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on Resource Economics |
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Issue of 2010‒04‒17
five papers chosen by |
| By: | Cuong Le Van (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, University of Exeter Business School - University of Exeter Business School); Katheline Schubert (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris); Tu-Anh Nguyen (Central Insitute of Economic Management - Central Insitute of Economic Management) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the optimal growth of a developing non-renewable natural resource producer. It extracts the resource from its soil, and produces a single consumption good with man-made capital. More- over, it can sell the extracted resource abroad and use the revenues to buy an imported good, which is a perfect substitute of the domes- tic consumption good. The domestic technology is convex-concave, so that the economy may be locked into a poverty trap. We show that the extent to which the country will escape from the poverty trap depends, besides the interactions between its technology and its impatience, on the characteristics of the resource revenue function, on the level of its initial stock of capital, and on the abundance of the natural resource. |
| Keywords: | optimal growth, non-renewable resource, convex-concave technology, poverty trap, resource curse. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00470655_v1&r=res |
| By: | Gebreegziabher, Zenebe (Department of Economics, Mekelle University, and Environmental Economics Policy Forum for Ethiopia (EEPFE)); Mekonnen, Alemu (Department of Economics, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia); Kassie, Menale (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Köhlin, Gunnar (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | Trees have multiple purposes in rural Ethiopia, providing significant economic and ecological benefits. Planting trees supplies rural households with wood products for their own consumption, as well for sale, and decreases soil degradation. In this paper, we used cross-sectional household-level data to analyze the determinants of household tree planting and explored the most important tree attributes or purpose(s) that enhance the propensity to plant trees. We set up a sample selection framework that simultaneously takes into account the two decisions of tree growers (whether or not to plant tree and how many) to analyze the determinants of tree planting. We used logistic regression to analyze the most important tree attributes contributing to households’ tree-planting decisions. We found that land size, age, gender, tenure security, education, exogenous income, and agro-ecology increased both the propensity to plant trees and the amount of tree planting, while increased livestock holding impacted both decisions negatively. Our findings also suggested that households consider a number of attributes in making decision to plant trees. These results can be used by policymakers to promote tree planting in the study area by strengthening tenure security and considering households’ selection of specific tree species for their attributes (criteria).<p> |
| Keywords: | Tree planting; tree species; tree attributes/purposes; sample selection; Tigrai; Ethiopia |
| JEL: | Q20 Q23 Q28 |
| Date: | 2010–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0432&r=res |
| By: | Coria, Jessica (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Löfgren, Åsa (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Sterner, Thomas (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | Whether tradable permits are appropriate for use in transition and developing economies—given special social and cultural circumstances, such as the lack of institutions and lack of expertise with marketbased policies—is much debated. We conducted interviews and surveyed a sample of firms subject to emissions trading programs in Santiago, Chile, one of the first cities outside the OECD that has implemented such trading. The information gathered allow us to study what factors affect the performance of the trading programs in practice and the challenges and advantages of applying tradable permits in less developed countries.<p> |
| Keywords: | Tradable Permits; Developing Countries; Environmental Policy; Environmental Institutions |
| JEL: | Q56 Q58 R52 |
| Date: | 2009–10–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0390&r=res |
| By: | Löfgren, Åsa (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Martinsson, Peter (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Hennlock, Magnus (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Sterner, Thomas (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | Earlier research has shown that using a default option has a decisive effect on individuals’ choices. In many cases, however, the low proportion of subjects who switch from the pre-set default option might partly explained by inexperience with the goods or services offered, and high transaction costs for switching. By conducting a natural field experiment when environmental economists registered on the web to a conference, the default option to offset CO2 emissions was randomly pre-set. Either the participants had to opt-in to offset, opt-out to offset or there was no default option, i.e. an active choice had to be made with no implicit “guidance” from the default. We used experienced subjects and had low transaction costs of switching. Our findings show that the default has no significant effect on the decision to offset.<p> |
| Keywords: | CO2-offsetting; Default option; Field experiment; Public goods |
| JEL: | C93 D62 Q53 |
| Date: | 2009–10–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0391&r=res |
| By: | Claudia Kettner (WIFO); Angela Köppl (WIFO); Stefan Schleicher (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | The EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is a key instrument in European climate policy. Evidence from the first trading period (2005-2007) and the first year of the Kyoto period 2008 dampened, however, ex-ante enthusiasm: because of substantial over-allocation of emissions allowances in the first trading period the overall emissions cap was not stringent which caused a sharp drop in carbon prices. In 2008 a more stringent cap but still high price volatility was observed. Based on experience from the first years of the EU ETS the design of the EU ETS will be changed for the post-Kyoto period (2013-2020) including an EU-wide cap and the use of auctioning as the main allocation principle. So far, no measures to control price volatility are envisaged. This issue however gains in importance in the political and economic debate as prices are an important signal for investment decisions. More or less stable price signals are essential for the environmental effectiveness of an emissions trading scheme. As evidence shows, this is not necessarily guaranteed by the market process. Based on an analysis of the first trading years the paper provides an argumentation for the implementation of price stabilisation measures in the post-Kyoto period. |
| Keywords: | climate policy, emissions trading, EU Emission Trading Scheme |
| Date: | 2010–04–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2010:i:368&r=res |