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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Amigues, Jean-Pierre; Moreaux, Michel |
| Abstract: | The global economy produces energy from two sources: a polluting nonrenewable resource and a renewable resource. Transforming crude energy into ready-to-use energy services requires costly processes and more efficient energy transformation rates are more costly to achieve. Renewable energy is in competition with food production for land acreage but the food productivity rate of land can also be improved at some cost. The exploitation of non-renewable energy releases polluting emissions in the atmosphere. To avoid catastrophic climate damages, the pollution stock is mandated to stay below a given cap. In the interesting case where the economy would be constrained by the carbon cap at least temporarily, we show the following. When the economy is not constrained by the cap, the efficiency rates of energy transformation increase steadily until the transition toward the ultimate green economy; when renewable energy is exploited, its land acreage rises at the expense of food production; food productivity increases together with the land rent but food production drops; the prices of useful energy and food increase and renewables substitute for non-renewable energy. During the constrained phase, the economy follows a constant path of prices, quantities, efficiency rates, food productivity and land rent, a phenomenon we call the generalized ceiling paradox. |
| Keywords: | energy efficiency; carbon pollution; non-renewable resources; renewable resources; land use |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:30210&r=env |
| By: | Peters, Jörg |
| Abstract: | Inefficient firewood and charcoal usage contributes massively to global greenhouse gas emissions and causes four million mortal diseases a year: Relative to other climate protection measures, public investments in the dissemination of improved biomass cooking stoves provide a very effective low cost measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. More than three billion people in developing countries rely on inefficient cooking stoves fuelled by firewood and charcoal. Improved cookstoves have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas abatement costs to only 3 Euro per ton of CO2 equivalent and at the same time alleviate poverty. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwiimp:128152&r=env |
| By: | Mai Farid; Michael Keen; Michael G Papaioannou; Ian W.H. Parry; Catherine A. Pattillo; Anna Ter-Martirosyan |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses the implications of climate change for fiscal, financial, and macroeconomic policies. Most pressing is the use of carbon taxes (or equivalent trading systems) to implement the emissions mitigation pledges submitted by 186 countries for the December 2015 Paris Agreement while providing revenue for lowering other taxes or debt. Carbon pricing in developing countries would effectively mobilize climate finance, and carbon price floor arrangements are a promising way to coordinate policies internationally. Targeted fiscal measures that are tailored to national circumstances and robust across climate scenarios are needed to counter private sector under-investment in climate adaptation. And increased disclosure of carbon footprints, stress testing of asset values, and greater proliferation of hedging instruments, will facilitate low-emission investments and climate risk diversification through financial markets. |
| Keywords: | Financial markets;Fiscal policy;Climate mitigation, climate finance, adaptation, climate, carbon, emissions, climate change, co, Environmental Economics: Government Policy, All Countries, |
| Date: | 2016–01–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfsdn:16/01&r=env |
| By: | Sebastien Desbureaux (CERDI - Centre d'études et de recherches sur le developpement international - Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Sigrid Aubert (CIRAD - CIRAD - CIRAD); Laura Brimont (IDDRI - Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales - Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Paris); Alain Karsenty (CIRAD - CIRAD - CIRAD); Alexio Clovis Lohanivo (CIRAD - CIRAD - CIRAD); Manohisoa Rakotondrabe (ESSA - Université d'Antananarivo); Andrianjakarivo Henintsoa Razafindraibe (ESSA - Université d'Antananarivo); Jules Razafiarijaona (ESSA - Université d'Antananarivo) |
| Abstract: | Protected areas (PAs) remain the primary conservation instrument of Madagascar’s unique but threatened biodiversity. We combine matching and panel regressions in a quasi-natural experiment setting to analyze PAs’ environmental effectiveness annually between 2001 and 2012 and study two channels that moderate the impact: initial poverty rates and local variations in law enforcement. Our findings show that PAs have stabilized deforestation around a positive trend without having halted it. Their overall environmental impact is however limited: PAs created before the 2000 have helped to slow down deforestation by approximately 20%, meaning that 80% of forests are still cleared even though they are protected. As for new PA created from the mid-2000s, the early impact is statistically not significant. As a result, the total welfare impact of protection is currently uncertain. We show that PAs have been effective for municipalities where overall law enforcement was the lowest: PAs have helped to limit what we call opportunistic deforestation. Meanwhile, PAs have been poorly effective when poverty rates were high: when necessity is the driver of deforestation, PAs are not sufficient to slow down deforestation. As a consequence, effectively stopping deforestation in Madagascar will require ambitious policies to trigger the necessary agricultural transition for the country. |
| Keywords: | Impact Evaluation, Protected Areas, Africa, Madagascar |
| Date: | 2016–02–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01278872&r=env |
| By: | Cathrine Hagem; Halvor Briseid Storrøsten (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | The starting point of this paper is a climate coalition which seeks to reduce global emissions. It is well known from the literature on (spatial) carbon leakage that the climate effect of unilateral measures may be partly offset by the actions of the free-riders. Furthermore, from the literature on the green paradox, we know that stringent demand-side policies in the future may increase present emissions. The novelty of this paper is that we also explore how the coalition’s future policies regarding own fossil fuel production (supply-side policies) affect the present emissions from the free-riders. In particular, we find that a credible announcement of future unilateral supply-side policies reduces early foreign emissions. We derive the optimal combination of consumer taxes and producer taxes when both spatial and intertemporal leakages from the free-riders are taken into account. We show that the tax shares generally differ over time, and that a declining present value of the social cost of carbon over time supports a time path where the consumer tax’s share of the total carbon tax also declines over time. We illustrate our findings with a numerical model for the global fossil fuel markets, considering European unilateral carbon policies. |
