxation, Strategic Instrument Choice, Supply-Side Dynamics, Tax Competition |
| JEL: | F21 H21 H30 H73 Q38 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.37&r=env |
| By: | ZhongXiang Zhang (College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin and School of Economics, Fudan University, Shanghai (China)) |
| Abstract: | Putting a price on carbon is considered a crucial step for China’s endeavor of harnessing the market forces to reduce its energy consumption and carbon emissions. Indeed, aligned with China’s grand experiment with low-carbon provinces and low-carbon cities in six provinces and thirty-six cities, the Chinese central government has approved the seven pilot carbon trading schemes. These pilot trading schemes have features in common, but vary considerably in their approach to issues such as the coverage of sectors, allocation of allowances, price uncertainty and market stabilization, potential market power of dominated players, use of offsets, and enforcement and compliance. This article explains why China turns to market forces and opts for emissions trading, rather than carbon or environmental taxes at least initially, discusses the five pilot trading schemes that have to comply with their emissions obligations by June 2014, and examines a wide range of design, implementation, enforcement and compliance issues related to China’s carbon trading pilots and their first-year performance. The article ends with drawing some lessons learned and discussing the options to evolve regional pilot carbon trading schemes into a nationwide carbon trading scheme. |
| Keywords: | Pilot Carbon Trading Schemes, Low-carbon Development, Environmental Taxes, Market Stabilization Mechanism, Carbon Offsets, Enforcement and Compliance, China |
| JEL: | H23 O13 P28 Q43 Q48 Q52 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.19&r=env |
| By: | Isabel Teichmann |
| Abstract: | Biochar is a carbon-rich solid obtained from the heating of biomass in the (near) absence of oxygen in a process called pyrolysis. Its soil incorporation is increasingly discussed as a means to sequester carbon in soils and, thus, to help mitigate climate change. When deployed in agricultural soils in Germany, it has been found by Teichmann (2014a, b) that slowpyrolysis biochar from a wide variety of feedstocks – together with the use of the pyrolysis by-products (liquids and gases) as renewable sources of energy – could lead to an annual mitigation of up to 10.2 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents by 2030 and of up to 10.6 million tonnes by 2050. To analyze whether this technically feasible greenhouse-gas mitigation potential is also economically viable, we calculate the corresponding greenhousegas mitigation costs and construct so-called marginal abatement cost curves. Thereby, we find that about 3.1 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents could be abated in 2030 at costs below €201245 per tonne of carbon dioxide and nearly 3.8 million tonnes in 2050 at costs below €201275 per tonne of carbon dioxide. |
| Keywords: | Biochar, agriculture, Germany, climate change, soil carbon sequestration, mitigation costs, marginal abatement cost curves |
| JEL: | Q15 Q24 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1476&r=env |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Central and West Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Central and West Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | The Pilot Program for Climate Resilience is a global initiative in nine countries and two regional programs in several countries—including Tajikistan—that face exceptional risks to climate change. The program helps put countries on a climate-resilient development path consistent with their poverty reduction and sustainable development goals. Tajikistan’s program is administered by the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the World Bank. It is being implemented in two phases and covers six priority investment areas. This report provides an overview of the technical assistance under PPCR’s phase 1 completed in 2010. |
| Keywords: | pilot program for climate resilience , Tajikistan, climate change , sustainable development goals , climate adaptation measures, multilateral development banks , delivery of weather climate and hydrological services, climate science and modeling program , climate resilience , sustainable land management , Pyanj River basin strategic program for climate resilience , hydroclimate modeling , river basis approach ,regional climate models |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt146803-3&r=env |
| By: | David Rosnick |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of population growth on global climate change. The author employs the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM) to estimate the effects of population growth on the change global average temperature by 2100. Observing that a larger population supports a larger economy, which translates in close proportion into additional releases of carbon dioxide (CO2), the paper notes that global temperature should in any year be nearly linear in relation to the rate of growth when the rate of population growth is constant. The paper finds that that an additional 1 percentage point of population growth through the end of the century would coincide with about an additional 2 degrees Fahrenheit in average global temperatures. Over time, the temperature change is greater and becomes increasingly sensitive to population growth. |
| Keywords: | environment, climate change, population, population growth, Global Change Assessment Mode |
| JEL: | Q Q5 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:epo:papers:2014-18&r=env |
| By: | Cristina Cattaneo (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)); Emanuele Massetti (Georgia Institute of Technology, CESIfo and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)) |
| Abstract: | We analyse whether migration is an adaptation that households employ to cope with climate in Ghana and Nigeria. If migration is part of the present adaptation portfolio of households in developing countries, it is reasonable to expect that it will also be an adaptation to future climate change. It is important to stress that we are interested in long-term climatic conditions rather than in short-term weather fluctuations. The data to test these predictions are drawn from two different household surveys: the Nigeria General Household Survey and the Ghana Living Standard Survey. We find a hill-shaped relationship between temperature in the dry sea son and the propensity to migrate in households that operate farms. We also find a significant hill-shaped relationship between precipitations in the wet seasons and the propensity to migrate in farm households. Climate has instead no significant impact on the propensity to migrate in non-farm households. Climate change scenarios generated by General Circulation model reveal that, ceteris paribus, migration may decline in Ghana and in Nigeria. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change Impacts, Migration, Development Economics |
| JEL: | O15 Q54 R23 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.29&r=env |
| By: | Maryse Labriet (Eneris Environment Energy Consultants, Spain); Laurent Drouet (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, Italy); Marc Vielle (Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne, Switzerland); Richard Loulou (Kanlo Consultants Sàrl, France); Amit Kanudia (Kanors Consultants, India); Alain Haurie (Ordecsys, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | In order to assess climate mitigation agreements, we propose an iterative procedure linking TIAM-WORLD, a global technology-rich optimization model, and GEMINI-E3, a global general equilibrium model. The coupling methodology combines the precise representation of energy and technology choices with a coherent representation of the macro-economic impacts, especially in terms of trade effects of climate policies on energy-intensive products. In climate mitigation scenarios, drastic technology breakthroughs are required as soon as possible, especially in large emitting countries, and in all sectors of the economy. Energy-intensive industries tend to be delocalized in regions where low-carbon production is feasible and cheap, or in regions without emission cap. However, emission leakage remains small, mainly due to global lower oil demand, and energy exporting countries are extremely penalized given lower energy exports. Emission reduction at least in the power sector and in energy-intensive industries of developing countries must be considered to reach the 2°C target. |
