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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Anbumozhi, Venkatachalam (Asian Development Bank Institute); Kimura, Mari (Asian Development Bank Institute); Isono, Kumiko (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews selected initiatives taken by Asian countries to comply with emerging global sustainability standards, reporting, and management systems, and tracks the response of Asian businesses to global environmental concerns, examines market based innovations including new regulations that augmented corporate excellence, and identifies future directions for business that lead low carbon society. It recommends governments and business to join forces in supporting low carbon initiatives, drawing upon market mechanisms through reconfiguring national environmental policies and strategies. |
| Keywords: | climate change initiatives; global sustainability standards; low carbon initiatives; environmental policies |
| JEL: | M19 Q30 Q48 Q56 |
| Date: | 2011–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0335&r=env |
| By: | Olga Kiuila (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Thomas F. Rutherford (Centre for Energy Policy and Economics, ETH Zurich) |
| Abstract: | We explore two methods of incorporating bottom-up abatement cost estimates into top-down modeling: economy-wide and sector-specific. Carbon emissions depend basically on technology and scale. Given the technology options, abatement is possible without a substantial reduction in scale. Otherwise the change must come purely through a reduction in demand. Our analysis shows that the cost of environmental policy is considerably overestimated by top-down models if a bottom-up abatement cost curve is not included. Using the data for the Swiss economy, we demonstrate two techniques of representing abatement function explicitly in a computable general equilibrium model: a traditional and a hybrid (discrete technology modeling) approaches. The results suggest that the current climate policy in Switzerland will not be able to move the economy towards the required 10% CO2 reduction. Both approaches provide virtually the same results when calibration process is precisely executed, which contradicts the results in previous studies.. |
| Keywords: | cost curve, elasticity of substitution, computable general equilibrium model, hybrid modeling, carbon tax |
| JEL: | C68 D24 H21 Q52 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2011-26&r=env |
| By: | Takeda, Shiro; Arimura, Toshi H.; Tamechika, Hanae; Fischer, Carolyn (Resources for the Future); Fox, Alan K. |
| Abstract: | The adoption of domestic emissions trading schemes (ETS) can impose a heavy burden on energy-intensive industries. In particular, energy-intensive industries competing with foreign competitors could lose their international edge. Although the abatement of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in industrialized countries entails the reduction of their energy-intensive production, a corresponding increase in the production of energy-intensive goods in countries without CO2 regulations may lead to carbon “leakage.” This paper examines the effects of various allocation methods for granting emissions permits in the Japanese ETS on the economy and CO2 emissions using a multiregional and multisector computable general equilibrium model. Specifically, we apply the Fischer and Fox (2007) model to the Japanese economy to address carbon leakage and competitiveness issues. We compare auction schemes, grandfathering schemes, and output-based allocation (OBA) schemes. We further extend the model by examining a combination of auctions and OBA. Though the auction scheme is found to be the best in terms of macroeconomic impacts (welfare and GDP effects), the leakage rate is high and the harm to energy-intensive sectors can be significant. OBA causes less leakage and damage to energy-intensive sectors, but the macroeconomic impact is undesirable. Considering all three effects—leakage, competitiveness, and macroeconomics—we find that combinations of auctions and OBA (with gratis allocations solely to energy-intensive, trade-exposed sectors) are desirable. |
| Keywords: | climate change, emissions trading, emissions permit allocations, output-based allocation, auction, grandfathering, international competitiveness, carbon leakage, CGE analysis |
| JEL: | C68 D42 |
| Date: | 2011–09–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-40&r=env |
| By: | Richardson, Nathan (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to move ahead with regulation of greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Previous work has indicated that basic forms of compliance flexibility—trading—appear to be legally permissible under the relevant part (Section 111) of the CAA. This paper takes a close look at more expansive and ambitious types of flexibility: trading between different kinds of sources, biomass co-firing, and, above all, offsets. It concludes that most types of such extended flexibility are either legally incompatible with the CAA, or so legally problematic that EPA is unlikely to adopt them. This has important implications for both the costs of CAA climate policy and the level of environmental benefits that are achievable. It also creates tension between CAA climate policy and state-level policies, such as California’s, that aim to include various forms of extended flexibility. |
| Keywords: | Clean Air Act, offsets, carbon, GHGs, greenhouse gases, flexibility, §111, §111(d), CAA, biomass co-firing, AB32 |
| Date: | 2011–12–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-49&r=env |
| By: | Valentina Bosetti; Jeffrey A. Frankel |
| Abstract: | We explore a framework that could be used to assign quantitative allocations of emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), across countries, one budget period at a time. Under the two-part plan: (i) China, India, and other developing countries accept targets at Business as Usual (BAU) in the coming budget period, the same period in which the US first agrees to cuts below BAU; and (ii) all countries are asked in the future to make further cuts in accordance with a common numerical formula to all. The formula is expressed as the sum of a Progressive Reductions Factor, a Latecomer Catch-up Factor, and a Gradual Equalization Factor. This paper builds on our previous work in many ways. First we update targets to reflect pledges made by governments after the Copenhagen Accord of December 2010 and confirmed at the Cancun meeting of December 2011. Second, the WITCH model, which we use to project economic and environmental effects of any given set of emission targets, has been refined and updated to reflect economic and technological developments. We include the possibility of emissions reduction from bio energy (BE), carbon capture and storage (CCS), and avoided deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) which is an important component of pledges in several developing countries. Third, we use a Nash criterion for evaluating whether a country’s costs are too high to sustain cooperation. |
| JEL: | Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17669&r=env |
| By: | Böhringer, Christoph; Fischer, Carolyn (Resources for the Future); Einar Rosendahl, Knut |
| Abstract: | Given the bleak prospects for a global agreement on coordinated policies to mitigate climate change, political pressure is increasing among industrialized countries for unilateral abatement. A major challenge thereby is the appropriate response to the threat of emissions leakage. Border carbon adjustments and output-based allocation of emissions allowances can increase effectiveness of unilateral action but introduce distortions of their own. We assess the relative attractiveness of these anti-leakage measures as a function of the abatement coalition size. We first develop a partial equilibrium analytical framework to gain generic insights on how these instruments affect emissions within and outside the coalition. We then employ a large-scale computable general equilibrium model of international trade and energy use to assess the cost-effectiveness of alternative anti-leakage strategies as the coalition evolves toward global coverage. We find that full border adjustments rank first in global cost-effectiveness, followed by import tariffs and then output-based rebates. The differences across anti-leakage measures and the overall appeal of such measures decline with the size of the abatement coalition. In terms of cost incidence, the abatement coalition prefers border carbon adjustments over output-based rebates; the opposite holds true for countries outside the coalition. |
| Keywords: | emissions leakage, border carbon adjustments, output-based allocation |
| JEL: | Q2 Q43 H2 D61 |
| Date: | 2011–07–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-34&r=env |
| By: | Heinrich H. Nax; Thomas W.L. Norman |
| Abstract: | The World’s nations have yet to reach a truly effective treaty to control the emission of greenhouse gases. The importance of compatibility with private incentives of individual countries has been acknowledged (at least by game theorists) in designing climate policies for the post-Kyoto world. Individually incentive-compatible agreements, however, may still be spoilt if coalitional incentives to deviate as a group exist. As a first step toward understanding these incentives from a game-theoretic perspective, we propose a hybrid noncooperative-cooperative game theory model of coalition formation in technology collaboration. Serious coalitional instabilities inherent to the existing climate policy architectures are revealed. It turns out that coalitionally stable agreements are achieved via intermediate self-selecting subcoalitions. The sequence of coalitions forming and the size of the direct and spillover effects of R&D collaboration on countries’ individual production technologies determine the effectiveness of the agreements to reduce carbon emissions. These coalitional group motives are already becoming important in the practice of climate change negotiations. |