| Keywords: | climate coalition; carbon leakage; green paradox; supply-side climate policy; demand-side climate policy |
| JEL: | H23 Q41 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:836&r=env |
| By: | Jules RAZAFIARIJAONA; Andrianjakarivo Henintsoa RAZAFINDRAIBE; Manohisoa RAKOTONDRABE; Alexio Clovis LOHANIVO; Alain KARSENTY; Laura BRIMONT; Sigrid AUBERT; Sebastien DESBUREAUX |
| Abstract: | Protected areas (PAs) remain the primary conservation instrument of Madagascar’s unique but threatened biodiversity. We combine matching and panel regressions in a quasi-natural experiment setting to analyze PAs’ environmental effectiveness annually between 2001 and 2012 and study two channels that moderate the impact: initial poverty rates and local variations in law enforcement. Our findings show that PAs have stabilized deforestation around a positive trend without having halted it. Their overall environmental impact is however limited: PAs created before the 2000 have helped to slow down deforestation by approximately 20%, meaning that 80% of forests are still cleared even though they are protected. As for new PA created from the mid-2000s, the early impact is statistically not significant. As a result, the total welfare impact of protection is currently uncertain. We show that PAs have been effective for municipalities where overall law enforcement was the lowest: PAs have helped to limit what we call opportunistic deforestation. Meanwhile, PAs have been poorly effective when poverty rates were high: when necessity is the driver of deforestation, PAs are not sufficient to slow down deforestation. As a consequence, effectively stopping deforestation in Madagascar will require ambitious policies to trigger the necessary agricultural transition for the country. |
| Keywords: | Impact Evaluation; Protected Areas; Africa; Madagascar |
| JEL: | O13 Q58 Q28 Q2 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1787&r=env |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the first empirical analysis of the macroeconomic relationship between environmentally related taxes and inequality in income sources. The analysis also investigates whether this relationship differs between countries which have implemented environmental tax reforms (ETRs) and ones which have not. Following earlier empirical literature, income inequality is measured by the disposable-income-based Gini coefficient. The analysis is based on a panel of all 34 OECD countries spanning the period from 1995 to 2011. Information about the implementation of ETRS in the examined period is collected through a review of relevant academic and policy literature. Empirical results from econometric models reveal that, on average, there is no statistically significant relationship between the overall share of environmentally related tax revenues in GDP and inequality in income sources. However, the relationship varies with the taxed activity under consideration and the existence of an explicit mechanism to redistribute environmentally related tax revenues. In countries where such mechanisms are absent, energy tax revenues (% of GDP) are shown to have a positive, although modest, relationship with income inequality. In contrast, in countries where energy tax revenues are, at least partially, used to reduce tax burden on income and labour, there is a negative relationship between energy taxes and inequality in income sources. On the contrary, no significant relationship is identified between motor vehicle and other transport tax revenues and income inequality, while revenues from other environmentally related taxes, such as waste and air pollution taxes, are negatively associated with income inequality, regardless of the existence of an explicit revenue recycling mechanism. Ce rapport présente la première analyse empirique des effets macroéconomiques des taxes liées à l’environnement sur les inégalités de revenus, ainsi que du rôle que des réformes spécifiques de la fiscalité environnementale peuvent jouer dans l’atténuation de ces effets. Les inégalités de revenus sont ici mesurées par le coefficient de Gini fondé sur le revenu disponible. Cette analyse empirique utilise un nouvel indicateur des réformes fiscales environnementales (RFEs) élaboré sur la base de l’information qualitative recueillie par une étude de la littérature. Contrairement aux études empiriques antérieures, ce document explore l’effet des taxes liées à l’environnement et des RFEs sur les sources de revenus des ménages, plutôt que sur les utilisations de ce revenu. Cette analyse repose sur un panel composé des 34 pays de l’OCDE et couvre la période comprise entre 1995 et 2011. Elle montre que la part générale des recettes tirées des taxes liées à l’environnement dans le produit intérieur brut (PIB) présente une corrélation positive avec les inégalités de revenus. Cependant, cet effet varie selon l’activité assujettie. Alors que l’on a démontré que les recettes issues des taxes sur l’énergie affichent une relation positive avec les inégalités de revenus, aucun effet tranché ne se dessine pour les recettes produites par les taxes sur les véhicules à moteur et les transports. En revanche, les recettes générées par les autres taxes liées à l’environnement, comme celles perçues sur les déchets et sur la pollution atmosphérique, affichent une relation négative avec les inégalités de revenus. Les RFEs examinées jouent un rôle important dans l’atténuation des impacts négatifs des taxes liées à l’environnement (principalement celles sur l’énergie). On constate en particulier qu’elles annulent complètement ces impacts. Ce constat vient étayer l’argument selon lequel les effets distributifs des taxes liées à l’environnement ne devraient pas être considérés comme des obstacles insurmontables au recours à ces taxes dans ce champ de l’action publique, car des RFE conçues avec soin et bien ciblées peuvent atténuer les effets éventuels de ces taxes sur les inégalités de revenus. |
| Keywords: | income inequality, environmental tax reform, Gini coefficient, Energy tax, coefficient de Gini, Réformes fiscales environnementales, Taxe sur l’énergie, inégalités de revenu |
| JEL: | E62 H23 Q48 Q52 |
