|
on Environmental Economics |
|
Issue of 2016‒04‒04
forty-two papers chosen by Francisco S. Ramos Universidade Federal de Pernambuco |
| By: | Gupta, Shreekant; Sen, Partha; Verma, Saumya |
| Abstract: | In India, agriculture accounts for about sixty percent of employment. How would climate change, that is expected to hit agriculture in poorer countries very hard, affect India's agriculture? We study the impact of climate change on the mean and variance of yields of three food grains — rice (India's major crop), sorghum and pearl millet — at the district level using a panel data set for 1966-2002. An agricultural production function is estimated with exogenous climate variables -- precipitation and temperature -- controlling for other non climate inputs. To capture the impact of climate extremes, climate variables are modelled as anomalies. The results show that climate change adversely affects mean and variance of crop yields. Rice yields are found to be sensitive to rainfall extremes, extremely high temperatures increase sorghum yield variability, with pearl millet yields invariant to both rainfall and temperature extremes. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, agricultural impacts, developing countries |
| JEL: | O13 Q54 R11 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hitcei:2015-9&r=env |
| By: | Mohamad Taghvaee, Vahid; Hajiani, Parviz |
| Abstract: | The global warming, if not global burning, is a dire warning about environmental pollution dangers to everyone, living on the only one Earth. This study aims to measure relative contributors to the environmental quality changes during 2002-2011 using Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index in China and the US. Since these countries are the biggest polluters in the world, the decomposition technique is used to cut their wide environmental issues into the tiny bits of problems, being easy to cope with. Moreover, we employed Environmental Performance Index (EPI) to evolve the concept of Environmental Productivity of Energy (EPE). The results suggest that economic growth and income equality are environmentallyfriendly while energy consumption is environmentally-unfriendly; and the Environmental Productivity of Energy (EPE) and technology progress are environmentally-moody (with various effects on environment). Consequently, the policy makers are advised to develop those economic sectors which are independent of pollutant energies; to replace the black energies by the green ones; and to invest on the research about the products whose demand is price inelastic. |
| Keywords: | Environment, Energy, Productivity, Decomposition |
| JEL: | Q5 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:70057&r=env |
| By: | Wagner, Liam; Ross, Ian; Foster, John; Hankamer, Ben |
| Abstract: | The United Nations Conference on Climate Change (Paris 2015) reached an international agreement to keep the rise in global average temperature ‘well below 2°C’ and to ‘aim to limit the increase to 1.5°C’. These reductions will have to be made in the face of rising global energy demand. Here a thoroughly validated dynamic econometric model (Eq 1) is used to forecast global energy demand growth (International Energy Agency and BP), which is driven by an increase of the global population (UN), energy use per person and real GDP (World Bank and Maddison). Even relatively conservative assumptions put a severe upward pressure on forecast global energy demand and highlight three areas of concern. First, is the potential for an exponential increase of fossil fuel consumption, if renewable energy systems are not rapidly scaled up. Second, implementation of internationally mandated CO2 emission controls are forecast to place serious constraints on fossil fuel use from ~2030 onward, raising energy security implications. Third is the challenge of maintaining the international ‘pro-growth’ strategy being used to meet poverty alleviation targets, while reducing CO2 emissions. Our findings place global economists and environmentalists on the same side as they indicate that the scale up of CO2 neutral renewable energy systems is not only important to protect against climate change, but to enhance global energy security by reducing our dependence of fossil fuels and to provide a sustainable basis for economic development and poverty alleviation. Very hard choices will have to be made to achieve ‘sustainable development’ goals. |
| Keywords: | Energy Economics, Environmental Economics, Development Economics, Climate Change, Carbon Emissions, Coal, Natural Gas, Oil, Wind, Solar, Economic History, Energy Policy |
| JEL: | E17 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q54 Q56 Q57 |
| Date: | 2016–03–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:69941&r=env |
| By: | Roberto Martino; Phu Nguyen-Van |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a unified framework to investigate simultaneously environmental convergence and the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, which were usually separately investigated in existing literature. We propose an application on CO2 emissions data consisting of 106 countries observed over the period 1970-2010. We adopt an instrumental semiparametric panel data model and we compare the estimates with standard parametric methods. There is no evidence supporting the environmental Kuznets hypothesis, even for the OECD countries, while a convergence process takes place, even though it is not associated with a reduction in CO2 emissions. Results are robust across specifications. |
| Keywords: | CO2 emissions; environmental Kuznets curve; instrumental variable; semiparametric model; panel data. |
| JEL: | C23 Q50 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2016-18&r=env |
| By: | Kenneth Gillingham (Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA); William Nordhaus (Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA); David Anthoff (University of California, Berkeley, USA); Valentina Bosetti (Bocconi University, Milan, Italy); Haewon McJeon (PNNL, College Park, Maryland, USA); Geoffrey Blanford (EPRI, USA); Peter Christensen (Aarhus University, Denmark); John Reilly (MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA); Paul Sztorc (Yale University, New Haven, USA) |
| Abstract: | The economics of climate change involves a vast array of uncertainties, complicating both the analysis and development of climate policy. This study presents the results of the first comprehensive study of uncertainty in climate change using multiple integrated assessment models. The study looks at model and parametric uncertainties for population, total factor productivity, and climate sensitivity. It estimates the pdfs of key output variables, including CO2 concentrations, temperature, damages, and the social cost of carbon (SCC). One key finding is that parametric uncertainty is more important than uncertainty in model structure. Our resulting pdfs also provide insights on tail events. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Integrated Assessment Models |
| JEL: | Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.13&r=env |
| By: | Lucas W. Davis |
| Abstract: | Despite increasing calls for reform many countries continue to provide subsidies for gasoline and diesel. This paper quantifies the external costs of global fuel subsidies using the latest available data and estimates from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Under preferred assumptions about supply and demand elasticities, current subsidies cause $44 billion in external costs annually. This includes $8 billion from carbon dioxide emissions, $7 billion from local pollutants, $12 billion from traffic congestion, and $17 billion from accidents. Government incentives for alternative fuel vehicles are unlikely to cost-effectively reduce these externalities as they do little to address traffic congestion or accidents, and only indirectly address carbon dioxide and local pollutants. |
| JEL: | H23 Q31 Q41 Q48 Q52 Q53 Q54 Q58 R41 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22105&r=env |
| By: | Jean-Pierre Amigues (Toulouse School of Economics(INRA, IDEI and LERNA)); Michel Moreaux (Toulouse School of Economics (IDEI, IUF and LERNA)) |
