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on Energy Economics |
| By: | Mark R. Jacobsen |
| Abstract: | Fuel economy standards change the composition of the vehicle fleet, potentially influencing accident safety. I introduce a model of the fleet that captures risks across interactions between vehicle types while simultaneously recovering estimates of unobserved driving safety behavior. The model importantly includes the ability to consider the selection of driver types across vehicles. I apply the model to the present structure of U.S. fuel economy standards and find an adverse effect on safety: Each MPG increment to the standard results in an additional 149 fatalities per year in expectation. I next show how two alternative regulatory provisions, including one slated to enter effect next year, can fully offset the negative safety consequences; minor changes in the regulation produce a robust, near-zero change in accident fatalities while conserving the same quantity of gasoline. |
| JEL: | L9 Q4 Q5 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18012&r=ene |
| By: | Souvik Datta (Centre for Energy Policy and Economics (CEPE), Department of Management, Technology and Economics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland); Sumeet Gulati (Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Canada) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we estimate the increase in the market share of ENERGY STAR-qualified appliances that can be attributed to targetted cash rebates offered by utility companies. To estimate the impact of these incentives we use the variation in timing and size of the utility rebates across the US states. We then use these estimates along with information on the average energy saved by using an ENERGY STAR appliance relative to a non-ENERGY STAR appliance to provide an estimate on the cost per tonne of carbon saved by the rebate program. Our results show that a dollar increase in the rebate leads to a 0.3% increase in the share of ENERGY STAR-qualified clothes washers while the effect of rebates is not significant for dishwashers and refrigerators. Assuming a redemption rate of 40%, we calculate the cost of saving a tonne of carbon through the clothes washer rebate program to be around $158. The corresponding cost of a megawatt hour saved (about $32), is lower than the estimated cost of building and operating an additional power plant and the average on-peak spot price. We conclude that the ENERGY STAR clothes washers rebate programs are a cost-effective way for utilities to reduce energy demand. |
| Keywords: | Eco-labelling, energy efficiency, appliances, utility rebates, carbon saving, energy saving |
| JEL: | C13 C33 L68 L94 Q4 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cee:wpcepe:11-81&r=ene |
| By: | Francesco Nicolli (University of Ferrara); Francesco Vona (Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques, Skema Business School) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes different methods to aggregate heterogeneous policies for renewable energy. We compare time-varying indicators built using principal component analysis with average-based indicators. The main goal of the paper is to account for the evolution of both types of policy indicators with a set of common variables. Our empirical results are consistent with predictions of politicaleconomy models of environmental policies as lobbying, income and, to a less extent, inequality have expected effects on policy. The brown lobbying power, proxied by entry barriers in the energy sector, has negative influence on the policy indicators even when taking into account endogeneity in its effect. The results are also robust to dynamic panel specifications and to the exclusion of groups of countries. Interestingly, too, corruption has only an indirect effect on policy mediated by entry barriers, while the negative effect of inequality is much stronger for the richer countries. Keywords :Renewable Energy Policy, Political Economy, Product Market Regulation, Lobbying,Policy Indicators Classification-JEL :Q42, Q48,D72,Q38 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fce:doctra:1213&r=ene |
| By: | Almut E. D. Veraart (Imperial College London and CREATES); Luitgard A. M. Veraart (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a new modelling framework for day–ahead electricity prices based on multivariate Lévy semistationary (MLSS) processes. Day–ahead prices specify the prices for electricity delivered over certain time windows on the next day and are determined in a daily auction. Since there are several delivery periods per day, we use a multivariate model to describe the different day–ahead prices for the different delivery periods on the next day. We extend the work by Barndorff-Nielsen et al. (2010) on univariate Lévy semistationary processes to a multivariate setting and discuss the probabilistic properties of the new class of stochastic processes. Furthermore, we provide a detailed empirical study using data from the European Energy Exchange (EEX) and give new insights into the intra–daily correlation structure of electricity day–ahead prices in the EEX market. The flexible structure of MLSS processes is able to reproduce the stylized facts of such data rather well. Furthermore, these processes can be used to model negative prices in electricity markets which started to occur recently and cannot be described by many classical models. |
| Keywords: | Electricity market, day–ahead prices, multivariate Lévy semistationary process, stochastic volatility, correlation, panel structure. |
| JEL: | C0 C1 C5 G1 |
| Date: | 2012–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:create:2012-12&r=ene |