| Date: | 2016–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaaa:100-en&r=env |
| By: | Isaure DELAPORTE (FERDI); Mathilde MAUREL (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne CNRS - Université Paris 1) |
| Abstract: | Climate change is expected to disproportionately affect agriculture; however, there is limited information on smallholder farmers ‘ overall vulnerability and adaptation needs. This paper estimates the impact of climatic shocks on the household agricultural income and subsequently, on farmers ‘ adaptation strategies. Relying on data from a survey conducted in several communities in Bangladesh in 2011 and based on an IV probit approach, the results show that a one percentage point climate induced decline in agricultural income pushes households to adapt by almost 3 percentage points. However, certain strategies are too costly and cannot be afforded in bad times. For those strategies, we provide evidence of barriers that constrain the development and deployment of adaptive measures, noticeably access to electricity and wealth. |
| JEL: | D10 Q12 Q54 Q56 O13 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fdi:wpaper:2681&r=env |
| By: | Isaure DELAPORTE (FERDI); Mathilde MAUREL (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne CNRS - Université Paris 1) |
| Abstract: | Climate change is expected to disproportionately affect agriculture; however, there is limited information on smallholder farmers ‘ overall vulnerability and adaptation needs. This paper estimates the impact of climatic shocks on the household agricultural income and subsequently, on farmers ‘ adaptation strategies. Relying on data from a survey conducted in several communities in Bangladesh in 2011 and based on an IV probit approach, the results show that a one percentage point climate induced decline in agricultural income pushes households to adapt by almost 3 percentage points. However, certain strategies are too costly and cannot be afforded in bad times. For those strategies, we provide evidence of barriers that constrain the development and deployment of adaptive measures, noticeably access to electricity and wealth. |
| JEL: | D10 Q12 Q54 Q56 O13 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fdi:wpaper:2679&r=env |
| By: | Ben Jebli, Mehdi; Ben Youssef, Slim |
| Abstract: | This paper employs the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach and Granger causality tests to examine the dynamic causal links between per capita combustible renewables and waste (CRW) consumption, agricultural value added (AVA), carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and real gross domestic product (GDP) for the case of Brazil, spanning the period 1980-2011. The Fisher statistic of the Wald test confirms the existence of long-run cointegration between the considered variables. Short-run empirical findings reveal that there is a unidirectional causality running from agriculture to CO2 emissions and to GDP. However, there is long-run bidirectional causality between all considered variables. The ARDL long-run estimates show that both CRW consumption and AVA contribute to increase economic growth and to decrease CO2 emissions. Agricultural production and CRW consumption seem to play substitutable roles in the Brazilian economy as increasing CRW consumption reduces AVA in the long-run, and vice versa. In addition, economic growth increases agricultural production at the expense of CRW production. We recommend that Brazil should continue to encourage agricultural and biofuels productions. The actual substitutability between agricultural and biofuels production should be reduced or even stopped by encouraging second-generation biofuels and discouraging first-generation biofuels. This may be done by policies of subsidization or taxation, encouraging R&D, and giving competitive credits. |
| Keywords: | Autoregressive distributed lag; Granger causality; combustible renewables and waste; agricultural value added; Brazil. |
| JEL: | C32 O13 O54 Q42 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–02–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:69694&r=env |
| By: | Declan Conway; Emma Archer van Garderen; Delphine Deryng; Steve Dorling; Tobias Krueger; Willem Landman; Bruce Lankford; Karen Lebek; Tim Osborn; Claudia Ringler; James Thurlow; Tingju Zhu; Carole Dalin |
| Abstract: | In southern Africa, the connections between climate and the water–energy–food nexus are strong. Physical and socioeconomic exposure to climate is high in many areas and in crucial economic sectors. Spatial interdependence is also high, driven, for example, by the regional extent of many climate anomalies and river basins and aquifers that span national boundaries. There is now strong evidence of the effects of individual climate anomalies, but associations between national rainfall and gross domestic product and crop production remain relatively weak. The majority of climate models project decreases in annual precipitation for southern Africa, typically by as much as 20% by the 2080s. Impact models suggest these changes would propagate into reduced water availability and crop yields. Recognition of spatial and sectoral interdependencies should inform policies, institutions and investments for enhancing water, energy and food security. Three key political and economic instruments could be strengthened for this purpose: the Southern African Development Community, the Southern African Power Pool and trade of agricultural products amounting to significant transfers of embedded water. |
| JEL: | N0 L81 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:63308&r=env |
| By: | Thomas, Timothy S. |
| Abstract: | Heat is a serious barrier to maize productivity increases, and heat is expected to rise as a result of climate change. Using county-level annual yields for rainfed maize for 2,616 US counties from 1980 to 2010, we conduct a multivariate, nonparametric yield response analysis to weather, maize price, and time trend to project climate impact on maize and to compare with climate projections from crop models. When we compare with climate impacts predicted by biophysical models, we find that our analysis tends to support the most pessimistic of the biophysical model projections for climate change. We also demonstrate that growth in maize yields in the United States between 1980 and 2010 was higher under high temperatures than under moderate temperatures, with yields growing 20.2 percent faster when the mean daily maximum temperature for the warmest month ranged from 34 to 35 degrees Celsius instead of 28 to 29 degrees. Similarly, we find that US maize has become more tolerant of lower rainfall levels, with yields growing 15.9 percent faster between 1980 and 2010 when rainfall is below 250 millimeters in the first four months of the growing period compared with when it is between 400 and 450 millimeters (the optimal amount of rainfall). This suggests that significant adaptation to current and future effects of climate change is already taking place for US maize. |
