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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Olivia Boyd |
| Abstract: | China has embarked on an ambitious and unprecedented programme of energy reform and climate change mitigation. Yet the motivations for this important shift remain unclear. This paper surveys key central government documents and articles by China's leading energy academics to investigate the ideas influencing China's new energy and climate policies. Three key ideas in particular are supportive of greater climate mitigation than in the past. First, domestic energy security concerns have risen on the central government agenda as a result of electricity shortages and rapidly rising energy consumption. Such concerns have deeply influenced China's ambitious and largely successful energy efficiency policies. Second, growing awareness of the environmental constraints on economic growth in general, and the potential damages of dangerous climate change in particular, has prompted stronger official rhetoric in favour of green development. The appearance of targets and policies that specifically target carbon emissions reductions in the 12th FYP for the first time suggests that climate change mitigation is becoming a motivation for policy action in its own right, rather than simply a co-benefit of policies enacted for other purposes. Third, a conviction that the world is moving towards low-carbon energy forms has given rise to the belief that China must become a technological and economic leader in this transition. Large levels of public financing to support the development of China's wind power and solar PV sectors suggests that the Chinese government has strong vested interests in seeing China successfully compete and lead in global low-carbon energy markets. In order to understand the shift in China's approach to climate change since the 11th FYP, it is important to understand how new ideas such as these have reframed and reshaped the Chinese government's interests and objectives. |
| Keywords: | China, climate change, mitigation, energy policy, environment, renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon market, pollution, reform |
| JEL: | Q54 Q48 Q58 P28 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:ccepwp:1205&r=env |
| By: | Allan M. Lavell |
| Abstract: | This presentation was commissioned by the Regional Policy Dialogue and presented in the meeting Disaster Risk Reduction: Best Practices for Climate-Resilient Coastal Development held in Bridgetown, Barbados on 20 and 21 of October 2011. It discusses the disaster nexus between risk management, climate change and its adaptation in the Caribbean. |
| Keywords: | Environment & Natural Resources :: Climate Change, Environment & Natural Resources :: Disasters |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:71438&r=env |
| By: | Pelin Demirel (Nottingham University Business School, Nothingham University); Effie Kesidou (Nottingham University Business School, Nothingham University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we adopt a recent OECD framework and examine the role of external policy tools and internal firm specific factors for stimulating three different types of eco-innovations that range on a spectrum of lower to higher technological and environmental impact: End-of-Pipeline Pollution Control Technologies, Integrated Cleaner Production Technologies and Environmental R&D. Using a novel firm-level dataset from a DEFRA survey, we estimate a Tobit model, which provides empirical evidence showing that these eco-innovations are motivated by different external policy tools and internal firm specific factors. Our findings indicate that End of Pipeline Technologies and Integrated Cleaner Production Technologies are mainly driven by equipment upgrade motives with a view of improving efficiency while environmental regulations are effective in stimulating the End-of-Pipeline technologies and Environmental R&D. Interestingly, alongside government induced regulations, we find that market factors, mainly motivated by cost savings, are effective in driving Environmental R&D. Finally, ISO14001 certification is effective in strengthening the positive impact of environmental management systems on both End-of-Pipeline technologies and Environmental R&D while CSR policies have no significant impact on motivating any of the eco-innovations. |
| Keywords: | Cleaner Production, Environmental Regulation, Environmental Taxes, Environmental Management Systems, Eco-R&D, ISO14001 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:met:stpswp:1203&r=env |
| By: | Vincent Guillet |
| Abstract: | This presentation was commissioned by the Regional Policy Dialogue and presented in the meeting Disaster Risk Reduction: Best Practices for Climate-Resilient Coastal Development held in Bridgetown, Barbados on 20 and 21 of October 2011. It discusses the experience of Belize with the Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change in the Coastal Zone Management (CZM). |
| Keywords: | Environment & Natural Resources :: Climate Change, Environment & Natural Resources :: Disasters |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:71478&r=env |
| By: | Allan M. Lavell |
| Abstract: | This presentation was commissioned by the Regional Policy Dialogue and presented in the meeting Disaster Risk Reduction: Best Practices for Climate-Resilient Coastal Development held in Bridgetown, Barbados on 20 and 21 of October 2011. It discusses the synergies that could be created between the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) tools in the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) in the Caribbean. |