| Keywords: | Climate Policies, Energy, Techno-economic modelling, Macro-economic Modelling, World |
| JEL: | Q5 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.23&r=env |
| By: | Dinda, Soumyananda |
| Abstract: | This paper suggests a theoretical model of inclusive green growth. Paper analyses development mechanism through which natural resource capital regenerates (or at least non-degrade) and contributes to economic growth. Climate change is a threat to save natural resources which is a crucial productive capital in the economy and also challenges economic development in the 21st century. New development strategy is the inclusive green growth that leads towards sustainable development. This paper suggests policy inputs regarding regeneration of natural resource and its preservation in term of water shed development, flood control or development of ecosystem services through creation of jobs in the channel of productive consumption. Policy makers should focus on employability, regeneration and preservation of natural resource capital for sustaining livelihoods in the economy. |
| Keywords: | Green Growth, Climate Change, Social Capital, Productive Consumption, Reciprocity, Flood Control, Watershed Development, Natural Resource Capital, Human Capital, Inclusive Growth, Sustainable Development. |
| JEL: | I3 J3 Q15 Q18 Z18 |
| Date: | 2013–04–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:63951&r=env |
| By: | Reyer Gerlagh (Tilburg University, Netherlands); Inge van den Bijgaart (Tilburg University, Netherlands); Hans Nijland (PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Netherlands); Thomas Michielsen (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | T o what extent have national fiscal policies contributed to the decarbonisation of newly sold passenger cars? We construct a simple model that generates predictions regarding the effect of fiscal policies on average CO2 emissions of new cars, and then test the model empirically. Our empirical strategy combines a diverse series of data. First, we use a large database of vehicle-specific taxes in 15 EU countries over 2001-2010 to construct a measure for the vehicle registration and annual road tax levels, and separately, for the CO2 sensitivity of these taxes. We find that for many countries the fiscal policies have become more sensitive to CO2 emissions of new cars. We then use these constructed measures to estimate the effect of fiscal policies on the CO2 emissions of the new car fleet. The increased CO2-sensitivity of registration taxes have reduced the CO2 emission intensity of the average new car by 1,3 percent, partly through an induced increase of the share of diesel-fuelled cars by 6,5 percentage points. Higher fuel taxes lead to the purchase of more fuel efficient cars, but higher annual road taxes have no or an adverse effect. |
| Keywords: | Vehicle Registration Taxes, Fuel Taxes, CO2 Emissions |
| JEL: | H30 L62 Q48 Q54 Q58 R48 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.32&r=env |
| By: | Héctor M. Núñez; Andrés Trujillo-Barrera (Division of Economics, CIDE) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the impact of total and partial waivers of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) under uncertain changes in climate conditions that affects crop yields distributions. The main model results show that reducing RFS would make world agricultural consumers better off, and increase U.S. corn share in the world market, while slightly decrease agricultural commodity prices, but the higher the RFS reduction the higher the uncertainty on the price changes. On the other hand, price changes would make ethanol and agricultural producers face losses as well as increase gasoline consumption and, therefore, bringing larger environmental damages. Overall RFS reduction generates negative changes in total economic surplus, specifically, RFS reductions up to 40 percent generate significant changes in the socioeconomic variables, however any reductions beyond 40 percent do not appear to bring further changes, although welfare results appear more uncertain under an increased reduction. |
| Keywords: | Biofuel Policy, Climate Uncertainty, Crop Commodity Markets |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emc:wpaper:dte585&r=env |
| By: | Benjamin Michallet (University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne/Paris School of Economics, Paris (France)); Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta (University of Naples, L’Orientale, Naples (Italy)); François Facchini (University of Paris 11 (RITM), Paris (France)) |
| Abstract: | Why do parties offer environmental policies in their political programs? While a number of papers examine the determinants of citizens’ pro-environmental behaviour, we know little about the extent to which political parties adjust their platform towards environmentalism. We investigate this process through data provided by the Manifesto Project Dataset (CMP) for 20 European countries over the period 1970-2008. Following the literature on public concern towards environment, we examine economic, environmental and political determinants. Our findings provide evidence that political parties’ environmental concern is strongly correlated with their political ideology and with country-level economic conditions. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Concern, Environmental Attitudes, Political Parties, Electoral Manifestos |
| JEL: | Q58 D78 Z13 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.25&r=env |
| By: | Valentina Bosetti (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Milan (Italy) and Bocconi University, Milan (Italy)); Melanie Heugues (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Milan (Italy)); Alessandro Tavoni (Grantham Research Institute, London School of Economics, London (England)) |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of leadership in an experimental threshold public ‘bad’ game, where we manipulate both the relative returns of two investments (the more productive of which causes a negative externality) and the extent to which the gains from leadership diffuse to the group. The game tradeoffs mimic those faced by countries choosing to what degree and when to transition from incumbent polluting technologies to cleaner alternatives, with the overall commitment dictating whether they manage to avert dangerous environmental thresholds. Leading countries, by agreeing on a shared effort, may be pivotal in triggering emission reductions in non-signatories countries. In addition, the leaders’ coalition might also work as innovation and technology adoption catalyzer, thus producing a public good (knowledge) that benefits all countries. In our game, players can choose to tie their hands to a cooperative strategy by signing up to a coalition of first movers. The game is setup such that as long as the leading group reaches a pivotal size, its early investment in the externality-free project may catalyze cooperation by non-signatories. We find that the likelihood of reaching the pivotal size is higher when the benefits of early cooperation are completely appropriated by the coalition members, less so when these benefits spillover to the non-signatories. On the other hand, spillovers have the potential to entice second movers into adopting the ‘clean’ technology. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, International Cooperation, R&D Spillovers, Threshold Public Goods Game, Coalition Formation Game, Climate Experiment |
