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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Zhao, Xueting; Burnett, J. Wesley; Fletcher, Jerald J. |
| Abstract: | This study offers a unique contribution to the literature by investigating the influential factors of energy-related carbon dioxide emission intensity among a panel of 30 provinces in China covering the period 1991-2010. We use novel spatial panel data models to analyze the drivers of energy-related emission intensity, which we posit are characterized by spatial dependence. Our results suggest: (1) emission intensities are negatively affected by per-capita, provincial-level GDP and population density; (2) emission intensities are positively affected by energy consumption structure and transportation structure; and (3) energy price has no effect on the emission intensities. |
| Keywords: | CO2 emissions intensity, spatial panel data models, China, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q43, Q53, Q54, Q56, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149006&r=env |
| By: | Karl Aiginger (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | The importance of manufacturing for industrialised countries has been reappraised, specifically in the wake of the financial crisis and of China's rise to world no. 1 in manufacturing. A "new industrial policy" should bolster reindustrialisation, different from the old selective and interventionist one, with proposals by academia, by the European Commission and many national policy makers in the USA, UK and France. It should be pro competitive, in line with societal needs, integrated with innovation and regional policy building on competitive strength and with "sustainability at centre stage". Environmental standards should no longer be considered as an obstacle to competitive manufacturing but could constitute a driver of green growth. Europe sets targets for increasing energy efficiency, increasing shares of renewable energy and cutting emission first for 2020 and then for 2050, demanding the reduction of greenhouse gases by 80 to 90 percent, based on new technologies and prices of carbon dioxide of 250 € per ton. Headwinds to this ambitious path come from low gas prices specifically in the USA, based on a new extraction technology and from the breaking down of the European emission trading. The question now raises whether Europe has to cope with low gas prices as to prevent carbon leakage, or whether Europe can stick to the goals of the envisaged integrated and systemic industrial policy as to raise energy efficiency as well as to reduce carbon emissions by new technologies. A "new industrial policy" would match the US cost advantage in energy by closing the technology deficit, improving skills and going for excellence in energy efficiency and clean technologies. |
| Keywords: | New industrial policy, climate change, carbon leakage |
| Date: | 2013–05–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2013:i:450&r=env |
| By: | Claudia Ghisetti; Francesco Quatraro |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes the debate on the inducement of environmental innovations, by analyzing the extent to which endogenous inducement mechanisms spur the generation of greener technologies in contexts characterized by weak exogenous inducement pressures. In the presence of a fragile environmental regulatory framework, the inducement can indeed be endogenous, and environmental innovations might be spurred by firms’ reactions to their environmental performances. The cross-sector analysis is focused on a panel of Italian regions, over the time span 1995-2007 and is conducted by implementing zero-inflated models for count data variables. The empirical results suggest that in a context characterized by substantial lack of regulatory frameworks, like the Italian one, environmental performances have significant and complementary within- and between-sector effects on the generation of green technologies. |
| Keywords: | Regional NAMEA; Green technologies; Technological innovation; Knowledge production function; Environmental Performance; Knowledge Coherence |
| JEL: | O33 Q53 Q55 Q56 R11 |
| Date: | 2013–04–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udf:wpaper:2013112&r=env |
| By: | Lewis, Kate; Porras, Ina; Miranda, Miriam; Barton, David; Chacon, Adriana |
| Abstract: | The Rio Conference in 1992, with its Agenda 21 and the statement of principles for sustainable development, was an important impetus for environmental issues in Costa Rica, which together with processes already emerging in the country, led to the creation of Program Payment for Environmental Services (PES) in 1997. The ultimate goal of the program is to ensure PSA provision of forest environmental services: biodiversity protection, carbon sequestration and storage, water protection and scenic beauty. Although it is aimed at the reduction of poverty, the program required by law to find ways to improve the livelihoods of small and medium forest owners. However, to the extent that the program fulfills its purpose of providing environmental services, the final beneficiaries are not only those who receive payments, but the Costa Rican society that enjoys a healthy environment, and beyond compliance responsibilities country in the world to conserve biodiversity and mitigate climate change. 's success since its inception in the late nineties and through the 2000s has led to the program to define a long term vision, materialized concrete proposals for carbon, biodiversity and water. This paper critically examines how the program handles these multiple trade-offs (tradeoffs) and describes specific proposals parapolitical combined ("policy-mixes") that meet ecological, economic and sociological aimed at increasing the effectiveness of PES to achieve its multiple objectives. |
| Keywords: | Environmental economics; PES; Costa Rica |
| JEL: | Q5 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:43649&r=env |
