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on Energy Economics |
| By: | Kenichi Mizobuchi (Department of Economics, Matsuyama University); Kenji Takeuchi (Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University) |
| Abstract: | This study examined the influence of additional and replacement purchases of energy-efficient air-conditioners on power savings. We used a questionnaire survey and measured electricity use data from 339 Japanese households, collected from two city areas with different level of government-requested electricity-saving rates, namely, Osaka (10%) and Matsuyama (5%). The main findings of our study are as follows: 1) Households that purchased energy-efficient air-conditioners saved more electricity than those that did not. 2) gAdditional-purchase householdsh showed significant energy savings, whereas greplacement householdsh did not. The rebound effect may negate the energy-saving effects of a new air-conditioner. 3) Altruistic attitude is associated with more active participation in power saving. 4) Households in Osaka saved more electricity than those in Matsuyama, probably because the government call to save electricity was more forceful. |
| Keywords: | electricity demand; energy efficiency; home appliances; electricity conservation directives; carbon dioxide emissions |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koe:wpaper:1520&r=ene |
| By: | Ma, Chunbo; Rogers, Abbie A.; Kragt, Marit E.; Zhang, Fan; Polyakov, Maksym; Gibson, Fiona; Chalak, Morteza; Pandit, Ram; Tapsuwan, Sorada |
| Abstract: | Using renewable energy for domestic consumption has been identified as a key strategy by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Critical to the success of this strategy is to know whether consumers are willing to pay to increase the proportion of electricity generated from renewable energy in their electricity portfolio. There are a number of studies in the literature that report a wide range of willingness to pay estimates. In this study, we used a meta-regression analysis to determine how much of the variation in willingness to pay reflects true differences across the population and how much is due to study design, such as survey design and administration, and model specification. The results showed that factors that influence willingness to pay in individual studies, such as renewable energy type, consumers’ socio-economic profile and consumers’ energy consumption patterns, explain less variation in willingness to pay estimates than the characteristics of the study design. We also found that consumers have significantly higher willingness to pay for electricity generated from solar or generic renewable energy source (i.e. not a specific source) than wind, hydro or biomass. Due to the effect of study design on willingness to pay, we recommend that policy makers exercise caution when interpreting and using willingness to pay results from primary studies. |
| Keywords: | meta-regression, renewable energy, green electricity, valuation, willingness to pay, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, C53, D62, Q40, Q48, Q51, |
| Date: | 2015–06–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwauwp:204197&r=ene |
| By: | Shahbaz, muhammad; Solarin, Sakiru Adebola; Sbia, Rashid; Bibi, Sadia |
| Abstract: | The present study investigates the dynamic relationship between energy intensity and CO2 emissions by incorporating economic growth in environment function using data of Sub Saharan African countries. For this purpose, we applied panel cointegration to examine the long run relationship between the series. We employ the VECM Granger causality to test the direction of causality between the variables. At panel level, our result validates the existence of cointegration among the series. The long run panel results show that energy intensity has positive and statistically significant impact on CO2 emissions. There is also positive and negative link of non-linear and linear terms of real GDP per capita with CO2 emissions supporting the presence of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). The causality analysis reveals the bidirectional causality between economic growth and CO2 emissions while energy intensity Granger causes economic growth and hence CO2 emissions, while across the individual countries, the results differ. This paper opens up new insights for policy makers to design comprehensive economic, energy and environmental policy for sustainable long run economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Economic Growth, Energy Intensity, CO2 Emissions, Africa |
| JEL: | A1 A10 |
| Date: | 2015–01–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64335&r=ene |
| By: | Salvo, A; Geiger, F |
| Abstract: | It has been proposed that lower NOx emission fuels such as ethanol can mitigate air pollution from vehicles burning oil-based hydrocarbons. Yet, existing modeling and laboratory studies, even those seeking to simulate the same environment, vary in their predictions of how gasoline/ethanol blends affect atmospheric pollutant concentrations, including ozone. Importantly, ambient concentrations have not been evaluated during an actual – as opposed to hypothetical – shift in fuel mix in a real-world environment. Here, we report the first such study, for the subtropical megacity of São Paulo, Brazil. We combine detailed street-hour level data on regulated pollutant concentrations, meteorology, and traffic with fuel shares from a consumer demand model to compare concentrations across subsamples that differ only in the fuel mix but are otherwise similar in meteorology, anthropogenic activity, and biogenic emissions. As the gasoline share of the bi-fuel light-duty vehicle fleet rose by 62 percentage points, we estimate a robust and statistically significant reduction of about 20% in ozone concentrations, and less precise increases in NO and CO concentrations. We propose that our “model-free” analysis potentially accounts for the interaction between anthropogenic and biogenic emissions and caution that successful strategies against ozone pollution require knowledge of the local chemistry and analysis beyond the presently monitored pollutants, most notably fine particles. |
| Keywords: | ozone; gasoline; ethanol; consumer demand; urban air; air quality; atmospheric modeling |
| JEL: | D12 Q16 Q42 Q53 R41 |
| Date: | 2014–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:57868&r=ene |
| By: | Frederick van der Ploeg |
| Abstract: | Unilateral, second-best carbon taxes are analysed in a two-period, two-country model with international trade in final goods, oil and bonds. The increase in oil demand and acceleration of global warming resulting from a future carbon tax are large if the price elasticities of oil demand are large and that of oil supply is small, but are attenuated by the fall in the world interest rate especially if intertemporal substitution is weak. Despite this Green Paradox effect, green welfare rises if the fall in oil exploration is strong enough. If the current carbon tax is too low, the second-best future carbon tax is set below the first best to mitigate adverse Green Paradox effects. Unilateral exceed first-best carbon taxes due to an import tariff component. The intertemporal terms of trade effects of the future carbon tax increase current and future tariffs and those of the current tax lower the current tariff. Unilateral taxes are time inconsistent. Finally, carbon leakage and globally altruistic and unilateral optimal carbon taxes if other oil importers do not price carbon are analysed in a three-country model of the global economy. |
| Keywords: | unilateral carbon taxes, intertemporal terms of trade, tax incidence, Green Paradox, carbon leakage, second best, global altruism, unburnt fossil fuel |
| JEL: | D62 D90 H22 H23 Q31 Q38 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:157&r=ene |
| By: | Mark Kagan; Frederick van der Ploeg; Cees Withagen |
