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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Kim, Hyunseok |
| Abstract: | This dissertation consists of three essays that explore the effects of biofuel and environmental policies on relevant industries. The first essay focuses on examining the market impacts and welfare consequences of U.S. biofuel policies. The second essay quantifies the U.S. agricultural supply response during the biofuel policy period. The third essay focuses on understanding the performance of a different kind of market-based policies in reducing industry-wide emissions.The U.S. renewable fuel standard (RFS), initiated in 2005 and extended in 2007, has been rationalized as pursuing, for example, reduction of greenhouse gas emission and reduction of the U.S. dependence on foreign energy sources. While its effects on food prices and actual environmental benefits remain controversial, the first essay constructs a multi-market equilibrium model and assesses the current and future economic effects of the RFS. The model integrates the U.S. agricultural sector with the energy sector and explicitly considers both U.S. ethanol and biodiesel production. The model is parameterized to represent observed 2015 data as status quo and then simulated to analyze alternative scenarios. The results confirm that the current RFS program considerably benefits the agricultural sector but also leads to overall welfare gains for the United States. Implementation of projected 2022 mandates, which would require further expansion of biodiesel production, would lead to a considerable welfare loss (relative to the status quo).While the abovementioned analysis relies on elasticities from the literature, the second essay directly quantifies the U.S. corn and soybean dynamic supply response. The RFS has been credited with being one of the main causes of (i) the recent global commodity price increases and (ii) the spatial changes in prices by affecting local basis nearby biofuel plants. The presence of these two demand-induced price effects provides an ideal opportunity to revisit the econometric analysis of the agricultural supply response. By focusing on recent years (2005-2015), therefore, the acreage and yield responses are estimated by using county-level panel data for the twelve Midwest states. The results indicate that the acreage and yield responses are highly inelastic. With relatively significant cross-price acreage elasticities, when corn and soybean prices move together, the response of the total acreage of these two key crops is very small. This result indicates that the ability of the U.S. corn and soybean production sector to accommodate the demand shock caused by the RFS is limited.As alternatives to command-and-control-type instruments such as mandates, market-based policies, such as voluntary agreement (VA) and Pigouvian tax, can be used to deal with environmental externalities. Given the increasing use of VAs, the third essay examines the performance of VA, relative to a tax policy and laissez faire policy, as a way to reduce environmental pollution. We find that when the market is non-competitive, the VA, relative to other policy options, improves welfare despite suffering from free-riding behavior. It is also found that as consumers value the green good more, the VA increases the number of green firms and provides a less competitive environment for free-riders, who increase the price of regular goods. As a result, the total market under the VA becomes less covered, at some point, than the tax policy. As for implementation, the potential gains from of the VA are attainable provided the regulator’s threat is credible and sufficiently strong. |
| Date: | 2017–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genstf:201701010800006557&r=env |
| By: | Meyer, Kevin Michael |
| Abstract: | Environmental issues in modern day Iowa are a perfect example of the indirect consequences of exploiting natural resources. Over 12,000 years ago, glaciers left the state with rich and fertile soil, perfect for agriculture. Over the course of more than one hundred years, Iowa's landscape has been cleared and drained to gain access to this valuable farmland. While the economic benefits of agriculture are clear, it is important to understand the environmental consequences of this transformation. This dissertation uses economic tools and analysis to investigate three environmental and resource issues related to the complex interplay between Iowa agriculture and the environment.The first chapter examines the relationship between an important adaptive tool, tile drainage, and climate. Tile drainage is largely responsible for transforming Iowa from mostly wetlands into prime farmland. It fundamentally changes the relationship between land, climate, and soil, by draining away excess water, allowing crops to grow. This chapter uses observations from over 800,000 farms across the U.S. to estimate the relationship between farmland value and climate while explicitly incorporating tile drainage. We find fundamental differences in the relationship between tile drained and non-tile drained land, which has not been accounted for in previous research. Using climate projections, we estimate the impact of climate change on farmland and show how these estimates can be biased when tile drained and non-tile drained farms are pooled together.The second chapter looks at the relationship between land change and lake water quality. While most of Iowa's lakes are artificial, many are popular destinations for fishing, boating, swimming, and other recreational activities. But their close proximity to farmland results in high nutrient levels and decreased water quality, which can reduce recreational and ecosystem benefits. This chapter combines fifteen years of water quality measurements with satellite images of land use to estimate the impact of land use change on water quality. These estimates are used to assess the lake water quality impacts of the Renewable Fuel Policy, a government policy which has had a large impact on agriculture and land use in Iowa.The third chapter is concerned with the optimal management of the Iowa deer population through hunting licenses. Although not all species have benefited from the transformation of Iowa's landscape, the deer population has thrived due to a lack of predators and an abundant new food source in crops. While deer hunters enjoy a large population of deer, farmers and drivers face costs due to crop depredation and deer vehicle collisions, creating a complex management problem. This chapter uses the tools of dynamic programming to solve for an optimal policy that balances these opposing interests.Altering the natural landscape turned Iowa into one of the most productive farming regions in the world, but has also created the need to balance intensive farming practices with the impacts on the surrounding environment. The tools of economics provide an appealing framework to propose solutions to these problems. The goal of the following three chapters is to use these tools to shed some light on three such issues Iowa currently faces. The insight and results from this research will hopefully help inform future researchers and policymakers in Iowa and beyond. |