| JEL: | Q5 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.21&r=env |
| By: | Lopamudra Chakraborti; José Jaime Sainz Santamaría (Division of Economics, CIDE) |
| Abstract: | Studies on industrial pollution and community pressure in developing countries are rare. We employ previously unused, self-reported toxics pollution data from Mexico to show that there exists some evidence of environmental justice concerns and community pressure in explaining industrial pollution behavior. We obtain historical data on toxic releases into water and land for the time period 2004 to 2012. We focus on 7 major pollutants including heavy metals and cyanide. To address endogeneity concerns of socioeconomic demographic variables, we use data from 2000 Census of Population and Housing and 2005 count data. Our results show that the immediate local population might be affected more by on-site land pollution than end-of-pipe discharges into waterbodies as the latter affects only downstream communities. Among our consistent results, increase in percent of households with telephone leads to lower land (and water) pollution; while increase percent of households with computer leads to increase in water pollution only. Similarly, vulnerable population as captured by percent of population over 65 years and higher unemployment rate leads to higher water pollution only. Other proxies for income and poverty have expected signs but not consistently across all models. |
| Keywords: | Industrial Pollution, Local Income and Unemployment Effects, Informal Regulation, Environmental Justice, Community Pressure, Toxic Releases |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emc:wpaper:dte587&r=env |
| By: | Jean Pierre Huiban (INRA-ALISS); Camilla Mastromarco (Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Economia, Università del Salento, Italy); Antonio Musolesi (Department of Economics and Management, University of Ferrara, Italy); Michel Simioni (Toulouse School of Economics, INRA-GREMAQ and IDEI, France) |
| Abstract: | This paper revisits the Porter hypothesis by pursuing two new directions. First, we compare the results obtained with two complementary approaches: parametric stochastic frontier analysis and conditional nonparametric frontier analysis. They presents relative advantages and drawbacks. Secondly, we pay attention not only on the average pollution abatement effort effect but we also focus on its variability across rms and over time. We provide new results suggesting that the traditional view about the effect of environmental regulation on productivity and the Porter hypothesis may coexist. This evidence supports the idea that a well-designed environmental regulation affects positively the rm performances in some instances. |
| Keywords: | Porter hypothesis, pollution abatement investment, stochastic frontier analysis, time-varying eciency, Vuong test, conditional nonparametric frontier analysis. |
| JEL: | C14 C23 D24 Q50 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:0815&r=env |
| By: | Daniel M. Bodansky (Arizona State University); Seth A. Hoedl (Harvard University); Gilbert E. Metcalf (Tufts University); Robert N. Stavins (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Negotiations pursuant to the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action appear likely to lead to a 2015 Paris agreement that embodies a hybrid climate policy architecture, combining top-down elements, such as for monitoring, reporting, and verification, with bottom-up elements, including “nationally determined contributions” from each participating country, detailing what it intends to do to reduce emissions, based on its national circumstances. For such a system to be cost-effective—and thus more likely to achieve significant global emissions reductions—a key feature will be linkages among regional, national, and sub-national climate policies. By linkage, we mean a formal recognition by a greenhouse gas mitigation program in one jurisdiction (a regional, national, or sub-national government) of emission reductions undertaken in another jurisdiction for purposes of complying with the first jurisdiction’s mitigation program. We examine how a future international policy architecture could help facilitate the growth and operation of a robust system of international linkages of regional, national, and sub-national policies. Several design elements merit serious consideration for inclusion in the Paris agreement, either directly or by establishing a process for subsequent international elaboration. At the same time, including detailed linkage rules in the core agreement is not desirable because this could make it difficult for rules to evolve in light of experience. |
| Keywords: | Climate Policies, International Agreements |
| JEL: | Q5 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.26&r=env |
| By: | Jan Siegmeier (Technische Universität Berlin and Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change); Linus Mattauch (Technische Universität Berlin and Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change); Max Franks (Technische Universität Berlin and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research); David Klenert (Technische Universität Berlin and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research); Anselm Schultes (Technische Universität Berlin and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research); Ottmar Edenhofer (Technische Universität Berlin, Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research) |
| Abstract: | Climate change economics mostly neglects sizeable interactions of carbon pricing with other fiscal policy instruments. Conversely, public finance typically overlooks the effects of future decarbonization efforts when devising instruments for the major goals of fiscal policy. We argue that such a compartmentalisation is undesirable: policy design taking into account such interdependencies may enhance welfare and change the distribution of mitigation costs within and across generations. This claim is substantiated by analyzing six interactions between climate policy and public finance that are insufficiently explored in current research: (i) reduced tax competition in an open economy, (ii) portfolio effects induced through climate policy, (iii) restructuring public spending, (iv) revenue recycling for productive public investment, (v) greater intragenerational equity through appropriate revenue recycling and (vi) intergenerational Pareto-improvements through intertemporal transfers. We thereby structure the hitherto identified interactions between climate change mitigation and public finance and show that jointly considering carbon pricing and fiscal policy is legitimate and mandatory for sound policy appraisal. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Pricing, Taxation, Public Spending, Redistribution, Policy Interactions |
| JEL: | B41 H21 H23 H54 H60 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.31&r=env |
| By: | Antonio Musolesi; Jean Pierre Huiban; Camilla Mastromarco; Michel Simioni |
| Abstract: | This paper revisits the Porter hypothesis by pursuing two new directions. First, we compare the results obtained with two complementary approaches: parametric stochastic frontier analysis and conditional nonparametric frontier analysis. They presents relative advantages and drawbacks. Secondly, we pay attention not only on the average pollution abatement eort eect but we also focus on its variability across rms and over time. We provide new results suggesting that the traditional view about the eect of environmental regulation on productivity and the Porter hypothesis may coexist. This evidence supports the idea that a well-designed environmental regulation aects positively the rm performances in some instances. |