| Keywords: | Environment & Natural Resources :: Climate Change, Environment & Natural Resources :: Disasters |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:71458&r=env |
| By: | Aldy, Joseph E. (Harvard University and Resources for the Future, Washington, DC) |
| Abstract: | The information structure of the climate change policy collaboration problem necessitates the design of institutions to enhance public knowledge about nations' commitments, policies, and outcomes. The international community has addressed this kind of problem in a wide array of other contexts from which lessons can be drawn and applied to international climate policy. Based on these experiences and the characteristics of a successful international climate policy architecture, this paper proposes the design of a "Bretton Woods Climate Institution" (BWCI). This BWCI should implement a serious system of national and global policy surveillance. This surveillance would include an evaluation by independent experts of the various policy commitments nations make in international negotiations to assess whether nations delivered on their commitments and to examine the impacts of these actions on various climate change risk reduction margins, such as emission abatement and adaptation. Such a surveillance scheme should be consultative in nature, to allow give and take among experts and among nations engaged in the international climate policy effort. Based on this surveillance, the institution should promote best policy practices. In addition, the BWCI should provide a means to channel some financing for investments in climate change risk mitigation activities in developing countries. By making funds conditional on agreeing to policy surveillance, such an approach would create an incentive for transparent evaluations of policies and actions. Moreover, access to market-based climate policy schemes, such as the Clean Development Mechanism and emission trading, could be predicated on countries agreeing to participate in policy surveillance. |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp12-017&r=env |
| By: | Ranson, Matthew (Harvard University); Stavins, Robert N. (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | The outcome of the December 2011 United Nations climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa, provides an important new opportunity to move toward an international climate policy architecture that is capable of delivering broad international participation and significant global CO2 emissions reductions at reasonable cost. We evaluate one important component of potential climate policy architecture for the post-Durban era: links among independent tradable permit systems for greenhouse gases. Because linkage reduces the cost of achieving given targets, there is tremendous pressure to link existing and planned cap-and-trade systems, and in fact, a number of links already or will soon exist. We draw on recent political and economic experience with linkage to evaluate potential roles that linkage may play in post-Durban international climate policy, both in a near-term, de facto architecture of indirect links between regional, national, and sub-national cap-and-trade systems, and in longer-term, more comprehensive bottom-up architecture of direct links. Although linkage will certainly help to reduce long-term abatement costs, it may also serve as an effective mechanism for building institutional and political structure to support a future climate agreement. |
| JEL: | Q40 Q48 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp12-025&r=env |
| By: | Hanna, Rema (Harvard University); Duflo, Esther (MIT and BREAD, Duke University); Greenstone, Michael (MIT and American Bar Foundation) |
| Abstract: | It is conventional wisdom that it is possible to reduce exposure to indoor air pollution, improve health outcomes, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the rural areas of developing countries through the adoption of improved cooking stoves. This belief is largely supported by observational field studies and engineering or laboratory experiments. However, we provide new evidence, from a randomized control trial conducted in rural Orissa, India (one of the poorest places in India), on the benefits of a commonly used improved stove that laboratory tests showed to reduce indoor air pollution and require less fuel. We track households for up to four years after they received the stove. While we find a meaningful reduction in smoke inhalation in the first year, there is no effect over longer time horizons. We find no evidence of improvements in lung functioning or health and there is no change in fuel consumption (and presumably greenhouse gas emissions). The difference between the laboratory and field findings appear to result from households' revealed low valuation of the stoves. Households failed to use the stoves regularly or appropriately, did not make the necessary investments to maintain them properly, and usage rates ultimately declined further over time. More broadly, this study underscores the need to test environmental and health technologies in real-world settings where behavior may temper impacts, and to test them over a long enough horizon to understand how this behavioral effect evolves over time. |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp12-015&r=env |
