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on Resource Economics |
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Issue of 2021‒10‒11
five papers chosen by |
| By: | Isaksen, Elisabeth T. (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Johansen, Bjørn G. (The Institute of Transport Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that differentiating driving costs by time of day and vehicle type help improve urban air quality, lower driving, and induce adoption of electric vehicles. By taking advantage of a congestion charge that imposed spatial and temporal variation in the cost of driving a conventional vehicle, we find that economic incentives lower traffic and concentrations of NO2. Exploiting a novel dataset on car ownership, we find that households exposed to congestion charging on their way to work were more likely to adopt an electric vehicle. Heterogeneity analyses show strong socioeconomic gradients in the transition towards low-emission cars. |
| Keywords: | air pollution; electric vehicles; transportation policies; congestion charging |
| JEL: | C33 H23 Q53 Q55 Q58 R41 R48 |
| Date: | 2021–05–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:osloec:2021_001&r= |
| By: | Halvor Briseid Storrøsten (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates environmental policy in the presence of endogenous preferences. The optimal time trajectory is achieved if and only if the consumer is perfectly time-consistent. The suboptimal trajectories do not only differ from the optimal path during the transition between two equilibria, but also the new stationary states differ. A key difference is more pollution in the suboptimal equilibrium. If the consumer is less than perfectly time-consistent, the standard Pigou tax can be complimented with taxes and subsidies to implement the optimal time trajectory. If this option is unavailable to the regulator, a second-best option is a single tax that is above the Pigouvian level. The results in this paper indicate that the integrated assessment models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to derive optimal emission paths may recommend too high carbon emissions. |
| Keywords: | Regulation; Endogenous preferences; habits |
| JEL: | H23 H31 D15 Q54 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:964&r= |
| By: | Luisa Corrado (DEF and CEIS, Università di Roma "Tor Vergata"); Andrea Fazio (Università di Roma La Sapienza); Alessandra Pelloni (DEF, Università di Roma "Tor Vergata") |
| Abstract: | We investigate some motivations of recycling, using Italian survey data. We find that people declaring an interest in environmental issues or belonging to an environmental association are more likely to recycle. This suggests that the motivations for behaving pro-environmentally have an expressive and noninstrumental motivation. However, we also find that if people perceive to live in a deteriorated environment, they are less likely to recycle. We discuss possible explanations for this finding. |
| Keywords: | Pro-Environmental Behavior, Intrinsic Motivation, Recycling, Environmental Degradation |
| JEL: | Q57 Q53 R11 D91 |
| Date: | 2021–09–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:513&r= |
| By: | Lindström, Hanna (Department of Economics, Umeå University); Lundberg, Sofia (Department of Economics, Umeå University); Marklund, Per-Olov (The National Institute of Economic Research (NIER)) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the uptake of a national and voluntary green public procurement policy among Swedish municipalities. The policy, decided in 2006, was intended to contribute to increased organic farming by stipulating that at least 25 percent of public food purchases be organic. Based on survey data on the municipalities’ organic food purchases for the period 2003–2016, supplemented with municipal characteristics, we analyse the determinants underpinning uptake of the policy, accounting for potential selection bias. The main finding is that political goals have a significant and positive effect on the share of organic food purchases, suggesting that there is an uptake and that the voluntary policy is in fact implemented. Secondly, we find that the increase in expenditures per capita devoted to organic food is quite substantial following the adoption of an organic food policy. |
| Keywords: | Green Public Procurement; organic food policy; selection bias |
| JEL: | D44 H57 Q18 |
| Date: | 2021–10–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:0997&r= |
| By: | Lindström, Hanna (Department of Economics, Umeå University) |
| Abstract: | Increasing the production of organic food is becoming an important environmental target for many governments, and consumer demand for organic food is pivotal in reaching these targets. This paper studies consumer demand for organic and conventional milk, using weekly scanner data from the Swedish retail market for the years 2011–2017. Own- and cross-price elasticities of demand are estimated using a quadratic almost ideal demand system. While previous studies on this topic show that demand for organic milk is commonly more price elastic than for its conventional alternative, this paper complements previous literature by (i) studying a market with relatively small organic price premiums, (ii) using a highly representative sample of retailers, and (iii) differentiating between private labels and brands. Results show that demand for organic milk is relatively elastic, despite relatively small organic price premiums in the Swedish milk market. Results also show that demand for branded products is, generally, less elastic compared to private label products, suggesting that consumers have strong preferences for traditional, regional brands. |
| Keywords: | Environmental policy analysis; Organic food policy; Demand system analysis |
| JEL: | D12 Q11 Q18 |
| Date: | 2021–10–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:0998&r= |