| Keywords: | Porter hypothesis; pollution abatement investment; stochastic frontier analysis; time-varying eciency; Vuong test; conditional nonparametric frontier analysis |
| JEL: | C14 C23 D24 Q50 |
| Date: | 2015–04–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udf:wpaper:2015084&r=env |
| By: | Paolo Falbo (Department of Economics and Management, University of Brescia); Juri Hinz (School of Mathematical Sciences, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney); Cristian Pelizzari (Department of Economics and Management, University of Brescia) |
| Abstract: | According to theoretical arguments, a properly designed emission trading system should help reaching pollution reduction at low social burden. Based on the theoretical work of environmental economists, cap-and-trade systems are put into operations all over the world. However, the practice from emissions trading yields a real stress test for the underlying theory and reveals a number of its weak points. This paper aims to fill the gap between general welfare concepts underlying understanding of liberalized market and speci?c issues of real-world emission market operation. In our work, we present a novel technique to analyze emission market equilibrium in order to address diverse questions in the setting of risk-averse market players. Our contribution signi?cantly upgrades all existing models in this ?eld, which neglect risk-aversion aspects at the cost of having a wide range of singularities in their conclusions, now resolved in our approach. Furthermore, we show how the architecture of an environmental market can be optimized under the realistic assumption of risk-aversion and which approximations must be met therefore. |
| Keywords: | emission trading; environmental ?nance;, market equilibrium |
| Date: | 2015–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uts:rpaper:359&r=env |
| By: | Emanuele Massetti (Georgia Institute of Technology); Robert Mendelsohn (Yale University); Shun Chonabayashi (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | Farmland values have traditionally been valued using seasonal temperature and precipitation. A new strand of the literature uses degree days over the growing season to predict farmland value. We find that degree days and daily temperature are interchangeable over the growing season. However, the way that degree days are used in these recent studies is problematic and leads to biased and inaccurate results. These new findings have serious implications for any study that copies this methodology. |
| Keywords: | Degree Days, Climate Change Impacts, Agriculture, Land Values |
| JEL: | Q12 Q24 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.12&r=env |
| By: | Giannis Vardas; Anastasios Xepapadeas (Athens University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | The evolution of renewable resources is characterized in many cases by different time scales where some state variables such as biomass, may evolve relatively faster than other state variables such as carrying capacity. Ignoring this time scale separation means that a slowly changing variable is treated as constant over time. Management rules designed without accounting for time scale separation will result in inefficiencies in resource management. We call this inefficiency time scale externality and we analyze renewable resource harvesting when carrying capacity evolves slowly, either in response to exogenous forcing or in response to emissions generated by the industrial sector of the economy. We study cooperative and non-cooperative solutions under time scale separation. Using singular perturbation reduction methods (Fenichel 1979), we examine the role of different time scales in environmental management and the potential errors in optimal regulation when time scale separation is ignored. |
| Keywords: | Optimal Resource Harvesting, Fast Slow Dynamics, Singular Perturbation, Regulation, Open Loop, Closed Loop |
| JEL: | D81 Q20 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.27&r=env |
| By: | Inge van den Bijgaart (Tilburg University (The Netherlands)) |
| Abstract: | We determine the core characteristics of a climate coalition’s optimal policies in a dynamic two country directed technical change framework. Unilateral policies alter the structure of production and thereby innovation incentives across countries. Whenever feasible, optimal policies implement sustainable growth by directing global innovation to the nonpolluting sector. If nonparticipants drive global innovation, this requires policies relocating clean production to nonparticipants. A calibration exercise suggests that the US or EU alone are too small to implement sustainable growth. A coalition of Annex I countries that signed the Kyoto protocol can implement sustainable growth, yet required tax rates are very high. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable Growth, Technical Change, Innovation |
| JEL: | Q5 Q56 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.11&r=env |
| By: | Elorri Igos (Public Research Centre Henri Tudor, Resource Centre for Environmental Technologies (CRTE), Luxembourg); Benedetto Rugani (Public Research Centre Henri Tudor, Resource Centre for Environmental Technologies (CRTE), Luxembourg); Sameer Rege (Public Research Centre Henri Tudor, Resource Centre for Environmental Technologies (CRTE), Luxembourg); Enrico Benetto (Public Research Centre Henri Tudor, Resource Centre for Environmental Technologies (CRTE), Luxembourg); Laurent Drouet (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Italy); Dan Zachary (Public Research Centre Henri Tudor, Resource Centre for Environmental Technologies (CRTE), Luxembourg); Tom Hass (Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économique du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg (STATEC), Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | The future evolution of energy supply technologies strongly depends on (and affects) the economic and environmental systems, due to the high dependency of this sector on the availability and cost of fossil fuels, especially on the small regional scale. This paper aims at presenting the modeling system and preliminary results of a research project conducted on the scale of Luxembourg to assess the environmental impact of future energy scenarios for the country, integrating outputs from partial and computable general equilibrium models within hybrid Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) frameworks. The general equilibrium model for Luxembourg, LUXGEM, is used to evaluate the economic impacts of policy decisions and other economic shocks over the time horizon 2006-2030. A techno-economic (partial equilibrium) model for Luxembourg, ETEM, is used instead to compute operation levels of various technologies to meet the demand for energy services at the least cost along the same timeline. The future energy demand and supply are made consistent by coupling ETEM with LUXGEM so as to have the same macro-economic variables and energy shares driving both models. The coupling results are then implemented within a set of Environmentally-Extended Input-Output (EE-IO) models in historical time series to test the feasibility of the integrated framework and then to assess the environmental impacts of the country. Accordingly, a disaggregated energy sector was built with the different ETEM technologies in the EE-IO to allow hybridization with Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) and enrich the process detail. The results show that the environmental impact slightly decreased overall from 2006 to 2009. Most of the impacts come from some imported commodities (natural gas, used to produce electricity, and metalliferous ores and metal scrap). The main energy production technology is the combined-cycle gas turbine plant “Twinerg”, representing almost 80% of the domestic electricity production in Luxembourg. In the hybrid EE-IO model, this technology contributes to around 7% of the total impact of the country’s net consumption. The causes of divergence between ETEM and LUXGEM are also thoroughly investigated to outline possible strategies of modeling improvements for future assessment of environmental impacts using EE-IO. Further analyses focus first on the completion of the models’ coupling and its application to the defined scenarios. Once the coupling is consistently accomplished, LUXGEM can compute the IO flows from 2010 to 2030, while the LCI processes in the hybrid system are harmonized with ETEM to represent the future domestic and imported energy technologies. |