| By: | Kyriakopoulou, Efthymia (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Xepapadeas, Anastasios (Dept of International and European Economic Studies, Athens University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | Environmental conditions and pollution levels have been proven to affect firms' and households’location decisions in various ways. In this paper, we study the optimal and equilibrium distribution of industrial and residential land in a given region. Industries produce a single good using land and labor and generate emissions of a pollutant, and households consume goods and residential land and dislike pollution. The trade-off between the agglomeration and dispersion forces, in the form of industrial pollution, environmental policy, production externalities, and commuting costs, determines the emergence of industrial and residential clusters across space. We also show that the joint implementation of a site-specific environmental tax and a site-specific labor subsidy can reproduce the optimum as an equilibrium outcome.<p> |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration; land use; spatial policies; pollution; environmental tax; labor subsidy |
| JEL: | H23 R14 R38 |
| Date: | 2013–05–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0566&r=env |
| By: | Kishan Khoday (UNDP); Leisa Perch (International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth) |
| Abstract: | This June sees world leaders and civil society convene for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). It will focus on reviewing progress in achieving the goals of the original 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (the 1992 Rio Earth Summit). A main issue at the heart of the sustainable development paradigm, and the Rio+20 Summit, will be the extent to which the world has been able to find synergies between dual challenges of poverty reduction and ecological protection. As we look back over the past twenty years, an important trend has been the rise of rights-based approaches and a transnational environmental justice movement in which citizens confront both the State and the international community on the impacts of growth on social and ecological well-being. The escalating development challenges, defined by the nexus between poverty and ecological degradation, are also conditioned by the lack of accountability and rule of law surrounding natural resource use and the control of pollution. Vulnerable communities are the ones who most suffer the burden of ecological change, while being least able to mobilize against these trends. For the poor, unsustainable resource use and pollution bring risks to their ability to earn a livelihood and live a healthy life; it is the new face of long-term structural inequality. (...) |
| Keywords: | Green Equity: Environmental Justice for more Inclusive Growth |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:pbrief:19&r=env |
| By: | Cui, Jingbo; Qian, Hang |
| Abstract: | This paper employs matching techniques to investigate the effects of facility export status on environmental performance. Using facility-level criteria air emission data in the U.S. manufacturing industry, we find the industry-specific effects of export status on emission intensity, measured by emissions per value of sale. In some industries, there is consistent and robust evidence supporting the superior environmental performance of exporters relative to non-exporters in terms of emission intensity for all criteria air pollutants tracked in the paper. In other industries, we find evidence that exporters appear to have higher emission intensity than non-exporters for some pollutants but not all. |
| Keywords: | criteria air emissions, exports, propensity score matching, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, F18, Q56, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149550&r=env |
| By: | de la Fuente, Alejandro; Villarroel, Marcelo Olivera |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of climate change on poverty through the relationship between indicators of climate change (temperature and rainfall change) and municipal level gross domestic product, and subsequently between gross domestic product and poverty. The evidence suggests that climate change could have a negative impact on poverty by 2030. The paper proposes a two-stage least squares regression where it first regresses temperature and rainfall (along with geographic controls and state and year fixed effects) on municipal gross domestic product per capita for 2000 and 2005 The resulting gross domestic product per capita is used in a second equation to estimate municipal poverty on the same years. The authors then incorporate projections of temperature and rainfall changes by 2030 into the estimated climate-gross domestic product coefficients to assess the effects of climate change in economic activity and how this in turn will influence poverty. At the same time, they account for the potential adaptive capacity of municipalities through higher population densities and economic growth. Both would reduce poverty by 31.72 percentage points between 2005 and 2030 with changing climate. However, poverty could have been reduced up to 34.15 percentage points over the same period had there been no climate change. This suggests that climate change slows down the pace of poverty reduction. An alternative reading is that poverty is expected to increase from 15.25 percent (without climate change) to 17.68 percent (with climate change) by 2030. Given the existing population projections for 2030, this represents 2,902,868 people remaining in poverty as a result of climate change. |
| Keywords: | Science of Climate Change,Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases,Climate Change Economics,Regional Economic Development,Rural Poverty Reduction |
| Date: | 2013–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6461&r=env |
| By: | Bernal-Escobar, Adriana; Cuervo-Sánchez, Rafael; Pinzon-Trujillo, Gonzalo; Maldonado, Jorge H. |