| Keywords: | Climate change policy, Coalitions, Cooperative game theory, Environmental agreements, Externalities, Mechanism design, Noncooperative game theory, R&D |
| JEL: | C71 C73 D62 D86 F53 H87 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:585&r=env |
| By: | Habermacher, Florian |
| Abstract: | All current, and likely near-term future, climate protection measures only cover a limited fraction of global emissions. A single value attached to CO2 (independent of the source that generates it), for market based instruments such as CO2 taxes or cap-and-trade systems, is insufficient to account for the complex economic interlinkages between specific emission-generating activities and CO2 emissions throughout the world. First, static partial and general equilibrium models illustrate how different types of emissions are subject to specific General Equilibrium Translation Factors and leakage effects, which define the optimal pattern of fuel-specific, unilateral carbon taxes. The leakage, which implies that regional emission avoidance may partly be offset in other regions and time periods, depends on the type of resources involved and the characteristics of the markets in which they are traded. Second, a dynamic model accounting for fuel exhaustibility shows that the time-dimension is crucial and that the relevant medium-term leakage may be much larger than suggested static rates. Sensible leakage rates depend on discount rates for future emissions and on uncertain future technological and political developments. The traditional leakage literature does not explicitly consider these elements, even though in their absence overall leakage would approach 100 %. Instead, literature has mainly focused on static fuel supply curves and rates of contemporaneous leakage. The numerical simulations show that in a business-as-usual scenario the optimal unilateral OECD climate tax rate on CO2 emissions from oil may be only half of the tax rate on emissions from coal. This is reverted if the CO2 intensive coal-to-liquids conversion processes become an important additional source of liquid fuels in future: negative leakage occurs and the optimal current climate tax on oil emissions may be up to two times the genuine regional willingness to pay for global emission reductions, even if the substitution of crude oil by synthetic liquids starts only in the future. |
| Keywords: | Unilateral climate policy, fuel specific carbon tax, fossil fuel exhaustion/depletion, leakage over time, general equilibrium resource market, coal-to-liquids, liquefaction, OECD. |
| JEL: | Q58 Q54 Q41 H23 H21 Q56 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:econwp:2011:44&r=env |
| By: | Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future); Paul, Anthony (Resources for the Future); Woerman, Matt (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | The EPA will issue rules regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing steam boilers and refineries in 2012. A crucial issue affecting the scope and cost of emissions reductions will be the potential introduction of flexibility in compliance, including averaging across groups of facilities. This research investigates the role of compliance flexibility for the most important of these source categories—existing coal-fired power plants—that currently account for one-third of national emissions of carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas. We find a flexible standard, calibrated to achieve the same emissions reductions as an inflexible approach, reduces the increase in electricity price by 60 percent and overall costs by two-thirds in 2020. The flexible standard also leads to substantially more investment to improve the operating efficiency of existing facilities, whereas the inflexible standard leads to substantially greater retirement of existing facilities. |
| Keywords: | climate policy, efficiency, EPA, Clean Air Act, coal, compliance flexibility, regulation |
| JEL: | K32 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–07–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-30&r=env |
| By: | Andreas Buehn; Mohammad Reza Farzanegan |
| Abstract: | Environmental quality and climate change have long attracted attention in policy debates. Recently, air quality has emerged on the policy agenda. We calculate a new index of air quality using CO2and SO2 emissions per capita as indicators and provide a ranking for 122 countries from 1985 to 2005.The empirical analysis supports the EKC hypothesis and shows a significant influence of determinants such as energy efficiency, industrial production, electricity produced from coal sources, and urbanization on air quality. According to our index, Luxemburg, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, and Japan are among the top 5 countries in terms of air quality performance. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Togo, and Nepal performed worst in 2005. |
| Keywords: | Air quality, MIMIC model, EKC hypothesis, Development, Emissions |
| JEL: | Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:use:tkiwps:1124&r=env |
| By: | Paul, Anthony (Resources for the Future); Palmer, Karen (Resources for the Future); Woerman, Matt (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | The electricity sector is responsible for roughly 40 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and a shift away from conventional coal-fired generation is an important component of the U.S. strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Toward that goal, several proposals for a clean energy standard (CES) have been put forth, including one espoused by the Obama administration that calls for 80 percent clean electricty by 2035 phased in from current levels of roughly 40 percent. This paper looks at the effects of such a policy on CO2 emissions from the electricity sector, the mix of technologies used to supply electricity, electricity prices, and regional flows of clean energy credits. The CES leads to a 30 percent reduction in cumulative CO2 emissions between 2013 and 2035 and results in dramatic reductions in generation from conventional coal. The policy also results in fairly modest increases on national electricity prices, but this masks a wide variety of effects across regions. |
| Keywords: | renewables, climate, clean energy standard |
| JEL: | Q42 Q48 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–07–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-35&r=env |
| By: | Ranganathan, C. (Asian Development Bank Institute); Palanisami, K. (Asian Development Bank Institute); Kakumanu, K. (Asian Development Bank Institute); Baulraj, A. (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | Many rural poor people in developing countries depend on agriculture and are highly influenced by climatic change. Adaptation to climate change impacts is increasingly being observed in both physical and ecological systems as well as in human adjustments to resource availability and risk at different spatial and societal scales. This paper reviews some of the options for reducing the vulnerability of the poor through integrated climate change adaptation strategies. The paper explains the climate change effects on agricultural production, adoption experiences in the context of sustainable livelihoods, integration of structural and nonstructural measures, amelioration effects and their costs, and the role of informal institutions in implementation. |
| Keywords: | climate change; agricultural production; poverty reduction |
| JEL: | N55 O13 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–12–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0333&r=env |
| By: | Wie, Jiegen; Wennlock, Magnus; Johansson, Daniel J.A.; Sterner, Thomas |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how fossil fuel-producing countries can counteract climate policy. We analyze the exhaustion of oil resources and the subsequent transition to a backstop technology as a strategic game between the consumers and producers of oil, which we refer to simply as “OECD” and “OPEC,” respectively. The consumers, OECD, derive benefits from oil, but worry about climate effects from carbon dioxide emissions. OECD has two instruments to manage this: it can tax fuel consumption and decide when to switch to a carbon-neutral backstop technology. The tax reduces climate damage and also appropriates some of the resource rent. OPEC retaliates by choosing a strategy of price discrimination, subsidizing oil in its domestic markets. The results show that price discrimination enables OPEC to avoid some of the adverse consequences of OECD’s fuel tax and its switch to the backstop technology by consuming a larger share of the oil in its own domestic markets. Our results suggest that persuading fossil exporters to stop subsidizing domestic consumption will be difficult. |
| Keywords: | dynamic games, stock externalities, carbon tax, non-renewable resources, energy subsidies |
| JEL: | D62 H23 Q34 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–09–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-26&r=env |
| By: | Paola Rocchi; Monica Serrano (Universitat de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This study analyses the evolution of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and acidification emissions for Italy in the years 1995-2005. Looking at data, while emissions that contribute to the local problem of acidification have been decreasing quite constantly, GHG emissions have been showing a slight increase due to the rise of carbon dioxide. The aim is therefore to highlight how different economic factors have driven the evolution of Italian emissions. The main factors considered are economic growth, the development of a technology allowing a more environment-friendly way of production, and the structure of consumption. The methodology proposed is a structural decomposition analysis (SDA), a method that permits to decompose the changes of the variable of interest among different driving forces and to reveal the relevance of each factor. Moreover, the analysis considers the relevance of international trade and it tries to deal with the problem of responsibility. That is, through international trade relationships a country could be exporting polluting production processes without a real reduction of the pollution implied in its consumption pattern. For this purpose, the SDA is firstly applied to the emissions caused by domestic production. This corresponds to a production-based approach (PBA). Successively, the analysis moves toward a consumption-based approach (CBA) and the decomposition is applied to emissions related to domestic production or foreign production that satisfies domestic demand. In this way the exercise allows a first check of the importance of international trade and it highlights some results at global as well at sector level that can indicate in which direction further analysis should be carried on. |