| Keywords: | Life Cycle Assessment, Energy Scenarios, General Equilibrium Model, Techno-economic Model, Environmentally-extended Input-output, Hybridization |
| JEL: | Q40 C61 C67 C68 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.09&r=env |
| By: | Eftichios S. Sartzetakis (University of Macedonia, Department of Economics); Anastasios Xepapadeas (Athens University of Economics and Business and Beijer Fellow); Athanasios Yannacopoulos (Athens University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | Taking as given that we are consuming too much and that overconsumption leads to environmental degradation, the present paper examines the regulator's choices between informative advertisement and consumption taxation. We model overconsumption by considering individuals that care about social status apart from the intrinsic utility, derived from direct consumption. We assume that there also exist individuals that care only about their own private consumption and we examine the evolution of preferences through time by allowing individuals to alter their behavior as a result of a learning process, akin to a replicator dynamics type. We consider the regulator's choice of consumption taxation and informative advertisement both in an arbitrary and an optimal control context. In the arbitrary overconsumption control context we find that the regulator could decrease, or even eliminate, the share of status seekers in the population. In the context of optimal overconsumption control, we show that the highest welfare is attained when status seekers are completely eliminated, while the lowest in the case that the entire population consists of status seekers. |
| Keywords: | Status-seaking, Replicator Dynamics, Information Provision, Environmental Taxation |
| JEL: | Q53 Q58 D62 D82 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.34&r=env |
| By: | Jan Fagerberg (Professor, University of Oslo, Aalborg University, and Lund University); Staffan Laestadius (Professor Emeritus, Sustainability and Industrial Dynamics Division, Department of Industrial Economics & Management, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm); Ben R. Martin (Professor of Science and Technology Policy Studies, SPRU, University of Sussex) |
| Abstract: | Europe is confronted by an intimidating triple challenge Ð economic stagnation, climate change, and a governance crisis. This paper demonstrates how the three challenges are closely inter- related, and discusses how they can be dealt with more effectively in order to arrive at a more economically secure, environmentally sustainable and well governed Europe. In particular, a return to economic growth cannot come at the expense of greater risk of irreversible climate change. Instead, what is required is a fundamental transformation of the economy to a new ÔgreenÕ trajectory based on rapidly diminishing emission of greenhouse gases. This entails much greater emphasis on innovation in all its forms (not just technological). Following this path would mean turning Europe into a veritable laboratory for sustainable growth, environmentally as well as socially. The paper is based on a forthcoming book: Fagerberg, J., S. Laestadius and B. R. Martin eds. (2015) The Triple Challenge for Europe: Economic Development, Climate Change and Governance, Oxford University Press. |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tik:inowpp:20150422&r=env |
| By: | Carlota Perez |
| Abstract: | This paper takes up Chris Freeman's challenge of facing the environmental limits with science, technology and innovation in order to keep open the possibilities of the developing world along a sustainable "green" growth path. It analyses the differences between the energy intensive paradigm of mass production and consumerism in mid-20th Century and the potential shift to sustainability generally provided by the ICT revolution. It then focuses on the developing world and examines the changes in the global market context that are creating windows of opportunity for local innovation, social inclusion and green growth. It finally discusses the alliances and conditions for taking full advantage of the available transformative potential. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aal:glowps:2014-01&r=env |
| By: | Isabel Teichmann |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwddc:dd78&r=env |
| By: | Charles F. Mason (University of Wyoming, London School of Economics (Grantham Institute) and Resources for the Future); Lucija A. Muehlenbachs (University of Calgary and Resources for the Future); Sheila M. Olmstead (University of Texas at Austin and Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | In the past decade, innovations in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have fueled a boom in the production of natural gas (as well as oil) from geological formations – primarily deep shales – in which hydrocarbon production was previously unprofitable. Impacts on U.S. fossil fuel production and the U.S. economy more broadly have been transformative, even in the first decade. The boom has been accompanied by concerns about negative externalities, including impacts to air, water, and quality of life in producing regions. We describe the economic benefits of the shale gas boom, including direct market impacts and positive externalities, providing back-of-the-envelope estimates of their magnitude. The paper also summarizes the current science and economics literatures on negative externalities. We conclude that the likely scope of economic benefits is extraordinarily large, and that continued research on the magnitude of negative externalities is necessary to inform risk-mitigating policies. |
| Keywords: | Hydraulic Fracturing, Economic Benefits, Positive Externalities, Negative Externalities, Environmental Impacts |
| JEL: | Q4 Q42 Q5 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.17&r=env |
| By: | C. Dionisio Pérez Blanco (University of Alcalá (UAH) and Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies in Water Technologies (IMDEA-Water), Madrid (Spain)); Thomas Thaler (Flood Hazard Research Center (FHRC), Middlesex University, London (United Kingdom)) |
| Abstract: | Traditionally, water policy has focused on coordinating the public effort required to fuel economic growth by supplying water services demanded as a result of the progress in the many areas of the economy. Under this supply-oriented paradigm, population growth and the improvement of living standards brought about by development have driven water demand up and the pressures over water resources have escalated. The failure to acknowledge the limited availability of water and to decouple economic development from water demand has resulted in a water dependent growth model that in many areas is currently threatened by increasing scarcity and more frequent and intense droughts. Consequently, there is an urgent need to use sparse water resources in a sustainable and efficient way. This demands a comprehensive assessment of water productivity dynamics as well as of the linkages among economic sectors in order to calculate the actual costs of eventual water reallocations to the environment and establish priorities in the design of strategic actions such as river basin or drought management plans. However, available studies only offer static analyses that are insufficient to attain the dual objective of reverting current water scarcity trends without impairing economic growth. This paper develops a methodology based on the Hypothetical Extraction Method to estimate inter-temporal indirect (i.e., including intersectoral linkages) water productivity values. The method is applied in the Spanish region of Castile and León for the period 2000-2006. The intensive use and the low water productivity found for agriculture confirms the intuition that this sector has to play a fundamental role in any water saving policy. However, the relevant linkages between agriculture and the rest of the economy, which acts as an indirect consumer of water for irrigation, may complicate the finding of a Pareto improvement in water allocation. Results also show increasing returns to scale in the manufacturing industry and the service sector, which may be regarded as an evidence of the existence of a Verdoorn’s Law for water. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Input-output Modeling, Verdoorn’s Law, Water Management, Productivity |