| Date: | 2017–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genstf:201701010800006585&r=env |
| By: | Kebede, Shemelis |
| Abstract: | Energy consumption is one of the important inputs to the production process. Energy consumption and energy supplied from fossil fuels in production process cause CO2 emissions and environmental deterioration. Due to this fact achieving economic development and environmental sustainability simultaneously is one of the most significant development challenges for Africa today. Formulation of sound economic development and environmental sustainability policy needs knowing the relationship among energy use, economic growth and environmental quality. This study examines the relationship among economic growth, energy consumption, financial development, trade openness, urbanization, population and CO2 emissions over the period of 1970–2014 in case of Ethiopia. The PP, ADF, KPSS, Zivot-Andrews and Clemente, Montanes and Reyes unit root tests were used to test the stationarity of the variables under consideration. The ARDL cointegration technique for establishing the existence of a long-run relationship and Toda-Yamamoto approach to determine the direction of causality between the variables were used. The results show that cointegration exists among the variables. Energy consumption, population, trade openness and economic growth have statistically significant positive impact on CO2 in the long-run while economic growth squared compacts CO2 emissions. This supports validity of the EKC hypothesis in Ethiopia. In the short-run urbanization and energy consumption intensify environmental degradation. Toda-Yamamoto granger causality results indicate the feedback relationship between energy consumption, CO2 emissions and urbanization. Financial development, population and urbanization cause economic growth while economic growth causes CO2 emissions. Causality runs from energy consumption to financial development, urbanization and population which in turn cause economic growth. Form the result, CO2 emissions extenuation policy in Ethiopia should focus on environmentally friendly growth, enhancing consumption of clean energy, incorporating the impact of population growth, urbanization, trade and financial development. |
| Keywords: | Growth, Energy, Financial development, Urbanization, CO2 emissions, Ethiopia |
| JEL: | C1 C18 E2 Q5 |
| Date: | 2017–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:83000&r=env |
| By: | Drupp, Moritz A.; Meya, Jasper N.; Baumgärtner, Stefan; Quaas, Martin F. |
| Abstract: | Understanding what influences the value of nature is crucial for informing environmental policy. From a sustainability perspective, economic valuation should not only seek to determine willingness to pay for environmental goods to devise an efficient allocation of scarce resources, but should also account for distributional effects to ensure justice. Yet, how economic inequality affects the value of non-market environmental goods remains understudied. Combining recently developed theoretical results with empirical evidence we show that more equal societies have a higher valuation for environmental public goods and that non-market benefits of environmental policy accrue over-proportionally to poorer households. On this ground, we identify a number of fruitful areas for future research and discuss implications for environmental valuation, management and policy-making. We conclude that environmental valuation should explicitly account for economic inequality, and that encompassing assessments of the distributional effects of environmental policies must consider the distribution of non-market environmental benefits. |
| Keywords: | nature conservation,environmental goods,valuation,willingness to pay,income inequality,distribution |
| JEL: | Q51 Q01 Q57 Q56 H43 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cauewp:201708&r=env |
| By: | Astghik Mavisakalyan (Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre, Curtin University); Yashar Tarverdi (Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre, Curtin University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether female political representation in national parliaments influences climate change policy outcomes. Based on data from a large sample of countries, we demonstrate that female representation leads countries to adopt more stringent climate change policies. We exploit a combination of full and partial identification approaches to suggest that this relationship is likely to be causal. Moreover, we show that through its effect on the stringency of climate change policies, the representation of females in parliament results in lower carbon dioxide emissions. Female political representation may be an underutilized tool for addressing climate change. |
| Keywords: | language; gender, political representation, climate change, environmental policy. |
| JEL: | D70 J16 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ozl:bcecwp:wp1704&r=env |
| By: | Ann Wolverton; Ann E. Ferris; Nathalie B. Simon |
| Abstract: | The extent to which ex-ante estimates of the costs of regulation differ from ex-post estimates is an empirical question of considerable interest to policymakers, regulated entities, and the public. This paper examines evidence on the actual costs of compliance with the 2004 Automobile and Light-Duty Truck Surface Coating NESHAP and then compares these estimates to the EPA’s ex-ante cost estimates to identify key drivers of any differences. This regulation is particularly interesting from a cost perspective because at the time of promulgation the EPA considered it to be economically significant (and it was therefore accompanied by an extensive cost analysis), under stood who was likely to be regulated under the NESHAP, and had identified several available technologies that could be used to reduce HAP emissions. Data on ex-post costs are gathered from a subset of the industry via survey and follow-up interview. We find that the EPA overestimated the cost of compliance for these plants and that overestimation was driven primarily by use of estimation methods that did not account for regulatory flexibilities such as the ability to utilize any effective HAPs control method. Thus, we find that differences between ex ante and ex post cost estimates for our sample of facilities are primarily driven by differences in the method of compliance rather than differences in the per-unit cost associated with a given compliance approach. In particular, the EPA expected facilities to install pollution abatement control technologies in their paint shops to reduce emissions of hazardous air pollutants, but instead these plants complied by reformulating their coatings. |