| By: | Lana Friesen (School of Economics, The University of Queensland); Dietrich Earnhart |
| Abstract: | According to the standard model of enforcement, both the certainty of punishment and the severity of punishment influence deterrence. Discerning the separate effects of these two components on behavior, however, is difficult especially because it requires constructing measures of the beliefs of individuals and regulated businesses. Our study tackles this matter using stated choice scenarios posed to environmental management professionals working at businesses operating within the Clean Water Act regulatory framework. In addition, our study examines the influence of specific deterrence, which reflects individuals’ responses to their own experiences with penalties. As important, our analysis explores the attitudes towards environmental protection held by facility management and facility environmental employees, which collectively reflect the corporate culture surrounding environmental protection efforts. We find that regulated facilities respond to increases in fine size and fine likelihood with equal sensitivity and that both specific deterrence and corporate culture are important determinants of compliance behavior. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qld:uq2004:463&r=env |
| By: | Stephan B. Bruns; Christian Gross |
| Abstract: | Drawing on the Kaya identity, we assess the role of the main driver of the decline in carbon intensity, namely the (economic) energy intensity. Using meta-signi?ficance testing for a sample of 44 studies, dealing with the causality between energy and GDP, we ?find that both variables are strongly coupled. Hence, after having exhausted energy savings from nonrecurring structural changes, the economic energy intensity may soon converge than being arbitrarily reducible. We suggest, therefore, not to rely on further reductions of economic energy intensity but rather to invest in the reduction of the carbon intensity of energy to mitigate climate change. |
| Keywords: | Climate change mitigation, Kaya identity, Energy intensity, Meta-significance testing |
| JEL: | C83 Q43 Q51 |
| Date: | 2012–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esi:evopap:2012-11&r=env |
| By: | Mikołaj Czajkowski (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences); Nick Hanley (University of Stirling, Economics Division) |
| Abstract: | For many years, stated preference researchers have been interested in the effects of information on willingness to pay for environmental goods. Within the random utility model, information about an environmental good might impact on preferences and on scale (error variance), both between and within samples of choices. In this paper, we extend the G-MNL model to investigate the effects of different information sets on choices over the management of biodiversity in the UK, looking specifically at moorlands managed for red grouse shooting. Specifically, we make the individual scale parameter a function of observable (dataset-specific) characteristics. Our results show that changing information sets results in significant differences in the mean scale between datasets, and in the variance of scale. Respondents are more deterministic in their choices and show lower within-sample scale heterogeneity in the alternative information treatment. Changes in information provision also effect willingness to pay estimates, reducing the value people place on the conservation of two iconic birds of prey. The methods used will also be of interest to researchers who need to combine choice experiment data sets. |
| Keywords: | choice modelling, information effects, scale, scale heterogeneity, G-MNL, heather moorland management, raptor conservation, combined SP-RP |
| JEL: | C59 C81 Q51 Q57 Q15 D12 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2012-10&r=env |
| By: | Francesco Testa (Istituto di Management - Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa); Fabio Iraldo (Istituto di Management - Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa); Sara Tessitore (Istituto di Management - Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa); Marco Frey (Istituto di Management - Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa) |
| Abstract: | Advertising is an important means of communication and can guide consumer choices by relying on their priorities. The aim of this study is to analyse the dissemination and characteristics of green advertisings in Italian newspapers between 2007 and the first half of 2008. The article aims to quantify the existence of references to environmental issues in advertisement in newspapers and magazines and to identify the prevailing elements and characteristics of the green message, such as the subject, the content and the completeness of the message or other elements such as certificates, sponsorship used to improve the effectiveness of the message. In addition, a “cluster analysis” was applied on the collected data, classifying messages into four ecological categories that are associated with a different communication strategy for the “green component” of their message. |
| Keywords: | environmental advertising, green marketing, green communication. |
| JEL: | M10 |
| Date: | 2012–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sse:wpaper:201201&r=env |