| Abstract: | Industria imports oil, produces final goods and wishes to mitigate global warming. Oilrabia exports oil and buys final goods from the other country. Industria uses the carbon tax to impose an import tariff on oil and steal some of Oilrabia’s scarcity rent. Conversely, Oilrabia has monopoly power and sets the oil price to steal some of Industria’s climate rent. We analyze the relative speeds of oil extraction and carbon accumulation under these strategic interactions for various production function specifications and compare these with the efficient and competitive outcomes. We prove that for the class of HARA production functions the oil price is initially higher and subsequently lower in the open-loop Nash equilibrium than in the efficient outcome. The oil extraction rate is thus initially too low and in later stages too high. The HARA class includes linear, loglinear and semi-loglinear demand functions as special cases. For non-HARA production functions Oilrabia may in the open-loop Nash equilibrium initially price oil lower than the efficient level, thus resulting in more oil extraction and climate damages. We also contrast the open-loop Nash and efficient outcomes numerically with the feedback Nash outcomes. We find that the optimal carbon tax path in the feedback Nash equilibrium is flatter than in the open-loop Nash equilibrium. It turns out that for certain demand functions using the carbon tax as an import tariff may hurt consumers’ welfare as the resulting user cost of oil is so high that the fall in welfare wipes out the gain from higher tariff revenues. |
| Keywords: | exhaustible resources, Hotelling rule, efficiency, carbon tax, climate rent, differential game, open-loop Nash equilibrium, subgame-perfect nash equilibrium, HARA production functions |
| JEL: | C73 H30 Q32 Q37 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:155&r=ene |
| By: | Montag, Josef |
| Abstract: | The volume of pollution produced by an automobile is determined by driver's behavior along three margins: (i) vehicle selection, (ii) kilometers driven, and (iii) on-road fuel economy. The first two margins have been studied extensively, however the third has received scant attention. How significant is this 'intensive margin'? What would be the optimal policies when it is taken into account? The paper develops and analyzes a simple model of the technical and behavioral mechanisms that determine the volume emissions produced by a car. The results show that an optimal fuel tax would provide drivers with appropriate incentives along all three margins and that only public information is needed for a fuel tax to be set optimally. In contrast, an optimal distance tax would require private information. Lastly, relative to the optimal fuel tax, a simple uniform fuel tax is shown to be progressive. Thus, being already deployed worldwide, a uniform fuel tax is an attractive second-best policy. These findings should be accounted for when designing new mechanisms to alleviate motor vehicle pollution. |
| Keywords: | automobile externalities, car pollution, CO2 emissions, fuel economy, driving behavior, distance tax, fuel tax. |
| JEL: | H23 Q58 R41 R48 |
| Date: | 2015–05–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64398&r=ene |
| By: | Yacoub Bahini (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne); Cuong Le Van (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics, IPAG Business School, VCREME) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we use the CMM model (Chakravorty et al., 2006) in discrete time and obtain more results concerning the exhaustion time of Non-Renewable Resource (NRE), the dynamic regimes of energy prices, of the stocks of pollution. We show that NRE is exhausted in finite time and is directly influenced by the initial stock of NRE and the costs of NRE and RE. Higher is the initial stock of NRE, far is the time of exhaustion of NRE. Higher is the cost of NRE (resp. the difference of unit costs between RE and NRE), far is the time of exhaustion of NRE. Furthermore, we show that the abatement intervenes, when necessary, not more than two periods. We also show that, when the unit extraction cost of RE is not very high, the stocks of emissions will never be binding if and only if, the initial stock of NRE is less than a critical value |
| Keywords: | Dynamic optimization; Natural resources; Energetic transition; Environment |
| JEL: | P28 Q01 Q32 Q42 Q48 Q52 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:15042&r=ene |
| By: | Simon Dietz; Nicholas Stern |
| Abstract: | ‘To slow or not to slow’ (Nordhaus, 1991) was the first economic appraisal of greenhouse gas emissions abatement and founded a large literature on a topic of worldwide importance. We offer our assessment of the original article and trace its legacy, in particular Nordhaus's later series of ‘DICE’ models. From this work, many have drawn the conclusion that an efficient global emissions abatement policy comprises modest and modestly increasing controls. We use DICE itself to provide an initial illustration that, if the analysis is extended to take more strongly into account three essential elements of the climate problem – the endogeneity of growth, the convexity of damage and climate risk – optimal policy comprises strong controls. |
| Keywords: | climate change; climate sensitivity;damage fuction; endogenous growth; integrated assesment |
| JEL: | Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:58406&r=ene |
| By: | Gerhard Toews; Alexander Naumov |
| Abstract: | We propose a simple structural model of the upstream sector in the oil and gas industry to study the determinants of costs with a focus on its relationship with the price of oil.We use the real oil price, data on global drilling activity and costs of drilling to estimate a three-dimensional VAR model. We use short run restrictions to decompose the variation in the data into three structural shocks. We estimate the dynamic effects of these shocks on drilling activity, costs of drilling and the real price of oil. Our main results are that (i)a 1% increase (decrease) in the oil price increases (decreases) global drilling activity by 1% and costs of drilling by 0.5% with a lag of a year; and (ii) shocks to drilling activity and costs of drilling do not affect the price of oil permanently. |
| Keywords: | Natural Resources, Dutch Disease, Immigration, Mitigation Effect |
| JEL: | F22 O15 R11 R15 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:152&r=ene |
| By: | Neuhoff, Karsten; Schwenen, Sebastian |
| Abstract: | Decarbonization goals of the European Commission foresee different future scenarios for the European power market of which all are exceeding 60% renewables in the power system.3 High shares of intermittent renewable sources require significant changes to the physical system and impact the profitability of conventional generation. While renewable remuneration mechanisms in many European power systems typically provide long‐term revenue guarantees for 15‐20 years, conventional generation assets combine mid-term contracts, covering between 1‐4 years, and vertical integration to reduce revenue volatility and secure operation, re‐investment, and closure choices. To this end the participants of the Future Power Market Platform reviewed the empirical situation with mid-term contracts, identified incentives to contract and discussed possible commercial and regulatory approaches to support MTC. The main conclusions are - For generation, mid-term contracts help to secure re-investment and inform closure choices – and thus contribute to generation adequacy - For load, mid-term contracts hedge energy (input) prices, improve revenue stability and inform (re-)investment decisions. It is however unclear whether load has capacity and incentives to sign sufficient MTC to meet needs from generation and from power systems perspective. - Commercial approaches to increase mid-term contracting volumes can comprise for example new contracts types like option contracts - Regulatory solutions to support MTC and coordinate investment in generation may amend existing regulation, such as with transmission contract design or retail market regulation - Obligations towards MTC can be seen as a capacity mechanism– but equally capacity mechanisms can undermine the ability of market participants to sign MTC and thus their own effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | electricity markets,Mid-term contracting |