| Keywords: | retrospective cost analysis, air regulation, benefit-cost analysis, transportation |
| JEL: | Q52 Q53 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nev:wpaper:wp201707&r=env |
| By: | Rahmann, Gerold (Ed.); Andres, C. (Ed.); Yadav, A. K. (Ed.); Ardakani, R. (Ed.); Babalad, H. B. (Ed.); Devakumar, N. (Ed.); Goel, S. L. (Ed.); Olowe, V. (Ed.); Ravisankar, N. (Ed.); Saini, J. P. (Ed.); Soto, G. (Ed.); Willer, H. (Ed.) |
| Abstract: | [Foreword] The future challenges in food production and consumption appear clear: * Feed 9 to 11 billion people in the next 30 to 80 years with enough, affordable and healthy food. * Protect the environment (e.g. soils, water, air, biodiversity and landscapes) whilst increasingly under pressure to achieve greater levels of intensification. * Mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change in all farming systems and value chains. * Incorporate novel ethics, food habits, demographics and lifestyles into the food chains. * Produce food on limited farmland and fossil (non-renewable) resources efficiently and profitably. - Several findings from scientific research and practical applications suggest that organic food and farming systems can help in tackling these future challenges.1The 'low external input' approach, risk minimizing strategies and ethically accepted production practices of organic food and farming systemscan help to produce more affordable food for an increasing number of people while minimizing environmental impacts. However, resource efficiency, low-meat diets and reducing food waste are also essential factors that have to be considered. From a global perspective, organic food and farming systems is still a niche sector, as less than 1% of global farmland is managed organically and only a small proportion of the global population is consuming organic food in significant amounts. Production yields are relatively low, and the goals of organic food and farming systems, described in the principles and standards, are not achieved on every farm. This needs further development based on scientific evidence and good management practices. A lot has been done already to develop organic food and farming systems. Nevertheless, to assure, that organic food and farming systems becomes a significant part of the solutions for the future challenges in the food and farming sector, there is still much to do. The Scientific Track at the Organic World Congress 2017 in Delhi, India, will contribute to the global discussion on Organic 3.0, and taking the opportunity to answers some of the challenges in the context of the Indian subcontinent in particular. After a double-blind review, done by 120 reviewers from various disciplines from many experienced research institutions throughout the world, about 183 papers from 50 countries have been accepted. [...] |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:jhtire:542&r=env |
| By: | Rahmann, Gerold (Ed.); Andres, C. (Ed.); Yadav, A. K. (Ed.); Ardakani, R. (Ed.); Babalad, H. B. (Ed.); Devakumar, N. (Ed.); Goel, S. L. (Ed.); Olowe, V. (Ed.); Ravisankar, N. (Ed.); Saini, J. P. (Ed.); Soto, G. (Ed.); Willer, H. (Ed.) |
| Abstract: | [Foreword] The future challenges in food production and consumption appear clear: * Feed 9 to 11 billion people in the next 30 to 80 years with enough, affordable and healthy food. * Protect the environment (e.g. soils, water, air, biodiversity and landscapes) whilst increasingly under pressure to achieve greater levels of intensification. * Mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change in all farming systems and value chains. * Incorporate novel ethics, food habits, demographics and lifestyles into the food chains. * Produce food on limited farmland and fossil (non-renewable) resources efficiently and profitably. - Several findings from scientific research and practical applications suggest that organic food and farming systems can help in tackling these future challenges.1The 'low external input' approach, risk minimizing strategies and ethically accepted production practices of organic food and farming systemscan help to produce more affordable food for an increasing number of people while minimizing environmental impacts. However, resource efficiency, low-meat diets and reducing food waste are also essential factors that have to be considered. From a global perspective, organic food and farming systems is still a niche sector, as less than 1% of global farmland is managed organically and only a small proportion of the global population is consuming organic food in significant amounts. Production yields are relatively low, and the goals of organic food and farming systems, described in the principles and standards, are not achieved on every farm. This needs further development based on scientific evidence and good management practices. A lot has been done already to develop organic food and farming systems. Nevertheless, to assure, that organic food and farming systems becomes a significant part of the solutions for the future challenges in the food and farming sector, there is still much to do. The Scientific Track at the Organic World Congress 2017 in Delhi, India, will contribute to the global discussion on Organic 3.0, and taking the opportunity to answers some of the challenges in the context of the Indian subcontinent in particular. After a double-blind review, done by 120 reviewers from various disciplines from many experienced research institutions throughout the world, about 183 papers from 50 countries have been accepted. [...] |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:jhtire:541&r=env |
| By: | Rabi H. Mohtar |
| Abstract: | Understanding the interlinkages between Climate Change and the water-energy-food securities is critical for developing effective strategies to adapt to projected changes and ensure sufficient access to these resources for a growing global population. This Policy Brief identifies some of the key factors and specific climate change impact in each of the water, energy and food sectors and possible adaptation strategies will be explored. Climate change is already happening; according the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Earth’s temperature has warmed faster in the last 3 decades than ever before since 1850; oceans have warmed around 0.11 C per decade in the last 40 years. The rate of sea level rise is now more than 3 mm per year since the 1990s (due to climate change and other aspects) (IPCC, 2014). These and other changes in climate such as precipitation have sever implications for human systems. |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:ppaper:pb-1739&r=env |