| Abstract: | This work was financed by the International Development Research Center (IDRC), and leaded by the Center of Studies for Economic Development (CEDE) from Universidad de los Andes and the Latin-American and the Caribbean Environmental Economics Program (LACEEP), through the project “The Strengthening of Capacities for Economic Research on Climate Change Adaptation”. This is an initiative of joint efforts of Environment for Development – Central America) and LACEEP. |
| Keywords: | Water use, glaciers and paramos, framed economic experimental games, behavioral responses to scarcity., Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149005&r=env |
| By: | Sehring, Jenniver |
| Abstract: | Being a country with very low forest cover, forests are usually not in the focus of research and strategies of natural resource management in Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, forests play an important ecological role, especially in maintaining conditions for agriculture and hydrological regimes. The paper gives a description of the state of the resource and the administrative regulations on forestry in Kazakhstan. It outlines the impacts of climate change on forestry and the potential role of forests in adaption and mitigation are described. Finally, it takes stock of current forest policies, which are less based on climate change considerations but on the country's green growth strategy. -- |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zeudps:60&r=env |
| By: | Ronaldo Seroa da Motta (IPEA) |
| Abstract: | Through the Copenhagen Accord and the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) in Cancun, Brazil has confirmed its national voluntary reduction targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with reductions between 36.1 per cent and 38.9 per cent of projected emissions by 2020. These targets were defined in the National Climate Change Policy (PNMC, in Portuguese) approved by the National Congress (Law No. 12.187, dated 29 December 2009). These national targets focus on controlling deforestation, which represents a comparative advantage for Brazil. Reducing deforestation is certainly less restrictive to economic growth than mitigation actions related to energy consumption and industrial activities that other emerging economies would have to adopt. (?) |
| Keywords: | The Brazilian Policy on Climate Change: Regulatory and Governance Aspects |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:154&r=env |
| By: | Burnett, J. Wesley |
| Abstract: | This study examines the convergence of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions among a panel of U.S. states between the period 1960-2009. This examination is carried out by means of a two-stage procedure. In the first stage, we conduct a novel regression-based convergence test. Unlike previous studies, this methodology endogenously identifies groups of states with emissions that are converging to a similar steady state growth path over time. In the second stage, we evaluate the rate of convergence (beta-convergence) for the whole sample and for each club based on a panel data, fixed effects model which controls for unobserved, time-invariant heterogeneous effects. More specifically, we examine how structural and non-structural variables affect the rates of convergence. Results from stage one and stage two suggest that two groups of states are converging to similar, relative growth paths: a high-emitting group and a medium-emitting group. Finally, we discuss a differentiated policy approach to mitigating carbon dioxide emissions based on the club convergence hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | Carbon dioxide emissions, Club convergence, Mitigation policies, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, C23, Q47, Q48, Q54, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149578&r=env |
| By: | Hassan Benchekroun; Farnaz Taherkhani |
| Abstract: | We consider a game of abatement of a transboundary pollutant. We use a time-consistent Shapley value allocation of the cost of pollution reduction, and study the sensitivity of such an allocation to countries' adaptation to pollution. A country's adaptation to pollution is captured by a change in its damage function. We show that if there is a reduction in the damage cost of one country only, this can harm the other countries. Some countries may end up worse o¤ even in the case where all countries experience a uniform decrease in their damage from pollution. An important policy implication of our analysis is that the Shapley value approach to the allocation of abatement costs doesn't necessarily provide the right incentives for all players to act on reducing pollution damage. We determine conditions under which a uniform fall in all countries'pollution damage benefits all countries. |
| Keywords: | adaptation, Shapley value, transboundary pollution, climate change, time-consistency |
| JEL: | C71 Q2 Q54 Q55 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtl:montec:03-2013&r=env |
| By: | Maximilian Auffhammer; Solomon M. Hsiang; Wolfram Schlenker; Adam Sobel |
| Abstract: | Economists are increasingly using weather data and climate model output in analyses of the economic impacts of climate change. This article introduces weather data sets and climate models that are frequently used, discusses the most common mistakes economists make in using these products, and identifies ways to avoid these pitfalls. We first provide an introduction to weather data, including a summary of the types of datasets available, and then discuss five common pitfalls that empirical researchers should be aware of when using historical weather data as explanatory variables in econometric applications. We then provide a brief overview of climate models and discuss two common and significant errors often made by economists when climate model output is used to simulate the future impacts of climate change on an economic outcome of interest. |