| Keywords: | maize, climate change, heat stres, water stress, productivity, climate change adaptation, model intercomparison, panel analysis, agricultural productivity, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1485&r=env |
| By: | Masha Maslianskaia-Pautrel (GRANEM, University of Angers); Catherine Baumont pba148 (Laboratoire d’Economie de Dijon (LEDi), University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté, CNRS UMR 6307, U1200 INSERM) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the spatial dimension of the environmental effects. We use recent advances in spatial econometrics to show that hedonic equations produce estimates to be differently interpreted as implicit prices according to spatial models. In particularly, the implicit price of housing attribute combines a feedback effect and a propagation effect and may be interpreted in terms of local or global spillovers. We drive an empirical study in the estuary of the Loire, a rural and urban area well occupied by various natural areas and more artificialized ones. We study various spatial interaction patterns to test the robustness of our estimates and we find that spatial dependencies based on inverse distance and small neighborhoods provide stable estimations. It is consistent too with realistic spatial interaction patterns for household behaviors: information on closer housings is more reliable and comparison areas are in fact limited by the research process. As expected, positive impacts are concentrated on traditional attributes like the proximity to the ocean frontage and quiet places. On the contrary, the presence of various natural wet amenities is negatively valued because of the impression of housing density associated to flood risk. If urban places are more valued by households, it's rather because rural location are less desired than because of urban intrinsic attributes. |
| Keywords: | Environmental valuation, Direct and indirect effects, Spatial hedonic models, Spatial weight matrix, Spillovers |
| JEL: | Q51 C21 C18 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2016.04&r=env |
| By: | Roberto Roson; Richard Damania |
| Abstract: | In this paper we consider some of the economic implications of climate change scenarios as described in the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). By comparing potential water demand with estimates of (sustainable) water availability in different regions, we identify regions that are likely to be constrained in their future economic growth potential by the scarcity of water resources. We assess the macroeconomic impact of water scarcity under alternative allocation rules finding that, by assigning more water to sectors in which it has a higher value, shifting production to less water intensive sectors, and importing more water intensive goods, constrained regions can effectively neutralize these water related climate risks and adapt to a changing water environment. However, this adaptation effort is likely to imply some radical changes in water management policies. |
| Keywords: | Water, Economic Growth, Shared Socio-economic Pathways, Computable General Equilibrium, Virtual Water Trade. |
| JEL: | C68 F18 F43 O11 Q01 Q25 Q32 Q56 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcu:iefewp:iefewp84&r=env |
| By: | Lionel Nesta (OFCE); Francesco Vona (OFCE) |
| Abstract: | This policy brief addresses the issue of the complementarity of policies supporting renewable energy and market competition in fostering green innovation. Innovation is commonly regarded as the best answer to sustaining current life standards while overcoming severe environmental concerns. This is especially relevant in the case of energy, where increasing resource scarcity calls for the rapid development of alternative energy sources, notably renewable energy. 2) Although as of today, renewable energy (RE henceforth) cannot compete with fossil fuel in terms of production costs, impressive technological progress has paved the way to new promising sources such as biomass, solar and wind, among others. 3) Countries too have developed areas of specialization in specific types of renewable energy sources: for example, Denmark has established a strong technological advantage in wind technologies, Sweden and Germany have specialized in bioenergy, Germany and Spain in solar, Norway and Austria in Hydropower. France, with its specialization in nuclear energy, seems to be lagging behind in RE innovation, as compared with other major players such as the USA or Germany. |
| Keywords: | Renewable energy; Green innovation; Market competition |
| JEL: | Q2 Q4 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/s7ouirg8f83sohbc3077aukl9&r=env |
| By: | Robinson, Sherman; Mason d'Croz, Daniel; Islam, Shahnila; Sulser, Timothy B.; Robertson, Richard D.; Zhu, Tingju; Gueneau, Arthur; Pitois, Gauthier; Rosegrant, Mark W. |
| Abstract: | The International Food Policy Research Institute’s International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade (IMPACT) supports analysis of long-term challenges and opportunities for food, agriculture, and natural resources at global and regional scales. IMPACT is continually being updated and improved to better inform the choices that decisionmakers face today. This document describes the latest version of the model. IMPACT version 3 expands the geographic and commodity scope of the model in response to desires expressed by researchers and policymakers to address more complex questions involving climate change, food security, and economic development into the future. IMPACT 3 is an integrated modeling system that links information from climate models (Earth System Models), crop simulation models (for example, Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer), and water models linked to a core global, partial equilibrium, multimarket model focused on the agriculture sector. This model system supports longer-term scenario analysis through the integration of these multidisciplinary modules to provide researchers and policymakers with a flexible tool to assess and compare the potential effects of changes in biophysical systems, socioeconomic trends, technologies, and policies. |
| Keywords: | mathematical models, simulation models, agriculture, international trade, food security, climate change, markets, welfare, hydrology, water use, water management, drought stress, International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade IMPACT model, scenario analysis, multi-market model, modular modeling approach, welfare analysis, global hydrology, water basin management, water stress simulation, crop simulation modeling, ex ante analysis, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1483&r=env |