| By: | Oleg Sheremet (Mathematics, University of Stirling); Enni Ruokamo (Oulu Business School, University of Oulu); Artti Juutinen (NAtural Resources Institute Finland); Rauli Svento (Oulu Business School, University of Oulu); Nick Hanley (School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews) |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the problem of designing PES-type contracts to encourage participation and spatial coordination amongst private forest owners in Finland. The aim of the policy is to increase efforts to mitigate risks from invasive forest pests and diseases. Such control actions yield spill-over benefits to other landowners and to wider society, meaning that the level of privately-optimal disease control is likely to be less than the socially-optimal level. The policy designer may wish to encourage spatial coordination in the uptake of such PES-type contracts, as spatial coordination delivers an increase in the effectiveness of control measures on disease risks. We conducted a choice experiment with private forest owners in Finland in October 2016. The study elicited the preferences of woodland owners with respect to the design of forest disease control contracts,and gauged their willingness to cooperate with neighbouring forest owners within the framework of such programs. |
| Keywords: | Choice Experiment; Payments for Ecosystem Services; Forest Pests and Diseases; Disease Control Measures; Spatial Coordination |
| JEL: | C35 Q23 Q57 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sss:wpaper:2017-13&r=env |
| By: | Zabel, Astrid (School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Bern University of Applied Sciences); Bostedt, Göran (CERE, the Department of Forest Economics, SLU); Ekvall, Hans (the Department of Forest Economics, SLU) |
| Abstract: | Habitat loss and habitat fragmentation are major factors leading to forest biodiversity decline. This paper discusses landscape planning as strategy to improve connectivity in a landscape with a heterogeneous distribution of ecologically valuable areas across land owners. A tax-fund system is proposed, that following the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, tries to spread the burden of conservation equally across land owners while optimizing the environmental outcome. Design options of such a tax-fund system are discussed along the lines of a simple theoretical model. Financial effects of a tax-fund system are computed for a small model landscape set in Sweden. Two design questions stand out as particularly important. The first is whether the policy is intended to be self-sustained among the land owners or if the budget can be supplemented by general tax money. The second is whether the land owners or the relevant authority select the stands for conservation set-aside. |
| Keywords: | Forest policy; landscape planning; biodiversity; Sweden |
| JEL: | Q23 Q28 Q57 |
| Date: | 2017–10–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2017_005&r=env |
| By: | Luis Carlos Jemio (Institute for Advanced Development Studies); Lykke E. Andersen (Institute for Advanced Development Studies); Agnes Medinaceli (Institute for Advanced Development Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper calculates and analyzes key indicators from Bolivia’s Green National Accounts during the period 1990 – 2015, which covers an entire Commodity Super Cycle. The first half includes the Great Commodities Depression while the second half of the period is characterized by an unprecedented commodities boom. We show that the contribution of ecosystem goods and services to the Bolivian economy remain relatively stable over the cycle, while the contribution of non-renewable resources increases by a factor of four between the bottom of the cycle (1993) and the top of the cycle (2011). Similarly, the differences between Net Capital Formation and Environmentally-adjusted Net Capital formation is small at the bottom of the Commodity Super Cycle (2.3% of GDP) but much larger at the top of the cycle (7.7% of GDP). |
| Keywords: | Green Accounting, Natural Resource Rents, Bolivia |
| JEL: | Q56 Q01 Q32 Q51 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adv:wpaper:201705&r=env |
| By: | Gavard, Claire; Kirat, Djamel |
| Abstract: | The Paris Agreement establishes a mechanism to allow a Party to benefit from greenhouse gases emissions reductions conducted in a host Party to fulfil its nationally determined contribution. In this context, the objective of this paper is to improve the understanding of carbon offsets price dynamics, in comparison with regular carbon markets allowances. We combine a cointegration approach with risk premium considerations to compare the price dynamics of European Union Allowances (EUA) and Certified Emission Reductions (CER) in the second phase of the European carbon market. By taking account of breaks identified in the series, we find that, while the EUA and CER returns present comparable dynamics, the long-term relationships between the price of these two types of permits and their drivers differ significantly. Given the impact of energy prices (positive for coal and negative for gas) on the CER price, we suggest the existence of a supply-side effect for credits. We find that the price elasticity of allowances with regard to the coal and gas prices is negative in time periods of low economic activity and positive in the rest of the time. We explain the latter by the fact that the market is not tight and the former by the effect of the economic activity on the price of commodities and energy. |
| Keywords: | European allowances,international credits,emissions trading,power sector,structural breaks,time series analysis |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:17054&r=env |
| By: | Arora, Gaurav |