| JEL: | Q41 Q42 Q48 L94 L95 |
| Date: | 2013–09–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esrepo:92996&r=ene |
| By: | Armon Rezai; Frederick van der Ploeg |
| Abstract: | We use the Euler equation to put forward a back-on-the-envelope rule for the global carbon tax based on a two-box carbon cycle with temperature lag, and a constant elasticity of marginal damages with respect to GDP. This tax falls with time impatience and intergenerational inequality aversion and rises with population growth and prudence. It also falls with growth in living standards if inequality aversion is large enough or marginal damages do not react much too GDP. It rises in proportion with GDP if marginal climate damages are proportional to output and has a flat time profile if they are additive. The rule also allows for mean reversion in climate damages. The rule closely approximates the true optimum for our IAM of Ramsey growth, scarce fossil fuel, energy transitions and stranded assets despite it using the more complicated DICE carbon cycle and temperature modules. The simple rule gets close to the social optimum even if damages are much more convex than in DICE. |
| Keywords: | simple rule, SCC, Ramsey growth, optimal energy transitions, stranded assets, intergenerational inequality aversion, climate damage specification |
| JEL: | H21 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:150&r=ene |
| By: | KONISHI Yoko; NOMURA Koji |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to analyze the sources of energy efficiency improvement in Japanese industries over the period 1955-2012, based on the new estimates of substitutions of KLEM (capital, labor, energy, and materials) inputs and the biases of technical changes. The first advantage of our analysis is that we apply the framework of econometric modeling developed in Jin and Jorgenson (2010), which provides a more flexible treatment of technology as an unobservable or latent variable. The second advantage is that we develop industry-level data of the quality-adjusted outputs and KLEM inputs for 35 non-government industries in Japan, maintaining as much consistency as possible with the Japanese System of National Accounts.Our industry data indicate that energy efficiencies in most Japanese industries worsened before the oil embargo in 1973, reflecting the stabilization of oil prices relative to the increasing prices of capital and labor. The period from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s was the golden age, in which energy efficiencies improved considerably mainly due to the substitution effects caused by the rapid increases in energy prices. The opportunities to involve the energy-saving technical change diminished until the late 1990s, and the bias of technology changed to energy-using in the 2000s in most industries. This indicates that it will be much harder for Japanese industries to improve their energy efficiencies in the future, compared to the past experiences during the golden age, not only from higher costs for substitutions from energy to other inputs, but also from our projected bias of technical changes for energy until 2030. |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:15058&r=ene |
| By: | Mohammad Jaforullah (Department of Economics, University of Otago, New Zealand); Alan King (Department of Economics, University of Otago, New Zealand) |
| Abstract: | We assess New Zealand’s vulnerability to oil shocks by estimating its price and income elasticities of demand for imported oil and by testing. For Granger causality between oil imports, their price and GDP. Based on data for the period 1987Q2–2012Q4, we find the short-run price and income elasticities to be statistically insignificant. However, the long-run price and income elasticity estimates are significant and equal to −0.34 and 1.61, respectively. We also find that oil imports, and to some extent oil prices, Granger-cause real GDP, indicating that the New Zealand economy is vulnerable to shocks in the world oil market. |
| Keywords: | Oil imports; Price elasticity; Income elasticity; Granger causality; Cointegration; Vector error correction model |
| JEL: | C32 Q41 Q43 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:otg:wpaper:1503&r=ene |
| By: | Verónica Acurio Vásconez (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The recent literature on fossil energy has already stated that oil is not perfectly substitutable to other inputs, considering fossil fuel as a critical production factor in different combinations. However, the estimations of substitution elasticity are in a wide range between 0.004 and 0.64. This paper addresses this phenomenon by enlarging the DSGE model developed in Acurio-Vásconez et al. (2015) by changing the Cobb-Douglas production and consumption functions assumed there, for composite Constant Elasticity of Substitution (CES) functions. Additionally, the paper introduces nominal wage and price rigidities through a Calvo setting. Finally, using Bayesian methods, the model is estimated on quarterly U.S. data over the period 1984:Q1-2007:Q3 and then analyzed. The estimation of oil's elasticity of substitution are 0.14 in production and 0.51 in consumption. Moreover, thanks to the low substitutability of oil, the model recovers and explains four well-known stylized facts after the oil price shock in the 2000's: the absent of recession, coupled with a low persistent increase in inflation rate, a decrease in real wages and a low price elasticity of oil demand in the short run. Furthermore, ceteris paribus, the reduction of nominal wage rigidity amplifies the increase in inflation and the decrease in consumption. Thus in this model more wage flexibility does not seem to attenuate the impact of an oil shock |
| Keywords: | New-Keynesian model; DSGE; oil; CES; stickiness; oil substitution |
| JEL: | D58 E32 E52 Q43 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:15041&r=ene |
| By: | Shahbaz, Muhammad; Khan, Saleheen; Ali, Amjad; Bhattacharya, Mita |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for China in the presence of globalization. We have applied Bayer and Hanck combined cointegration test as well as the ARDL bounds testing approach to cointegration by accommodating structural breaks in the series. The causal relationship among the variables is investigated by applying the VECM causality framework. The study covers the period of 1970-2012. The results confirm the presence of cointegration among the variables. Furthermore, the EKC hypothesis is valid in China both in short-and-long runs. Coal consumption increases CO2 emissions significantly. The overall index and sub-indices of globalization indicate that globalization in China is decreasing CO2 emissions. The causality results reveal that economic growth causes CO2 emissions confirming the existence of the EKC hypothesis. The feedback effect exists between coal consumption and CO2 emissions. CO2 emissions Granger causes globalization (social, economic and political). |
| Keywords: | China, Coal Consumption, Globalization, CO2 emissions |
| JEL: | A1 A10 |
| Date: | 2015–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64450&r=ene |
| By: | Xu Zhao (China University of Petroleum, Beijing); Carol A. Dahl (Division of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines); Dongkun Luo (China University of Petroleum, Beijing) |
| Abstract: | Since fossil fuel subsidies entail significant economic, fiscal, social and environmental costs, more and more attention is being paid to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies. The OECD has recently completed a report quantifying the amount of both producer and consumer subsidies for their member countries, and some work has been implemented on analyzing the effects of consumer subsidy removal. However, there is hardly any investigation of the consequences of producer subsidies. In this paper, we focus on oil and gas producer subsidies of OECD countries and their effects. First, we describe the transfer mechanisms indicated by the OECD report for producer subsidies. In order to recommend models to analyze the influence of removing producer subsidies, we review upstream oil and gas models and provide a taxonomy for them. From them we recommend the most appropriate models for each type of producer subsidy to model upstream decision making. Our contribution in this paper is to categorize the upstream models we have found, compare their main features, as well as recommending best in class models for analyzing the effects of each type of upstream producer subsidy. |