| By: | Ngo Van Long |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the literature concerning the impacts of other-regarding preferences and ethical choice on environmental outcomes when agents behave strategically. We consider two types of other-regarding preferences: (i) envy or status concern, (ii) altruism and inequality aversion. We contrast the preference-based approach with the ethical approach in which some choices are made on ethical ground and thus are not necessarily utility-maximizing. Models exhibiting other-regarding preferences do not yield unambiguous results concerning the effects of strategic behavior on the environment. In contrast, models in which choices are motivated by Kantian ethics display more robust results. Cet article offre un survol de la littérature sur les effets environnementaux des choix motivés par des considérations éthiques et des préférences qui portent sur les autres. On considère les préférences influencées par i) l’envie ou par ii) l’altruisme et l’aversion de l’inégalité. On compare l’approche basée sur ces préférences et l’approche basée sur l’éthique. Les modèles inspirés de la première approche ne donnent pas des résultats robustes. Par contre, les modèles basés sur la dernière approche sont beaucoup plus robustes. |
| Keywords: | Corporate governance; environment; Kantian equilibrium, Gouvernance d’entreprise; environnement; équilibre kantien |
| JEL: | Q31 Q42 |
| Date: | 2016–02–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirwor:2016s-10&r=env |
| By: | Bachev, Hrabrin |
| Abstract: | The issue of governance and evaluation of sustainability of farming enterprise like individual and family farms, agro-companies, agro-cooperatives, etc. is among the most discussed among researchers, farmers, investors, politicians, interests groups and public at large. Despite the significant development of the theory and practice in that new area still there is no common understanding on “what is (how to define) sustainability of farming enterprises?”, „what is the difference and relations between farm and agrarian sustainability?“, “which are the critical factors of sustainability of farming enterprises?”, “which are the governing mechanisms and forms for farms sustainability?”, “how to select the most-efficient forms for governing of farms sustainability?”, and “how to evaluate the sustainability level of farming enterprises” in a dynamic world, where hardly there is anything actually “sustainable. This paper tries to give answer to all these questions. First, evolution of the “concept” of sustainability of farming enterprises is initially analyzed and discussed. On that base is suggested adequate definition of farming enterprise’ sustainability as ability of a particular farm to maintain its governance, economic, social and ecological functions in a long term. After that principle mechanisms and modes of governance of sustainability of farming enterprise are specified, including institutional environment, market, private, collective, public and hybrid modes. Following applicable for the contemporary conditions of the development of Bulgarian agriculture framework for assessing the farm sustainability level is suggested. The later includes a system of appropriate principles, criteria, indicators, and reference values, which characterise the governance, economic, ecological and social aspects of farms sustainability as well as approach for their integration and interpretation. Finally, a framework for analysing and assessing the efficiency of the individual components and the entire system of governance for farm enterprise’ sustainability is suggested. Ultimate objective of this study is to discuss and experiment efficiency of suggested framework, and after improving it to suggest it for a wider use in farm and agri-business management, and improvement of policies and modes of public intervention in agrarian sector. |
| Keywords: | farming enterprise, sustainability, governance, economic, social, ecological aspects, market, private and public modes of governance |
| JEL: | Q12 Q13 Q15 Q18 Q5 Q56 Q57 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–01–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:69734&r=env |
| By: | Robert E. T. Ward |
| Abstract: | The results cited by Lomborg (2015) are almost entirely due to the assumptions he makes about the post-2030 annual emissions from the United States, European Union and China. In each of these cases, annual emissions are assumed not to reduce any further, and in most cases, to rise. |
| JEL: | E61 H70 |
| Date: | 2016–02–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:65572&r=env |
| By: | Eric Nazindigouba Kere (CERDI - Centre d'études et de recherches sur le developpement international - Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Somlanare Romuald Kinda (Université Ouaga - Université Ouaga - Université Ouagadougou [Université Ouagadougou]) |
| Abstract: | This article analyzes the role of spatial spillovers in the relationship between climate change and food security in developing countries over the period of 1971-2010. Using a Samuelson’s spatial price equilibrium model (theoretically) and Spatial Durbin Model (empirically), results show a strategic substitutability between the levels of food availability in the countries suggesting that an increase of food availability in a given country decreases the food availability of neighboring countries. Second climate change (water balance variability, droughts, floods and extreme temperatures) reduces food availability both in the affected countries and its main food trading partners. Third, food demand factors in a country may have the opposite (asymmetric) effect on its major trading partners. Fourth, supply factors have symmetric impact on food availability. |
| Keywords: | Food security, Climate change, Spatial spillovers, Spatial econometrics, Developing countries. |
| Date: | 2016–02–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01278873&r=env |
| By: | Stefano Bosi (EPEE, University of Evry); David Desmarchelier (ECONOMIX, University of Paris Ouest); Lionel Ragot (ECONOMIX, University of Paris Ouest and CEPII) |
| Abstract: | We consider a competitive Ramsey economy where a pollution externality affects both consumption demand and labor supply, and we assume the stock of pollution to be persistent over time. Surprisingly, when pollution jointly increases the consumption demand (compensation effect) and lowers the labor supply (leisure effect), multiple equilibria arise near the steady state (local indeterminacy) through a Hopf bifurcation (limit cycle). This result challenges the standard view of pollution as a flow to obtain local indeterminacy, and depends on the leisure effect which renders the pollution accumulation process more volatile. |