| Keywords: | problem of responsibility., namea data, structural decomposition analysis |
| JEL: | C67 Q53 Q56 D57 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bar:bedcje:2011267&r=env |
| By: | Halkos, George |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses the development of environmental economics from the Industrial Revolution in Europe to today. Specifically, it comments on the general similarities and differences between the representatives of the schools of economic thought concerning the environment. Among others, the issues of scarcity of natural resources, of population growth as well as the limits to growth are discussed and the various views are presented. The paper also comments on the trends of environmental, evolutionary and ecological economics. |
| Keywords: | Naturla resource scarcity; limits to growth; environmental economics |
| JEL: | N54 B12 B14 O13 B13 N53 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35580&r=env |
| By: | Blackman, Allen (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Private sector initiatives certifying that producers of goods and services adhere to defined environmental process standards are increasingly popular worldwide. According to proponents, they can circumvent chronic barriers to effective public sector environmental regulation in developing countries. But eco-certification programs will have limited effects on producers’ environmental performance if, as one would expect, they select for those already meeting certification standards. Rigorous evaluations of the environmental effects of eco-certification in developing countries that control for selection bias are rare. We use plant-level data on more than 80,000 Mexican facilities to determine whether ISO 14001 series certification of environmental management systems boosts regulatory compliance. We use propensity score matching to control for nonrandom selection into the program. We find that plants recently fined by environmental regulators were more likely to be certified, all other things equal, but that certified plants were subsequently fined just as often as similar uncertified plants. These results suggest that in Mexico, the ISO 14001 program attracts dirty plants under pressure from regulators—not just relatively clean ones—but does not have a large, lasting impact on their regulatory compliance. |
| Keywords: | voluntary environmental regulation, duration analysis, propensity score matching, Mexico |
| JEL: | Q56 Q58 O13 O54 C41 |
| Date: | 2011–08–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-39&r=env |
| By: | Pollitt, M. G.; Shaorshadze, I. |
| Abstract: | This article explores how behavioural economics can be applied to energy and climate policy. We present an overview of main concepts of behavioural economics and discuss how they differ from the assumptions of neoclassical economics. Next, we discuss how behavioural economics applies to three areas of energy policy: (1) consumption and habits, (2) investment in energy efficiency, and (3) provision of public goods and support for pro-environmental behaviour. We conclude that behavioural economics seems unlikely to provide the magic bullet to reduce energy consumption by the magnitude required by the International Energy Agency's “450” climate policy scenario. However it offers new suggestions as to where to start looking for potentially sustainable changes in energy consumption. We believe that the most useful role within climate policy is in addressing issues of public perception of the affordability of climate policy and in facilitating the creation of a more responsive energy demand, better capable of responding to weather-induced changes in renewable electricity supply. |
| JEL: | D03 D10 Q40 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1165&r=env |
| By: | David F. Hendry; Felix Pretis |
| Abstract: | We identify anthropogenic contributions to atmospheric CO2 measured at Mauna Loa using a statistical automatic model selection algorithm (Autometrics). We find that vegetation, temperature and other natural factors alone cannot explain the trend or the variation in CO2 growth. Industrial production components, driven by business cycles and economic shocks, are highly significant contributors. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, CO2 emissions, Impulse-indicator saturation, Autometrics |
| JEL: | Q5 C5 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:584&r=env |
| By: | Jean-Thomas Bernard; Michael Gavin; Lynda Khalaf; Marcel Voia |
| Abstract: | We consider an empirical estimation of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) for carbon dioxide and sulphur, with a focus on confidence set estimation of the tipping point. Various econometric – parametric and nonparametric – methods are considered, reflecting the implications of persistence, endogeneity, the necessity of breaking down our panel regionally, and the small number of countries within each panel. In particular, we propose an inference method that corrects for potential weak-identification of the tipping point. Weak identification may occur if the true EKC is linear while a quadratic income term is nevertheless imposed into the estimated equation. Relevant literature to date confirms that non-linearity of the EKC is indeed not granted, which provides the motivation for our work. Viewed collectively, our results confirm an inverted U-shaped EKC in the OECD countries but generally not elsewhere, although a local-pollutant analysis suggest favorable exceptions beyond the OECD. Our measures of uncertainty confirm that it is difficult to identify economically plausible tipping points. Policy-relevant estimates of the tipping point can nevertheless be recovered from a local-pollutant long-run or non-parametric perspective. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Kuznets Curve, Fieller method, Delta method, CO2 and SO2 emissions, Confidence set, Tipping point, Climate policy |
| JEL: | C52 Q51 Q52 Q56 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:creacr:2011-4&r=env |
| By: | Wolosin, Michael; Riddle, Anne (Resources for the Future); Morris, Daniel (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Tropical forests provide critical global and local ecosystem services and habitat for many of the world’s plants and animals. Their loss threatens the sustainable economic growth and social stability of developing countries, and illegal deforestation abroad places U.S. producers at an unfair disadvantage. For these and other reasons, the United States has long been engaged in programs to reduce forest loss. This engagement has recently increased, with the new Presidential Global Climate Change Initiative including a pillar dedicated to slowing forest loss. While promising, this new funding and coordination is insufficient, with a narrow focus on climate-based development assistance. Engaging the full suite of forest policy levers in the federal government, or taking a “whole-of-government” approach, would provide greater immediate impact in preventing forest loss while building the foundations of a working landscape ethic. In this discussion paper, we explore the opportunities to expand U.S. contributions to reducing tropical deforestation through this approach. A whole-of-government approach to international deforestation consists of coordinating and focusing the programs across the federal government that could reduce the rate of tropical forest loss. It is an integrated strategy that employs existing activities and authorities of the U.S. government and directs them under an overarching goal of reducing deforestation in tropical forest countries, while continuing to support other developing-country goals, such as economic development, health, food security, and biodiversity. We identify three major areas where policy adjustments and actions by relevant authorities can have immediate and tangible impact on reducing deforestation. |
| Keywords: | tropical deforestation, forest conservation, U.S. policy, REDD, reducing emissions from deforestation, whole-of-government, environment and trade, forest policy |
| Date: | 2011–07–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-28&r=env |
| By: | Cristina Dengel; John Horton |
| Abstract: | The IDB's strategy in Brazil seeks to promote and further the reform and modernization of the public sector, to support efforts to improve the competitiveness of Brazilian goods, to support the efforts to reduce social inequalities and poverty and, finally, to address the problems of environmental and natural resource management. The Sustainable Development Program in the State of Acre supported the four elements of this strategy by including activities to strengthen the capacity for environmental management at the state level thus promoting modernization of the state, by bolstering competitiveness through improvement of the quality of the transportation infrastructure, by actions to foster the productivity of rural communities and small producers thus supporting efforts to reduce inequality and by actions for conservation and protection of the Amazon rainforest. This note gives an overview of key achievements and challenges to reach such results as well as outlines the key lessons learned accumulated over the course of the projects. |
| Keywords: | Economics :: Economic Development & Growth, Environment & Natural Resources :: Biodiversity & Natural Resources Management, Environment & Natural Resources :: Forests & Forestry, Infrastructure & Transport, lessons learned, sustainable development, Brazil, land management |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:38858&r=env |