| Keywords: | Producer subsidy, upstream oil and natural gas models, model recommendation, survey |
| JEL: | H2 L71 Q38 Q41 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mns:wpaper:wp201503&r=ene |
| By: | Venkatachalam ANBUMOZHI (Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia); Alex BOWEN (London School of Economics and Political Sciences, UK); Puthusserikunnel Devasia JOSE (Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, India) |
| Abstract: | Market-based instruments such as Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) are increasingly favoured as an alternative to command-and-control legislation to increase the uptake of renewable energy. Focusing on the renewable energy industry and policy situation in Asia, this paper analysed the strengths and weaknesses of market-based approaches in the long-term interest of developing Asia. It found that approaches such as REC are disadvantaged by a lack of both market acceptance and a strong institutional and programme support. To identify gaps in the REC system in India, a comparative analysis with the United Kingdom (UK) model was made. This revealed some fundamental issues around market-based approaches in Asia, underscoring the need for a policy design to address the concerns of buyers and sellers in the market. |
| Keywords: | Market-based Mechanisms, Renewable Energy, Renewable Obligation, Regulatory Intervention |
| JEL: | Q41 Q42 Q48 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2015-30&r=ene |
| By: | Zhiwei Shen; Matthias Ritter; ; |
| Abstract: | The increasing share of wind energy in the portfolio of energy sources highlights its uncertainties due to changing weather conditions. To account for the uncertainty in predicting wind power production, this article examines the volatility forecasting abilities of different GARCH-type models for wind power production. Moreover, due to characteristic features of the wind power process, such as heteroscedasticity and nonlinearity, we also investigate the use of a Markov regime-switching GARCH (MRS-GARCH) model on forecasting volatility of wind power. The realized volatility, which is derived from lower-scale data, serves as a benchmark for the latent volatility. We find that the MRS-GARCH model significantly outperforms traditional GARCH models in predicting the volatility of wind power, while the exponential GARCH model is superior among traditional GARCH models. |
| Keywords: | Wind energy, volatility forecasting, GARCH models, Markov regime-switching, realized volatility |
| JEL: | C22 Q42 Q47 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2015-026&r=ene |
| By: | Pandey, Rita (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy); Mehra, Meeta Keswani (Jawaharlal Nehru University) |
| Abstract: | Many of the most promising low-carbon technologies currently have higher costs than the fossil-fuel based technologies. It is only through incremental learning from research, development and deployment that these costs can be reduced. Government intervention in the innovation process through fiscal policy instruments can be useful to accelerate this process, and catalyse early adoption. This paper reviews the best practices associated with the choice and design of such instruments and identifies the main lessons learned of their implementation in the case of renewable energy. The paper outlines an analytical framework which identifies the characteristics of drivers and barriers in innovation of RETs; sequencing of various steps involved in promoting innovation; and various policy tools in the context of each barrier that will help accelerate the process and enhance the outcomes. The paper notes that the issue of design and implementation of fiscal policy measures for RE technologies is complex and requires a nuanced, case by case approach, however, some useful broad conclusions can be drawn on the lessons learnt from these programs for future policy design and implementation. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal instruments ; Low-carbon technology continuum ; Renewable energy policy framework ; Price and quantity based instruments ; Market failures and barriers in RE |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:npf:wpaper:15/147&r=ene |
| By: | Rabah Arezki; Valerie A Ramey; Liugang Sheng |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the effect of news shocks on the current account and other macroeconomic variables using worldwide giant oil discoveries as a directly observable measure of news shocks about future output ̶ the delay between a discovery and production is on average 4 to 6 years. We first present a two-sector small open economy model in order to predict the responses of macroeconomic aggregates to news of an oil discovery. We then estimate the effects of giant oil discoveries on a large panel of countries. Our empirical estimates are consistent with the predictions of the model. After an oil discovery, the current account and saving rate decline for the first 5 years and then rise sharply during the ensuing years. Investment rises robustly soon after the news arrives, while GDP does not increase until after 5 years. Employment rates fall slightly for a sustained period of time. |
| Keywords: | news shocks, current account, saving, investment, employment, oil, discovery |
| JEL: | E00 F3 F4 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:153&r=ene |
| By: | Michael Redlinger (Division of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines) |
| Abstract: | Improvements in horizontal drilling have helped unlock U.S. tight oil plays and reverse the decades-long decline in domestic onshore oil production. Whether low oil prices will turn the shale boom into a bust depends in part on how companies have reduced the cost of drilling wells. This paper investigates the role of learning-by-doing in drilling horizontal wells in the Bakken Shale Play. I use a large set of data on oil wells drilled in North Dakota between 2005 to 2014 to measure how firms reduce drilling times as they acquire experience. The results show that as firms gain experience in the Bakken, they drill wells faster. A doubling of a drilling rig's experience leads to a 5% reduction in the time to drill a well, which translates into a cost savings of about $31,000 per well. Given that on average a rig drills eight wells per year in the Bakken, a rig is expected to reduce the time it takes to drill a well by 11% over its first year of drilling. These findings have implications for how the current low oil price environment will affect U.S. drilling activity. Furthermore, there is evidence of organizational forgetting by rigs resulting from breaks in between drilling wells, which suggests productivity will be negatively impacted if and when drilling activity rebounds. Lastly, I find no evidence of learning spillovers across firms. This result implies that firms internalize the knowledge gained that is relevant for reducing drilling times in subsequent wells, and it has implications for social welfare and the use of fossil fuel subsidies. |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mns:wpaper:wp201504&r=ene |
| By: | Christian A. L. Hilber; Charles Palmer |