| By: | Holmberg, Pär (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Lazarczyk, Ewa (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | Wholesale electricity markets use different market designs to handle congestion in the transmission network. We compare nodal, zonal and discriminatory pricing in general networks with transmission constraints and loop flows. We conclude that in large games with many producers who are allowed to participate in the real-time market the three market designs result in the same efficient dispatch. However, zonal pricing with counter-trading results in additional payments to producers in export-constrained nodes. |
| Keywords: | Congestion management; Wholesale electricity market; Transmission network; Nodal pricing; Zonal pricing with countertrading; Discriminatory pricing; Large game |
| JEL: | C72 D44 D61 L13 L94 |
| Date: | 2012–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0915&r=ene |
| By: | Birner, Regina; Gupta, Surupa; Sharma, Neeru |
| Abstract: | Agricultural policy reform is one of the major challenges facing India today. Such reform is required in order to reduce poverty through faster agricultural growth and to promote more sustainable use of natural resources while ensuring food security. Subsidy policies that promote the use of fertilizer and of electricity for groundwater irrigation are in particular need of reform. While subsidies for these two inputs played a crucial role in achieving India's Green Revolution, they have been criticized during the past decade for benefiting large-scale farmers more than smallholders, placing a fiscal burden on the state, and having negative environmental effects. By analyzing the evolution of these input subsidy policies and examining the political processes involved in efforts to reform them, this study throws new light on the factors that have so far prevented a move toward more pro-poor and environmentally sustainable agricultural input policies in India. The authors show that electoral politics, institutional factors, and policy paradigms or belief systems all play an important role in blocking reform. They identify several policy reform options, as well as political strategies that can overcome past obstacles to reform. Community-based policy solutions, new coalitions for policy reform, fresh approaches to the policy debate, innovative and consensus-oriented forms of deliberation, and effective use of research-based knowledge can all make positive contributions to Indian policy reform. The analyses and proposals presented in this study will be a valuable resource for policymakers and stakeholders concerned with the politics of agricultural development. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:resrep:reginabirner&r=ene |
| By: | Federico Revelli (University of Torino) |
| Abstract: | This paper models theoretically and investigates empirically the consequences on local economic performance of state mandates on financially distressed authorities. In particular, I analyze the switch from systematic state bailout of regional health care deficits to selectively mandated hikes in regions’ own business income tax rates that took place in Italy around the mid 2000s, and exploit such dramatic switch to identify the impact of tax policy on the economy. I model factor input use within a multi-jurisdiction neoclassical framework, where production takes place in plants, and physical capital requires energy in fixed proportions depending on the size of energy-saving capital that is installed along with physical capital. Energy-saving capital can be interpreted either as tangible information technology (IT) equipment (e.g., computer-aided line speed control devices) or as intangible assets (e.g., process design skills) lowering a plant energy requirement. The estimation results based on panel data for the Italian provinces and regions over a decade (2000-2010) reveal that, by raising the user cost of capital, mandated business income tax hikes stimulate province-level business energy use, lending support to the hypothesis of short run substitution between energy and energy-saving capital, and hamper the employment of human resources in science and technology (S&T) occupations, the latter being interpretable as a proxy for energy-saving capital. |
| Keywords: | Business income tax, state mandates, energy tax, energy use |
| JEL: | H25 H71 H73 Q48 R12 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2012/4/doc2012-12&r=ene |
| By: | Egil Matsen (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Economics); Gisle J. Natvik (Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway)); Ragnar Torvik (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We aim to explain petro populism —the excessive use of oil revenues to buy political support. To reap the full gains of natural resource income politicians need to remain in office over time. Hence, even a purely rent-seeking incumbent who only cares about his own welfare, will want to provide voters with goods and services if it promotes his probability of remaining in office. While this incentive benfits citizens under the rule of rent-seekers, it also has the adverse effect of motivating benevolent policymakers to short-term overprovision of goods and services. In equilibrium politicians of all types indulge in excessive resource extraction, while voters reward policies they realize cannot be sustained over time. Our model explains how resource wealth may generate political competition that reduces the tenability of equilibrium policies. |
| Keywords: | Resource curse, Political economy. |
| JEL: | D72 O13 Q33 |
| Date: | 2012–04–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bno:worpap:2012_06&r=ene |