| By: | Jean Chateau; Anne Saint-Martin; Thomas Manfredi |
| Abstract: | Using a computable general equilibrium, this paper quantifies the GDP and employment effects of an illustrative greenhouse gas emissions reduction policy. The paper first analyses the direct negative economic effects of the emissions restrictions on GDP and examines labour sectoral reallocations in a framework where labour markets are perfectly flexible. The model is then modified to incorporate labour market imperfections in OECD countries that could generate unemployment, namely, short-run rigidities in real wage adjustment. It is shown that imperfect wage adjustment increases the cost of mitigation policy since unemployment increases in the short-run, but that the carbon tax revenue generated can be recycled so as offset some or all of this effect, notably when it is used to reduce wage-taxes. Thus, taking realistic labour market imperfections into account in a CGE model affects the GDP costs of mitigation policy in two ways: first by introducing extra costs due to the increased unemployment that such policy may entail; second by creating the possibility of a double dividend effect when carbon taxes are recycled so as to reduce distorting taxes on labour income..<BR>A l’aide d’un modèle d’équilibre général calculable ce papier cherche à quantifier les effets sur l’emploi et le PIB d’une politique d’atténuation du changement climatique. Dans un premier temps, le papier analyse les effets négatifs directs sur le PIB d’une politique de réduction des émissions et examine les réallocations sectorielles de l’emploi, dans un cadre où les marchés du travail sont considérés comme parfaitement flexibles. Dans un second temps une hypothèse d’imperfection du marché du travail dans les pays de l’OCDE est adoptée, cette hypothèse peut créer du chômage en raison de rigidité dans l’ajustement des salaires réels. Dans un tel cas, il est montré que les recettes fiscales associées à une taxe carbone peuvent permettre de mettre en place des politiques d’emploi actives, telles des réductions des impôts sur les salaires, qui peuvent à court-terme contrecarrer l’effet négatif de la politique d’atténuation du changement climatique. Ainsi, la prise en compte dans un modèle EGC d’une imperfection du marché du travail altère la perception des effets sur le PIB des politiques de changement climatique de deux façons : premièrement en soulignant les coûts supplémentaires qu’une telle politique peut entraîner en termes d’emplois et secondement en créant des conditions favorables à l’apparition d’un phénomène de double-dividende associée à des politiques adéquates d’utilisation des recettes fiscales liées aux taxes carbones. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, CGE model, climate change mitigation policy, carbon pricing, chômage, modèle EGC, Politique d’atténuation du changement climatique, valeur du carbone |
| JEL: | D58 E24 H23 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaaa:32-en&r=env |
| By: | Ahlheim, Michael; Börger, Tobias; Frör, Oliver |
| Abstract: | -- |
| Keywords: | public expenditures,environmental valuation,cost-benefit analysis,contingent valuation method,respondent incentives,reciprocity,reforestation |
| JEL: | D6 H4 Q23 Q51 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fziddp:392011&r=env |
| By: | Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne); Mouez Fodha (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the environmental tax policy issues when labor is heterogeneous. The objective is to assess whether an environmental tax policy could be Pareto improving, when the revenue of the pollution tax is recycled by a change in the labor tax properties. We show that, depending on the heterogeneity characteristics of labor and on the initial structure of the tax system, a policy mix could be designed in order to leave each class of workers unharmed. It consists of an increase in progressivity together with a decrease in the flat rate component of the wage tax. |
| Keywords: | Environmental tax ; Heterogenous agents ; Welfare analysis ; Tax progressivity |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-00652900&r=env |
| By: | Jean Chateau; Cuauhtemoc Rebolledo; Rob Dellink |
| Abstract: | This document describes economic baseline projections to 2050 for several world regions. It describes how socio-economic drivers are used to create a consistent projection of economic activity for the coming decades, applying the general framework of “conditional convergence”. This economic baseline is created using the ENV-Linkages model version 3. This baseline is used for modelling analysis with the ENVLinkages model as carried out for the OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (to be released in Spring 2012). Specific attention is given in this paper to projections for the energy system as part of the economy, to allow detailed links between economic activity and environmental pressures, including emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs).<BR>Ce document décrit les projections économiques mondiales d’un scénario de référence à l’horizon 2050. Il explique comment les différents déterminants socio-économiques sont combinés entre eux pour créer une projection cohérente de l’activité économique pour les décennies à venir, sur la base d’un cadre d’analyse fondé sur la « convergence conditionnelle ». Ce scénario économique de référence est obtenu au moyen de simulations du modèle ENV-linkages (version 3). Ce compte central est utilisé comme point de référence des exercices de simulations numériques proposées dans les « Perspective de l’Environnement de l’OCDE à l’horizon 2050 » (à paraître au printemps 2012). Une attention particulière aux projections énergétiques est entreprise, dans la mesure où celles-ci sont des éléments centraux de l’interaction entre activité économique et pression sur l’environnement, au travers notamment des émissions de gaz à effets de serre. |
| Keywords: | climate change, general equilibrium models, long-term scenarios, modèle d'équilibre général calculable, changement climatique, scénarios de long-terme |
| JEL: | D58 H23 O54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2011–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaaa:41-en&r=env |
| By: | Börger, Tobias |
| Abstract: | -- |
| Keywords: | environmental valuation,contingent valuation method,socially desirable responding,loss aversion,reforestation |
| JEL: | D6 H4 Q23 Q51 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fziddp:402011&r=env |
| By: | Sophie Bernard |
| Abstract: | In a stylized model of international trade, firms in the North indirectly export second-hand products to a representative firm in the South to be reused as intermediate goods, with potential trade gains. The level of reusability of waste products is a crucial choice variable in the North. This is because, in the presence of imperfect international monitoring, non-reusable waste can be illegally mixed with reusable waste. I explore the driving forces for illegal waste movement, with a particular focus on local waste regulations such as the EU’s Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. <p> Under mild conditions, it is shown that increasingly stringent regulations in the North induce Northern firms to reduce product reusability. Consequently, the flow of non-reusable waste to the South increases, magnifying the pollution haven effect. <P> |
| Keywords: | waste, second-hand products, environmental regulations, trade, green design, illegal market, |
| JEL: | F18 L10 O13 Q53 Q56 |
| Date: | 2011–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirwor:2011s-77&r=env |
| By: | Walls, Margaret (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | A deposit-refund system combines a tax on product consumption with a rebate when the product or its packaging is returned for recycling. Deposit-refunds are used for beverage containers, lead-acid batteries, motor oil, tires, various hazardous materials, electronics, and more. In addition, researchers have shown that the approach can be used to address many other environmental problems beyond waste disposal. By imposing an up-front fee on consumption and subsidizing “green” inputs and mitigation activities, a deposit-refund may be able to efficiently control pollution in much the same way as a Pigovian tax. Theoretical models have shown that alternative waste disposal policies, such as virgin materials taxes, advance disposal fees, recycled content standards, and recycling subsidies are inferior to a deposit-refund. These results have been corroborated in calibrated models of U.S. waste and recycling. And in theoretical models that consider joint environmental problems and product design considerations, the deposit-refund continues to have much to recommend it as a component of an overall socially optimal set of policies. More empirical research into deposit-refund systems is needed, particularly the upstream systems used for many products. In these systems, the processors or collectors of recyclables—rather than consumers—receive the refund. Upstream systems may have lower transaction costs and better environmental outcomes than traditional downstream systems. |
| Keywords: | deposit-refund, waste disposal, recycling, source reduction, illegal dumping, Pigovian tax, advance disposal fee, upstream pollution, design for environment |
| JEL: | H23 Q53 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–11–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-47&r=env |