| Abstract: | We exploit a unique panel of 75 metro areas (‘cities’) across the globe and employ a cityfixed effects model to identify the determinants of within-city changes in air pollution concentration between 2005 and 2011. Increasing car and population densities significantly reduce air pollution concentration in city centers where air pollution induced health risks are greatest. These effects are largely confined to cities in non-OECD countries. Two possible mechanisms for the negative effect of car density are explored: (i) increasing car density permits a decentralization of residential and economic activity; and (ii) car usage substitutes for motorbike usage. We find limited evidence in favour of (i) and no evidence in favour of (ii). We also observe a complex relationship between income and pollution concentration as well as a general downward-trend in pollution concentration over time. Overall, our findings are indicative that densely populated polycentric cities may be ‘greener’ and ‘healthier’ than comparable monocentric ones. |
| Keywords: | Urbanization; urban form; decentralization; air pollution; transport; built environment |
| JEL: | Q01 Q53 R11 R41 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:61791&r=ene |
| By: | Giovanis, Eleftherios |
| Abstract: | Recycling can be an effective tool for reducing waste generation, eliminating waste disposal sent in landfills and incinerators and reducing environmental pollution. Moreover, recycling is one way to achieve sustainable use of natural resources and to protect the environment and human health. However, the relationship between air pollution and recycling has been neglected in the previous economic studies. This study examines this relationship using panel data from a waste municipality survey in the state of Massachusetts during the period 2009- 2012. In addition, the analysis considers economic factors, as unemployment rate and income per capita, meteorological variables, as well as, it accounts for additional municipality characteristics, such as population density and trash collection services. The approach followed is a fixed effects model which controls for stable time invariant characteristics of the municipalities, thereby eliminating potentially large sources of bias. The findings support that a negative relationship between recycling rate and particulate particles in the air of 2.5 micrometres or less in size (PM2.5) is present. |
| Keywords: | Air Pollution, Data, Municipality Survey, Recycling, Solid waste services,Stochastic Frontier Analysis |
| JEL: | Q50 Q53 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64403&r=ene |
| By: | Verónica Acurio Vásconez (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The effects of oil shocks in inflation and growth have been widely discussed in the literature, however few have focused on the impact of oil price increases on unemployment. In order to shed some light on this problem, this paper develops a medium scale Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium model (DSGE) that allows for oil utilization in production and consumption as in Acurio-Vásconez (2015); unemployment as in Mortensen & Pissarides (1994); and staggered nominal wage contracting as in Gertler & Trigari (2009). It then analyzes the effects of oil price increases on the economy. The model recovers most of the well-known stylized facts observed after the oil shock in the 2000s'. A sensitivity analysis shows that the reduction of the bargaining power of households to negotiate wage contracts reduces the impact of an oil shock in unemployment, without affecting negatively GDP. However, it also shows that the reduction of bargaining power, together with wage flexibility strongly reduces the increase in unemployment after an oil shock, but causes a decrease in real wages, which reduces household income and affects GDP |
| Keywords: | New-Keynesian model; DSGE; oil; CES; Match & Search Models; Unemployment |
| JEL: | D58 E24 E32 Q43 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:15043&r=ene |
| By: | Samuel Wills |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how capital-scarce countries should manage volatile resource income. Existing literature recommends that capital-scarce countries invest domestically, but that volatile resource income should be saved in a foreign sovereign wealth fund. I reconcile these by combining a stochastic model of precautionary savings with a deterministic model of a capital-scarce resource exporter. I show that capital-scarce countries should still establish a Volatility Fund, but it should be relatively smaller than in capital-abundant countries. The fund should be built before anticipated windfalls, partially invested domestically, and used as a source of income rather than a buffer against temporary shocks. To do so I develop a parsimonious framework that nests a variety of existing results as special cases, which are presented in seven principles. The first three apply to capital-abundant countries:i) Smooth consumption using a Future Generations Fund; ii) Build a Volatility Fund quickly, then leave it alone; and iii) Invest to stabilise the real exchange rate.The remaining four apply to capital-scarce countries: iv) Finance consumption and investment with oil; v) Use a temporary Parking Fund to improve absorption, vi)Invest part of the Volatility Fund domestically; and vii) Support private investment. |
| Keywords: | Natural resources, oil, volatility, precautionary saving, capital scarcity, anticipation |
| JEL: | D81 D91 E21 F34 H63 O13 Q32 Q33 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:154&r=ene |
| By: | Luis A. Gil-Alana (University of Navarra ,School of Economics, Edificio Amigos, E-31080 Pamplona, Spain); Juncal Cunado (University of Navarra ,School of Economics, Edificio Amigos, E-31080 Pamplona, Spain); Rangan Gupta (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the time series behaviour of CO2 emissions within a long memory approach with non-linear trends and structural breaksusing long span of data for the US, UK, China and India. The main results show significant differences both in the degree of integration and non-linearities among the analyzed countries, related to their degree of industrialization. Thus, the CO2 emissions series are nonstationary for China and India, while mean reversion is found for the US and the UK economies. Furthermore, non-linearities are observed for the US and the UK, and not for China and India. The significantly different results obtained for emerging and developed economies have important policy implications. |
| Keywords: | CO2 emission, long memory, non-linear trends |
| JEL: | C22 C32 Q28 Q50 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201528&r=ene |
| By: | Giovanis, Eleftherios |
| Abstract: | Ground-level ozone is an important pollutant regulated under the Clean Air Acts that affects respiratory morbidity, decreases lung function, and negatively affects those with existing respiratory conditions like asthma. This study examines the “Clean Air Works” program on ozone concentration levels, which is operating in Charlotte area of North Carolina State. “Clean Air Works” is a voluntary program which educates people about the negative effects of air pollution on health. Moreover, this program encourages people to reduce air pollution by using voluntarily alternative transportation modes, such as carpooling and public transit, especially when a smog ozone alert is issued. The contribution of this study is that it examines three effects: The effectiveness of the “Clean Air Works” program and whether ozone smog alerts are more effective under this program. Finally, the effects on ozone levels coming from the change in the warning threshold from 80 particles per billion (ppb) to 75 ppb, which took place in 2008, are established. For this purpose a quadruple Differences (DDDD) estimator is applied. In both cases, we find reduction in ground-level ozone levels and improvement of the air quality in the treatment group where the “Clean Air Works” program is implemented. In addition, the air quality is improved when smog alerts are associated with the program. Finally, taken additionally into consideration the change of the threshold at 75 ppb the air quality is improved by 1.5 ppb in the treatment group relatively to the control group. This study suggests that the ozone warning system associated with voluntary programs can help to clean the air and improve the public health. |
| Keywords: | Air Quality, Clean Air Works, Differences-in-Differences, Ozone concentrations, Quadruple DDDD, Regression Discontinuity Design, Smog alerts |