| JEL: | Q0 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19087&r=env |
| By: | Huijuan, Cao; Fujii, Hidemichi; Managi, Shunsuke |
| Abstract: | Beijing organized the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, and the main goal of the Chinese government regarding this event was to hold a Green Olympics. A difference-in-differences approach was used to estimate the environmental impact the Olympic Games on air quality improvement in Beijing, compared to improvements in other areas in China. The results indicate that compared to other regions, air quality in Beijing improved for a short period of time. These improvements were largely due to the implementation of several temporary measures, including factory closures and traffic control. However, there is no evidence indicating that the Olympic Games reduced the concentration of sulfur dioxide in Beijing. -- |
| Keywords: | Olympic Games,Beijing,air pollution,impact estimate,difference-in-differences approach |
| JEL: | Q51 Q53 L83 G14 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201330&r=env |
| By: | BRECHET, Thierry (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE and Louvain School of Management, Belgium); TULKENS, Henry (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | That climate policies are costly is evident and therefore often creates major fears. But the alernative (no action) also has a cost. Mitigation costs and damages incurred depend on what the climate policies are, and in addition, they are substitutes. This brings climate policies naturally in the realm of benefit-cost analysis. In this paper we illustrate the "direct" cost components of various policies, and then confront them with the benefits generated, that is, the damage cost avoided. However, the sheer benefit-cost criterion is not a sufficient incentive to induce cooperation among countries, a necessary condition for an effective global climate policy. Thus, we also explore how to make use of this criterion in the context of international climate cooperation. |
| Keywords: | climate policy, integrated assessment, cost-benefit analysis, climate coalitions |
| JEL: | Q2 D9 |
| Date: | 2013–02–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2013002&r=env |
| By: | Leisa Perch (International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth) |
| Abstract: | The social pillar?and thus social equity and social development?is critical to understanding what green growth (or making the economic patterns of development more sustainable) needs to do (that has not been done before), who it needs to serve (who has been left out) and why we have failed to do this before (structural realities). The emerging focus on the socio-environmental policy space in the context of Rio +20 is timely considering the staggering evidence available about the interconnectedness of environmental vulnerabilities and resource inequality in hampering and undermining social development. Resource inequity abounds in numerous areas: sanitation, access to water, and energy, to name a few. Leading voices, particularly President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, lend necessary visibility and validity to the importance of debate and discussion on this theme. While Rio 1992 signalled significant advances within global policy frameworks, the promise has been largely unfulfilled. (?) |
| Keywords: | Understanding the Socio-Environmental Policy Space |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:pbrief:20&r=env |
| By: | Delgado, Michael S.; Harriger, Jessica L.; Khanna, Neha |
| Keywords: | Hybrid Cars, Hedonic, Social Status, Conspicuous Consumption, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Public Economics, Q50, Q51, D03, H40, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149577&r=env |
| By: | Viviane Romeiro (Electrotechnical and Energy Institute of the University of São Paulo (IEE/USP)); Virginia Parente (Electrotechnical and Energy Institute of the University of São Paulo (IEE/USP)) |
| Abstract: | Progress in public policy and regulatory frameworks towards international climate governance has become increasingly more complex due to the plurality of political positions and statutory schemes in various countries. The creation of national and subnational policies on climate change can play a key role in advancing the international climate agenda, contributing to the construction of a more effective regulatory framework. The aim of this work is to analyse the evolution of climate change regulation in Brazil with the creation of subnational policies and to verify the impacts of these policies in the context of the 2009 Política Nacional das Mudanças Climáticas (PNMC ? National Policy on Climate Change). (?) |
| Keywords: | Climate Change Regulation in Brazil and the Role of Subnational Governments |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:155&r=env |
| By: | Thiago Fonseca Morello (Socioenvironmental Economics Centre, University of São Paulo, Department of Economics); Vitor Schmid (Socioenvironmental Economics Centre, University of São Paulo, Department of Economics); Ricardo Abramovay (Socioenvironmental Economics Centre, University of São Paulo, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | A Goldman Sachs study (2008) estimates that between 60 and 80 million people are introduced to the consumer market of durable goods annually, forming a kind of new worldwide middle class. The environmental impacts of these new consumers are not insignificant, and motivate important international negotiations regarding limits to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is a matter of concern even if the technological innovations aimed at the ?decarbonisation? of economies advance faster in the future than currently. Typically, one would expect that improving the living standards of poor people would almost unavoidably result in an increase in GHG emissions. However, this relationship may not be valid for all types of changes in consumption, especially those observed at lower income levels. (?) |