| Abstract: | We study an economy producing energy services from a polluting fossil fuel and a carbon free renewable resource under a constraint on the admissible atmospheric carbon concentration, equivalently under a constraint on the admissible temperature. The transformation rates of natural primary resources energy into useful energy are costly endogenous variables. Choosing higher efficiency rates requires to bring into operation more sophisticated ones, that is more costly ones. We show that, independently of technical progress, along a perfect foresight equilibrium path which is Pareto optimal, the transformation rate of any exploited resource should increase though out time, excepted within the period during which the carbon constraint is binding, what we call the 'ceiling paradox'. |
| Keywords: | energy efficiency, carbon pollution, non-renewable resources, renewable resources |
| JEL: | Q00 Q32 Q43 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2016.10&r=env |
| By: | Enrica De Cian (Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Ian Sue Wing (Dept. of Earth & Environment, Boston University) |
| Abstract: | This paper combines an econometric analysis of the response of energy demand to temperature and humidity exposure with future scenarios of climate change and socioeconomic development to characterize climate impacts on energy demand at different spatial scales. Globally, future climate change is expected to have a moderate impact on energy demand, in the order of 6-11%, depending on the degree of warming, because of compensating effects across regions, fuels, and sectors. Climate-induced changes in energy demand are disproportionally larger in tropical regions. South America, Asia, and Africa, increase energy demand across all sectors and climate scenarios, while Europe, North America and Oceania exhibit mixed responses, but with consistent reductions in the residential sector. Even so, only Europe and Oceania in the moderate warming scenario experience aggregate reductions in energy use, as commercial electricity use increases significantly. We find that climate change has a regressive impact on energy demand, with the incidence of increased energy demand overwhelmingly falling on low- and middle-income countries, raising the question whether climate change could exacerbate energy poverty. |
| Keywords: | Panel Data, Climate Change, Adaptation, Energy |
| JEL: | N5 O13 Q1 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.16&r=env |
| By: | Davide Forcella; Frédéric Huybrechs |
| Abstract: | There has been growing interest lately in the role of microfinance to support environmental management of micro-enterprises and poor households. Worldwide, the number of green microfinance projects increases, yet there seems to be little discussion on how effective green microfinance is in achieving its environmental goals. This paper aims to position itself in this debate. We look at the first large-scale green microfinance programme for biodiversity conservation: Proyecto CAMBio. It consists of a combination of credits, technical assistance and conditional payments for environmentally friendly agricultural activities (PES). We focus on its implementation in Nicaragua by the microfinance institution FDL and the NGO Nitlapan. We perform an in-depth econometric analysis of a survey we conducted on a sample of 128 rural producers. We assess the clients’ characteristics that influenced the evolution of the environmental value of their farm –as defined by the indicators we used– on a span of five years, and we assess Proyecto CAMBio’s possible role in this evolution. Moreover, we further look into the effectiveness of PES in rewarding environmental betterment. Factors such as the decision to change the main economic activities, or clients’ strategies or opportunities in land accumulationappear to have the strongest influence on the evolution of the environmental value of the clients’ farm. While the project per se, even if carefully implemented in agreement with its guidelines and well performing at financial level, does not appear to have significantly influenced the evolution of the environmental value of the clients’ farm. Moreover, the PES does not seem to reward environmental improvement while instead it rewards the more credit-worthy activities, producers with more access to land and credit and in addition producers that plant fewer trees per hectare. With these results, we underline the importance of the local territorial dynamics and the complexity of the socio-environmental systems against a vision based simply on single economic actors. From our results it appears that green microfinance, without strategic articulation with local actors and broader territorial dynamics, would tend to (indirectly) support preexisting socioeconomic structures and the possibly related environmental degradation processes. We hence call for a more proactive engagement of green microfinance in the territorial dynamics and with local actors with the aim to support more sustainable livelihood trajectories and development pathways. |
| Keywords: | Microfinance; Green Microfinance; Rural Development; Payments for Environmental Services; Agricultural Finance; Ecosystem Services; Biodiversity; Central America; Proyecto CAMBio; Quantitative Analysis |
| JEL: | Q57 Q01 Q12 Q14 Q15 Q23 O13 G21 C01 |
| Date: | 2016–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/228525&r=env |
| By: | Catherine L. Kling (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD)); Raymond W. Arritt; Gray Calhoun; David A. Keiser (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD)) |
| Abstract: | Agricultural land, energy, and water historically have been viewed as inputs for production of food; however, the ethanol boom and the potential for second generation feedstocks made from perennial crops show that energy can also be a direct output of agriculture. The events of recent decades have also made clear the profound consequences that agriculture can have for quality and quantity of water available for other uses. We now understand that there are important feedback loops and trade-offs that are omitted when treating food, energy, and water as unidirectionally coupled. Furthermore, new challenges to maintaining sustainable food, energy, and water quality and quantity are on the horizon. For example, projections from climate models suggest that some regions with highly productive agricultural lands will increasingly face extremes such as drought and floods, requiring adaptation and mitigation policies at the farm and watershed level to reduce their impacts. Failure to understand feedback effects between biophysical and economic systems can lead to unintended and undesirable outcomes from these policies. On October 12–13, 2015 a workshop funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) was held at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa with a goal of identifying research needs related to coupled economic and biophysical models within the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) system. Approximately 80 people attended the workshop with about half representing the social sciences (primarily economics) and the rest representing the physical and natural sciences. This focus was chosen so that workshop findings would be particularly relevant to NSF's Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences (SBE) research needs while also including the critical connectivity needed between social sciences and other disciplines. The workshop identified two overarching roles for SBE research in coupled systems. First, economists and other social scientists play a critical role in adapting natural and physical science models for use in economic decision-making and policy analysis. This is illustrated in Figure 1, a highly stylized schematic for an integrated assessment model (IAM) of the FEW system. The top level represents human agent behavior (economic decisions, policies, and institutions), which directly affects a wide range of physical and natural systems that produce outputs of value to humans. The second level depicts models for those physical and natural systems. Finally, extensive economics studies have also addressed market impacts and valuation of ecosystem services that comprise the lower layer of the IAM. The diagram highlights the need for an integrated approach that accounts for crucial links between natural systems and human decisions, policies, and values. While economists have developed extensive research to study the behavior of economic agents and policymakers in the top layer, these studies often stop short of linking those decisions to the biophysical models in the middle layer. In turn, detailed biophysical models have been developed for individual components of the natural system, including linkages across some of those models (e.g., crop growth, land use, fisheries, and water quality), but these have rarely been linked to rigorous economic treatments. As economics provides bookends for the IAM, economists must play a prominent role in research that takes advantage of biophysical models for use in policy evaluation and welfare analysis. |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:16-wp563&r=env |