| Keywords: | Pollution, Endogenous labor supply, Limit cycle, Ramsey model |
| JEL: | E32 O44 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2016.03&r=env |
| By: | Hu, Zihan; Li, Teng |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationships between high temperatures during pregnancy and birth weight and later outcomes using random temperature fluctuations across 131 counties in China. One standard deviation increase of high-temperature days during pregnancy triggers about 0.07 kg lower birth weight, and, in adulthood, a 0.80 cm decrease in height, 0.27 fewer years of schooling, 13.30% less annual earnings, and 8.77%, 10.96%, and 7.31% of one standard deviation lower for evaluated health, word-, and math-test score, respectively. The impacts seem to be concentrated in the second trimester. Such effects should be included in calculations of the costs of global warming. Back-of-the-envelope predictions suggest that at the end of the 21st century, newborns on average will weigh 0.02-0.09 kg less; losses in height and education years will be 0.27-1.05 cm and 0.09-0.35 years, respectively. We also conclude that adverse effects of high temperatures are more likely to be consistent with physiological effects than income effects, because: (i) places with the high proportion of heat-tolerant crop area do not mitigate any estimated temperature sensitivity during pregnancy and (ii) total precipitation and high temperatures in the last year growing season before birth have no significant effects on all outcomes. |
| Keywords: | High temperatures during pregnancy, birth weight, adult welfare outcomes, global warming |
| JEL: | I12 I21 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:69644&r=env |
| By: | Sam, Aflaki; Syed Abul, Basher; Andrea, Masini |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to contribute to the longstanding technology-push vs. demand-pull debate and to the literature on renewable energy policy assessment. We argue that in addition to the traditional push–pull dichotomy, the drivers of technological change must be differentiated by whether they are exogenous or endogenous to the economic system and must be assessed with respect to their contribution to both the creation and the diffusion of innovation. We apply this perspective to study innovation in the renewable energy (RE) industry in 15 European Union countries from 1990 to 2012. Using different panel data estimators, we find that public R&D investments, policies supporting RE and per capita income all have a positive effect on either innovation creation or diffusion, whereas the variability of policy support has a negative impact on diffusion. However, impacts are heterogeneous and differ depending on the innovation dimension considered. Most importantly, we find that economic growth is a stronger driver of RE diffusion than technology-push or exogenous demand-pull mechanisms, whereas it is relatively ineffective at stimulating innovation creation. The effect of economic growth on RE diffusion exhibits a nonlinear, U-shaped pattern that resonates with the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis. RE penetration remains negligible at low levels of growth whereas it increases sharply only after income per capita has reached a given threshold. This effect has both a direct cause (with increased affluence demand for environmental quality rises) and an indirect cause (with increased affluence expensive RE policies become more affordable and get implemented more extensively). Our findings have implications for policy making. They suggest that for RE diffusion to increase, innovation policies should be carefully balanced. Government action should be directed not only at shielding renewables from competition with fossil fuel technologies, but also at stimulating aggregated demand and economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Deployment policy, Technological innovation, Renewable Energy, Environmental Kuznets Curve, Nonstationary Panel. |
| JEL: | C23 O31 O33 O38 O44 |
| Date: | 2016–02–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:69773&r=env |
| By: | Galbreath, Jeremy |
| Abstract: | The wine industry faces significant risks climate change, such that the security of future production is under threat. To address this risk, in this paper, a framework is proposed to examine responses to climate change in the wine industry. Building upon the literature and relying on expert input, the framework takes into consideration mitigative and adaptive actions across market-based, regulatory/standards-based, and operational-based levels. To explore the framework, a case study is developed for Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), one of the world’s largest wine producers. The case study reveals verification of the framework, with TWE relying on several technologies and unique processes to engage in many mitigative and adaptive actions across the proposed levels. The findings suggest several opportunities for future study. |
| Keywords: | Australia, carbon emissions, climate change, greenhouse gases, strategy, wine, Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aawewp:231251&r=env |
| By: | Robert E. Kopp; Rachael Shwom; Gernot Wagner; Jiacan Yuan |
| Abstract: | The literature on the costs of climate change often draws a link between climatic 'tipping points' and economic catastrophes. The use of the phrase 'tipping point' in this context is less restrictive than in popular and social scientific discourse. Whereas 'tipping points' generally involve abrupt changes, for some climatic ones, the commitment to a change may occur abruptly, but the change itself may take centuries or longer to realize. Additionally, the connection between climatic 'tipping points' and economic losses is tenuous, though emerging empirical and process-model-based tools provide pathways for investigating it. We propose terminology to distinguish 'tipping points' in the sense popularized by Gladwell from climatic 'tipping elements' (in the sense introduced by Lenton and colleagues), as well as from economic catastrophes. We illustrate our proposed distinction by surveying the literature on climatic tipping elements, climatically-sensitive social tipping points, and economic catastrophes, and we propose a research agenda for investigating all three. |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1603.00850&r=env |
| By: | Rosario Adapon Turvey (Lakehead University) |