| Keywords: | The Trade-off Between Poverty Alleviation and GHG Mitigation: Is it True for all Income Levels in Brazil? |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:156&r=env |
| By: | Patrícia Helena Gambogi Boson (Representative of CNT in the National Environmental Council (Conama)) |
| Abstract: | A discussion of road transportation in Brazil is of significance in the context of climate change due to its status as the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, about 7 to 9 per cent of the national total, and its responsibility for 90 per cent of the diesel oil consumed in the transport sector, or 80 per cent of total domestic consumption. (?) |
| Keywords: | Road Transport and Climate Change in Brazil |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:158&r=env |
| By: | Gustavo Barbosa Mozzer (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA)) |
| Abstract: | In the agricultural sector it is undeniable that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arise both from the consumption of fossil fuels and the biogenic process, including anaerobic decomposition processes. Agriculture can also contribute to soil degradation and deforestation of natural ecosystems when poorly managed. As such, GHG emissions from this sector are not only associated with the energy-intensive consumption of fossil fuels but are also intrinsically related to the nature of practices in the sector. (?) |
| Keywords: | Agriculture and Cattle Raising in the Context of a Low Carbon Economy |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:157&r=env |
| By: | Pawlowski, Ira |
| Abstract: | The region of Central Asia, and in particularly the agricultural sector, is extremely vulnerable to climate change risks. The countries have started to develop adaptation strategies and climate risk management strategies, most of them described in the National Communications on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. These and other efforts are presented and commented in this paper. -- |
| Keywords: | climate change,climate risk management,Central Asia |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zeudps:59&r=env |
| By: | Parcell, Joe; Gedikoglu, Haluk |
| Abstract: | Agricultural production can degrade water sources through leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural land to surface and ground water sources. To minimize the pollution from agricultural production, the U.S. Department of Agriculture promotes adoption of conservation practices. Previous studies that analyzed adoption of new technologies did not incorporate the two important features of technologies that are primarily used to conserve the environment; common resource and interaction between farmers. The current study develops a conceptual framework using a differential game to analyze adoption of new technologies that impact the water quality. The results of the current study show that the single agent optimization models of the previous studies would not lead to the optimal solution of the differential game. Current study also shows that if farmers act cooperatively, they devote more capital to conserve the environment. |
| Keywords: | Technology Adoption, Water Quality, Optimal Control, Differential Game, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–05–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149619&r=env |
| By: | Ina, Porras |
| Abstract: | The Payments for Environmental Services (PES) Programme is one of several instruments addressing conservation issues in Costa Rica. It pays private landowners directly for the positive effect their sustainable land management has on the environment. The Programme is part of a mix of instruments, which includes stricter laws on deforestation, zoning and conservation in protected areas. The product of learning by doing, PES has provided a fertile ground for policy and technological experiments, generating considerable capacity building in the process. Fair Ideas conference, held in June 2012, provided a platform for a prominent group of expositors from different levels to share their experience on PES, from the Minister of Environment, state and NGO facilitators, national and international academics, to farmers and indigenous groups. This document compiles the key points of these presentations, and provides links to the organisations they represent. |
| Keywords: | Payments for environmental services, Costa Rica |
| JEL: | Q0 Q5 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:47186&r=env |
| By: | Deschenes, Olivier (University of California, Santa Barbara) |
| Abstract: | In recent years the prospect of 'green jobs' or 'green growth' policies have become increasingly prominent, proposed to solve both the environmental challenges associated with global climate change and the persistent unemployment problems observed in many industrialized countries. This short article begins by describing the conceptual, definitional, and measurement issues related to green jobs. I then review the existing evidence from the primarily simulation-based studies that attempt to assess the impact of green policies on employment. I draw two main conclusions from this exercise. First, my descriptive analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data on green jobs highlights that green jobs currently represent a small share of overall employment in the U.S, and one that has seen relatively weak growth in the last decade. Second, due to the sizable heterogeneity in the scope and assumptions made in the existing simulation studies of the labor market impacts of green policies, it is difficult to make a definitive conclusion about their likely impact. More careful and detailed empirical research is needed to assess the job creation potential of green job policies. |
| Keywords: | green jobs, green growth, employment, labor markets |