| By: | Mikołaj Czajkowski (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences); Marek Giergiczny (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences); William H. Greene (New York University, Stern School of Business, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Using multiple choice tasks per respondent in discrete choice experiment studies increase the amount of available information. However, treating repeated choice data in the same way as cross-sectional data may lead to biased estimates. In particular, respondents’ learning and fatigue may lead to changes in observed utility function preference (taste) parameters, as well as its error term variance (scale). Substantial body of empirical research offers mixed evidence in terms of whether (and which) of these ordering effects are observed. In this study we point to a significant component in explaining these differences – we show how accounting for unobservable preference and scale heterogeneity can influence the magnitude of observed ordering effects, especially if combined with too few choice tasks used for the analysis. We do this by utilizing the state-of-the-art modeling methods (H-MNL, S-MNL, H-RPL, G-MNL) which we modify to accommodate choice task specific scale parameter. In addition, we investigate possible bias resulting from not accounting for ordering effects. Our empirical study was based in the context of environmental protection – management changes in the protection of Polish forests. |
| Keywords: | ordering effects, learning, fatigue, preference and scale heterogeneity, forest management, recreation, biodiversity |
| JEL: | Q51 Q23 Q26 Q57 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2012-08&r=env |
| By: | Mikołaj Czajkowski (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences); Tadeusz Kądziela (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences); Nick Hanley (University of Stirling, Economics Division) |
| Abstract: | There are two major ways in which solid waste can be sorted and recycled – at the household level, when households are required to sort waste into a given number of categories, or in specialized sorting facilities. Traditionally, it has been thought that sorting at the household level is an inconvenience, as it uses space and requires time and consideration. Our study provides empirical evidence to the contrary. Through a carefully designed choice experiment we collected stated choices of the members of a Polish municipalities with respect to the way their waste is sorted and how often it is collected. In the scenario of our study, respondents were informed that the waste will be sorted anyway – if not at the household level than at a specialized sorting facility. Interestingly, analysis of the preferences of members of the general public shows, that people are willing to sort waste at the household level, even if unsorted waste would be collected at no extra cost. We calculate maximum willingness to pay for collecting sorted vs. unsorted waste, as well for increased frequency of collection. Overall, our results provide encouraging evidence that most people prefer to sort waste themselves if given the choice, and thus demonstrate their pro-environment preferences, even without economic incentives to do so. |
| Keywords: | waste management, recycling, consumers’ motives, preference heterogeneity |
| JEL: | Q51 Q53 D12 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2012-07&r=env |
| By: | Dennis Fixler; Ryan Greenaway-McGrevy (Bureau of Economic Analysis) |
| Abstract: | For many kinds of assets, the growth rate of the real asset stock is a nonlinear function of the economic owner’s decision whether to invest or extract the asset. Examples within the economy are primarily biological assets, both privately owned (such as those found in aquaculature and agriculture) and publicly owned or regulated (such as fish stocks, and in some case, timber stocks.) Optimal exploitation of the asset necessitates that the future possible growth rates in the assetmust be considered when determining the optimal amount of extraction today. In this sense, the level of the asset is determined by the economic owner or regulator and is thus said to be endogenous. This paper considers existing methods for the valuation of these endogenous assets when observed transaction prices are lacking. In particular, we consider valuation in a near-market context, whereby the the economist can only observe income flows from the asset. This near-market approach to asset valuation is particularly important for environmental accounting when transaction prices for the asset or the right to exploit the asset are lacking. We give sufficient restrictions on the revenue and cost structure of the firm in order to permit asset valuation based on average profits. In an emprical application, we combine economic and biomass data to value the US Bering Sea crab fisheries. |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bea:wpaper:0083&r=env |
| By: | Skribans, Valerijs |