| JEL: | C23 I10 Q50 Q53 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64401&r=ene |
| By: | Frederick van der Ploeg; Aart de Zeeuw |
| Abstract: | The global response to a catastrophic shock to productivity which becomes more imminent with global warming is to have carbon taxes to curb the risk of a calamity and to accumulate precautionary capital to facilitate smoothing of consumption. Our multi-region model of growth and climate change indicates that without international lump-sum transfers the cooperative global response to such stochastic tipping points requires converging carbon taxes for developing and developed regions. Non-cooperative responses lead to a bit more precautionary saving and lower diverging carbon taxes. Precautionary capital suffers less from international free-rider problems than the carbon taxes. We illustrate the various outcomes with a calibrated North-South model of the global economy. |
| Keywords: | global warming, tipping point, precautionary capital, growth, risk avoidance, carbon tax, free riding, international cooperation, asymmetries |
| JEL: | D81 H20 O40 Q31 Q38 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:149&r=ene |
| By: | masudi, Patrick |
| Abstract: | For a given country or a group of the countries, there exists a relationship between the growth of the economic activity and the consumption of energy ? in this article the aim was to empirically check the existence of this relationship for the 7 menbers countries of SADC zone for period of 1990-2012.we used the techniques feels panel cointigration proposed by Pedroni (2007) and the estimate were carries out by the method of least square generalized our results suggest that there is a long run relationship between the electricity consumption and of another variable of the model, moreover, this last, impacts positive and statistically significant on the GDP per capita which was taken as proxy economic performance in SADC zone. |
| Keywords: | electric power, economic growth, cointigration in panel. |
| JEL: | C5 H41 Q4 |
| Date: | 2014–10–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:63492&r=ene |
| By: | Christina Hood; Gregory Briner; Marcelo Rocha |
| Abstract: | It is likely that a diverse range of nationally-determined mitigation contributions will be communicated by Parties under the 2015 climate change agreement. An effective post-2020 accounting framework to understand and track implementation of these mitigation contributions will therefore need to accommodate a range of contribution types and varying national capacities. With Parties now undertaking domestic preparations for developing intended mitigation contributions for the 2015 agreement, three key issues are: (i) what up-front information should be provided alongside intended mitigation contributions to facilitate understanding of the intended contributions and their expected impacts on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions levels; (ii) what accounting rules or guidance for post-2020 mitigation contributions (if any) would it be helpful to agree or develop before 2020, to facilitate understanding of intended contributions and their expected impacts on GHG emissions levels; and (iii) the timing of key decisions on accounting issues, taking into account the agreed timetable for communication of intended mitigation contributions. This paper explores these questions in greater detail and highlights issues that Parties may wish to consider when preparing and communicating their mitigation contributions. Providing Parties with some structure for the framing of intended mitigation contributions could help simplify domestic preparations for these intended contributions, in particular for those Parties with lower institutional capacity.<P>GES ou non : comptabiliser les diverses contributions à l'atténuation dans le cadre d'action climatique de l'après 2020<BR>De très diverses contributions en matière d’atténuation, déterminées au niveau national, seront sans doute communiquées par les Parties dans le cadre de l’accord de 2015 sur le changement climatique. Pour bien comprendre et suivre la mise en oeuvre de ces contributions en matière d’atténuation, le cadre comptable en vigueur après 2020 devra prendre en compte tout un éventail de types de contributions et de capacités nationales. Alors que les Parties se préparent au niveau national pour établir les contributions qu’ils prévoient en matière d’atténuation en vue de l’accord de 2015, trois questions essentielles se posent : (i) quelles sont les informations préalables qui devraient accompagner les contributions prévues en matière d’atténuation pour faciliter l’interprétation de ces contributions et la compréhension de leurs effets attendus sur les niveaux d’émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) ; (ii) quelles règles comptables ou orientations à cet égard y aurait-il (éventuellement) intérêt à approuver ou concevoir avant 2020 pour les contributions en matière d’atténuation postérieures à 2020 afin de faciliter l’interprétation de ces contributions et la compréhension de leurs effets attendus sur les niveaux d’émissions de GES ; et (iii) à quel moment faudra-t-il prendre les décisions clés sur les aspects comptables, en tenant compte du calendrier convenu pour la communication des contributions prévues en matière d’atténuation ? Ce rapport étudie ces questions en détail et fait ressortir les aspects que les Parties souhaitent peut-être prendre en considération dans la préparation et la communication de leurs contributions en matière d’atténuation. Il serait utile de fournir aux Parties, sous une forme ou une autre, un cadre dans lequel définir les contributions prévues en matière d’atténuation afin de simplifier leurs préparatifs à l’échelon national concernant ces contributions, en particulier pour les Parties disposant de moyens institutionnels moins importants. |
| Keywords: | mitigation, market mechanisms, emissions accounting, UNFCCC, land-use change, climate change, forestry, greenhouse gas, 2015 agreement, double counting, changement d'affectation des terres, comptabilité des émissions, gaz à effet de serre, atténuation, mécanismes de marché, CCNUCC, changement climatique, foresterie, double comptage, accord de 2015 |
| JEL: | F53 Q23 Q54 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaab:2014/2-en&r=ene |
| By: | Wang, Zanxin |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare15:202586&r=ene |
| By: | Venkatachalam ANBUMOZHI (Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a framework to assess the scope of collaboration among countries that are pursuing low-carbon green growth. Much of the policy studies in the area of low-carbon green growth have focused on individual countries or a group of countries. Little attention is given to how countries can work together to pursue the lowcarbon green growth agenda. Developing Asia has been witnessing rapid growth in economic activities, both at the sub-regional level and Asia-Pacific wide. There is therefore much scope for market-based and other forms of regional cooperation to augment domestic actions. For example, there are other pressing development needs and resource constraints at the national level that limit the scale or ambition of policies. Regional cooperation can help to overcome those constraints by providing additional resources for incremental costs, technical assistance, and policy support. This paper examines several critical areas such as technology, finance, and capacity building, where regional cooperation will have a significantly greater payoff than will actions by any country alone. The paper concludes with concrete policy actions to realise the regional cooperation potential in developing Asia. |
| Keywords: | climate change, green growth, sustainability analysis, regional cooperation |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 F15 F18 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2015-29&r=ene |
| By: | Sushama Murty (Department of Economics, University of Exeter) |