| Abstract: | This dissertation combines remote sensing and applied economics tools to study land use conversions in North Dakota and South Dakota that are tied to this region’s overall socio-economic welfare. Specifically, the region’s corn and soybeans cultivation expanded significantly over the past decade replacing the region’s grasslands and grain crops. In paper I, we estimate the localized impacts of the advent of corn-based ethanol plants on the Dakotas’ corn acreage. We implement a Difference-in-Difference framework through more flexible assumptions as the Parallel Paths assumption of the standard model fails to hold. We find strong trends in the Dakotas’ corn acreage over the past decade, but surprisingly some ethanol plants were found to have a negative impact on local corn acreage. In paper II, we evaluate crop competitiveness due to heterogeneous weather impacts on crop yields, and then test whether annual weather fluctuations explain land allocations among the Dakotas’ major land uses. Our integrated framework suggests that annual weather variability is an important determinant of regional land use decisions. Under the A1B emissions scenario of climate change, we find that the yields of all of the Dakotas’ major crops will decline by 2031-2060 relative to 1981-2010, leading to lower (higher) spring wheat (alfalfa) acres in Eastern (Western) Dakotas. In paper III, we develop and implement a satellite image-processing algorithm to estimate historical land use acres using raw Landsat sensor data, thereby extending the existing Cropland Data Layers back to 1984 in eastern Dakotas. We demonstrate that the availability of a longer time-series is useful as the rate of land use change may differ among different time-spans. In paper IV, we evaluate the cost-effectiveness of grassland conservation easements when spatial spillovers are present among private landowners. We first develop a conceptual model to incorporate social spillovers in evaluating the role of easements in inhibiting grassland conversions. We empirically test whether social spillovers are present by estimating hazard rates of conversion as a function of neighborhood density of grasslands and easements. Our findings suggest that easements are strategic complements to existing grasslands in preventing grassland conversions in the Dakotas. |
| Date: | 2017–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genstf:201701010800006258&r=env |
| By: | Markova-Nenova, Nonka; Wätzold, Frank |
| Abstract: | We investigate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of German conventional milk buyers for ethical attributes of milk production through a choice experiment. Respondents have the highest WTP for animal welfare – free-stall plus summer pasture – followed by biodiversity conservation, support for small, below-average-income farms, and regional milk production. Respondents also have a positive WTP to support all farms but only in combination with regional production. We further find a positive WTP to support small farms in combination with tethering. This implies animal-welfare concerns are somewhat counterbalanced by fairness aspects. Our insights may support developing labels for ethical aspects of milk production. |
| Keywords: | dairy production, ethical attributes, fairness, choice modelling, latent class model, biodiversity, grassland |
| JEL: | Q13 Q18 Q5 Q51 Q57 |
| Date: | 2017–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:83066&r=env |
| By: | Marco Letta (Sapienza University of Rome); Pierluigi Montalbano (Sapienza University of Rome; University of Sussex); Richard S.J. Tol (University of Sussex; Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam; Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam; CESifo, Munich) |
| Abstract: | Using the LSMS-ISA Tanzania National Panel Survey by the World Bank, we study the relationship between rural household consumption growth and temperature shocks over the period 2008 – 2013. Temperature shocks have a negative and significant impact on household growth only if their initial consumption lies below a critical threshold. As such, temperature shocks slow income convergence among households. Agricultural yields and labour productivity are the main transmission channels. These findings support the Schelling Conjecture: economic development would allow poor farming households to cope with climate change, and closing the yield gap and modernizing agriculture is crucial for adaptation to the negative impacts of global warming. |
| Keywords: | weather shocks; climate change; household consumption growth; rural development |
| JEL: | I32 O12 Q12 Q54 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susewp:2117&r=env |
| By: | Oluwafisayo Alabi (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde); Max Mundy (Welsh Economy Research Unit (WERU), Cardiff University); Kim Swales (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde); Karen Turner (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses input-output accounting methods to identify the direct, indirect and induced physical demand for water. Previously the seminal work by Leontief (1970) has been employed to motivate a fuller account of issues related to sectors that generate and sectors that clean/treat polluting outputs (Allan et al 2007). The present paper extends this approach to deal with sectors that use a natural resource and the sector(s) that supply it. We focus on the case of water use and supply and a case study for the Welsh regional economy. The analysis shows how the proposed method, using both the quantity input-output model and the associated price dual, can be used to consider economy wide implications of the deviation between actual expenditure on the output of the water sector and actual physical water use. The price paid per physical amount of water appears to vary greatly amongst different uses. This may occur for various reasons. We argue that such analysis and information is essential for policy makers and regulators in understanding the demands on and supply of UK regional water resources, their role in supporting economic expansion, and can ultimately inform water sustainability objectives and strategies. |
| Keywords: | Water resources; Full Leontief environmental model; input-output; Multipliers; Wales |
| JEL: | C67 Q25 Q51 R11 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:str:wpaper:1612&r=env |
| By: | Warwick McKibbin; Adele Morris; Augustus J. Panton; Peter J. Wilcoxen |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the interaction of monetary policy and climate change as they jointly influence macroeconomic outcomes. In bringing together the literatures on climate change and monetary policy, we seek to alert policymakers in each realm to the implications of the other. |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2017-77&r=env |
| By: | Laure Kuhfuss (School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews); Raphaële Préget (INRA, UMR 1135 LAMETA, F-34000 Montpellier, France); Sophie Thoyer (Montpellier Supagro, UMR 1135 LAMETA, F-34000 Montpellier, France); Frans P. de Vries (Division of Economics, University of Stirling Management School, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK); Nick Hanley (School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews) |