| By: | Ščasný, Milan; Máca, Vojtěch; Melichar, Jan; Rečka, Lukáš |
| Abstract: | This study quantifies environmental and health impacts attributable to revoking the territorial ecological restrictions on open-pit mining of brown coal at Bílina and ČSA mines in the Northern Bohemia mining area, following four options as proposed in 2015 by the Czech government. These impacts are attributable to brown coal mining and burning brown coal in combustion processes to generate electricity and heat and are relevant to the area of the Czech Republic only. Environmental and health impacts are monetarized and mean the external cost from mining and usage of brown coal. Dose response function and Impact pathway analysis are applied to quantify the external costs. External cost of not revoking the territorial ecological restrictions (option 1) declines from 1,200 mil. CZK per annum to zero in 2038, when the mining of brown coal is terminated. For the whole period 2015-2050 the external cost reaches 14 billion CZK cumulatively. Revoking the territorial ecological restrictions at Bílina mine (option 2) increases the external cost by 200 – 500 mil. CZK per annum and by 10 billion CZK cumulatively for the whole period 2015-2050. Revoking the territorial ecological restrictions at Bílina mine and partly at ČSA mine (option 3) differs from option 2 only during 2024-2033 due to partial revoking the territorial ecological restrictions at ČSA mine, when the external cost increases by additional 700 mil. CZK per annum compared to option 1. The cumulative external cost is 14 billion CZK higher in option 3 than in option 1. The complete revoking the territorial ecological restrictions (option 4) leads to cumulative external cost higher by 25 billion CZK compared to option 1. With respect to international pollution transfer and global effects on climate change, the scope of the analysis has crucial role for evaluation of impacts of the national regulation. The underlying scenario of this analysis assumes the impacts on Czech inhabitants only which account for 8-10% of the impacts on the whole EU population. Impacts on energy mix are analysed by partial equilibrium model TIMES. |
| Keywords: | external cost; health benefits; ExternE; impact pathway analysis; coal mining; burning coal; electricity generation; TIMES model |
| JEL: | D62 I31 Q47 Q51 |
| Date: | 2015–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:66600&r=env |
| By: | Marianna Gilli (University of Ferrara, Italy.); Giovanni Marin (IRCrES-CNR, Milano, Italy.); Massimiliano Mazzanti (University of Ferrara, Italy.); Francesco Nicolli (IRCrES-CNR, Milano, Italy.) |
| Abstract: | Industrial development has always been seen as the main engine for economic growth due to its large economic multiplier and technological opportunities. However, manufacturing sectors are directly and indirectly responsible for a large share of overall environmental pressures, raising concerns for the environmental sustainability of manufacturing-based development. In this paper we evaluate the drivers and decoupling trends of environmental pressures arising (directly or indirectly) from manufacturing production and consumption for a large selection of developed and developing countries. As a first step we decompose changes in emission intensity of manufacturing sectors into a series of components by means of a shift-share analysis to identify the main drivers of change. A second step will compare direct environmental pressures generated by manufacturing sectors (production perspective) with the amount of emissions generated (domestically and abroad) by the domestic consumption of manufacturing goods (production perspective). Finally, we evaluate the possible emergence of an EKC dynamics for production and consumption perspective emissions for the world as a whole and for different continents. |
| Keywords: | industrial development, environmental efficiency, shift share analysis, production-consumption perspective, environmental Kuznets curve |
| JEL: | Q55 Q56 O19 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:0216&r=env |
| By: | Doruk Iris (Department of Economics, Sogang University, Seoul) |
| Abstract: | In the standard emission problem, each country¡¯s ruling party decides on an optimal level of emissions by analyzing the cost and benefit to the country. However, such policy decisions are often influenced by political parties¡¯ incentives to be elected. Voters tend to give higher priority to economic issues than they do to environmental ones. As a result, political parties have additional incentives to reach a critical economic benefit level, at a cost of higher emission level, in order to satisfy voters¡¯ expectations in economic issues. Therefore, this study explores the implications of political parties being averse to insufficient economic performance relative to a critical economic target level on sustaining an international environmental agreement on emission levels. In doing so, we allow countries to have asymmetric concerns about economic targets, as well as asymmetric technology levels. We find that stronger concerns about economic targets deter the most cooperative emission levels countries could jointly sustain. Furthermore, technological asymmetry could either deepen or offset this impact. These results suggest that efforts on achieving substantial international environmental agreements should be supported at the citizen level to eliminate the adverse effects. |
| Keywords: | Emission Problem, Economic Targets, Loss-Aversion, International Environmental Agreements, Repeated Game. |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sgo:wpaper:1602&r=env |
| By: | Ahmed, Ovais; Mashkoor, Aasim |
| Abstract: | This research study of ecological warfare against Pakistan from India is the big problem for sustainable and stagnant Pakistan economic growth. Water is a source of life and without this natural gift, there is no living phenomena will be existing, now coming era Water will become a prominent issue in the world if we lose control over Indus Basin and supply of drinking water, or unable to appropriate supply to our people therefore, we will start living like for those countries which have below the line poverty, such as, Africa, where people starving for food and water. In this research study we put light on some important facts of climate impact and environmental issues in Pakistan which can be resolve by law. |
| Keywords: | Ecological, Environment, Water Crisis |
| JEL: | O1 O13 Q5 Q57 |
| Date: | 2016–03–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:70083&r=env |