| By: | Baldwin, John R.<br/> Macdonald, Ryan |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the growth of the Canadian resource economy and the contribution of trading gains arising from increasing terms of trade to real income growth from 1870 to 2010. It combines a historical account of the growth of a succession of natural resources--examining both the production and price history of agriculture, forestry, mining, and oil and gas--with an overview of the impact of these developments on Canadian well-being. It uses estimates of the difference between real income and real output growth, based on measurement theory from the System of National Accounts, to measure trading gains that arose from increasing terms of trade over the period. |
| Keywords: | International trade, Economic accounts, |
| Date: | 2012–04–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp5e:2012079e&r=ene |
| By: | Baldwin, John R.<br/> Macdonald, Ryan |
| Abstract: | Le présent document étudie la croissance de l'économie des ressources au Canada et la contribution des gains d'échange qui découlent de la hausse des termes de l'échange à la croissance du revenu réel de 1870 à 2010. Il comprend un historique de la croissance d'une succession de ressources naturelles examinant la production et les prix dans les secteurs de l'agriculture, de la foresterie, de l'extraction minière, et du pétrole et du gaz, de même qu'un aperçu de l'incidence de cette évolution sur le bien être des Canadiens qui repose sur des estimations de la différence entre la croissance du revenu réel et celle du produit réel produites conformément au cadre de mesure du Système de comptabilité nationale pour évaluer les gains d'échange découlant de la hausse des termes de l'échange au cours de la période étudiée. |
| Keywords: | Commerce international, Comptes économiques, |
| Date: | 2012–04–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp5f:2012079f&r=ene |
| By: | Ivan Kitov |
| Abstract: | Three years ago we found a statistically reliable link between ConocoPhillips' (NYSE: COP) stock price and the difference between the core and headline CPI in the United States. In this article, the original relationship is revisited with new data available since 2009. The agreement between the observed monthly closing price (adjusted for dividends and splits) and that predicted from the CPI difference is confirmed. The original quantitative link is validated. In order to improve the accuracy of the COP price prediction a series of advanced models is developed. The original set of two major CPIs is extended by smaller components of the headline CPIs (e.g. the CPIs of motor fuel and housing energy) and several PPIs (e.g. the PPIs of crude oil and coal) which may be inherently related to ConocoPhillips and other energy companies. These advanced models have demonstrated much lower modeling errors with better statistical properties. The earlier reported quasi-linear trend in the CPI difference is also revisited. This trend allows for an accurate prediction of the COP prices at a five to ten year horizon. |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1204.5171&r=ene |
| By: | Claudio Dicembrino (Faculty of Economics, University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Pasquale Lucio Scandizzo (Faculty of Economics, University of Rome "Tor Vergata") |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the recent evolution of the oil price, with the objective to analyze the main drivers that during last fifteen years have led the unstable path and the volatility persistence in the international oil market. We assume that the oil price is composed by two components, deterministic and speculative. The first one can be defined as the certain one, and it is referred to the fundamental component given by supply and demand interaction. Differently, the uncertain one is given by unclear changes in the price structure, and it is assumed to be linked to the speculative activity. Through a structural equation model (SEM) in a linear reduced form we find that the speculation in the oil market measured with the real option methodology can improve the traditional model explaining a consistent part of the oil fluctuations. |
| Keywords: | structural model, oil price, speculation, volatility, option. |
| JEL: | C26 C53 Q41 Q47 |
| Date: | 2012–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:229&r=ene |
| By: | Roger Martini |
| Abstract: | At the 2009 Pittsburgh Summit, G20 leaders requested an analysis of the scope of energy subsidies and suggestions regarding how they may be phased out and rationalised. This report responds to this request by identifying and measuring fuel tax concessions in the fisheries sector. It provides data on fuel use, tax concessions, and related information for OECD countries and partners, as well as describing some of the key challenges in measuring data of this type. |
| Keywords: | fisheries, environmentally harmful subsidies, fossil-fuel subsidies, tax concessions, tax exemptions, fuel use |
| Date: | 2012–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:agraaa:56-en&r=ene |
| By: | Sanders, Daniel J.; Balagtas, Joseph V.; Gruere, Guillaume |
| Abstract: | In the last 30 years, palm oil production has known a ninefold increase, with almost all production growth concentrated in Malaysia and Indonesia. Several public reports have associated the palm oil boom with extensive deforestation, often pointing to the increase in biofuel demand in developed nations as a main driver of this phenomenon. Other demand drivers, especially as related to the food sector, have not been studied as much. In particular, regulations on genetically modified (GM) food in European nations and on trans fats in a number of developed countries have reportedly induced food companies to switch from soybean oil to palm oil and could therefore have contributed to additional demand for palm oil. This article provides a first analysis of the drivers of growth in palm oil production during the 1980–2010 boom, using a price dynamics analysis of the markets for palm oil, soybean oil, and crude oil. Soybean oil is selected as the leading vegetable oil in food markets, and crude oil is taken to represent the energy sector. We estimate two models of the oil price system: a vector auto regression model that treats all three prices as stationary and a vector error correction model that allows co-integration among the three prices. |