| Abstract: | The environmental benefits from Payment for Environmental Service (PES) schemes can often be enhanced if landowners can be induced to enrol land in a spatially - coordinated manner. This is because the achievement of many targets for biodiversity conservation policy or water quality improvements are increasing in the spatial connectedness of enrolled land. One incentive mechanism which has been proposed by economists to achieve such connectedness is the Agglomeration Bonus (AB). There has also been an interest within the literature on PES design in using “nudges” to enhance participation and scheme performance. This paper explores whether a specific nudge in the form of information provided to participants on the relative environmental performance of their group can improve participation and spatial coordination, and enhance the AB performance. We design a laboratory experiment whereby the environmental benefits generated by a PES scheme are materialized by real contributions to an environmental charity, mirroring the situation in actual PES schemes where participants derive utility from contributing to the environmental outputs of the scheme, in addition to the monetary payoffs they receive. The experimental results confirm positive environmental outcomes derived under an AB, but the impact of the nudge is less environmentally effective. Interestingly, we find that the nudge does not significantly supercharge the AB, and can even worsen its performance |
| Keywords: | Social norms; Laboratory experiments; Coordination games; Agricultural policy;Environmental performance; Agri-environmental schemes; Charity |
| JEL: | C91 C92 Q15 Q18 Q57 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sss:wpaper:2017-11&r=env |
| By: | Hassel, Arndt; Nicolescu, Razvan; Egenhofer, Christian; Nica, Andreea; Elisei, Sorin |
| Abstract: | The EU Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources contains the main body of the EU's current renewable energy (RE) policy. Adopted in April 2009, the Directive provides a common framework for the promotion of energy from renewable sources in all EU member states. The act specifies binding national targets for the share of renewable energy (as a percent of gross final energy consumption) for each member state, which together amount to an EU-wide target of 20%. This report reviews the progress made to date by each member state towards fulfilling its target and offers projections about possible outcomes in the year 2020. |
| Date: | 2017–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:cepswp:12244&r=env |
| By: | Stella Tsani (Athens University of Economics and Business); Phoebe Koundouri |
| Abstract: | Aquaculture production can yield significant economic, social and environmental effects. These exceed the financial costs and benefits aquaculture producers are faced with. We propose a methodology for the development of integrated production models that allow for the inclusion of the socio-economic and environmental effects of aquaculture into the production management. The methodology develops on a Social Cost-Benefit Analysis context and it includes three parts: i) environmental, that captures the interactions of aquaculture with the environment, ii) economic, that makes provision for the incorporation of economic determinants in the production models and iii) social, that introduces the social preferences to the production and management process. Alternatives to address data availability issues are also discussed. The methodology extends the assessment of the costs and benefits of aquaculture beyond pure financial metrics and beyond the quantification of private costs and benefits. It can also support the development of integrated models of aquaculture production that take into consideration both the private and the social costs and benefits associated with externalities and effects not appropriately captured by market mechanisms. The methodology can support aquaculture management and policies targeting sustainable and efficient aquaculture production and financing from an economic, financial, social and environmental point of view. |
| Keywords: | Aquaculture, Production Model, Socio-economic assessment, Environmental Effects, Blue Growth |
| JEL: | Q01 Q22 Q51 B41 |
| Date: | 2017–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aue:wpaper:1708&r=env |
| By: | Tobias Jochem |
| Abstract: | Als weltweit anspruchsvollstes Umweltmanagementsystem trägt EMAS auf Unternehmensebene als Baustein zur Nachhaltigen Entwicklung bei. EMAS ist ein Instrument der Europäischen Union, an dem Organisationen, unabhängig von ihrer Größe und Branche, weltweit auf freiwilliger Basis teilnehmen können. Die geplante EMAS-Validierung der UN-Klimakonferenz (COP 23) in Bonn (06. – 17.11.2017), hat das Interesse der Projektkoordination von "Sustainable Bonn - Konferenzort der Nachhaltigkeit" geweckt, die EMAS-Einführung bei deren Projektteilnehmern zu untersuchen zu lassen. Daher liegt der Branchenfokus auf dem Gastgewerbe, aus denen die derzeitigen Teilnehmer des Bonner Projekts überwiegend stammen. Um Branchenspezifika bei EMAS besser zu berücksichtigen hat die Europäische Kommission im April 2016 hat ein Referenzdokument über bewährte Umweltmanagementpraktiken zur Steigerung der Öko-Effektivität mit einschlägigen Indikatoren zur Messung der Umweltleistung mit Richtwerten für die Tourismusbranche veröffentlicht, die im Rahmen einer EMAS-Einführung unter anderem von Gastgewerbebetrieben berücksichtigt werden müssen. |
| JEL: | M42 Q28 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sau:iznews:1708&r=env |
| By: | Giuseppe Danese (Católica Porto Business School – CEGE – Universidade Católica Portuguesa) |
| Abstract: | Previous literature has studied waste picking as an economic, social and environmental phenomenon of great importance in countries characterized by ineffective waste collection and recycling programs. The legal foundations of waste picking have, however, received little scholarly attention. Surveys conducted with waste pickers from 5 cities (Bogotá, Pune, Belo Horizonte, Durban, Nakuru) find that existing, and often hostile, regulations and competition from new entrants are key concerns for the waste pickers. In this paper, I argue that any system of legal rules that tries to exclude the waste pickers from the waste value chain results in high transaction costs and risks further aggravating existing social injustices. Several inclusive property right regimes are conceivable, from waste picker ownership of waste to a res nullius (nobody’s property) regime complemented by a right of first possession. Res nullius creates incentives for the stakeholders of waste to specialize in different segments of the collection and recycling chain. Possible drawbacks of this regime are dissipating rents because of open access to waste. |
| Keywords: | property rights, solid waste, waste pickers, informal economy, res nullius |
| JEL: | K11 Q53 O17 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cap:wpaper:022017&r=env |
| By: | Johnny Suxo (Institute for Advanced Development Studies) |