| By: | Nicholas Apergis (Department of Banking and Financial Management, University of Piraeus, Greece); Rangan Gupta (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria); Chi Keung Marco Lau (Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, UK); Zinnia Mukherjee (Department of Economics, Simmons College, USA) |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first to provide an empirical analysis of the short run and long run effects of carbon dioxide emissions on health care spending across U.S. states. Accounting for the possibility of non-linearity in the data of the individual variables as well as in the relationship amongst the variables, the analysis estimated various statistical models to show that CO2 emissions increased health care expenditures. Using quantile regressions, the analysis displayed that the effect of CO2 emissions was stronger at the upper-end of the conditional distribution of health care expenditures. The results indicate the effect of CO2 emissions on health care was relatively stronger for states that spend higher amounts in health care expenditures. A key policy message that stems out of the empirical findings is that the health benefits associated with policies implemented to reduce CO2 emissions can more than pay for the costs of implementing these policies. |
| Keywords: | health care expenditure, carbon dioxide emissions, panel cointegration, panel quantile regression |
| JEL: | I18 C31 C33 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201618&r=env |
| By: | Bishnu Prasad Sharma; Mani Nepal; Bhaskar S. Karky; Subhrendu Pattanayak; Priya Shyamsundar |
| Abstract: | In this paper we discuss how three criteria - carbon effectiveness, cost efficiency, and equity and co-benefits - can be incorporated in the experimental design for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation and enhancing forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+). We discuss how additional design components can be introduced using a propensity score matching method in pre-selected study sites. Finally, we explain how this carefully designed study has helped to prepare the ground for a difference-in-difference framework for future outcome and impact evaluation. Given the lack of adequate data in developing country scenarios, and the mismatch between project implementation and impact evaluation, this paper highlights how a reliable baseline for forest carbon, ecology, and social and livelihood indicators could be created by collecting data at community level. This paper concludes with considerations for future outcomes and an impact evaluation of the REDD+ mechanism. |
| Keywords: | REDD+, impact evaluations, forest carbon, co-benefits, Nepal |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:snd:wpaper:101&r=env |
| By: | Francesco Bogliacino; Cristiano Codagnone; Giuseppe Alessandro Veltri; Francisco Lupiáñez-Villanueva; George Gaskell; Andriy Ivchenko |
| Abstract: | This article presents the results of a laboratory experiment and an online multi-country experiment testing the effect of motor vehicle eco-labels on consumers. The laboratory study featured a discrete choice task and questions on comprehension, while the ten countries online experiment included measures of willingness to pay and comprehension. Labels focusing on fuel economy or running costs are better understood, and influence choice about money-related eco-friendly behaviour. We suggest that this effect comes through mental accounting of fuel economy. In the absence of a cost saving frame, we do not find a similar effect of information on CO2 emissions and eco-friendliness. Labels do not perform as well as promotional materials. Being embedded into a setting, which is designed to capture the attention, the latter are more effective. We found also that large and expensive cars tend to be undervalued once fuel economy is highlighted. |
| Keywords: | eco-label; nudge; willingness to pay; fuel economy; experiments |
| JEL: | C9 D3 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000178:014330&r=env |
| By: | Ingmar Schumacher |
| Abstract: | In climate change policy, adaptation tends to be viewed as being as important as mitigation. In this article we present a simple yet gen- eral argument for which mitigation must be preferred to adaptation. The argument rests on the observation that mitigation is a public good while adaptation is a private one. This implies that the more one disag- gregates the units in a social welfare function, i.e. the more one teases out the public good nature of mitigation, the lower is average income and thus less money (per region, country or individual) is available for adaptation and mitigation. We show that, while this reduces incen- tives to invest in the private good adaptation, it increases incentives to invest in the public good mitigation since even small contributions of everyone can have signi cant impacts at the large. Conclusively, private adaptation thus must be viewed as a signi cant loss to global welfare. When taking this result to the data we nd that a representa- tive policy maker who relies on world-aggregated data would invest in both adaptation and mitigation, just as the previous literature recom- mends. However, a representative policy maker who relies on country- level data, or data at further levels of disaggregation, would optimally only invest in mitigation. |
| Keywords: | climate change, mitigation, adaptation. |
| JEL: | Q58 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–03–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2016-633&r=env |
| By: | Etienne Espagne |
| Abstract: | Finance has emerged in the last few years in and outside the Conference of the Parties (COP) process as a key ingredient of climate policy design. It also appears to be a key sector for structural reform in order to align it with the new low-carbon horizon. This policy brief draws lessons from a discussion platform launched jointly by CEPII and France Stratégie, which welcomed more than thirty contributions on climate finance issues from various experts and citizens in the four months leading to COP21. Both these contributions and the final text adopted by the Parties indicate that the financial question will remain essential in the near future in order to consolidate and nurture the Paris Agreement. In this brief, three directions for future debates are analyzed. First, the equity question remains open, through the financing schemes to guarantee a minimum of $100 billion in annual transfers to developing countries in the name of the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”. The question of an increasing ambition to implement the “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” through specific financial instruments is also discussed. Finally, the necessary long-term objective of a net decarbonization of the world economy invites us to look for more structural reforms in the financial sector. |
| Keywords: | climate change;carbon prices;COP21 |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepipb:2016-09&r=env |
| By: | Marin, Ancuta |
| Abstract: | Because of the climate changes and the massive clearings, some of the most critical problems that Romania and especially the S-W part of Oltenia are confrunted with are: the desertification and the earth flows. The purpose of the shelter –belts in preventing the effects of the wind and in protecting the agrarian crops and the agrarian production implicitly, can be evaluated by keeping in mind a series of specific determination: soil, climate, wind rate, the quantity of driven sand, wind erosion, soil erosion, agrarian production, density of crop. In this paper it is proven that the best results were obtained when the protection of the agrarian fields was made with the help of the shelter-belts arrays, made so that two shelter-belts encased and directed perpendicular to the dominant wind direction in order to confine an agrarian crop in rotation and, with their accumulated effect, to reduce the wind rate at soil level up to almost zero. |
| Keywords: | shelter-belts, desertification, protection, climate changes, wind rate, clearing |
| JEL: | Q23 Q55 R58 |
| Date: | 2015–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:70319&r=env |
| By: | Roe, Terry L.; Smith, Rodney B.W. |
| Abstract: | Final Report, Ecosystem Services Economics(ESE): The United Nations Environment Program |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umaemp:232877&r=env |
| By: | Baumgärtner, Stefan; Drupp, Moritz A.; Meya, Jasper N.; Munz, Jan M.; Quaas, Martin F. |