| Abstract: | Employing the by-production approach to modelling emission-generating technologies proposed in Murty, Russell, Levkoff [2012] and Murty [2015] and adapting the policy reform approach to taxation policy in public economics due to Feldstein [1975] and Guesnerie [1977], we propose a methodology to identify profit-increasing and emission non-increasing input and sequestration reforms and to compute marginal abatement costs (MACs) of countries. The proposed formulae are based purely on data that defines the current status-quo and gain significance when long-run abatement plans based on future projections of the economy are implemented in a piecemeal manner. We show that the so derived MAC of any country is the ratio of its reduction in prot (RIP) and its ability to abate (ATA) at the status-quo. The RIP and the ATA measure, respectively, the decrease in profit and the reduction in emission at the status-quo when the abatement strategy that results in the greatest proportional decrease in emission is adopted. While the RIP depends on factors such as the profitability of various inputs and the costs of sequestration at the status-quo, the ATA depends on factors such as the extents of usage of fossil-fuels and carbon sequestration efforts. The formulae derived are used to compute the RIP, ATA, and the MACs of a sample of 118 countries. A wide international variation is found in the estimates, indicating potentials for gains from international trading in emission given the current state of the world economy and its level of technological development. In particular, countries that have submitted the highest emission-reduction targets under the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) scheme to the UNFCCC are also among the countries with the highest MACs in our sample, while countries that have thus far shown caution in submitting their INDCs have low MACs. Carbon sequestration efforts such as afforestation contribute towards lowering MACs in countries that do undertake them. |
| Keywords: | marginal abatement costs, policy reforms, by-production model of emission generating technology, ability to abate, reduction in profit. |
| JEL: | Q5 Q54 Q58 H23 H21 H20 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exe:wpaper:1508&r=ene |
| By: | Takayoshi Kato; Jane Ellis; Pieter Pauw; Randy Caruso |
| Abstract: | There is widespread recognition that climate finance needs to be scaled up from its current levels. However, there is no clear view on how developed countries can efficiently and effectively mobilise further climate finance to meet the needs of developing countries. Developed countries have committed to mobilise USD 100 bn per year of climate finance for developing countries by 2020 from a variety of sources. These include both public and private finance, thus the private sector is likely to play a significant role in the mobilisation of climate finance to meet this commitment. This paper explores how scale-up and replication of effective climate finance interventions efficiently mobilise private climate finance. The interventions examined in the paper have already been, or are being, scaled up or replicated. Scaling-up and replication of such climate finance interventions could be an efficient way to increase the private sector’s interest in mobilisation of climate finance, and thus to make progress towards the USD 100 bn per year goal by 2020. The paper draws lessons from selected mitigation and available adaptation case studies at project- and programme-levels as well as from experience with international climate funds. The paper examines three key aspects needed to scale up and replicate climate finance. The first is the institutional structures and decision-making framework of the climate finance source, its aims, the scale at which it operates and how barriers to scaling-up and replication have been addressed. Second, the paper explores how demonstrating effective low-carbon, climate-resilient technologies and systems can facilitate scale-up and replication. Third, the paper discusses the influence of policies to enhance domestic enabling environments for scaling-up and replication.<P>Montée en puissance et réitération des interventions efficaces de financement climat<BR>Il est largement admis qu’une augmentation des financements climatiques est indispensable. Cependant, on ne voit pas bien comment les pays développés peuvent mobiliser, de manière efficace et rentable, davantage de financements de ce type pour répondre aux besoins des pays en développement. Les pays développés se sont engagés à mobiliser 100 milliards USD par an provenant de diverses sources d’ici à 2020 pour financer la lutte contre le changement climatique dans les pays en développement. Comme il s’agit aussi bien de financements publics que privés, le secteur privé jouera probablement un rôle important dans le respect de cet engagement. Ce rapport étudie comment la montée en puissance et la réitération des interventions efficaces en matière de financement climat permettent de lever des fonds privés de façon efficiente pour financer des actions climatiques. Les interventions qui y sont analysées ont d’ores et déjà été appliquées de nouveau ou à plus grande échelle : donner plus d’ampleur à ce type d’opérations ou les réitérer pourrait donc être un moyen efficient d’intéresser davantage le secteur privé et de progresser vers la mobilisation de 100 milliards USD par an visée à l’horizon 2020. Ce rapport dégage les enseignements à tirer de certaines études de cas portant sur l’atténuation et l’adaptation au niveau de projets ou de programmes, ainsi que de l’expérience acquise avec les fonds internationaux pour 3 le climat. Il aborde trois aspects déterminants et nécessaires pour donner plus d’ampleur aux opérations de financement climatique et les multiplier. Le premier concerne l’architecture institutionnelle et le cadre décisionnel de la source de financement climat, ses objectifs, l’échelle à laquelle elle opère et les moyens mis en oeuvre pour surmonter les obstacles qui empêchaient de passer à une échelle supérieure et de reproduire les opérations. Le rapport explique en deuxième lieu comment cela est facilité par la démonstration de technologies et de systèmes bas carbone, résilients au changement climatique et performants, pour ensuite aborder, en troisième lieu, l’influence des politiques qui améliorent les conditions nationales favorables à l’augmentation de ces financements et à la reproduction des opérations. |
| Keywords: | climate finance, mobilise, replication, enabling environments, climate funds, institutional frameworks, scaling up, fonds pour le climat, cadres institutionnels, augmentation, réitération, conditions favorables, mobiliser, financement climatique |
| JEL: | F21 F35 F55 G23 O2 Q54 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaab:2014/1-en&r=ene |
| By: | Wenbo Wang (Department of Marketing, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Institute for Emerging Market Studies, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | IEMS Faculty Associate Prof. Wenbo Wang examines how people become green by studying a policy change in China which obligated consumers to purchase plastic bags rather than receive them for free. |
| Keywords: | plastic bags, environmentalism, green lifestyle, China, environmental taxes, policy, environmental policy |
| JEL: | Q56 H23 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hku:briefs:201502&r=ene |
| By: | Neuhoff, Karsten; Schwenen,Sebastian |
| Abstract: | Using generating and demand resources across national borders brings synergies and improves supply adequacy in Europe as a whole. However, national capacity remuneration mechanisms (CRMs) may pose barriers for the participation of energy resources across borders. This ultimately challenges the idea of a common internal market. Given the current experience with the newly imposed CRMs, indeed the integration of foreign capacities seems challenging as certain regulatory requirements, for instance on interconnector capacity, have to be met. Although all current CRMs in the EU are explicitly of temporary nature, given the current divergence in EU power market design, the question will be not whether but how to agree and coordinate on different forms of capacity remuneration in the EU for the years to come. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esrepo:109792&r=ene |