| JEL: | J08 J23 Q48 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izapps:pp62&r=env |
| By: | Ronaldo Seroa da Motta (IPEA); Jorge Hargrave (IPEA); Gustavo Luedemann (IPEA); Maria Bernadete Sarmiento Gutierrez (IPEA) |
| Abstract: | Current levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations are already worryingly high, and scientists predict that the average temperature on the planet could rise between 1.8°C and 4°C by 2100, which would cause drastic damage to the environment. (?) |
| Keywords: | Climate Change in Brazil: Economic, Social and Regulatory Aspects |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:153&r=env |
| By: | Maria Bernadete Sarmiento Gutierrez (IPEA) |
| Abstract: | The two ways in which the international regime on climate change has been negotiated, created at the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) in 2007 and framed in the so-called Bali Road Map, resulted in two task forces: the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA). While the former is in charge of, among others, the issues involving all aspects of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), the latter focuses on long-term cooperative actions to be followed by the different countries?in particular, what are called the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), by which the developing countries would present mitigation actions in the context of their sustainable development on a voluntary basis. (?) |
| Keywords: | What are the Financing Prospects for Brazilian Sustainable Development? From Clean Development Mechanism to Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:159&r=env |
| By: | Anbumozhi, Venkatachalam (Asian Development Bank Institute); Bauer, Armin (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | Half of the world’s population—3 billion people—lives below the poverty line, and Asia has the largest share. In pursuit of sustainable economic development and poverty alleviation, there is great potential among low-income households for green consumption, production, innovation, and entrepreneurial activity. This paper shows how an inclusive green growth model can uplift the poor through entrepreneurship and fiscal policy reforms. |
| Keywords: | low-carbon growth; green growth. inequalities; sustainable economic development; poverty alleviation; green consumption; entrepreneurship; fiscal policy reforms |
| JEL: | E62 H61 Q20 Q30 Q40 |
| Date: | 2013–05–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0420&r=env |
| By: | Chu, L.F.; McAleer, M.J.; Chen, C.-C. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes two indexes in order to capture the volatility inherent in El Niños Southern Oscillations (ENSO), develops the relationship between the strength of ENSO and greenhouse gas emissions, which increase as the economy grows, with carbon dioxide being the major greenhouse gas, and examines how these gases affect the frequency and strength of El Niño on the global economy. The empirical results show that both the ARMA(1,1)-GARCH(1,1) and ARMA(3,2)-GJR(1,1) models are suitable for modelling ENSO volatility accurately, and that 1998 is a turning point, which indicates that the ENSO strength has increased since 1998. Moreover, the increasing ENSO strength is due to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions. The ENSO strengths for Sea Surface Temperature (SST) are predicted for the year 2030 to increase from 29.62% to 81.5% if global CO emissions increase by 40% to 110%, 2 respectively. This indicates that we will be faced with even stronger El Nino or La Nina effects in the future if global greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase unabated. |
| Keywords: | volatility;global economy;greenhouse gas emissions;sea surface temperature (SST);El Niños Southern Oscillations (ENSO);southern oscillation index (SOI |
| Date: | 2012–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:eureir:1765037621&r=env |
| By: | Michael MacLennan (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | The real-time opportunities for sustainable inclusive green growth within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are being explored as part of the development of a Green Guide for SADC parliamentarians. The collaborative partnership between the Rural and Sustainable Development team at the UNDP International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) and the SADC Parliamentary Forum, which has been fully supported by the Climate Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), dates back to July 2011. The Green Guide, the primary output of this collaboration, will outline the compelling case for further implementation of contextappropriate inclusive green growth policies to decision-makers from a variety of departments and ministries, with the aim of encouraging intersectoral coordination, policy coherence and programme convergence. (?) |
| Keywords: | Growing Green with Equity: Our Approach |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:194&r=env |
| By: | Ingrid Dallmann (Université Paris-Sud (ADIS)); Katrin Millock (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We match migration data from the Indian census with climate data to test the hypothesis of climate variability as a push factor for internal migration. The main contribution of the analysis is to introduce relevant meteorological indicators of climate variability, based on the standardized precipitation index. Gravity-type estimations derived from a utility maximization approach cannot reject the null hypothesis that the frequency of drought acts as a push factor on inter-state migration in India. The effect is significant for both male and female migration rates. Drought duration and magnitude as well as flood events are never statistically significant. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, India, Internal migration, PPML, SPI. |
| JEL: | O15 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:13045&r=env |
| By: | Ina, Porras; Bruce, Alyward; Jeff, Dengel |