| Abstract: | We study how the distribution of income among members of society, and income inequality in particular, affects social willingness to pay (WTP) for environmental public goods. We find that social WTP for environmental goods increases with mean income, and decreases (increases) with income inequality if and only if environmental goods and manufactured goods are substitutes (complements). Furthermore, social WTP for environmental normally changes more elastically with mean income than with income inequality. We derive adjustment factors for benefit transfer to control for differences in income distributions between a study site and a policy site. For illustration, we quantify how social WTP for environmental public goods depends on the respective income distribution for empirical case studies in Sweden, China and the World. We find that the effects of adjusting for income inequality can be substantial. |
| Keywords: | environmental goods,public goods,income distribution,inequality,willingness to pay,benefit transfer,sustainability policy |
| JEL: | Q51 D63 H23 H43 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cauewp:201604&r=env |
| By: | Alexandre BERTHE |
| Abstract: | Even if environmental issues are mostly studied as stakes for sustainability and future generations, the state of the environment, and more especially essential goods such as water and sanitation services, is a factor which influences the current well-being of individuals and is a central stake for environmental justice. However, the access to water and sanitation services is almost exclusively evaluated using the percentage of households with access to these services. From this observation, the objective of this paper is to present methods in order to evaluate the equity of the distribution of these services for households of two Brazilian regions: the North and the Nordeste. For that purpose, we build an indicator of access to water and sanitation services using the consumer expenditure survey realized in 2008/2009 by the IBGE and we measure the access inequalities using various inequality and concentration measurement tools. This paper shows that access inequalities are different from income inequalities, and for that reason, their evaluation is required for a better understanding of the social situation of households. |
| Keywords: | Brazil, Water and Sanitation, Environmental inequalities, Social Justice |
| JEL: | D63 Q56 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2016-07&r=env |
| By: | Ngigi, Marther W.; Mueller, Ulrike; Birner, Regina |
| Abstract: | It has been widely acknowledged that the effects of climate change are not gender neutral. However, existing studies on adaptation to climate change mainly focus on a comparison of male-headed and female-headed households. Aiming at a more nuanced gender analysis, this study examines how husbands and wives within the same household perceive climate risks and group-based approaches as coping strategies. The data stem from a unique self-collected and intra-household survey involving 156 couples in rural Kenya, where husbands and wives were interviewed separately. Options for adapting to climate change closely interplay with husbands’ and wives’ roles and responsibilities, social norms, risk perceptions and access to resources. Consequently, a higher percentage of wives adopt crop-related strategies, whereas husbands employ livestock- and agroforestry-related strategies. Besides, there are gender-specific climate information needs, gendered trust of information and preferred channels of information dissemination. Further, it turned out that group-based approaches benefit husbands and wives differently. Group-based approaches provide avenues for diversifying livelihoods and managing risks for wives, while they are pathways for sharing climate information and adaptation options for husbands. Social groups help husbands and wives to enhance their welfare through accumulating vital types of capital such as livestock, durable assets, human, natural, financial and social capital. The findings suggest that designing gender-sensitive policies and institutionalizing gender in climate change adaptation and mitigation frameworks, are vital. Policy interventions that rely on group-based approaches must reflect gender perspectives on the ground in order to amplify men’s and women’s specific abilities to manage risks and improve welfare outcomes in the wake of accelerating climate change. |
| Keywords: | perceptions, adaptation, group-based approaches, gender, intra-household analysis, Kenya, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, D13, J16, Q54, |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:232900&r=env |
| By: | Kull,Daniel Werner; Graessle,Corinne; Aryan,Barzin |
| Abstract: | Low-income countries'hydrometeorological services often face considerable constraints in delivering the information needed to effectively drive early warning and climate adaptation, which, if improved, could generate socioeconomic benefits of about US$1.4 billion per year. Modern weather forecasting adopts a cascading approach where numerical products developed by global producing centers feed regional and national models, with national forecasters assimilating these and other data to produce information customized for local users. The system depends on global producing centers sharing their products, often through voluntary action without dedicated financing, which is not sustainable and does not fully leverage the capacity of global producing centers to provide tailored information. It would be economically viable for global producing centers to provide their full suite of services to low-income countries, producing likely global socioeconomic benefits of US$200 million to US$500 million per year, outweighing the costs by about 80 to one. Existing global producing centers'capacities and their potential benefits for low-income countries fulfill the utilitarian principal. Global numerical weather prediction should therefore be treated as a global public good. However, although recent global development and climate agreements clearly suggest that improving forecasting in low-income countries should be a target of international cooperation, official development assistance financing of high-income country global producing centers to provide products to low-income countries would be considered tied aid. Specialized mechanisms, such as the Green Climate Fund, could provide legitimate means to finance global producing centers to provide global public services in support of low-income countries. However, to realize the potential benefits, significant investment is needed in regional and national forecasting, early warning, and preparedness capacities. |
| Keywords: | Public Sector Development,Climate Change Economics,ICT Policy and Strategies,Economic Theory&Research,Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases |
| Date: | 2016–03–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7609&r=env |
| By: | Jean-Daniel Rinaudo (BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières); Marielle Montginoul (UMR G-EAU - Gestion de l'Eau, Acteurs et Usages - AgroParisTech - AgroParisTech - CIRAD - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement - Irstea - Centre International des Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes-Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier [CIHEAM-IAMM]); Jean-François Desprats (BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières) |
| Abstract: | In developed countries, a number of factors are leading a growing number of households to drill private boreholes as independent water supplies. This chapter describes this phenomenon based on two case studies conducted in Southern France and Western Australia. It shows that, while the development of private wells was encouraged by the authorities in Perth, it is a major source of environmental, public health, economic and social concern for French water utilities. Household's motivations to develop independent supply are then investigated. We finaly discuss how water utilities need to adapt their management practices (setting tariffs, demand forecasting and resource protection) to take into account this phenomenon. |