| Keywords: | biofuel, price cointegration, palm oil, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1167&r=ene |
| By: | Marc Joëts |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between emotion and European energy forward prices of oil, gas, coal and electricity during normal times and periods of extreme price movements relying on the biorhythm approach. To this end, we use the Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) variable to study the impact of emotion on energy market dynamics. Estimating OLS and quantile regressions, we find that seasonal patterns have a significant impact during extreme volatility periods only. Further investigations reveal that the SAD affect is significant during periods of price decrease, but insignificant during priceincrease. The out-of-sample predictive ability properties are also investigated and show that our "SAD model" outperforms significantly the pure "macroeconomic one". |
| Keywords: | energy forward markets, mood-misattribution, behavioral finance, extreme price movements, quantile regression. |
| JEL: | C21 Q40 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2012-24&r=ene |
| By: | Ruth Delzeit , Wolfgang Britz |
| Abstract: | Abstract: The Renewable Energy Source Act (EEG) promotes German biogas production in order to substitute fossil fuels, protect the environment, and prevent climate change. As a consequence, green maize production has increased significantly over the last years, causing negative environmental effects on soil, water and biodiversity. In this paper we quantitatively analyse the EEG-reform in 2012 by applying the simulation tool ReSI-M (Regionalised Location Information System – Maize). Comparing the EEG 2012 with a former version of the legislation, results imply that the reform contributes to an expansion of biogas electricity generation compared to former versions, and thus to substitution of fossil fuels. Furthermore, given a restriction in the share of green maize input, its production is reduced and the crop-mix is diversified. However, since maize provides the highest energy output per area, total land requirement for biogas production increases. An alternative analysis shows that an EEG with tariffs independent from plant-types would provide the highest subsidy-efficiency, but slightly lower land efficiency compared to the EEG 2012 |
| Keywords: | bioenergy, biogas, land use, policy analysis, simulation model |
| JEL: | C61 Q16 Q42 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1767&r=ene |
| By: | Aruga, Kentaka |
| Abstract: | In the United States, recently the use of soybeans as an energy source has drawn attention. It is concerned in Japan that if the use of soybeans for energy keeps increasing, not only the price of conventional soybeans, which is used for soybean oil, but also the price of non-genetically modified organism (Non-GMO) soybeans, which is consumed for food, will increase. This paper examines the price relationships between the non-GMO and conventional soybean prices, and energy prices such as those of crude oil and ethanol using the cointegration methods. The results suggest that the prices of the non-GMO and conventional soybeans do not have price relationships with those of the energy prices. This implies that the non-GMO and conventional soybean markets are not affected by the energy markets. |
| Keywords: | non-GMO soybeans; conventional soybeans; crude oil; ethanol; cointegration |
| JEL: | Q13 C22 Q40 |
| Date: | 2011–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38186&r=ene |
| By: | Qwanruedee (Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)); Chotichanathawewong; Natapol Thongplew |
| Abstract: | In Thailand climate change has been integrated into the formulation of several national plans and policies. Even though Thailand is not obligated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it voluntarily takes numerous actions to mitigate emissions. Both the public and private sector have been actively involved in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with a series of measures and actions implemented in each sector. The development of renewable energy and the promotion of energy conservation and efficiency are the primary means to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in Thailand. With the establishment of the Energy Conservation Program in 1995, a viable movement for energy conservation and efficiency and renewable energy had begun. Over the years, progress in renewable energy and energy efficiency has been made. Recently, the 15-Year Renewable Energy Development Plan and the 20-Year Energy Conservation Plan comprised several innovative measures and incentive mechanisms to further advance the development of energy efficiency and renewable energy. Regardless of government policies and measures, the private sector has also taken part in greenhouse gas emissions mitigation by implementing a number of activities to reduce carbon sources (e.g., improved production processes and resource efficiency) and to create carbon sinks (e.g., reforestation and mangrove plantations). Thailand has made significant progresses toward green and low-carbon development; however, there is a need to further address the issue. The country has to focus on the implementation of no-regret policies to ensure the decoupling of economic growth, while starting to look further at implementing least-cost policies. There should be short-term policies to immediately address a rapid increase of greenhouse gas emissions and long-term policies to address fundamental changes towards a green and low-carbon society. |