| By: | Giamporcaro, Stephanie |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the views of South African investment organizations on the likelihood of commodification of environmental risks in their investment decision processes. It is based on an empirical qualitative survey of 22 investment organizations, which are signatories to the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment. We describe a range of issues, identified by the investment players interviewed, that are likely to prevent or accelerate the internalization of environmental risks in the South African investment industry. The chance that broader commodification of the South African investment industry will occur—beyond the growing but still small ranks of responsible investors—seems to be linked to realization of an adequate political framing. This means legislating standardized environmental disclosure by corporations and a long-term commitment by institutional investors to responsible investment philosophies. The tension between social developmental goals and environmental goals is seen as a major political obstacle at the national level. |
| Keywords: | commodification, political framing, calculative framing, conventions, environmental risks, responsible investment |
| Date: | 2011–01–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-01-efd&r=env |
| By: | Wilfried Ehrenfeld |
| Abstract: | The emission rights management module of the software package “CO2-Navigator“ is a corporate emissions rights management instrument designed to provide an overview of the allocation and transactions of CO2 emission allowances at any time of the calendar year. During the acquisition, the relevant dates, quantities and prices are collected. The daily updated inventory of allowances is also reported. Based on the current state of the emissions from an installation, an estimate of the allowance coverage for the balance sheet day of the current year is realized, using an emission profile characteristic for the firm. Here, a possible under- or over- coverage is graphically illustrated and quantified. The module is thus a useful tool in the risk management process of emission intensive companies. A possible subsequent investment analysis, e. g. a stochastic investment planning, builds on the data supplied by this module. This paper describes the motivation and technical conception of this instrument. |
| Keywords: | CO2, emission rights management, emissions trading |
| JEL: | D81 G32 L59 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iwh:dispap:19-11&r=env |
| By: | Rose.Janna L.; Quave, Cassandra L.; Islam, Gazi |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ibm:ibmecp:wpe_267&r=env |
| By: | Anastasiadis, Simon (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Nauleau, Marie-Laure (ENSAE ParisTech); Kerr, Suzi (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Cox, Tim (National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research); Rutherford, Kit (National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines six different approaches to nutrient management, and simulates the economic costs and environmental impacts associated with them using NManager, a partial equilibrium simulation model developed by Motu and NIWA, the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research. We focus on Lake Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand, where the regional council is concerned with the decline in the lake's water quality and has set a goal to restore the lake to its condition during the 1960s. Reaching this goal will require significant reductions in the amount of nutrients discharged into the lake, especially from non-point sources such as farm land. Managing water quality is made difficult by the presence of groundwater lags in the catchment: nutrients that leach from the soil arrive at the lake over multiple years. The mitigation schemes we consider are land retirement, requiring best practice, explicit nitrogen limits on landowners, a simple nutrient trading scheme, and two more complex trading schemes that account for groundwater lags. We demonstrate that best practice alone is not sufficient to meet the environmental target for Lake Rotorua. Under an export trading scheme, the distribution of mitigation across the catchment is more cost effective than its distribution under explicit limits on landowners or land retirement. However, the more complex trading schemes do not result in sufficient, or sufficiently certain, gains in cost effectiveness over the simple trading scheme to justify the increase in complexity involved in their implementation. |
| Keywords: | groundwater, Lake Rotorua, model, nutrients, nutrient trading, water quality, non-point source pollution |
| JEL: | C69 Q53 Q57 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:11_14&r=env |
| By: | Masako Ikefuji; Roger J. A. Laeven; Jan R. Magnus; Chris Muris |
| Abstract: | We specify a stochastic economy-climate model, adapting Nordhaus' deterministic economy-climate model by allowing for Weitzman-type stochasticity. We show that, under expected power utility, the model is fragile to heavy-tailed distributional assumptions and we derive necessary and sufficient conditions on the utility function to avoid fragility. We solve our stochastic economy-climate model for two cases with compatible pairs of utility functions and heavy-tailed distributional assumptions. We further develop and implement a procedure to learn the input parameters of our model and show that the model thus specified produces robust optimal policies. The numerical results indicate that higher levels of uncertainty lead to less abatement and consumption, and to more investment. |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:0825&r=env |
| By: | Massimiliano Corradini; Valeria Costantini; Susanna Mancinelli; Massimiliano Mazzanti |
| Abstract: | We model investment decisions regarding innovation and emissions abatement in a dynamic theoretical framework, where knowledge stock is considered as an impure public good. The reaction function between one representative agent’s investments in innovation and the other agents’ investments in the public characteristic of the impure public good has positive slope under general conditions and that its sensitiveness is affected by assumptions on the elasticity of substitution in the benefit function as well as on the degree of complementarity between the private and the public characteristic. The positivity of the reaction function is then empirically tested in an econometric estimation. We exploit an original database by gathering innovation efforts as well as emissions over the period 1996-2006 for 15 European countries and 23 manufacturing sectors. Empirical results show that innovation investment is positively driven by the public characteristics provided by other sectors, with different reactivity strength for different polluting emissions. |
| Keywords: | impure public goods, environmental externalities, innovation spillovers |
| JEL: | D21 H41 O33 Q53 Q55 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtr:wpaper:0141&r=env |
| By: | Severin Borenstein |
| Abstract: | Generating electricity from renewable sources is more expensive than conventional approaches, but reduces pollution externalities. Analyzing the tradeoff is much more challenging than often presumed, because the value of electricity is extremely dependent on the time and location at which it is produced, which is not very controllable with some renewables, such as wind and solar. Likewise, the pollution benefits from renewable generation depend on what type of generation it displaces, which also depends on time and location. Without incorporating these factors, cost-benefit analyses of alternatives are likely to be misleading. However, other common arguments for subsidizing renewable power – green jobs, energy security and driving down fossil energy prices – are unlikely to substantially alter the analysis. The role of intellectual property spillovers is a strong argument for subsidizing energy science research, but less persuasive as an enhancement to the value of installing current renewable energy technologies. |
| JEL: | L94 Q42 Q48 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17695&r=env |
| By: | Fraas, Art (Resources for the Future); Lutter, Randall (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | In their recent paper , Efficient Pollution Regulation: Getting the Prices Right (henceforth, EPR), Muller and Mendelsohn describe a broader, more appealing concept of efficiency that incorporates information on damages caused by emissions from specific sources: “The science and economics related to pollution control”, they write, “have advanced to the point where regulations can now move from cost-effectiveness to efficiency.” We argue that despite the appeal of the EPR solution, its conclusion that source-specific marginal damage estimates are ready for use in regulations is simply incompatible with the empirical evidence presented in EPR. In particular, we explore the implications of the EPR finding of negative marginal damages from NOx emissions for many heavily populated counties. The associated nonconvexities, we show, imply that the source-specific trading ratios that EPR advocates lead to unattractive outcomes not likely to be efficient. We also discuss how the EPR assumption that the regulators know damages with certainty oversimplifies key aspects of efficient air pollution regulation. |
| Date: | 2011–08–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-36&r=env |
| By: | Jiang, Xuemei; Gong, Peichen; Bostedt, Goran; Xu, Jintao |
| Abstract: | State-owned forest enterprises (SOFEs) in northeast China and Inner Mongolia play important roles both in timber production and in the maintenance of ecological security. However, since the late 1970s, forest resource and economic crises have seriously restricted these functions. Based on a theoretical and an empirical analysis of the harvest and investment behavior of the SOFEs, we examined the effects of forest policies and the socioeconomic conditions on the behavioral choices of the SOFEs. Both the extent to which SOFE supervising authorities emphasized improvement of forest resources in their annual evaluations and the increases in expenses necessary to manage SOFEs had significant impacts on harvest and investment decisions as well as development of forest resources. Promoting the management and utilization of non-timber resources, as well as reforms to increase the efficiency of forest protection and management, have reduced timber harvests as intended, which in turn has increased investment and improved forest resources. The effects have been relatively small, however. In contrast, reforms aimed at timber harvest and afforestation activities actually contributed to increasing the timber harvest, which affected the development of the forest resources negatively. |