| Abstract: | Payments for watershed services (PWS) are schemes that use funds from water users (including governments) as an incentive for landholders to improve their land management practices. They are increasingly seen as a viable policy alternative to watershed management issues, and a means of addressing chronic problems such as declining water flows, deteriorating water quality and flooding. In some places, local governments, donor agencies and NGOs are actively trying to upscale and replicate PWS schemes across the area. While their apparent success and progress in launching new initiatives is encouraging, there is still much to be learned from formative experiences in this field, especially with regard to monitoring and evaluation. In this paper we discuss the monitoring and evaluation criteria behind compliance or transactional monitoring, which ensures that contracts are followed, and effectiveness conditionality, which looks at how schemes manage to achieve their environmental objectives regardless of the degree of compliance. Although the two are usually linked, a high degree of compliance does not necessarily ensure that a scheme is effective. This is because a poorly designed scheme may target the wrong land managers and land that is at least risk, meaning that payments do not generate the desired hydro-ecological or conservation benefits. As the levering capacity to demand payments for better watershed management increases, so does the need to understand the dynamics of such activities and demonstrate their impacts. While the growing interest in such schemes shows that participants believe in the principle of land management, evidence of their impact is needed to determine which initiatives genuinely add value and are worth pursuing. |
| Keywords: | Payments for watershed services; environmental impacts; monitoring and evaluation; land use; low- and middle-income countries |
| JEL: | Q50 Q57 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:47185&r=env |
| By: | Taylor, Michael H.; Christman, Laine; Rollins, Kimberly |
| Abstract: | This is Selected Paper #2846. The title of this paper at the time the abstract was submitted was "Private Incentives for Investments to Mitigate Wildfire Risk in the Wildland-Urban Interface" |
| Keywords: | Wildland-Urban Interface, Defensible Space, Fire-Safe Investments, Interdependent Security, Strategic Complements, Strategic Substitutes, Risk Externalities, Natural Disasters, Wildfire, Spatial Economics, Spatial Econometrics, Risk-Mitigating Investments, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Public Economics, Risk and Uncertainty, D80, Q54, R20, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149572&r=env |
| By: | Lykotrafiti, A.A. (Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economics Center) |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubtil:2012033&r=env |
| By: | Reeling, Carson J.; Horan, Richard D. |
| Keywords: | biosecurity, livestock, strategic complementarities, strategic substitutes, expectations, coordination failure, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149004&r=env |
| By: | Gerau, Jasmin |
| Abstract: | The European Union has presented itself as a leading actor in global environmental politics, exporting its values and rules not only into global environmental agreements but also promoting these in their relations with the neighbouring countries to the southern Mediterranean. Academic attention for the promotion and exportation of the EU model has been high and two central debates have emerged, the EU as a normative power and EU external governance which are, as the paper argues, based on the common notion of the EU exporting its model and therefore complementary. While many empirical studies on the concepts exist, the paper argues that an external perspective has been largely disregarded. The paper will therefore give an empirical assessment on how the notion of EU exporting its values and rules is perceived by the recipient country of Jordan. |
| Keywords: | Environmental policy; EU external governance; Normative Power Europe |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bom:ieewps:195&r=env |
| By: | Cantono, Simona (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | This article applies the autocatalytic percolation model developed by Cantono and Solomon (2010) to the diffusion of environmental innovation. It contributes to the recent applied microeconomic diffusion literature by unveiling diffusion dynamics, by determining under what conditions is diffusion self-sustaining and by defining the optimal dynamic schedule of adoption subsidies which insures autonomous propagation. To this end a model which combines in a unique framework a learning curve model of dynamic cost reductions, a discrete choice model of heterogeneous technology adoption and a contagion model of technology diffusion is developed. It is shown that the system dynamics are discontinuous, path-dependent and irreversible. Propagation dynamics are uncovered: diffusion occurs along subsequent conquers of islands of potential adopters. Under certain circumstances diffusion is self-sustaining. In other occasions diffusion is confined to anegligible sub-set of the entire population of potential adopters. In the latter case a policy intervention can drive the system to overall propagation. This can be achieved by adoption subsidies which, in order to be effective and to avoid a waste of resources, must follow an optimal dynamic schedule. It is shown that the phasing-out stage is as important as the early stage of the intervention. |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:201222&r=env |
| By: | Edwards, Jeffrey A.; Wade, Tara R.; Burkey, Mark L.; Pumphrey, R. Gary |