| Abstract: | One of the most pressing problems in the Latvian economy is related to the energy sector. The most characteristic feature is coupled with the low efficiency of thermal energy consumption of households as a result of poor insulation of existing buildings in Latvia. Solving energy sector problems requires a comprehensive decision, both in energy production and consumption. It is therefore necessary to develop energy sector model to be able to evaluate not only the energy consumption growth and the factors affecting it directly, but also the feedback caused by the increase of the efficiency growth. The model shown in the article has been developed using system dynamic method. Latvian energy sector model consists of resources, production and consumption blocks. A separate place is taken by electricity generation hydroelectric power plants (HPP), net imports of electricity and so on. Resource blocks consist of primary energy resource blocks: petroleum products, solid fuel, wood and gas blocks. Primary energy resources are used for production of other energy forms, i.e. heat or electricity production, they are shown in the production blocks. Both the primary energy and produced energy (and electricity generated by HPP) are passed on to final consumers, who make consumer unit blocks. It consists of: transport, agriculture, households and other (industrial and services sectors) blocks. The model key role is to forecast energy consumption by separate groups, both consumers and energy resources groups; to estimate energy sector impact on environment. The model has been developed to estimate the impact of buildings thermo insulation program on Latvian economy. |
| Keywords: | energy efficiency; consumption; system dynamic; modelling and simulation; building warming and renovation; the CO2 emissions and quotas |
| JEL: | Q00 C68 Q41 C00 Q47 Q01 C60 Q30 C53 Q52 C50 Q40 C30 Q20 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:39251&r=env |
| By: | Amandine Gondolfin (USTV UFR SEG - Université Sud-Toulon-Var - UFR Sciences économiques et de gestion - Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Cette étude est une contribution à l'amélioration de la gestion des déchets municipaux en France qui est une question environnementale mais surtout une question de finance publique. Son objectif est double. Le premier est d'évaluer l'impact de la qualité de la consommation finale des ménages français sur l'évolution de la quantité des déchets municipaux générée. Le second objectif est de déterminer dans quelles mesures le mode de financement de la gestion de ces déchets peut permettre une réduction des impacts environnementaux et des pressions sur les finances publiques. La série statistique des quantités de déchets disponible n'a pas permis de mesurer l'impact des modes de consommation des ménages français sur l'évolution des déchets générés. Par contre, en matière de financement, la "tarification à l'unité" au niveau des ménages combinée à une éco taxe sur les producteurs en fonction du degré de pollution de chaque mode de gestion, s'est avérée être, au terme de notre analyse, une politique optimale possible de gestion des déchets municipaux. |
| Keywords: | tarification à l'unité, redevance incitative, consommation durable, modes de consommation, gestion des déchets municipaux, gestion de pollutions, financement de la gestion des déchets municipaux, unit pricing, incentive fee, sustainable consumption, municipal waste management, pollution management, funding for municipal waste management |
| Date: | 2012–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:dumas-00703682&r=env |
| By: | Patrick Guillaumont |
| Abstract: | This paper was prepared by Professor Patrick Guillaumont, as a contribution to the expert group meeting of the Committee for Development Policy on climate change, conflict and other issues related to the review of the criteria for the identification of least developed countries (LDCs) which took place in New York, 2-3 February 2011. Structural economic vulnerability is a major obstacle for the development of LDCs. The paper discusses the conceptual, methodological and empirical issues related to the economic vulnerability index (EVI) developed and used by the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) in the identification of LDCs. The note also addresses the relation between physical and economic vulnerability to climate change as well as the role of the EVI in allocating official development aid and as tool for development research. |
| Keywords: | Conflict, economic vulnerability, least-developed countries, climate change |
| JEL: | F5 O1 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:une:cpaper:012&r=env |
| By: | Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) |
| Abstract: | Este informe presenta los resultados de la aplicación y la actualización de los indicadores de riesgo de desastres y gestión de riesgos del BID para Uruguay. Los indicadores miden la capacidad económica que tiene un país para recuperarse de una catástrofe; la susceptibilidad debido a la infraestructura y a las personas expuestas; el riesgo social y medioambiental asociado a los desastres de pequeña escala y el desempeño en gestión de riesgos en el pasado. |
| Keywords: | Medio ambiente y recursos naturales :: Desastres naturales, Sector financiero :: Riesgo financiero, RG-K1224, catástrofes naturales, riesgo social, riesgo medioambiental, recuperación |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:69338&r=env |
| By: | Oscar Carchano (Dpto. Economía Financiera y Actuarial); Vicente Medina Martínez (Facultad de Economía); Ángel Pardo Tornero (Dpto. Economía Financiera y Actuarial) |
| Abstract: | Whatever derivative contract has a finite life limited by their maturity. The construction of long series, however, is of interest for academic, hedging and investments purposes. In this study, we analyze the relevance of the choice of the rollover date on European Union Allowances (EUAs) and Certified Emissions Reduction (CERs) futures contracts. We have used five different methodologies to construct long series and the results show that, regardless of the criterion applied, there are not significant differences between the resultant return distribution series. Therefore, the least complex method, which is to roll on the last trading day, can be used in order to reach the same conclusions. Additional liquidity analysis confirms this method as the optimum method to link EUAs and CERs series, indicating that simplicity when linking EUAs and CERs series is not at odds with liquidity. |