| JEL: | Q25 Q28 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.07&r=env |
| By: | Vladimir Otrachshenko (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change and Nova School of Business and Economics and Universidade Nova de Lisboa); Francesco Bosello (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change and University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of marine ecosystem quality on inbound coastal tourism in the Baltic, North Sea, and Mediterranean countries. Given extensive empirical findings in ecological science, we use marine protected areas (MPAs) and the fraction of species that are shed in each country’s exclusive economic zone that are overexploited or collapsed as a proxy for marine ecosystem quality. We use an autoregressive distributed lag model in a destination-origin panel set up. The empirical findings of this paper suggest that MPAs have a negative direct effect on tourism. However, this effect is reversed when the interaction terms with economic variables are included. Also, by using the fraction of species that are overexploited as an indicator of the deterioration of marine ecosystem quality, we find a considerable negative impact of this index on inbound coastal tourism. The short-term (current) impact of this index on tourism constitutes less than half of the long-term impact. Results provide valuable information for policy makers, suggesting that measures enhancing marine ecosystem quality should be considered in addition to conventional tourism policies focused on price. |
| Keywords: | Coastal Tourism, Marine Ecosystem Quality, Panel Data |
| JEL: | C33 Q57 Q26 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.16&r=env |
| By: | Todd D. Gerarden (Harvard University); Richard G. Newell (Duke University); Robert N. Stavins (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Energy-efficient technologies offer considerable promise for reducing the financial costs and environmental damages associated with energy use, but these technologies appear not to be adopted by consumers and businesses to the degree that would apparently be justified, even on a purely financial basis. We present two complementary frameworks for understanding this so-called “energy paradox” or “energy-efficiency gap.” First, we build on the previous literature by dividing potential explanations for the energy-efficiency gap into three categories: market failures, behavioral anomalies, and model and measurement errors. Second, we posit that it is useful to think in terms of the fundamental elements of cost-minimizing energy-efficiency decisions. This provides a decomposition that organizes thinking around four questions. First, are product offerings and pricing economically efficient? Second, are energy operating costs inefficiently priced and/or understood? Third, are product choices cost-minimizing in present value terms? Fourth, do other costs inhibit more energy-efficient decisions? We review empirical evidence on these questions, with an emphasis on recent advances, and offer suggestions for future research. |
| Keywords: | Energy-Efficiency, Financial Costs, Environmental Damages |
| JEL: | Q4 Q48 Q5 Q55 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.35&r=env |
| By: | Lorenza Campagnolo (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici); Fabio Eboli (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici) |
| Keywords: | Material Productivity, Resource Efficiency, Sustainable Development Indicators, Computable General Equilibrium |
| JEL: | C68 D58 L61 O13 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.36&r=env |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); (Central and West Asia Department, ADB); ; |
| Abstract: | If water is to be managed in a sustainable way, the planners and managers must know how much there is and how much of it is needed, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. The report provides the guidance, methods, data, and analyses needed to assess water availability and needs in micro watersheds. It shows how to prepare short-, medium-, and long-term water investment and management plans on the basis of volume of surface and groundwater within a watershed and the needs of agriculture, people, and livestock. It offers a practical approach based on real-life assessments that have helped planners decide on investments to develop and manage water. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture and natural resources, Water, water balance, sustainable development, water assessment, integrated water resources management, Pakistan, water availability, rainfall, snowmelt runoff, groundwater, water consumption, agriculture, livestock, watershed management, irrigation, Bajaur, Khyber, Mohmand, geographic information system, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), FATA Development Authority, curve number method, electric resistivity survey, water balance model, water infrastructure |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt146624-3&r=env |
| By: | Carlos M. Gómez (University of Alcalá (UAH) and Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies in Water Technologies (IMDEA-Water), Madrid (Spain)); C. Dionisio Pérez-Blanco (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) and Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Venice (Italy)) |
| Abstract: | Greening the economy is mostly about improving water governance and not only about putting the existing resource saving technical alternatives into practice. Focusing on the second and forgetting the first risks finishing with a highly efficient use of water services at the level of each individual user but with an unsustainable amount of water use for the entire economy. This might be happening already in many places with the modernization of irrigated agriculture, the world’s largest water user and the one offering the most promising water saving opportunities. In spite of high expectations, modern irrigation techniques seem not to be contributing to reduce water scarcity and increase drought resiliency. In fact, according to the little evidence available, in some areas they are resulting in higher water use. Building on basic economic principles this study aims to show the conditions under which this apparently paradoxical outcome, known as the Jevons’ Paradox, might appear. This basic model is expected to serve as guidance for assessing the actual outcomes of increasing irrigation efficiency and to discuss the changes in water governance that would be required for this to make a real contribution to sustainable water management. |
| Keywords: | Jevons' Paradox, Rebound Effect, Agricultural Economics, Water Economics, Irrigation Efficiency |
| JEL: | Q15 Q18 Q25 Q51 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.08&r=env |
| By: | Wei Jin (School of Public Policy, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China); ZhongXiang Zhang (School of Economics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China) |