| Abstract: | The paper presents a pilot study based on a survey of skills and learning in sustainable community development in Ontario, Canada for a country-wide research on place-making for building sustainable communities. Place-making is a transformative process of planning, designing and managing places, with people in mind. By definition, a ‘small-urban municipality’ (SUM) is a city or urban area with a population of 60,000 that have adopted an environmental action plan and/or economic development strategies to achieve economic prosperity and community sustainability. The research examines the ‘skills question’ in the labour market such as job mismatch, skills squeeze and shortage of critical talent in building sustainable communities. Its overarching goal is to provide insights on the learning needs, skill patterns and future capacities for sustainable community development (SCD) to establish highly skilled professionals in building sustainable communities. Its focus is on communities representing Southern and Northern communities that meet the population criterion. The pilot survey’s target population is 300 professionals of three groups. Group 1 is from local government (Mayors and/or Reeves) to get a local policy perspective; Group 2 from core occupations and professions comprising a broad mix of built-environment professions and public service professionals; and Group 3 are related professions such as regeneration officers and social workers. Group 2 professionals range from landscape architects, urban designers, engineers, environmental officers/managers, housing and welfare officers, urban planners, energy planners and economic development officers/managers. A survey of generic, specialist and technical skills and knowledge of future professionals were made for acquired and required skills by profession and group. For data analysis, the Likert scale data are to be analyzed using Mann-Whitney U (Zar 1996). Cronbach’s Alpha is used to provide an internal consistency estimate of test score reliability (Cronbach 1951). R (R Development Core Team 2008) and SPSS 20.0 (IBM 2011) statistical software packages will be used for all analyses. Projections of skill and workforce scale gaps with an evaluation model on knowledge and skills on the learning capacities of SUMs will be done as the current data is still preliminary. In driving the skills agenda to establish the capacity requirements in SUMs, the rationale is to promote meaningful skills development and strategic learning strategy in sustainability education through programs and courses that are responsive, proactive and complementary to the demands of contemporary SCD practice. |
| Keywords: | small urban municipalities, sustainable community development, place-making |
| JEL: | Q56 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:3305876&r=env |
| By: | Anissa Chaibi; Mohamed Arouri; Gazi Salah Uddin; Sanjib Chakraborty; Philippe Foulquier |
| Date: | 2016–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2013-33&r=env |
| By: | Keiichi Sato,Hiroaki Matsuura,Yozo Tanaka,Shingo Nagamatsu,Masahiro Ooi,Miho Ohara,Yuu Hiroi |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of three different public disaster risk information (earthquakes, floods and landslides) on land, housing, and rent prices in Japan. Using two levels of risk information data (250m-mesh and municipality level), we analyze the following effects: the 30-year probability of an earthquake with a Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale of upper-6 and more, the 30-year probability of an above-floor flood inundation, and the sediment disaster hazard area on published land price, real estate transaction price, and rent price published online. We find the positive effect of the probability of an earthquake and an above-floor flood inundation on published land and other prices in general, but find that these prices significantly decrease in the area where the 30-year probability of an earthquake and an above-floor flood inundation are particularly high (50% and more). We also find that the sediment disaster hazard area decreases land and other prices across different specifications. The further research is needed to better understand how people receive and process different disaster risk information and choose their residential location. |
| Keywords: | inequality, heterogeneous agents, productivity growth rates, discount factors JEL Classification Numbers: D24, D31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esj:esridp:327&r=env |
| By: | Vicent Alcántara (Department of Applied Economics, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona); Emilio Padilla (Department of Applied Economics, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona); Matias Piaggio (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía) |
| Abstract: | We analyse the NOx gas emissions of different productive sectors in Spain. Using input–output analysis, we study all sectors as subsystems of the economy and classify them according to the explanatory factors of their total (direct and indirect) emissions. This classification provides guidance on the type of policies that should be developed in the different sectors with the aim of mitigating NOx emissions. Some sectors that seem less important when looking at their direct emissions turn out to be highly relevant in terms of their total emissions. The results indicate that demand policies can be effective in these sectors, especially in construction, but also in some service sectors that do not appear to be important polluters at first sight. These policies can complement technical improvements and best practice measures applied to directly polluting sectors. |
| Keywords: | input–output analysis, NOx emissions, subsystems |
| JEL: | C63 Q53 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-02-16&r=env |
| By: | Orea, Luis; Wall, Alan |
| Abstract: | Eco-efficiency has been defined by the OECD as “the efficiency with which ecological resources are used to meet human needs” and can be considered a measure of environmental performance that takes into account both the environmental and economic objectives of firms. Frontier models are an ideal tool for measuring eco-efficiency. While the literature applying frontier models to the empirical measurement of eco-efficiency has been growing steadily in recent years, it has exclusively relied on non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methods to measure eco-efficiency and its determinants. We propose a parametric Stochastic Frontier (SF) model to measure eco-efficiency, arguing that this has several potential advantages. We provide an empirical application using cross-sectional data from Spanish dairy farms which includes information on environmental and economic indicators as well as a series of potential socio-economic determinants of eco-efficiency. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oeg:wpaper:2015/02&r=env |