| Keywords: | state-owned forest enterprise, “double crises,” sustainable forest management, forest policy |
| JEL: | Q23 Q28 |
| Date: | 2011–12–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-12-efd&r=env |
| By: | Gerrit de Wit; Lorraine Uhlaner; Marta Berent; Ronald Jeurissen |
| Abstract: | This study focuses on the prediction of the engagement of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in environmental management practices, based on a random sample of 689 SMEs. The study finds that several endogenous factors, including tangibility of sector, firm size, innovative orientation, family influence and perceived financial benefits from energy conservation, predict an SME’s level of engagement in selected environmental management practices. For family influence, this effect is found only in interaction with the number of owners. In addition to empirical research on SMEs’ environmental behavior, the article draws on the ecological modernization literature as well as the theory of planned behavior. |
| Date: | 2011–12–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eim:papers:h201118&r=env |
| By: | Mona Chitnis (Surrey Energy Economics Centre (SEEC) and Research Group on Lifestyles Values and Environment (RESOLVE), University of Surrey); Lester C Hunt (Surrey Energy Economics Centre (SEEC) and Research Group on Lifestyles Values and Environment (RESOLVE), University of Surrey) |
| Abstract: | Given the amount of direct and indirect CO2 emissions attributable to UK households, policy makers need a good understanding of the structure of household energy expenditure and the impact of both economic and non-economic factors when considering policies to reduce future emissions. To help achieve this, the Structural Time Series Model is used here to estimate UK ‘transport’ and ‘housing’ energy expenditure equations for 1964-2009. This allows for the estimation of a stochastic trend to measure the underlying energy expenditure trend and hence capture the non-trivial impact of ‘non-economic factors’ on household ‘transport’ and ‘housing’ energy expenditure; as well as the impact of the traditional ‘economic factors’ of income and price. The estimated equations are used to show that given current expectations, CO2 attributable to ‘transport’ and ‘housing’ expenditures will not fall by 29% (or 40%) in 2020 compared to 1990, and is therefore not consistent with the latest UK total CO2 reduction target. Hence, the message for policy makers is that in addition to economic incentives such as taxes, which might be needed to help restrain future energy expenditure, other policies that attempt to influence lifestyles and behaviours also need to be considered. |
| Keywords: | Household energy expenditure; CO2 emissions; Structural Time Series Model |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sur:seedps:134&r=env |
| By: | Muehlenbachs, Lucija (Resources for the Future); Newcomb Sinha, Elisabeth; Ranjan Sinha, Nitish |
| Abstract: | Using advances in text analysis, we examine the content and timing of 21,493 press releases issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) between 1994 and 2009. Press releases announcing enforcement actions or regulatory changes were issued more often on Fridays and before holidays, a time when news has the least impact on media coverage and financial markets. Changing the timing of press releases may increase deterrence through awareness of regulation and market reaction to environmental news. We find no evidence of regulatory capture. We compare text analysis techniques that allow data collection from sources previously too expensive to access. |
| Keywords: | text analysis, computational linguistics, regulation, environment, politics, Environmental Protection Agency |
| JEL: | Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–10–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-45&r=env |
| By: | Valeria Costantini; Alessio D'Amato; Chiara Martini; Maria Cristina Tommasino; Edilio Valentini; Mariangela Zoli |
| Abstract: | Most tradable permit regimes have ignored the role of emission allowance taxation whereas the OECD and the European Union have emphasized the need for further investigation of the related efficiency and effectiveness consequences. The aim of our paper is to take a first step in this direction. We illustrate a theoretical model featuring I representative competitive firms/countries. Our theoretical results show that accounting for permit taxation implies a distortion in the equilibrium price as well as an impact on emissions distribution across countries. The specific features of these distortions are then investigated through a Computable General Equilibrium model in which several options for taxes on net sellers’ permit revenues and defiscalization of net buyers’ permit costs are simulated. Welfare analysis is performed, suggesting that the design of permit taxation is relevant in determining how welfare gains and losses are distributed across countries. |
| Keywords: | international emissions trading, permit taxation, computable general equilibrium |
| JEL: | H23 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtr:wpaper:0143&r=env |
| By: | Wolfram Schlenker; W. Reed Walker |
| Abstract: | Airports are some of the largest sources of air pollution in the United States. We demonstrate that daily airport runway congestion contributes significantly to local pollution levels and contemporaneous health of residents living nearby and downwind from airports. Our research design exploits the fact that network delays originating from large airports on the East Coast increase runway congestion in California, which in turn increases daily pollution levels around California airports. Using the component of California air pollution driven by airport congestion, we find that carbon monoxide (CO) leads to significant increases in hospitalization rates for asthma, respiratory, and heart related emergency room admissions that are an order of magnitude larger than conventional estimates: A one standard deviation increase in daily pollution levels leads to an additional $1 million in hospitalization costs for respiratory and heart related admissions for the 6 million individuals living within 10km (6.2 miles) of the 12 largest airports in California. While infants and the elderly are more sensitive to air pollution, we also find significant relationships for the adult population. The health impacts are driven by CO, not NO2 or O3, and occur at levels far below existing EPA mandates. Our results suggest there may be sizable morbidity benefits from lowering the existing CO standard. |
| JEL: | H0 I1 Q5 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17684&r=env |
| By: | Francesco Testa (Istituto di Management - Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa); Fabio Iraldo (Istituto di Management - Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa); Marco Frey (Istituto di Management - Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa); Tiberio Daddi (Istituto di Management - Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa) |
| Abstract: | Green Public Procurement (GPP) is becoming a cornerstone of environmental policies both at European Union and Member State level. Drawing upon a database of public authorities located in three Italian Regions, this paper assesses the determinants and drawbacks of green procurement adoption. In particular, using an econometrical approach we tested the following propositions: i) the existing awareness on GPP practices, tools and regulations does support public authorities to develop GPP strategies; (ii) the support of external experts in purchasing function does support public authorities to develop GPP practices; (iii) the small dimension of public authority is an obstacle to adopting GPP practices; (iv) ISO 14001 certified public authorities are more likely to develop GPP practices. The econometric analysis shows that the dimension of public authorities and the level of awareness of the existing tools for supporting GPP have a positive and significant effect on the probability that they adopt GPP practices. |
| Keywords: | green public procurement, local authorities, ISO 14001, environment. |
| JEL: | Q58 M20 K32 |
| Date: | 2011–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sse:wpaper:201106&r=env |
| By: | Whittington, Dale; Adamowicz, Wiktor |
| Abstract: | Researchers using stated preference (SP) techniques have increasingly come to rely on what we call “hypothetical baselines.” By this we mean that respondents are provided with a description of a current state, or baseline, but that this baseline is intentionally not the actual state of environmental quality, health, or other condition. The researcher then poses a valuation question or choice task that is contingent, not on the existing status quo, but rather on the state of the world described in this new hypothetical baseline. In this paper, we argue that researchers using SP techniques have often used hypothetical baselines without carefully considering the cognitive challenges this poses for respondents or the difficulties this practice creates for advising policymakers. We present a simple typology of four types of SP studies, two of which rely on hypothetical baselines, and give six examples of conditions that an SP researcher may change to create a hypothetical baseline. We discuss four main reasons why SP analysts use hypothetical baselines in their research designs, plus some of the risks associated with the use of hypothetical baselines. Finally, we offer guidance for the use of hypothetical baselines in future SP surveys. |
| Keywords: | stated preference, environmental valuation, health valuation, contingent valuation, choice experiments, baseline, status quo |
| JEL: | Q51 D61 Q56 |
| Date: | 2011–12–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-11-efd&r=env |
| By: | Chen, Ping-Yu; Chen, Chi-Chung; Chang, Chia-Lin |