| Abstract: | International diffusion of energy-saving technologies has received considerable attention in recent energy and climate economics studies. As a helpful methodological complement to the existing large-scale CGE/IAM–based modelling for energy and climate policy studies, this paper contributes to a transparent analytical model for an economically intuitive exposition on the fundamental mechanism of international technology diffusion for energy technological growth. We first develop an efficiency-improving vertical innovation model where energy technological progress is specified as an improvement in primary energy use efficiency. Then a variety-expanding horizontal innovation model is presented where energy technological progress is described as an expansion of energy technology variety. We show that in both models there is a cross-country convergence in the growth rate of energy technology in a long-run balanced growth path, but the absolute levels of energy technology tend to diverge due to cross-country differences in indigenous innovation efficiencies and knowledge absorptive capacities. An economy with a stronger capacity of absorbing foreign knowledge diffusion and undertaking indigenous research tends to have a higher level of energy technology. |
| Keywords: | Technological Progress, Energy Technology, International Technology Diffusion, Endogenous Technological Change |
| JEL: | Q55 Q58 Q43 Q48 O13 O31 O33 O44 F18 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.24&r=env |
| By: | Daisy Das (Department of Economics and International Business, Sam Houston State University) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the benefits and costs of living around Kaziranga National Park (KNP), a protected area in Assam (India), by conducting a primary survey among the people who live in the neighboring villages. It finds no evidence of eviction or pecuniary punishment by the park authority against the households as feared by the villagers. The resource extraction pattern shows that it cannot be a cause of conflict between people and the park. Our findings show that potential conflict arises primarily because of the fact that people suffer damages due to animal raids but the park authority rarely takes any effective measures to contain it or to compensate for those damages. Besides, the eco-development programs are not effectively implemented to improve wellbeing of the people living in the neighboring areas. Furthermore, the gainful employment opportunities in tourism-related activities are confined to a relatively small segment of the local population. Consequently, people harbor a negative attitude toward the park authority. However, the study also shows that tourism and related activities generate substantial benefits (including income) that offset the losses caused by animal raids. Thus, tourism holds the promise of eliminating the negative attitude among people toward conservation and resolving potential conflicts. However, utmost care should be taken to ensure that the tourism activities do not hinder the efforts to conserve biodiversity of the park. The construction of tourism infrastructure should not destroy the flora and fauna of the park and should be sensitive to the ways of wildlife living. |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shs:wpaper:1502&r=env |
| By: | Francesco Bosello (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici and Università degli Studi di Milano); Elisa Delpiazzo (Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici); Fabio Eboli (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici) |
| Abstract: | The present research has been developed within the EU FP7 VECTORS project (http://www.marine-vectors.eu/). The main scope of the project (2011-2015) has been to evaluate, from a multilateral perspective, drivers, pressures and vectors of changes in marine life of three main European seas (Baltic, Western Mediterranean, North), the mechanisms by which they do so and the impacts that they have on ecosystem structures and functioning as well as on economic activities and wellbeing. This paper describes the methodology, data elaboration and main results of a modelling exercise aiming to assess the economic effect of future changes in the EU marine ecosystem in the medium term (2030). We focus on those changes potentially affecting the fishing and the tourism sectors in two different IPCC SRES scenarios, the A2 and B1, varying in the future trends of population, GDP, prices, as well as the overall impact on environment. Sector-specific economic impacts are channeled through increases in fishing effort, due to lower availability of commercial fish species, and decrease in tourism demand following deterioration of marine ecosystem quality. Impacts on EU coastal countries Gross Domestic Product are negative and larger when the tourism sector is affected. This is explained by the much higher contribution of tourism than fishery in the production of value added. Negative impacts are also larger in the A2 than in the B1 scenario. The largest GDP losses due to adverse impacts on fishery are experienced by Spain (-0.13%), those related to tourism by Italy (almost -1%). Percent changes in sectoral production are notably larger than GDP ones: the largest contraction in fish sector production occurs in France (-24.7%). Notable decrease in coastal tourism demand occurs in Spain and the Netherlands. In general the Western Mediterranean is the most adversely affected region, whereas the Baltic Sea denotes a particular vulnerability to losses in tourism value added compared to the BAU. North Sea countries experience smaller losses. |
| Keywords: | Impact Assessment, Computable General Equilibrium, Fisheries, Tourism, Marine Ecosystem |
| JEL: | C68 D58 L83 Q22 Q57 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.22&r=env |
| By: | Anna Drutschinin; Juan Casado-Asensio; Jan Corfee-Morlot; Dilys Roe |
| Abstract: | This paper considers how development co-operation is addressing the twin objectives of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use on the one hand, and development and poverty reduction on the other. It outlines how development co-operation can a) support mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem services into development; b) manage for results, particularly across trade-offs and synergies; c) incorporate monitoring and evaluating approaches into biodiversity-related development co-operation activities; and d) better align and harmonise providers’ activities with partner country priorities. The paper showcases examples of how development co-operation is supporting conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services. It also identifies areas where more research is needed, such as sharing experience with the tools and good practices available for successful mainstreaming, and developing indicators to improve monitoring and evaluation to boost understanding of the effectiveness of biodiversity-related development interventions and of the relative performance of different mainstreaming approaches. |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:dcdaaa:21-en&r=env |
| By: | Simone Tagliapietra (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei) |