| Keywords: | France, Australia, water supply, private bore-wells |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01290169&r=env |
| By: | Ciaran Ellis (University of Stirling); Nick Hanley (Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews); Adam Kleczkowski (University of Stirling); David Goulson (University of Sussex) |
| Abstract: | Production of insect-pollinated crops typically relies on both pesticide use and pollination, leading to a potential conflict between these two inputs. In this paper we combine ecological modelling with economic analysis to investigate the effects of pesticide use on wild and commercial bees, whilst allowing farmers to partly offset the negative effects of pesticides on bee populations by creating more on-farm bee habitat. Farmers have incentives to invest in creating wild bee habitat to increase pollination inputs. However, the optimal allocation of on-farm habitat strongly depends on the negative effects of pesticides, with a threshold-like behaviour at a critical level of the impairment. When this threshold is crossed, the population of wild bees becomes locally extinct and their availability to pollinate breaks down. We also show that availability of commercial bees masks the decrease in pollination services which would otherwise incentivise farmers to conserve the wild pollinator population, therefore indirectly leading to local wild bee extinction. The paper demonstrat es the importance of combining ecological modelling with economics to study sustainability in the provision of ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems. |
| Keywords: | pollination, pesticides, wild bees, commercial bees, ecological-economic modelling |
| JEL: | Q12 Q57 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sss:wpaper:2016-04&r=env |
| By: | Nicholas Z. Muller |
| Abstract: | Input-output (I-O) analysis represents the flows of goods and services within the market. Environmentally-extended I-O (EEIO) models include flows of both pollution and consumption of resources and energy. The present paper proposes a conceptual structure for EEIO accounts that builds on the work of Leontief (1970) and Hendrickson, Lave, and Matthews (2006), and then estimates empirical EEIO accounts for the U.S. economy in 1999 and 2011. The empirical accounts provide the first complete characterization of the air pollution damage flows throughout the U.S. economy. Pollution intensity fell from 7 percent of value-added in 1999 to 2 percent in 2011. The utility sector exhibits the highest ratio of pollution damage from value-added production to supply chain damage; this ratio was 22 in 1999 and 54 in 2011. About one-half of all damage comes from intermediate demand, one-third from household consumption, and about 7 percent each from fixed investment and government use of commodities. In both 1999 and 2011, damages would have been about 7 percent higher had all imports been made domestically. The damages from exported goods nearly doubled from 5 percent to almost 10 percent of total pollution damage. |
| JEL: | C67 Q53 Q56 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22092&r=env |
| By: | Luke Fitzpatrick (Department of Economics, University of Miami); Christopher F. Parmeter (Department of Economics, University of Miami); Juan Agar (NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service) |
| Abstract: | Policymakers and advocates alike often turn to benefit transfers to estimate the economic value of environmental amenities when primary valuation studies are infeasible. Coral reef ecosystems, among the most biologically diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, are an amenity for which benefit transfers are particularly helpful. Meta analyses, which synthesize site and methodological characteristics from many different studies, can improve upon traditional site-to-site transfers. We build on previous research on meta analysis by introducing threshold effects. We find that a threshold in reef quality exists: users of coral reefs place a higher value on improvements in live coral cover on degraded reefs than on healthy ones. Relaxing the assumption of users' constant valuation across the distribution of this characteristic improves the performance of coral reef benefit transfers. Tests of convergent validity reveal that including the threshold effect reduces the variability and magnitude of transfer errors in some experiments. |
| Keywords: | Policymakers and advocates alike often turn to benefit transfers to estimate the economic value of environmental amenities when primary valuation studies are infeasible. Coral reef ecosystems, among the most biologically diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, are an amenity for which benefit transfers are particularly helpful. Meta analyses, which synthesize site and methodological characteristics from many different studies, can improve upon traditional site-to-site transfers. We build on previous research on meta analysis by introducing threshold effects. We find that a threshold in reef quality exists: users of coral reefs place a higher value on improvements in live coral cover on degraded reefs than on healthy ones. Relaxing the assumption of users' constant valuation across the distribution of this characteristic improves the performance of coral reef benefit transfers. Tests of convergent validity reveal that including the threshold effect reduces the variability and magnitude of transfer errors in some experiments. Publication Status: Under Review |
| JEL: | C24 C52 Q22 Q5 |
| Date: | 2016–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mia:wpaper:2016-03&r=env |
| By: | Lucy Nattrass (E4tech); Clifford Biggs (E4tech); Ausilio Bauen (E4tech); Claudia Parisi (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Emilio Rodriguez-Cerezo (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Manuel GOMEZ BARBERO (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | Obtaining regular analysis and data is fundamental for policy makers and stakeholders to monitor the development of an economic sector and make the necessary decisions to maximise the benefits it generates, be they of economic, social or environmental nature. The industrial use of biomass feedstock has the potential to contribute to Europe's industrial and economic growth while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, other environmental burdens, and resource dependency, through the displacement of fossil-based products with bio-based alternatives. To this end, this report contributes to quantifying and benchmarking relevant sectors in the so-called European Union Bioeconomy, the bio-based industries. It looks both at the past and future of the sector by focusing on a list of relevant bio-based products (about 70 chemicals and materials) and measuring the total population producing or about to produce these products. The report presents the result of a survey, based on a structured questionnaire launched in March 2015, of 133 companies constituting the total target population. These companies are diversity terms of size and time in the market. Some companies' operations are entirely bio-based and for some others bio-based products represent a relatively small fraction of their operations. They produce and market commodity and speciality chemicals and material goods to a wide range of sectors. Fifty companies completed the questionnaire and the bio-based products they are involved with are mostly organic acids, polymers (obtained from bio-based monomers) and surfactants. The respondents operate about 100 manufacturing plants for bio-based products mainly located in the established European chemical industry clusters. They also operate production plants in third countries, principally in North America and Asia (China, Malaysia and Singapore). The respondents total bio-based product turnovers account for €6.8 billion globally (24 companies answered) and €1.4 billion in the EU (23 companies answered). Therefore, these companies produce and sell globally, testimony of the global nature of the sector. The survey identified 20 companies using animal fats and vegetable oils, 19 companies using sugar or starch crops, and 11 companies using natural fibres. All respondents are positive about the outlook for growth in the industry. The response also indicates a rise in company activity since 2011, and there appear to be shifts in products being developed and produced, probably as a result of market testing, and technical development. |