| Abstract: | Heat waves and cold fronts have become frequent of late, and have caused serious disruptions around the world, especially in the mid- and high-latitudes. In future, human beings are likely to face more serious, frequent and long-lasting extreme climate events, with consequent greater damage to human life. This paper uses the multiple panel threshold model to test whether there are threshold effects between temperature and mortality, using a panel of 78 major cities in 22 OECD countries for 1990-2008. From the empirical analysis, we find that the relationship between temperature and mortality has three threshold effects, namely 15.21℉ (-9.33℃), 46.97℉ (8.32℃), and 87.53℉ (30.85℃). If the temperature is below 15.21℉ (-9.33℃), the magnitude of the temperature effect below 15.21℉ (-9.33℃) is greater than the effect between 15.21℉ (-9.33₀C) and 46.97℉ (8.32₀C). When the temperature exceeds 87.53℉ (30.85℃), higher temperature leads to higher mortality rate. Based on the estimated coefficients of mean temperatures in four regimes, we separate 78 cities into five areas with latitudes below 30°, 31°-40°, 41°-50°, and 61°-70°, and predict the impacts of future climate change on mortality for 2021-2040, 2041-2060, and 2061-2100. In summer, climate is predicted to increase mortality rates for 2021-2040, 2041-2060, and 2061-2100. For latitudes 41°-50° and 51°-60°, the increased mortality rate is much larger than for other latitudes. In winter, the increased magnitude induced by climate change is found to be greater than in summer. |
| Keywords: | Multiple panel threshold model; temperature; mortality rates; climate change |
| JEL: | I12 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–11–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35521&r=env |
| By: | Nicolas Sanz (CEREGMIA, Université des Antilles et de la Guyane); Sonia Schwartz (CAE, Université Paul Cézanne) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates if pollution permit markets are harmful for employment within a Wage Setting-Price Setting (WS-PS) model. The employment level is determined according to several financing unemployment benefits: a wage tax or the revenue of the pollution permit auction. We first show that a permit market weakens the union market power. Whatever the way that unemployment benefits are financed, the choice of the pollution cap is always neutral on the employment levels, and these latter always increase if the technology to reduce pollution become more efficient. Depending on the value of the wage tax, the employment level can be higher or lower when unemployment benefits are financed by pollution permits rather than a wage tax. |
| Keywords: | monopolistic competition, equilibrium employment, pollution permit market, unemployment benefits |
| JEL: | E24 J50 L13 Q52 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crg:wpaper:dt2011-04&r=env |
| By: | Palmer, Karen (Resources for the Future); Walls, Margaret (Resources for the Future); Gordon, Hal; Gerarden, Todd (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Commercial and residential buildings are responsible for 42 percent of all U.S. energy consumption and 41 percent of U.S. CO2 emissions. Engineering studies identify several investments in new enegy-efficiency equipment or building retrofits that would more than pay for themselves in terms of lower future energy costs, but homeowners and businesses generally do not have good information about how to take advantage of these opportunities. Energy auditors make up a growing industry of professionals who evaluate building energy use and provide this information to building owners. This paper reports the results of a survey of nearly 500 home energy auditors and contractors that Resources for the Future conducted in summer 2011. The survey asked about the characteristics of these businesses and the services they provide, the degree to which homeowners follow up on their recommendations, and the respondents’ opinions on barriers to home energy retrofits and the role for government. Findings from the survey suggest that the audit industry only partially is filling the information gap. Not enough homeowners know about or understand audits, and the follow-through on recommendations once they do have audits is incomplete. But the survey findings suggest that low energy prices and the high cost of retrofits may be more responsible for these outcomes than failures of information. |
| Keywords: | energy efficiency, climate change |
| JEL: | L94 L95 Q40 |
| Date: | 2011–10–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-42&r=env |
| By: | Antoine D'Autume (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris); Katheline Schubert (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris); Cees Withagen (VU University Amsterdam - Department of Spatial Economics) |
| Abstract: | International differences in fuel taxation are huge, and may be justified by different local negative externalities that taxes must correct, as well as by different preferences for public spending. In this context, should a worldwide unique carbon tax be added to these local taxes to correct the global warming externality ? We address this question in a second best framework à la Ramsey, where public goods have to be financed through distortionary taxation and the cost of public funds has to be weighted against the utility of public goods. We show that when lump-sum transfers between countries are allowed for, the second best tax on the polluting good may be decomposed into three parts : one, country specific, dealing with the local negative externality, a second one, country specific, dealing with the cost of public funds, and a third one, global, dealing with the global externality and which can be interpreted as the carbon price. Our main contribution is to show that the uniqueness of the carbon price should still hold in this second best framework. Nevertheless, if lump-sum transfers between governments are impossible to implement, international differentiation of the carbon price is the only way to take care of equity concerns. |
| Keywords: | Carbon price, second best, Pigovian taxation. |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00654239&r=env |
| By: | Nhan Thanh Nguyen (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CIRAD : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - AgroParisTech); Minh Ha-Duong (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CIRAD : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - AgroParisTech); Sandra Greiner (Climate Focus - Climate Focus B.V.); Michael Mehling (Ecologic Institute - Ecologic Institute) |
| Abstract: | The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in Vietnam is used way below its full potential. In spite of efforts to further CDM projects in the recent years, Vietnam still lags behind the comparable neighboring countries in term of registered CDM projects. Especially, though 2008 and 2009 have seen a fast growth in the pipeline in the country but only 14 projects were registered as at 2 December 2009. This development progress is low to the country's greater potential and makes it as a late starter on the global CDM rise when the window of opportunity created by the first Kyoto Protocol period has almost closed. This paper analyzes the barriers explaining this late start and slow catch-up. It suggests strategic policy recommendations which could increase the attractiveness of investment business in the context of climate change protection in Vietnam. |
| Keywords: | climate policy; development; vietnam |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00654294&r=env |
| By: | Antoine d'Autume (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics); Katheline Schubert (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics); Cees Withagen (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | International differences in fuel taxation are huge, and may be justified by different local negative externalities that taxes must correct, as well as by different preferences for public spending. In this context, should a worldwide unique carbon tax be added to these local taxes to correct the global warming externality ? We address this question in a second best framework à la Ramsey, where public goods have to be financed through distortionary taxation and the cost of public funds has to be weighted against the utility of public goods. We show that when lump-sum transfers between countries are allowed for, the second best tax on the polluting good may be decomposed into three parts : one, country specific, dealing with the local negative externality, a second one, country specific, dealing with the cost of public funds, and a third one, global, dealing with the global externality and which can be interpreted as the carbon price. Our main contribution is to show that the uniqueness of the carbon price should still hold in this second best framework. Nevertheless, if lump-sum transfers between governments are impossible to implement, international differentiation of the carbon price is the only way to take care of equity concerns. |
| Keywords: | Carbon price, second best, Pigovian taxation. |
| JEL: | H21 H23 H41 H71 H87 Q5 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:11076&r=env |
| By: | Joshi, Niraj Prakash; Maharjan, Keshav Lall; Piya , Luni |
| Abstract: | Climate change influences crop yield vis-à-vis crop production to a greater extent in countries like Nepal where agriculture depends largely on natural circumstances. Plausible scenarios of climate change like higher temperatures and changes in precipitation will directly affect crop yields. Therefore, this study assesses the effect of observed climate variables on yield of major food-crops in Nepal, namely rice, wheat, maize, millet, barley and potato based on regression model for historical (1978-2008) climatic data and yield data for the food-crops. The yield growth rate of all the food-crops is positive. However, the growth rate for all crops, except potato and wheat, is below population growth rate during the period. Climate variables like temperature and precipitation are the important determinants of crop yields. Trend of precipitation is neither increasing nor decreasing significantly during this period. However, temperature is increasing by 0.7 0C during the period. Climate variables show some influences on the yield of these major food-crops in Nepal. Increase in summer rain and maximum temperature has contributed positively to rice yield. Also, increase in summer rain and minimum temperature has positive impact on potato yield. However, increase in summer rain and maximum temperature adversely affected the yield of maize and millet. Increase in wheat and barley yield is contributed by current trend of winter rain and temperature. Consideration of spatial variation in similar type of study in Nepal that will be helpful in identifying the region more vulnerable to climate change in terms of crop yield is highly recommended. |