| Keywords: | Rollover date, futures contracts, European Union Allowances, Certified Emission Reductions |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ivi:wpasad:2012-15&r=env |
| By: | Brooks M. Depro; Christopher Timmins; Maggie O'Neil |
| Abstract: | Understanding the forces that lead to correlations between pollution exposure, poverty, and race is crucial to the formation of sound environmental justice (EJ) policy. In particular, what are the roles of disproportionate siting of pollution sources versus post-siting housing market dynamics (e.g., “white flight”)? Empirical analysis of post-siting dynamics has yielded mixed evidence. We demonstrate that this is because the models traditionally used to analyze it are not capable of identifying individual responses to pollution exposure. We address this limitation in two ways. First, we show how additional structure can be used along with traditional EJ data to recover behavioral parameters describing market dynamics. Second, we show how market dynamics can be directly observed using a new and distinctive data set that describes the decisions of individual homebuyers and details their circumstances (including pollution exposure) both before and after their moves. An application of the first approach shows that whites are more likely to flee TRI exposure in Los Angeles County than are other minority groups – particularly Hispanics, who constitute a plurality and the largest group of people of color. The second approach shows that whites are both more likely to flee and less likely to come to the nuisance, compared with all other groups (particularly Hispanics). Importantly, these results contrast with those of a traditional EJ analysis, which fails to provide any consistent evidence of post-siting dynamics. If the moving patterns we recover with our two models persist over time, we would expect to see higher percentages of minority residents (particularly Hispanics) living in closer proximity to L.A. County TRI plants, lending support to the post-siting market dynamics hypothesis. |
| JEL: | Q5 Q52 Q53 R3 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18109&r=env |
| By: | Givord, Pauline |
| Abstract: | This dissertation proposes four independent evaluations of French public policies, using recent micro-econometrics methods. Following a first chapter that presents a French summary of the dissertation, the second chapter studies the impact of the French "ecological bonus/malus" (feebate) policy on total CO2 emissions. The evaluation of the impact of this policy on final emissions requires to model not only the choice for new vehicles (and their sensitiveness to prices), but also the mileage done by vehicles. As the policy was implemented in a very span of time, it provides a credible source of identification for the sensitivity of consumers to financial incentives. The estimates suggest that the policy has a counterintuitive impact, as it increases total CO2 emissions. The third chapter examines the capacity of fiscal policies to foster employment and economic activities in targeted areas, through the French ZFU (enterprises zones). With precise local data we could evaluate the impact of tax exemptions provided to firms implemented in the second wave of enterprise zones. Enterprise zones have a significant but small impact on business creation and employment by comparison with other similar disadvantaged areas. The fourth chapter considers consequences of temporary contracts on professional trajectories. A dynamic fixed-effect model is used to deal with unobserved heterogeneity. According to these estimates, fixed-term contracts significantly increase the transition intensity to permanent contract relatively to unemployment. By contrast, temporary agency work does not significantly improve transition to regular jobs. The fifth chapter deals with the impact of minimum wages increases on earnings inequalities. The "Fillon law" decided an harmonization of these levels in 2002, that took place over a three-year period. This exogenous increase is used to measure the potential spread-up impact of the minimum wage over the whole earnings distributions. Estimates are based on an unconditional quantile regression method. They suggest small impact up-to the seventh decile of the distribution of earnings for male workers, but none significant impact for earnings of female workers. |
| Abstract: | Cette thèse présente quatre tentatives indépendantes d'évaluations de politiques publiques, mettant en application les méthodes microéconométriques récentes. Précédé d'un premier chapitre présentant un grand résumé en français, le deuxième chapitre s'intéresse à l'impact de la réforme dite du bonus/malus écologique sur les émissions de CO2. Évaluer l'impact de cette mesure sur les émissions finales de CO2 demande de modéliser non seulement les choix d'achat de véhicule, mais également l'usage de ces véhicules. La rapidité de mise en oeuvre de la mesure offre une source d'identification crédible de la sensibilité des choix des consommateurs aux incitations financières. Les estimations suggèrent cependant un bilan très décevant de la mesure : du fait de forts effets volumes, le bonus/malus s'est traduit par une augmentation substancielle des