| Keywords: | European Union, Bioeconomy, Bio-based products, Industry survey |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc100357&r=env |
| By: | Lucas Bretschger (ETH Zürich, Switzerland); Simone Valente (University of East Anglia, United Kingdom) |
| Abstract: | We build a two-country model of endogenous growth to study the welfare effects of taxes on tradable primary inputs when countries engage in asymmetric trade. We obtain explicit links between persistent gaps in productivity growth and the incentives of resource exporting (importing) countries to subsidize (tax) domestic resource use. The exporters' incentive to subsidize hinges on slower productivity growth and is disconnected from the importers' incentive to tax resource inflows i.e., rent extraction. Moreover, faster productivity growth exacerbates the im- porters' incentive to tax, beyond the rent-extraction motive. In a strategic tax game, the only equilibrium is of Stackelberg type and features, for a wide range of parameter values, positive exporters' subsidies and importers' taxes at the same time. The model predictions concerning the impact of resource taxes on relative income shares are supported by empirical evidence. |
| Keywords: | Productivity Gaps, Endogenous Growth, International Trade, Tax Policy |
| JEL: | O40 F43 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eth:wpswif:16-239&r=env |
| By: | Mirko Armineto (Sapienza University of Rome) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a new alternative measure to GDP – the Sustainable Welfare Index (SWI) – a modified version of the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) developed by Daly and Cobb (1989). Expressed in monetary terms, it provides a synthetic indicator of progress, with a comprehensive view of social and economic welfare and of environmental sustainability. While its methodology has been revised several times – a new version including additional items is also referred to as Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) – ISEW represents an appropriate starting point for the extension developed in this paper. SWI is calculated for Italy over the period 1960-2013, providing a novel series of data mapping the growth and decline of the national sustainable welfare. The proposed SWI allows a direct comparison with GDP data and includes methodological adjustments with respect to ISEW. In measurement terms it focuses on flows and eliminates variables reflecting stock values; it circumscribes the coverage of social and environmental factors relevant for identifying sustainable welfare and is calculated as the sum of 14 separate components. Empirical results show that from 1960 to 1991 per capita GDP and per capita SWI have evolved in parallel, with the aggregate monetary value of sustainable welfare being significantly lower than GDP figures. Italy’s SWI reached its peak in 1991, then stabilised with significant oscillations and has shown a sharp decline since the start of the 2008 crisis; in 2013 per capita GDP is back to the level of 1997, while per capita SWI is back to 1985. Italy’s SWI appears to confirm the so-called “threshold” hypothesis (Easterlin, 1974; Daly, 1977; Max-Neef, 1995), describing a situation in which the negative effects of economic growth on social and environmental conditions overcome the benefits of additional units of GDP. This evidence is supported by a detailed theoretical and methodological discussion and by a sensitivity analysis. |
| Keywords: | Socio-economic development, Welfare measures, Beyond GDP, Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW), Italy |
| JEL: | I31 Q57 E01 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:urb:wpaper:16_01&r=env |
| By: | Muhammad Iftikhar ul Husnain; Muhammad Khan |
| Abstract: | Wheat and Rice are major crops grown in Pakistan. This paper compares mean differences in the productivity and profitability of organic and conventional farms that grow these crops based on primary data collected from 444 farms. We find that growing organic crops is atleast as profitable as conventional crops because of lower input costs and higher output prices. Overall, per hectare input costs are 20% and 10% lower in organic wheat and rice farms relative to their conventional counterparts. These lower costs, however, are likely to be related to the lower yields associated with organic farms. Soils data show that the availability of nutrients such as Potassium, Phosphorous and Nitrogen is significantly higher in organic fields relative to conventional fields. Thus, organic farms tend to better conserve soil fertility and system stability than conventional farms. Based on these private and public benefits, we argue that organic agriculture should be encouraged through reductions in subsidies for conventional farming and more careful zoning and market development. Farmerâ€TMs adoption of commercial organic farming, however, will largely depend on how demand for organically farmed food continues to grow in Pakistan. |
| Keywords: | Pakistan, Organic Farming, Wheat, Rice, Profits, Soil Nutrients |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:snd:wpaper:100&r=env |
| By: | BEN-YASHAR, Ruth; NITZAN, Shmuel |
| Abstract: | When the benefit of making a correct decision is sufficiently high, even a slight increase in the probability of making such a decision justifies an increase in the number of decision makers. Applying a standard uncertain dichotomous choice benchmark setting, this study focuses on the relative desirability of two alternatives: adding individuals with capabilities identical to the existing ones and adding identical individuals with mean-preserving capabilities that depend on the states of nature. Our main result establishes that when the group applies the simple majority rule, variability in the capabilities of the new decision makers under the two states of nature, which is commonly observed in various decision-making settings, is less desirable in terms of the probability of making the correct decision. |
| Keywords: | decisional capabilities, group extension, asymmetry, homogeneity, diversity, mean preservation |
| JEL: | D81 |
| Date: | 2016–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hiasdp:hias-e-21&r=env |
| By: | F. Knobloch; J. -F. Mercure |
| Abstract: | Studies report that firms do not invest in cost-effective green technologies. While economic barriers can explain parts of the gap, behavioural aspects cause further under-valuation. This could be partly due to systematic deviations of decision-making agents' perceptions from normative benchmarks, and partly due to their diversity. This paper combines available behavioural knowledge into a simple model of technology adoption. Firms are modelled as heterogeneous agents with different behavioural responses. To quantify the gap, the model simulates their investment decisions from different theoretical perspectives. While relevant parameters are uncertain at the micro-level, using distributed agent perspectives provides a realistic representation of the macro adoption rate. The model is calibrated using audit data for proposed investments in energy efficient electric motors. The inclusion of behavioural factors reduces significantly expected adoption rates: from 81% using a normative optimisation perspective, down to 20% using a behavioural perspective. The effectiveness of various policies is tested. |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1603.06888&r=env |
| By: | Marc F. Bellemare (Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota); Johanna Fajardo-Gonzalez (Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota); Seth R. Gitter (Department of Economics, Towson University) |