| Abstract: | La estimación de las cuentas ambientales a nivel subnacional es importante en Bolivia, debido a la heterogénea distribución espacial de los activos ambientales en el territorio nacional, en particular para departamentos de escasa diversificación productiva, donde la extracción de recursos naturales constituye su principal base económica. El presente trabajo se concentra en el departamento de Pando en Bolivia. Aplica la metodología non-survey de regionalización de matrices insumo producto, a una clasificación adecuada de activos y recursos ambientales, para obtener el Producto Interno Bruto (PIB) ambientalmente ajustado del mencionado departamento, cuya desagregación según ingreso permite la estimación cuantitativa del aporte de la naturaleza en la generación del producto e ingreso departamental, medida a través del cálculo de la renta de los recursos naturales. Los resultados de la investigación también confirman la dependencia económica de Pando, respecto de los recursos naturales, al cuantificar su alto grado de apertura hacia mercados externos al departamento, superior al nacional y constituirse en exportador neto de recursos naturales. |
| Keywords: | Cuentas Ambientales, Cuentas Regionales, Matriz Insumo Producto, Bolivia |
| JEL: | Q56 R11 R15 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adv:wpaper:201703&r=env |
| By: | Pierre-Yves P-Y. Declercq; Pierre Gerard; Eric E Pirard; Daniele D. Perissin; Jan J. Walstra; Xavier Devleeschouwer |
| Abstract: | ERS, ENVISAT and TerraSAR-X Synthetic Aperture Radar scenes covering the time span 1992–2014 were processed using a Persistent Scatterer technique to study the ground movements in Merchtem (25 km NW of Brussels, Belgium). The processed datasets, covering three consecutive time intervals, reveal that the investigated area is affected by a global subsidence trend related to the extraction of groundwater in the deeper Cambro-Silurian aquifer. Through time the subsidence pattern is reduced and replaced by an uplift related to the rising water table attested by piezometers located in this aquifer. The subsidence is finally reduced to a zone where currently three breweries are very active and pump groundwater in the Ledo-Paniselian aquifer and in the Cambro-Silurian for process water for the production. |
| Keywords: | Groundwater pumping; InSAR; PSInSAR; Subsidence; Uplift |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/261783&r=env |
| By: | Schaefer, Thilo |
| Abstract: | Die deutsche Klimapolitik agiert im Kontext weltweiter Vereinbarungen und europäischer Steuerungsinstrumente. Der bestehende Mix nationaler Instrumente und Ziele wirkt allerdings inkonsistent, was Zusatzkosten für die nationalen Akteure verursacht. Während im Wirkungsbereich des europäischen Emissionshandelssystems (EU-ETS) zusätzliche Instrumente zum Einsatz kommen, die allerdings keine über die im EU-ETS festgelegte Emissionsobergrenze hinausgehende Treibhausgasreduktion bewirken können, mangelt es in den Sektoren außerhalb des EU-ETS, namentlich im Verkehr und im Wärmebereich, an wirksamen Instrumenten. Der Klimaschutzplanprozess, den die Bundesregierung angestoßen hat, bietet die Chance, Ziele und Instrumente so anzupassen, dass Inkonsistenzen abgebaut werden und die deutsche Klimapolitik sowohl national als auch international an Akzeptanz gewinnt. |
| JEL: | Q52 Q58 F53 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwkpps:212017&r=env |
| By: | Akpan, Wilson; Dawood, Mamoon |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the logic of environmental racism (and its ethnic variant) and places it against some of the main issues in the Niger Delta resistance. Relying on primary ethnographic data obtained in the Niger Delta in 2003 as well as on a close examination of the framework for oil exploitation in Nigeria, and some (recent) actions of the Nigerian government, the paper argues that while environmental ‘recklessness’, poor social remediation, and other ‘excesses’ have been undeniable concomitants of oil production in the Niger Delta, environmental racism provides only a tangential explanation for these problems, if at all. Environmental racism arguments neglect the underlying issue of a dysfunctional state-dictated framework for oil operations, whose devastating impact is felt not just in the Niger Delta, but across the broader Nigerian social fabric, as well as by the state and the multinational oil companies. The paper revisits John Rawls’ concept of ‘background institutions’ in explaining the environmental and social consequences of oil exploration and the Niger Delta crisis. |
| Keywords: | Colonialism, North South Relationships, Natural Resources |
| JEL: | Q32 |
| Date: | 2017–12–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:83099&r=env |
| By: | Hebe Nicholson (School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews); Nick Hanley (School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews); Laure Kuhfuss (School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews); Allan Findlay (School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the role of income, income inequality and geography in explaining recent time trends in global hazards from natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes. We seek to explain a pattern in the data which shows a decline in such disasters from the early 2000s across 73 countries, despite increasing pressures from climate change. Using a zero-inflated negative binomial model and a generalized least squared regression model, we show that income and income inequality both have significant effects on the number of disasters and on deaths from natural hazards; but that geographical factors also play an important role. It seems from the data as if countries can reduce expected deaths from natural disasters by increasing average incomes and by improving the fairness with which such income is distributed. However, results for the geographical variables suggest that this “escape route” is not equally open to all countries. |
| Keywords: | Natural disasters, natural hazards, income growth, income inequality, self-protection, zero inflated negative binomial models |
| JEL: | Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sss:wpaper:2017-12&r=env |
| By: | Dengler, Sebastian (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management) |