émissions de CO2. Le troisième chapitre évalue la capacité de dispositifs fiscaux à redynamiser l'emploi et l'activité économique locale des zones ciblées, à travers le dispositif des Zones Franches Urbaines. L'accès à des données locales précises permet d'évaluer l'impact des exonérations fiscales accordées aux entreprises s'installant dans les ZFU de deuxième génération. Celles-ci auraient un impact positif mais faible sur la création d'entreprise et l'emploi en comparaison avec les autres zones défavorisées similaires. Le quatrième chapitre s'intéresse aux conséquences des contrats temporaires sur les trajectoires professionnelles. En contrôlant des biais d'hétérogénéité individuelle par un modèle à effets fixes, on montre que les CDD augmentent significativement les transitions vers l'emploi stable par rapport au chômage. En revanche, le travail intérimaire n'améliore que marginalement ces transitions. Le cinquième chapitre traite des effets des augmentations du salaire minimum créées par loi Fillon sur les inégalités salariales. Alors que la mise en place progressive des accords de réduction de temps de travail avaient créés plusieurs niveaux de rémunération minimale, leur convergence sur trois ans fournit une source d'identification. Les estimations utilisent une méthode de régression de quantiles inconditionnelles. Les augmentations de salaire minimum auraient un effet (faible) jusqu'au septième décile des distributions de salaire des hommes, mais négligeable pour ceux des femmes. |
| Keywords: | Evaluation, salaire minimun, ZFU, emploi temporaire, Emmissions de CO2; |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:sciepo:info:hdl:2441/53r60a8s3kup1vc9je5h30d2n&r=env |
| By: | Mikołaj Czajkowski (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences); Marek Giergiczny (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences); Jakub Kronenberg (University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology); Piotr Tryjanowski (Poznan University of Life Sciences, Institute of Zoology) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we estimate the economic value of selected ecosystem services provided by White Storks in a Polish ‘stork village’. A stork village is a common name for a village with a White Stork breeding colony, often inhabited by more storks than people. Zywkowo, the best known stork village in Poland, receives 2000–5000 tourists annually, many of whom come from abroad. The village has about 20–40 White Stork nests and several amenities aiming at improving its recreational attractiveness. To estimate the economic benefits provided by the stork village we apply the travel cost method. This is the first study of this kind for a stork village, and the first study related to the value of birds in Poland. Our results provide a useful input into policy and decision making, indicating that nature has economic value. It also serves as a clear illustration that degradation of nature may entail economic losses. |
| Keywords: | recreational value of birds; valuation of non-market goods; travel cost method |
| JEL: | Q26 Q51 Q57 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2012-11&r=env |
| By: | Cororaton, Caesar B.; Timilsina, Govinda R. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact of large-scale expansion of biofuels on the global income distribution and poverty. A global computable general equilibrium model is used to simulate the effects of the expansion of biofuels on resource allocation, commodity prices, factor prices and household income. A second model based on world-wide household surveys uses these results to calculate the impacts on poverty and global income inequality. The study finds that the large-scale expansion of biofuels leads to an increase in production and prices of agricultural commodities. The increased prices would cause higher food prices, especially in developing countries. Moreover, wages of unskilled rural labor would also increase, which slows down the rural to urban migration in many developing countries. The study also shows that the effects on poverty vary across regions; it increases in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, whereas it decreases in Latin America. At the global level, the expansion of biofuels increases poverty slightly. |
| Keywords: | Rural Poverty Reduction,Food&Beverage Industry,Regional Economic Development,Economic Theory&Research,Labor Policies |
| Date: | 2012–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6078&r=env |
| By: | Thiry, Géraldine |
| Abstract: | For more than half a century, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been perceived as the main indicator of economic and social progress. However, the intensity of the recent economic, social and ecological crises confronts societies with the deep inadequacy of their development patterns with regard to the human and ecological conditions of their sustainability. The affluence of new indicators aiming to go "beyond GDP" reveals a strong willingness to overcome such inadequacy. Though, addressing societal purposes by means of quantification entails democratic risks. Considering these risks, the thesis, encompassing three parts, aims at shedding light on the normative scope of indicators and explores the consequences of this normativity. The first part studies the sociopolitical conditions in which new indicators have emerged. The second part suggests a systematic decoding of the quantification options underlying two indicators: the Adjusted Net Savings (ANS) and the Index of Economic Well-Being (IEWB). Besides shedding light on the implicit normativity of quantification options, these two case studies show the unsuitability of these indicators' methodological anchorage for quantifying sustainability in a coherent way. It appears therefore important to question the evaluative criteria of indicators 'quality. This is precisely what is done in the third part of the thesis, which develops the criterion of "performative coherence". Reaching the epistemological and theoretical conditions required by the respect of such a criterion implies to overcome the mainstream paradigm and to explore alternative schools of thought, whose Ecological Economic seems the most fruitful to build new indicators beyond GDP. |