| Abstract: | Riding on a wave of interest in "superfoods" in rich countries, quinoa went in less than a decade from being largely unknown outside of South America to being an upper- class staple in the United States. As a consequence of that rapid rise in the popularity of quinoa, the price of quinoa tripled between 2006 and 2013. We study the impacts of rising quinoa prices on the welfare of Peruvian households. Using 10 years of a large-scale, nationally representative household survey, we combine pseudo- panel and difference-in- differences methods to look at the relationship between (i) the purchase price of quinoa and the value of household consumption, which we use here as a proxy for household welfare, and (ii) household quinoa production and household welfare. We find that increases in the purchase price of quinoa are associated with a significant increase in the welfare of the average household in areas where quinoa is consumed, which suggests that the quinoa price increase has had general equilibrium effects extending to non-producers. We also find that quinoa production is associated with a faster rate of growth of household welfare, but only at the height of the quinoa price boom. Our findings are robust to a number of different specifications. |
| Keywords: | Quinoa, Commodity Price Shocks, Household Welfare, Peru. |
| JEL: | O12 Q12 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tow:wpaper:2016-06&r=env |
| By: | Greene, Catherine; Wechsler, Seth J.; Adalja, Aaron; Hanson, James |
| Abstract: | Two decades after the first genetically engineered (GE) seeds became commercially available for major field crops, GE varieties have been widely adopted for U.S. corn, soybean, cotton, canola, and sugar beet production. The small, longstanding market for organically grown food (which excludes GE seed and material) continues to expand and a market for conventionally grown foods produced without GE seed has also emerged. In order to maintain the integrity of GE-differentiated markets, organic farmers—and other farmers using non-GE seeds—employ a variety of practices to avoid the accidental mixing of GE material in their crops. This report examines organic and conventional product markets in the United States. It describes commonly used coexistence practices and discusses the economic impacts when GE material is detected in organic crops. |
| Keywords: | Coexistence, organic crops, USDA organic standards, genetically engineered crops, identity preservation, non-GE, non-GMO, adoption, prices, economic impacts, corn, soybeans, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:232929&r=env |
| By: | Takumi Motoyama (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the process of economic development in an overlapping generations model where higher physical capital involves pollution and deteriorates the productivity of education. In this setting, households may not invest into education and multiple steady states of the physical/human capital ratio can arise, leading long-run production with low initial endowment (physical capital) to be higher than that with high initial endowment. This occurs because, owing to the low productivity of education caused by pollution, only physical capital accumulation occurs with high initial endowment, while physical and human capital accumulation occur with low initial endowment. This result is consistent with the resource curse. We also show that higher abatement technology can solve the resource curse problem since it helps households redirect physical capital accumulation toward human capital accumulation. |
| Keywords: | Semiconductor Human capital, Pollution, Resource curse |
| JEL: | I15 O13 Q52 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osk:wpaper:1603&r=env |
| By: | Slave, Camelia; Vizireanu, Ioana |
| Abstract: | The work includes analysis of natural and geographical elements of the Danube floodplain, the correlation between these elements and their interpretation. In this regard, the work was conceived as a unitary character of the area at the confluence of the Olt River with Vedea River - Plain Boianului. The area has high availability for agriculture, good yields being recorded today this is due to the conditions of receiving the geographic. The purpose of this paper is to present data on agricultural development of the area. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, cereal plains, dunes, Danube Valley |
| JEL: | Q54 R58 |
| Date: | 2015–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:70317&r=env |
| By: | Mette Trier Damgaard (Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University, Denmark); Christiana Gravert (University of Gothenbuerg, Sweden) |
| Abstract: | We document the hidden costs of one of the most policy-relevant nudges, reminders. Sending reminders, while proven effective in facilitating behavior change, may come at a cost for both senders and receivers. Using a large scale field experiment with a charity, we find that reminders increase donations, but they also substantially increase unsubscriptions from the mailing list. To understand this novel finding, we develop a dynamic model of donation and unsubscription behavior with limited attention which is tested in reduced-form using a second field experiment. We also estimate our model structurally to perform a welfare analysis, showing that reminders are welfare diminishing for the potential donors as non-givers incur welfare loss of $2.35 for every reminder. The net benefit of every reminder to the charity is $0.18. Our evaluation shows the need to evaluate nudges on their intended as well as unintended consequences. |
| Keywords: | Avoiding-the-ask, charitable giving, field experiment, inattention, nudge, reminders |
| JEL: | C93 D03 D64 H41 |
| Date: | 2016–03–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:aarhec:2016-03&r=env |
| By: | Christophe Muller (AMSE - Aix-Marseille School of Economics - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) - Ecole Centrale Marseille (ECM) - AMU - Aix-Marseille Université); Huijie Yan (LEA, Faculty of Arts, Humanities, Languages, and Social Sciences, Aix-Marseille University) |
| Abstract: | Because of recent concerns about the negative externalities of traditional fuel use on the environment and health, the issue of the household fuel transition in developing countries, from dirty fuels towards clean fuels, has received growing research attention. This paper provides an up-to-date survey of the economic literature on household fuel use in these countries. First, we present the conceptual and theoretical frameworks. Then, we discuss the empirical results that show how a wide range of factors drive the household fuel transition. Finally, we suggest priorities for policy initiatives and highlight areas of future research. |
| Keywords: | household decisions,fuel transition,energy consumption |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01290714&r=env |
| By: | Makena Coffman (UHERO, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa); Paul Bernstein (University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, UHERO); Sherilyn Wee (UHERO, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa); Clarice Schafer (UHERO, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa) |
| Abstract: | Hawaii currently meets the majority of its electricity needs through costly oil-fired generation causing rates to be nearly four times the national average (EIA, 2013a). The “shale gas revolution” has led to rapidly declining natural gas prices within the continental U.S. The emergence of a natural gas market that is de-linked from oil prices has renewed Hawaii’s interest in natural gas imports. Potentially lower natural gas prices as well as the view that it will help to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase energy supply security through domestic sourcing are major reasons why the State and key stakeholders are deliberating over importing large amounts of natural gas in liquefied form (liquefied natural gas or LNG). This study uses detailed models of Hawaii’s electric sector and overall economy to estimate the impacts of Hawaii importing LNG for use in the electric sector. |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hae:wpaper:2014-10&r=env |