| Keywords: | Climate variables; temperature; rainfall; food-crops; Nepal |
| JEL: | Q19 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35379&r=env |
| By: | Gabriela Miranda; Randall Eberts; Elvira González; Vanessa Foo; Przemyslaw Kulawczuk |
| Abstract: | This report presents analysis on the cases of Podlaskie and Pomorskie in Poland in the context of a transition to the green economy. This study seeks to examine the current situation in these two regions in terms of labour market, economic development, and skills provision, with a specific focus on the green economy. <p> The report analyses the impacts of climate change (including its effects on policy and regulations) on the local labour markets in Podlaskie and Pomorskie and provides policy recommendations on how make the best use of the assets in place to boost green economic activities while creating greener jobs. <p> The report examines the role that the public sector and other key labour market institutions play in facilitating the transition to a green economy. Although it is certain that the impact of this transition on jobs, on the workforce and on businesses will vary from region to region, it is also certain that those regions investing in the right skills and removing barriers to green entrepreneurship and growth will gain from this new context. |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2011/22-en&r=env |
| By: | Minh Ha-Duong (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CIRAD : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural des Eaux et Forêts); Rodica Loisel (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CIRAD : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural des Eaux et Forêts) |
| Abstract: | This study estimates the human cost of failures in the CCS industry in 2050, using the actuarial approach. The range of expected fatalities is assessed integrating all steps of the CCS chain: additional coal production, coal transportation, carbon capture, transport, injection and storage, based on empirical evidence from technical or social analogues. The main finding is that a few hundred fatalities per year should be expected if the technology is used to avoid emitting 1 GtC yr-1 in 2050 at baseload coal power plants. The large majority of fatalities are attributable to mining and delivering more coal. These risks compare to today's industrial hazards: technical, knowable and occupational dangers for which there are socially acceptable non-zero risk levels. Some contemporary European societies tolerate about one fatality per thousand year around industrial installations. If storage sites perform like that, then expected fatalities per year due to leakage should have a minor contribution in the total expected fatalities per year: less than one. But to statistically validate such a safety level, reliability theory and the technology roadmap suggest that CO2 storage demonstration projects over the next 20 years have to cause exactly zero fatality. |
| Keywords: | CCS, risk, analogue, storage safety, mortality, actuarial approach. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00487175&r=env |
| By: | Bazhanov, Andrei |
| Abstract: | An extensive literature shows the importance of investment policy for sustainability of resource-based economies by examining the role of investment in current utility change (CUC) for a competitive optimizing economy. This paper extends some of these results by analysing the dependence of CUC on genuine investment (GI), expressed in marginal resource productivity, under dynamic inefficiency. The inefficiency arises when a social planner, due to imperfection in knowledge or in institutions, does not take into account deviations of real economy from a theoretical model. These deviations or distortions, connected with the resource extraction, can influence utility, production, the balance equation, and the dynamics of the reserve. The analysis of this natural discrepancy between theory and real life implies that: first, institutional and resource policies in inefficient economies may be more important for CUC than investment policy; and secondly, under uncertainties in production possibilities and in damages from economic activities, sustainability requires a more cautious resource policy than is advised by a theory. The paper also suggests that the indicators GI, expressed in accounting prices and in marginal resource productivity, can complement each other in sustainability evaluation. |
| Keywords: | nonrenewable resource; dynamic inefficiency; genuine investment; resource policy; sustainable development |
| JEL: | Q32 Q38 O47 O13 |
| Date: | 2011–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35487&r=env |
| By: | Maria Mansanet-Bataller (Department of Financial Economics, Faculty of Economics, University of Valencia) |
| Abstract: | Since the launch of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS), the interest in the trade of EUAs is constantly increasing among academics and market participants. The objective of this article is twofold: (i) a detailed description of this new market is provided for portfolio managers, and (ii) a comprehensive study of the implications of including Phase II EUAs in diversified portfolios is undertaken using as expected returns both historical and risk-adjusted returns. The results show that the opportunity set do not vary if we consider historical returns and that if we take into account risk-adjusted returns the efficient set only increases if the investor takes a short position in Phase II EUAs. |
| Keywords: | CO2 Futures, Portfolio Management |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cec:wpaper:1101&r=env |
| By: | Travaglini, Guido |
| Abstract: | The goal of this paper is to test on a millennial scale the magnitude of the recent warmth period, known as the “hockey-stick”, and the relevance of the causative anthropogenic climate change hypothesis advanced by several academics and worldwide institutions. A select batch of ten long-term climate proxies, included in the NOAA 92 PCN dataset all of which running well into the nineties, is updated to the year 2011 by means of a Time-Varying Parameter Kalman Filter SISO model for state prediction. This procedure is applied by appropriately selecting as observable one out of the HADSST2 and of the HADCRUT3 series of instrumental temperature anomalies available since the year 1850. The updated proxy series are thereafter individually tested for the values and time location of their four maximum non-neighboring attained temperatures. The results are at best inconclusive, since three of the updated series, including Michael Mann’s celebrated and controversial tree-ring reconstructions, do not refute the hypothesis, while the others quite significantly point to different dates of maximum temperature achievements into the past centuries, in particular those associated to the Medieval Warm Period. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change; Hockey Stick Controversy; Time Series; Kalman Filter |
| JEL: | C51 C22 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–12–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35565&r=env |
| By: | Jean-Christophe Pereau (GREThA, Université Montesquieu Bordeaux IV); Nicolas Sanz (CEREGMIA, Université des Antilles et de la Guyane) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of an individual transferable quota (ITQ) system implemented on bycatch on the global harvest level of oligopolistic fisheries. We show that the impact of changes in the total allowable catch (TAC) on the equilibrium harvest level depends on the degree of returns to scale in harvest. In particular, a reduction in the TAC may lead to a rise in activity in fisheries characterized by some amount of increasing returns to scale. Besides, these effects appear to be stronger, the fiercer the competition within fisheries. |
| Keywords: | oligopolistic competition, fisheries, bycatch, ITQs |
| JEL: | Q21 Q22 D43 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crg:wpaper:dt2011-05&r=env |
| By: | Hana Alioui (USTV UFR SEG - Université Sud-Toulon-Var - UFR Sciences économiques et de gestion - Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | L'application des projets de mécanisme de développement crée des avantages et des inconvénients sur les pays en voie de développement. Dans ce cadre, les pays émergents vont bénéficier d'un impact positif de ces projets de MDP qui entraînent un transfert de technologies, une hausse des revenus, des créations d'emplois, une baisse de la pauvreté,... alors que les pays les plus pauvres (Afrique) vont bénéficier d'un impact négatif à cause de la faible part des projets de MDP sur ce continent. |
| Keywords: | PMD, projet de mécanisme de développement, MDP, mécanisme de développement propre, pays émergents, pays les plus pauvres, transfert de technologies, pauvreté, revenus, emploi, Afrique |
| Date: | 2011–06–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:dumas-00653402&r=env |
| By: | Wannier, Gregory E.; Schwartz, Jason A.; Richardson, Nathan (Resources for the Future); Livermore, Michael A.; Gerrard, Michael B.; Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | No colons in abstract |
| Keywords: | source category, existing sources, state implementation plan, new sources, tradable performance standards |
| JEL: | K32 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–07–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-29&r=env |