| Abstract: | Pendant des décennies, croissance du PIB et progrès des sociétés ont été largement associés l'un à l'autre. Toutefois, l'acuité des récentes crises économiques, sociales et écologiques confronte les sociétés à l'inadéquation de plus en plus profonde de leur mode de développement vis-à-vis des conditions écologiques et humaines de leur perpétuation. L'abondance de nouveaux indicateurs visant un "au-delà du PIB" est symptomatique d'une recherche de dépassement de cette inadéquation. Cependant, traiter de finalités de société au moyen de la quantification engendre des risques de nature démocratique. Face à ces risques, la thèse, structurée en trois parties, entend mettre en lumière la normativité des indicateurs et en explorer les conséquences. La première partie étudie les conditions sociopolitiques d'émergence des indicateurs. La deuxième propose un décryptage systématique des options de quantification de deux indicateurs: l'Epargne Nette Ajustée (ENA) et l'Indice de Bien-être économique (IBEE). Outre l'explicitation de la normativité inhérente à tout choix de quantification, l'étude de ces deux cas démontre l'inadaptation de leurs options méthodologiques pour quantifier la soutenabilité de manière cohérente. Il importe dès lors de questionner les critères de qualité à l'aune desquels les indicateurs devraient être évalués. C'est à cette tâche que s'attèle la troisième partie de la thèse. Le critère de cohérence performative y est développé. La recherche des conditions épistémologiques et théoriques nécessaires au respect d'un tel critère invite à dépasser le paradigme dominant pour explorer d'autres courants, dont Ecological Economics semble être le plus fécond s'il s'agit d'élaborer de nouveaux indicateurs au-delà du PIB. |
| Keywords: | Indicateurs; Au-delà du PIB; Sociologie de la quantification; Épistémologie économique; Soutenabilité; |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:louvai:info:hdl:2078.1/111496&r=env |
| By: | Jonathan Potter; Gabriela Miranda; Philip Cooke; Karen Chapple; Dieter Rehfeld; Gregory Theyel; Dan Kaufmann; Miki Malul; Mosi Rosenboim |
| Abstract: | This report summarises the findings of a case study project on growing clean-tech cluster activity in the Negev region of Israel as part of a series of reviews on Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development carried out by the Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). <P>The review examines entrepreneurship, SMEs and local development in the Negev in the south of Israel, where there is strong potential for the growth of significant clean-tech industry cluster activity, involving a critical mass of firms, human capital, research organisations, support infrastructure and associated formal and informal linkages. <P>This report looks at the ways in which such capacity can be strengthened by public policies, including investment in centres of research excellence and specialised testing facilities, creation of spaces for innovation exchange, and the introduction of a green strategy and eco-city approach. The analysis provides guidance and policy recommendations on how best to support the emergence and expansion of clean-tech cluster activity that will enhance economic development capacity in the region while contributing to national green growth objectives. |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2012/11-en&r=env |
| By: | Nicolas Antheaume (LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - Université de Nantes : EA4272) |
| Abstract: | L'objectif de cet article est de proposer, à partir d'une analyse de travaux existants sur la comptabilité verte et le contrôle de gestion environnemental, une réflexion sur la spécificité de ce type de contrôle de gestion. A partir d'une revue de littérature, les définitions existantes sont identifiées, ainsi que les outils qui relèvent du contrôle de gestion environnemental. Dans un deuxième temps, nous effectuons, parmi nos propres travaux, une sélection de projets de développements d'outils de comptabilité environnementale, représentative de la revue de la littérature. Nous conduisons notre analyse en nous concentrant sur la dimension fonctionnelle et instrumentale des outils étudiés; que mesurent-ils, à qui sont-ils destinés, qui est le donneur d'ordre et que voulait-il en faire? Nous montrons en quoi ils élargissent le périmètre du contrôle de gestion classique, comment ils se positionnent par rapport aux définitions identifiées et quelles spécificités en déduire pour le contrôle de gestion environnemental. |
| Keywords: | comptabilité environnementale, comptabilité de gestion environnementale, contrôle de gestion environnemental, coût environnemental, parties prenantes |
| Date: | 2012–05–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00691066&r=env |