| Keywords: | emissions, Thailand, Climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, energy conservation plan, low-carbon |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:energy:23295&r=ene |
| By: | Qwanruedee (Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)); Chotichanathawewong; Natapol Thongplew |
| Abstract: | In Thailand climate change has been integrated into the formulation of several national plans and policies. Even though Thailand is not obligated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it voluntarily takes numerous actions to mitigate emissions. Both the public and private sector have been actively involved in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with a series of measures and actions implemented in each sector. The development of renewable energy and the promotion of energy conservation and efficiency are the primary means to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in Thailand. With the establishment of the Energy Conservation Program in 1995, a viable movement for energy conservation and efficiency and renewable energy had begun. Over the years, progress in renewable energy and energy efficiency has been made. Recently, the 15-Year Renewable Energy Development Plan and the 20-Year Energy Conservation Plan comprised several innovative measures and incentive mechanisms to further advance the development of energy efficiency and renewable energy. Regardless of government policies and measures, the private sector has also taken part in greenhouse gas emissions mitigation by implementing a number of activities to reduce carbon sources (e.g., improved production processes and resource efficiency) and to create carbon sinks (e.g., reforestation and mangrove plantations). Thailand has made significant progresses toward green and low-carbon development; however, there is a need to further address the issue. The country has to focus on the implementation of no-regret policies to ensure the decoupling of economic growth, while starting to look further at implementing least-cost policies. There should be short-term policies to immediately address a rapid increase of greenhouse gas emissions and long-term policies to address fundamental changes towards a green and low-carbon society. |
| Keywords: | emissions, Thailand, Climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, energy conservation plan, low-carbon |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:develo:23295&r=ene |
| By: | Giulio Cainelli; Massimiliano Mazzanti |
| Abstract: | We investigate the factors behind the almost unexplored realm of environmental innovation adoption in services, using an Italian dataset derived from CIS2008. It has been suggested the environmental innovations in services does not necessarily lead to greater sustainability. If services are examined through the lens of manufacturing-services integration and push and pull effects, the picture of sustainability in relation to services is somewhat gloomier. We test whether this integration is relevant for environmental innovations and whether, taking account of differences in innovation in different services industries, environmental policies for manufacturing may transmit ‘induced innovation’ effects to services. We show that the ‘drivers’ of environmental innovation in carbon abatement and energy efficiency vary across services industries, and that cooperation, training, EMS and public funding play a key role. The integration of services and manufacturing through push and pull effects, and the environmental policy transmission effect from manufacturing to services generally do not seem to have a major influence on the diffusion of environmental innovations. Where an effect is significant, it would seem to result in more negative than positive effects on eco-innovations. It seems likely that the structural EI deficits in manufacturing firms are transmitted to services through manufacturing-services integration. This is a crucial consideration for management and policy. |
| Keywords: | environmental innovation; services; push and pull effects; EU emission trading |
| JEL: | C21 L60 O13 O30 Q20 Q58 F23 |
| Date: | 2012–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udf:wpaper:201208&r=ene |
| By: | Andreas Lange (University of Hamburg); Andreas Ziegler (University of Kassel) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the voluntary provision of public goods that is partially driven by a desire to offset for individual polluting activities. We first extend existing theory and show that offsets allow a reduction in effective environmental pollution levels while not necessarily extending the consumption of a polluting good. We further show a nonmonotonic income-pollution relationship and derive comparative static results for the impact of an increasing environmental preference on purchases of offsets and mitigation activities. Several theoretical results are then econometrically tested using a novel data set on activities to reduce CO2 emissions for the case of vehicle purchases in the U.S. and Germany. We show that an increased environmental preference triggers the use of CO2 offsetting and mitigation channels in both countries. However, we find strong country differences for the purchase of CO2 offsets. While such activities are already triggered by a high general awareness of the climate change problem in the U.S., driver’s license holders in Germany need to additionally perceive road traffic as being responsible for CO2 emissions to a large extent. |
| Keywords: | public good, voluntary provision, climate change, CO2 offsetting, vehicle purchase, discrete choice models |