| Abstract: | This doctoral thesis aims to advance our understanding of major topics of concern in the 21st century using theoretical as well as empirical economic methodologies. All three topics do and will continue to affect people’s lives as they can substantially shape the functioning of our societies. Thematically linked, Chapter 2 and 3 both focus on privacy choices and their consequences in the context of big data algorithms that target individual consumers. In contrast, Chapter 3 and 4 are linked methodologically as both present results from economic laboratory experiments, where the former focuses on cognitive challenges of individual decision-makers and the latter on challenges to coordination and cooperation between decision-makers. Chapter 2 presents results from a theoretical model where consumers face a monopolistic seller who is not only capable of perfect price discrimination but also more strategically sophisticated than the consumers. The model shows that consumers use a costly privacy-protective sales channel even in the absence of an explicit taste for privacy if they are not too strategically sophisticated. Chapter 3 presents results from an economic laboratory experiment related to the model developed before. Finding substantial deviations from Nash equilibrium predictions. Addressing cognitive constraints often present in privacy choices, some evidence for two alternative explanations is found: level-k thinking and reinforcement learning. A policy treatment resembling privacy-by-default mechanisms leads to a strong increase in hiding behavior. Chapter 4 presents results from an economic laboratory experiment of a dynamic resource extraction game that mimics the global multi-generation planning problem for climate change and fossil fuel extraction. The findings from this experiment suggest that successful cooperation does not only need to overcome a gap between individual incentives and public interests. There is also a fundamental heterogeneity between subjects with respect to beliefs and preferences about the way in which this should be achieved. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutis:2e48fcbf-1584-416d-ae88-23099889fa59&r=env |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | There is a large variety of repositories that are responsible for providing long term access to data that is used for research. As data volumes and the demands for more open access to this data increase, these repositories are coming under increasing financial pressures that can undermine their long-term sustainability. This report explores the income streams, costs, value propositions, and business models for 48 research data repositories. It includes a set of recommendations designed to provide a framework for developing sustainable business models and to assist policy makers and funders in supporting repositories with a balance of policy regulation and incentives. |
| Keywords: | Business models, Data, Open data, Open science, Repositories, Research, Sustainability |
| Date: | 2017–12–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaac:47-en&r=env |
| By: | Germán ROMERO OTALORA; Sioux Fanny MELO LEON; Leidy Cáterin RIVEROS SALCEDO; Andrés Camilo ÁLVAREZ; Carolina DIAZ GIRALDO; Silvia Liliana CALDERON DIAZ |
| Abstract: | Este trabajo cuantifica el impacto de futuras sequías en Colombia, mediante el cálculo de los costos económicos que tuvo para el país el fenómeno El Niño ocurrido en 2015. En particular, este documento estima los efectos que una disminución del recurso hídrico -producto de un evento de variabilidad climática como El Niño- tiene sobre los sectores económicos, y valora la pérdida del ecosistema de bosque que generan los incendios forestales. Los resultados indican que una reducción en un 20% de las cantidades de agua y el aumento en un 4,5% de los precios de la energía eléctrica impactan, de manera conjunta, el 0,6% del PIB. Por su parte, los servicios ecosistémicos que los bosques dejan de proveer a la economía cuando hay pérdida de la cobertura vegetal, producto de los incendios, fueron valorados en un 0,1% del PIB sólo para el año 2015. En ese sentido, no tomar medidas de adaptación a la variabilidad tiene costos de al menos 0,7% del PIB. |
| Keywords: | Fenómeno El Niño, recurso hídrico, insumo producto, cambio climático, agua |
| Date: | 2017–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000118:015851&r=env |
| By: | Sudha Narayanan (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research); Nicolas Gerber (Center for Development Research, University of Bonn); Udayan Rathore (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research); Karthikeya Naraparaju (Indian Institute of Management, Indore) |
| Abstract: | Can large-scale social safety nets be nutrition sensitive even if they do not explicitly incorporate health and nutrition as programmatic goals? This paper focuses on the consequences of a countrywide guaranteed workfare programme (MGNREGA) and subsidised food distribution scheme (PDS) in India for the prevalence of anaemia, examining whether individuals in districts with a broader reach of these mega-programmes are less likely to be anaemic. Using an Instrumental Variable (IV) approach to address the endogeneity of programme scale, we find that an individual residing in a district where the programmes have broader reach is less likely to suffer from all forms of anaemia and has a lower haemoglobin deficit from the benchmark suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO) - ranging between 0.91 to 6.2 percentage points for a 10 percentage point expansion in programme scale. While the PDS seems to be more effective in reducing the incidence of mild anaemia than moderate or severe anaemia, while the strength of effects for MGNREGA seem to be the least for mild. These are catch-all effects that represent partial and general equilibrium impacts through multiple pathways. Programme interaction effects suggest the MGNREGA and PDS may be substitutes - associated improvements in anaemia for regions with higher PDS access (MGNREGA participation) are more pronounced when the scale of MGNREGA participation (PDS access) is low. There exist nonlinearities in these relationships with the efficacy of both programmes varying across scales of implementation. |
| Keywords: | safety nets, PDS, MGNREGA, India, anaemia |
| JEL: | I18 J08 J48 H55 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2017-021&r=env |
| By: | Donadelli, Michael; Grüning, Patrick; Jüppner, Marcus; Kizys, Renatas |
| Abstract: | We shed new light on the macroeconomic effects of rising temperatures. In the data, a shock to global temperature dampens expenditures in research and development (R&D). We rationalize this empirical evidence within a stochastic endogenous growth model, featuring temperature risk and growth sustained through innovations. In line with the novel evidence in the data, temperature shocks undermine economic growth via a drop in R&D. Moreover, in our endogenous growth setting temperature risk generates non-negligible welfare costs (i.e., 11% of lifetime utility). An active government, which is committed to a zero fiscal deficit policy, can offset the welfare costs of global temperature risk by subsidizing the aggregate capital investment with one-fifth of total public spending. |
| Keywords: | Global Temperature,R&D,Welfare Costs |
| JEL: | E30 G12 Q00 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:safewp:188&r=env |