| By: | Alexander James |
| Abstract: | A surprising feature of resource-rich economies is slow growth. It is often argued that natural-resource production impedes development by creating market or institutional failures. This paper establishes an alternative explanationa slow-growing resource sector.A declining resource sector is disproportionately reected in resource-dependent countries. Additionally, there is little evidence that resource dependence impedes growth in non-resource sectors. More generally, this paper illustrates the importance of considering industry composition in cross-country growth regressions. |
| Keywords: | Resource Dependence, Economic Growth Resource Curse |
| JEL: | Q2 Q3 O1 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:147&r=ene |
| By: | Lea Kosnik (Department of Economics, University of Missouri-St. Louis); L. Douglas Smith; Satish Nayak; Maureen Karig; Mark Konya; Kristy Lovett; Zhennan Liu; Harrison Luvai |
| Abstract: | Electric utilities, like other service organizations, rely on customer surveys to assess the quality of their services and customer relations. With responses to an in-depth survey of 2,216 residential customers, complementary data from geo-coded public sources, aggregate assessments of performance by J.D. Power & Associates from their independent surveys, historical records of individual customer usage and bill payments, streams of published media content and records of actual service delivery, we examine how measures of customer satisfaction are interrelated and how they relate to account activity, customer characteristics, and actual service delivery. We test our inferences against published J.D. Power ratings for 16 large Midwestern utilities in the same peer group. We find that ratings on different service dimensions are highly correlated and related to the customers’ total expenditures for electric service. Customer ratings for quality and reliability of service reflect their sentiments about frequency of outages, duration of outages and the communications that customers receive while power is being restored. Relationships with the actual reliability of service delivered to customers’ residences are much weaker. Experiments with automated text mining show some promise for augmenting statistical analysis with information from streams of published media content and social media. |
| Keywords: | electricity, utility, customer satisfaction. |
| JEL: | L9 H00 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msl:workng:1007&r=ene |
| By: | Mammadov, Fuad; Shaig Adigozalov, Shaiq |
| Abstract: | This paper has attempted to construct leading indicator systems and based on that to predict future contraction period of the Azerbaijan non-oil economy using more than 100 publicly available economic and financial data. Our results show plausible and significant performance of composite leading indicator system with average leading time of 7.2 months. We found that between January of 2000 and May of 2014, there were 6 turning points in Azerbaijan non-oil economy, consisting of three peaks and three troughs corresponding three expansion and four contraction periods. It turns out that the average duration of expansion and contraction phases is 43 and 10 month, respectively. Based on selected leading indicators we constructed composite indicator is found to be able to predict all the six turning points. Using dynamic probit model we estimated contraction probability of non-oil output gap for the future period. Out-of-sample as well as in-sample forecast performance suggest that the leading indicator systems have significant predictive power and could be used as a useful tool for economic forecasting. |
| Keywords: | Business cycles, Dating, Turning points, Forecasting, Probit Model |
| JEL: | C25 C53 E32 |
| Date: | 2014–10–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64367&r=ene |
| By: | Michel Beine; Serge Coulombe; Wessel Vermeulen |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates whether immigration can mitigate the Dutch disease effects associated with booms in natural resource sectors. We derive predicted changes in the size of the non-tradable sector from a small general-equilibrium model `a la Obstfeld-Rogoff. Using data for Canadian provinces, we find evidence that aggregate immigration mitigates the increase in the size of the non-tradable sector in booming regions. The mitigation effect is due mostly to interprovincial migration and temporary foreign workers. There is no evidence of such an effect for permanent international immigration. Interprovincial migration also results in a spreading effect of Dutch disease from booming to non-booming provinces. |
| Keywords: | Natural Resources, Dutch Disease, Immigration, Mitigation Effect |
| JEL: | F22 O15 R11 R15 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:151&r=ene |
| By: | Stein, C.; Barron, J.; Nigussie, L.; Gedif, B.; Amsalu, T.; Langan, Simon |
| Keywords: | Agriculture; Water management; Energy sources; Energy management; food security; River basins; Research; corporate culture; Social structure; Natural resources management; Ecosystems; Environmental protection; Land resources; Stakeholders; Sustainability |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iwt:bosers:h046623&r=ene |
| By: | James Cust; Steven Poelhekke |
| Abstract: | Whether it is fair to characterize natural resource wealth as a curse is still debated. Most of the evidence derives from cross-country analyses, providing cases both for and against a potential resource curse. Scholars are increasingly turning to within-country evidence to deepen our understanding of the potential drivers, and outcomes, of resource wealth effects. Moving away from cross-country studies offers new perspectives on the resource curse debate, and can help overcome concerns regarding endogeneity. Therefore, scholars are leveraging datasets which provide greater disaggregation of economic responses and exogenous identification of impacts. This paper surveys the literature on these studies of local and regional effects of natural resource extraction. We discuss data availability and quality, recent advances in methodological tools, and summarize the main findings of several areas of research. These include the direct impact of natural resource production on local labor markets and welfare, the effects of government spending channels resulting from mining revenue, and regional spillovers. Finally, we take stock of the state of the literature and provide suggestions for future research. |
| Keywords: | survey, mining, Dutch disease, identification, spillovers |
| JEL: | D81 D91 E21 F34 H63 O13 Q32 Q33 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:156&r=ene |
| By: | Kerr, Suzi; Leining, Catherine; Ormsby, Judd |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare15:202569&r=ene |
| By: | Kerr, Suzi |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare15:202527&r=ene |
| By: | Ange Nsouadi; Jules Sadefo Kamdem; Michel Terraza |
| Abstract: | Depuis l'entrée en vigueur en 2005 du système communautaire d'échange de quotas d’émission Européen (SCEQE), la mise en place d'un prix sur les quotas carbone a permis aux différents industrièls de prendre conscience de l'impact de leurs émissions sur l'environnement et sur la biodiversité. Plusieurs études ont été réalisées sur le fonctionnement de ce marché et sur son interdépendance avec les marchés de l'énergie sans cependant mettre l'accent sur l'analyse de la transmission de la volatilité entre ces marchés selon les différents horizons d'investissement des agents (court, moyen et long terme). Pour étudier ces cas nous faisons appel à l'approche de la cohérence en ondelettes qui permet de mesurer les corrélations dynamiques dans le domaine temps fréquences et évaluer leur co-variation. Les résultats obtenus montrent l'existence d’une corrélation positive et stable au cours du temps sur les [...] |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lam:wpaper:15-08&r=ene |