| Abstract: | This study seeks to provide a clear and comprehensive overview on the various aspects related to the current status and the future prospects of renewable energy (namely solar and wind) in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries (SEMCs). In order to do so, the study will first provide a comprehensive analysis of the regional energy market, particularly focusing on the booming energy -and electricity- demand. This key trend is likely to further accelerate in the future, at a level that might create additional risks to the economic sustainability of the region, considering the extensive use of universal fossil-fuel consumption subsidies. Meanwhile, solar and wind energy continue to cover less than 1% of the region’s electricity generation mix: a figure that strongly collides with the region’s abundant solar and wind resources. In fact, SEMCs are endowed with a huge solar and wind energy potential. The exploitation of this potential could bring various benefits to the region, such as meeting the rising energy/electricity demand at a lower cost, freeing up additional export volumes of oil and gas in energy exporting countries, reducing energy bills in energy importing countries, creating new jobs, alleviating energy poverty, enhancing the quality of the environment and enhancing cooperation both among SEMCs and between SEMCs and the EU. Notwithstanding all the efforts to promote renewable energy carried out over the last decade both at the regional level and at the European level (e.g. Desertec, Mediterranean Solar Plan, etc.), SEMCs continue to lag far behind most other regions in the world in terms of solar and wind energy deployment. This study will try to explore the reasons of this paradox, particularly focusing on the key barriers to the development of renewable energy in the region: the extensive use of energy subsidies and the lack of adequate electricity infrastructures, energy regulatory frameworks and financing mechanisms. On the basis of this in-depth analysis, the study will propose an innovative approach to tackle these barriers, involving a joint action of MedTSO, MEDREG and key financial institutions under the umbrella of a newly-established “Euro-Med Renewable Energy Platform” designed to become -on the basis of an inclusive, pragmatic and bottom-up approach- the new catalyst for the development of renewable energy in SEMCs. |
| Keywords: | Mediterranean Energy Markets, Renewable Energy, CSP, Solar Energy, Wind Energy |
| JEL: | Q40 Q42 Q48 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.30&r=env |
| By: | van Kleef, J.A.G. (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management) |
| Abstract: | Since the 1960s, the attention paid by policy makers and scientists to the negative environmental and social effects of economic development has grown steadily. However, although some progress has been made in a number of areas, unsustainable trends in the patterns of our systems of production and consumption have not changed to any significant degree. <br/>This research is based on the observation that innovation to improve sustainable development requires learning at societal, organizational and individual levels. Business practices influence the development of systems of production and consumption, and in order to move towards sustainable development there is a need for innovation in the way businesses learn and innovate. <br/>The research focuses on innovation processes and uses case studies of four innovation projects in the paper and board producing industry in The Netherlands. Three main aspects of innovation projects are identified: the development of innovation processes, the development of inter-organizational learning systems, and the development of capabilities that enable the innovation processes and the management of learning systems. On the basis of these aspects, a conceptual model is built that demonstrates the dynamics of inter-organizational learning for innovation. The conclusions drawn, with respect to learning for innovation and sustainable development, cover the fields of team diversity, learning from the past, joint decision-making, guidance by experienced senior managers, and dealing with the complexity of social issues and the dynamics of innovation projects. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutis:53e08d21-5ede-40c3-a181-b22c8418ddc5&r=env |
| By: | Petterson Molina Vale (London School of Economics and Political Science) |
| Abstract: | More cattle, less deforestation? Land use intensification in the Amazon is an unexpected phenomenon. Theories of hollow frontier, speculative behaviour and boom-bust all share the prediction that livestock production will remain largely extensive. Yet between 1996 and 2006 productivity of cattle grew by an astounding 57.5% in the average Amazon municipality. Does rising land productivity of cattle increase deforestation? I use secondary data and spatial econometrics to look for evidence of a positive relation between cattle intensification and deforestation (‘rebound effect’). The reduced-form model I employ is based on a spatial econometric specification by Arima et al. (2011) and uses panel data at the municipality-level. I show that mounting productivity in consolidated areas has been associated with lower deforestation both in frontier and consolidated municipalities. This suggests that any process of out-migration spurred by the rising productivity is insufficient to have a positive impact on deforestation. |
| Keywords: | Amazon, Rebound Effect, Intensification, Deforestation, Land Use, Cattle Ranching |
| JEL: | Q53 Q15 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.20&r=env |
| By: | Arnaud Michel; Marek Hudon |
| Abstract: | Community or complementary currency systems have spread all around the world. Most often, they have been promoted as tools to foster sustainable development albeit they differ in terms of specific objectives. While many case studies have tried to assess the actual impact of these systems, there has been no global analysis summarizing their global impact.This paper aims to fill the gap by exploring whether complementary currencies contribute to the three pillars of sustainable development. We use the systematic review methodology on an original dataset gathering most academic publications published on the topic in English, French and Spanish. Our main findings suggest that community currencies mostly contribute to social sustainability, and that their economic benefits are somewhat limited due to their small scale and the lack of awareness on their scope. Moreover, very few studies explicitly identified environmental outcomes. Finally, this review reveals some limits regarding current methods for impact assessment in this field. Therefore it encourages more standardisation to provide greater accuracy and strengthen the legitimacy of community currencies’ in order to foster their continued development. |
| Date: | 2015–04–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/198776&r=env |
| By: | Quamrul Ashraf (Williams College); Stelios Michalopoulos (Brown University) |
| Abstract: | This research examines the climatic origins of the diffusion of Neolithic agriculture across countries and archaeological sites. The theory suggests that a foraging society's history of climatic shocks shaped the timing of its adoption of farming. Specifically, as long as climatic disturbances did not lead to a collapse of the underlying resource base, the rate at which hunter-gatherers were climatically propelled to experiment with their habitats determined the accumulation of tacit knowledge complementary to farming. Consistent with the proposed hypothesis, the empirical investigation demonstrates that, conditional on biogeographic endowments, climatic volatility has a hump-shaped effect on the timing of the adoption of agriculture. |
| Keywords: | Hunting and gathering, agriculture, Neolithic Revolution, climatic volatility, Broad Spectrum Revolution, technological progress |
| JEL: | N50 O11 O13 O31 O33 O44 O57 Q56 Z13 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wil:wileco:2015-07&r=env |
| By: | Alejandro López-Feldman (Division of Economics, CIDE) |
| Abstract: | This document describes some of the methodologies used in economics to analyze the relationship between use of natural resources, poverty and inequality. Data from a representative sample of rural households from the South-southeast region of Mexico are used to illustrate the methodologies as well as to show how to interpret the results. The objective is to familiarize the reader with these methodologies so she can use them in her own analyses. Whenever possible details about the Stata (version 12) commands that are used to obtain the results are presented. |
| Keywords: | Poverty, Inequality, Use of Natural Resources, Poverty Dynamics |
| JEL: | I32 O12 O13 Q2 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emc:wpaper:dte590&r=env |