| JEL: | C25 C35 H41 Q54 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201218&r=ene |
| By: | Oberlack, Christoph; Neumärker, Bernhard |
| Abstract: | Adaptation to the consequences of climate change has attracted increasing interest as a necessary complement to greenhouse gas mitigation. Economic approaches to climate adaptation are rarely articulated and discussed explicitly despite many benefits of such a framework-level discourse. Therefore, this article investigates how climate adaptation is framed and approached in economics and attempts to contribute to the development of economic frameworks of climate adaptation. First, the paper identifies and critically reviews four major strands of current adaptation economics: estimation of adaptation benefits and costs, strategies for adaptation, the role of markets and governments, and policy instruments for adaptation. While having their merits, serious methodical difficulties prevail. Moreover, the applied neoclassical framing seems too narrow to capture the plethora of governance challenges and normative criteria revealed in adaptation policy discourses and in the multidisciplinary adaptation literature. The second part of this article outlines an institutional economics approach to climate adaptation that addresses caveats in the current state-of-the-art and offers additional concepts to study climate adaptation. Moreover, promising methods and strategies for adaptation research are presented and future research directions suggested. Finally, the paper assesses the normative foundations of climate adaptation economics and their implications for positive adaptation research. -- |
| Keywords: | Economics of Climate Change Adaptation,Institutional Economics,Governance of Climate Adaptation,Adaptive Capacity,Barriers,Normative Economics |
| JEL: | B52 D02 D63 D78 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cenwps:042011&r=ene |
| By: | Thierry Bréchet (CORE et Louvain School of Management); Carmen Camacho (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne); Vladimir M. Veliov (ORCOS - Institute of Mathematical Methods in Economics) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to extend the use of integrated assessment models by defining rational policies based on predictive control and adaptive behavior. The paper begins with an review of the main IAMs and their use. Then the concept of Model Predictive Nash Equilibrium (MPNE) is introduced within a general model involving heterogeneous economic agents operating in (and interfering with) a common environment. This concept captures the fact that agents do not have a perfect foresight for several ingredients of the model, including that of the environment. A version of the canonical IAM (DICE) is developed as a benchmark case. The concept of MPNE is then enhanced with adaptive learning about the environmental dynamics and the damages caused by global warming. The approach is illustrated by some numerical experiments in a two-region setting for several scenarios. |
| Keywords: | Integrated assessment, adaptive behavior, learning, climate change. |
| JEL: | C61 O13 E61 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:12029&r=ene |
| By: | Olivier Godard (Department of Economics, Ecole Polytechnique - CNRS : UMR7176 - Polytechnique - X) |
| Abstract: | Les instruments de politique publique engagent plus qu'eux-mêmes. Ils ont à passer par un processus politique de conception et d'adoption qui en façonne les propriétés, souvent loin des attentes projetées sur ces instruments par l'analyse économique. L'étude de la coordination internationale autour de l'enjeu climatique révèle ainsi que le choix d'un instrument peut décider de la qualification de la situation et déterminer les repères de justification pertinents, mais aussi qu'il reconfigure alors les problèmes de justice distributive à résoudre. Toute approche séquentielle linéaire de la construction d'un régime instrumental voulu " juste et efficace " est alors vaine. En parallèle l'échec de la contribution carbone en France montre comment une logique " civique " peut se saisir d'un instrument qui lui est étranger, car d'abord conçu en fonction de stricts repères " industrialo-marchands ", au point d'en provoquer l'avortement. La logique économique centrée sur l'efficacité ne voyait pas de différences là où la logique fiscale en voyait d'essentielles et d'injustifiables au nom de ses fondements civiques. Des suggestions sont formulées quant à la manière d'aborder cette imbrication. |
| Keywords: | Instruments de politique, changement climatique, marché de permis, taxe carbone, justification, ordre civique |
| Date: | 2012–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00689762&r=ene |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Today's students are growing up in a precarious natural environment. Climate change and the loss of biodiversity threaten the ecosystems that support life; a lack of clean water and sanitation imperils the health of hundreds of millions of people every day. While trained geoscientists, biologists and environmental scientists lead the way in shaping policies to reduce the impact of human activity on the global environment -and to have more equitable access to natural resources for all - informed citizens play an important role, too. Since individual actions have an impact on the environment, understanding scientific theories and being able to evaluate evidence can help people to make informed decisions about such daily choices as whether or not to leave the television on standby, what temperature to set the heat, and what kind of car to buy (or not). Learning about the environment early in a student's schooling can help to shape the way that person will interact with the environment as an adult. |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduddd:15-en&r=ene |