| By: | Georg Müller Fürstenberger; Ingmar Schumacher |
| Date: | 2016–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2013-7&r=env |
| By: | Frédéric Marty (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | The Art. 194 TFEU has offered new powers to European Union to coordinate Member States policies in the field of energy policy according to a logic of solidarity in order to achieve common goods, as the security of supply. This article, introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, seems to offer to the Commission new levy to play in the energy policy field additionally to competition and environmental policies. However, this levy seems to be hindered by its subordination to Member States choices in terms of energy mix and external policy. The competition policy might appear as the only way to implement a European energy policy. However, the capacity of competition law enforcement to build energy market remains questionable. Our paper investigates to what extent a European policy based on solidarity and subsidiarity principles might address the difficulties of “energy only markets” to provide these common goods. To this end, we particularly investigate the case of long-term contracts and we rely on an economics of conventions theoretical framework. |
| Abstract: | L’article 194 du TFUE a conféré de bouveaux pouvoirs aux instances européennes notamment dans le domaine de l’énergie. Une politique énergétique peut être menée dans une logique de solidarité afin de garantir des objectifs communs, tels la sécurité d’approvisionnement. Ce faisant le Traité de Lisbonne semble donner de nouveaux leviers à la Commission dans le domaine de l’énergie en addition des politiques de concurrence et environnementale. Cependant, ces possibilités semblent entravées par leur subordination aux Etats membres qui demeurent libres de déterminer leur mix énergétique et leur politique d’approvisionnement extérieur. Ce faisant, la politique de concurrence semble s’avérer le seul levier de mettre en œuvre une politique énergétique européenne. Cependant, dans le même temps, la capacité de l’outil concurrentiel à créer des marchés dans le secteur de l’énergie reste questionnable. Notre article montre sous quelles conditions une action publique européenne basée sur les principes de solidarité et de subsidiarité pourrait répondre aux limites des « energy only markets ». A cette fin, nous nous penchons plus en détail sur la question des contrats de long terme et nous mobilisons le cadre théorique de l’économie des conventions. |
| Keywords: | energy,competition,long-term contracts,security of supply,énergie, concurrence, contrats de long terme, sécurité d’approvisionnement |
| Date: | 2016–02–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01273770&r=env |
| By: | Nicholas Sim (School of Economics, University of Adelaide) |
| Abstract: | Having robust estimates of how global warming affects agricultural production is important for developing informed policies in response to food security, but the existing studies have been at odds on what this effect might be. This article conducts a meta-analysis based on 130 primary econometric studies to better understand the conflict among the existing estimates of warming on agriculture. We find that the difference in econometric model specification is an important source of disagreement, and that this disagreement can be greatly reduced if the studies model temperature nonlinearly, use a growing season temperature measure, and cross-sectional data which captures adaptations |
| Keywords: | Climate change impact, Agriculture, Meta-analysis, Inconsistency |
| JEL: | Q15 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adl:wpaper:2016-04&r=env |
| By: | Quentin Perrier (CIRED, Engie); Philippe Quirion (CIRED, CNRS) |
| Abstract: | Dans le débat public sur la transition énergétique en France, l’emploi occupe une place prépondérante. Nous calculons, pour l’économie française en 2010, le contenu en emploi et en gaz à effet de serre des différentes branches, c’est-à-dire le nombre d’emplois et de tonnes-équivalent-CO2 par million d’euros de demande finale. Nous utilisons pour cela le tableau entrées-sorties au niveau le plus désagrégé disponible (64 branches). Nous développons et appliquons ensuite une méthodologie originale pour décomposer les écarts de contenu en emploi entre branches en cinq facteurs : le taux d’importations de produits finaux, le taux d’importations de consommations intermédiaires, les taux de taxes et subventions, les niveaux de salaire et la part de la rémunération du travail dans la valeur ajoutée. Enfin, nous étudions certaines substitutions interbranches qui découleraient d’une transition énergétique visant à réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Les résultats sont les suivants. Premièrement, un contenu en emploi plus élevé d’une branche s’explique, en moyenne et par ordre d’importance, par des salaires plus faibles, des importations plus faibles de produits finaux, une part plus importante du travail dans la valeur ajoutée, des importations plus faibles de consommations intermédiaires, et en dernier lieu par des taxes plus faibles. Deuxièmement, parmi les branches dont le contenu en gaz à effet de serre est élevé, celles qui présentent en même temps un faible contenu en emploi (électricité et industrie lourde) sont couvertes par le système européen de quotas de gaz à effet de serre. A l’inverse, celles qui présentent en même temps un fort contenu en emploi (agriculture, agroalimentaire et transport terrestre) ne sont pas couvertes par une politique climatique – la crainte d’un impact négatif sur l’emploi constituant une explication possible. Troisièmement, la transition énergétique implique des déplacements interbranches de demande finale que nous identifions. Ces substitutions favorisent des branches présentant un contenu en emploi plus élevé. Ces augmentations de contenu en emploi s’expliquent, mais en partie seulement, par des salaires plus élevés dans les branches amenées à réduire leur activité. |
| Keywords: | Emploi, Transition énergétique, Emissions de gaz à effet de serre, Substitutions intersectorielles, Input-output |
| JEL: | E2 Q5 O13 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2016.09&r=env |
| By: | Ingmar Schumacher; Benteng Zou |
| Date: | 2016–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2013-15&r=env |
| By: | Luca Marchiori; Jean Francois Maystadt; Ingmar Schumacher |
| Date: | 2016–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2013-17&r=env |
| By: | Lei Zhu; et al. |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qsh:wpaper:374786&r=env |