| Abstract: | Among many, increasing the price of municipal water is considered to be the most effective mechanism for enhancing municipal water conservation, whether during times of drought or not. However, increasing the price of something that is considered to be, literally, a life-giving resource is politically taboo. This study follows two others that evaluate survey data with Likert scale responses, in determining whether or not constituents would outright reject the idea of using price to ration municipal water. But it goes several steps further--it controls for both community and respondent level variables, calculates and evaluates in-sample response probabilities, and most importantly, attempts to forecast the attitudes of constituents in communities that are not in our survey sample. In the end, our model produces both in-sample and out-of-sample response probabilities that are reasonable, and relatively stable across communities; it therefore provides communities and researchers with a means to gauge public support for pricing initiatives. |
| Keywords: | water conservation, water pricing, regulation, ethanol, Likert scale, ordered logit, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q25, Q56, R52, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149579&r=env |
| By: | Alisson Flávio Barbieri (UFMG, Brazil); Bernardo Queiroz (Cedeplar/UFMG) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to present the state of the art in the discussion about the relationships among demographic dynamics, economic dynamics and climate change, as well as the impacts, on vulnerability profiles, of the adaptive capacity of the population, in the case of Brazil. The article seeks to answer the following questions: what is known about the effects of climate change in Brazil? What do we still need to know? How can public policies reduce vulnerability and enhance the population?s capacity to adapt to these changes? A central issue in this discussion is the effort to pursue the development of integrated and interdisciplinary methodologies in building scenarios useful for informing public policy and regional planning. Based on this discussion, issues will be raised for a future research agenda on the subject, within Brazilian demographics. (?) |
| Keywords: | Vulnerability to Climate Change: a Regional Perspective of Demographic and Socioeconomic Impacts |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:pbrief:22&r=env |
| By: | Ghisetti,Claudia; Marzucchi,Alberto; Montresor,Sandro |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects that knowledge sources external to the firm have on its environmental innovations (EIs). Using the CIS 2006-2008, we refer to both the probability to introduce an EI and the number of EI-typologies adopted by firms. We estimate the impact of the “depth” and “breadth” of knowledge sourcing. In addition, we test for the moderating role of the firm's absorptive capacity. In general, knowledge sourcing has a positive impact on both types of EI-performance. However, a broad sourcing strategy reveals a threshold, over which the propensity to introduce an EI diminishes. Cognitive constraints in processing knowledge inputs that are too diverse could explain this result. Absorptive capacity generally helps firms in turning broadly sourced external knowledge into EI. Conversely, internal innovation capabilities and knowledge socialization mechanisms seem to diminish the EI impact of knowledge sourced through intense external interactions. The possibility of mismatches between internal and external knowledge and problems in distributing the decision-makers’ attention between the two could explain this result. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Innovation, Open Innovation, Absorptive Capacity |
| JEL: | Q55 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2013–05–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ing:wpaper:201301&r=env |
| By: | Barbier, Edward B. |
| Abstract: | Empirical evidence indicates that in many developing regions, the extreme poor in more marginal land areas form a"residual"pool of rural labor. Structural transformation in such developing economies depends crucially on labor and land use decisions of these most-vulnerable populations located on abundant but marginal agricultural land. Although the modern sector may be the source of dynamic growth through learning-by-doing and knowledge spillovers, patterns of labor, land and other natural resources use in the rural economy matter in the overall dynamics of structural change. The concentration of the rural poor on marginal lands is essentially a barometer of economy-wide development. As long as there are abundant marginal lands for cultivation, they serve to absorb rural migrants, increased population, and displaced unskilled labor from elsewhere in the economy. Moreover, the economy is vulnerable to the"Dutch disease"effects of a booming primary products sector. As a consequence, productivity increases and expansion in the commercial primary production sector will cause manufacturing employment and output to contract, until complete specialization occurs. Avoiding such an outcome and combating the inherent dualism of the economy requires both targeted polices for the modern sector and traditional agriculture on marginal lands. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Rural Poverty Reduction,Economic Growth |
| Date: | 2013–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6456&r=env |
| By: | Michieka, Nyakundi; Fletcher, Jerald |
| Abstract: | Kenya is a small open economy that depends on energy for growth. Since independence in 1963, it has experienced tremendous urban and rural population growth, placing an increasing strain on energy resources and economic development. Therefore, in this paper the relationship between urban and rural populations, economic development, and energy use is studied. The empirical analysis uses a vector autoregression framework. The Granger Causality test results suggest unidirectional causality running from urban population to GDP. The vector error decomposition results imply that urban growth will continue to play a major role in energy consumption in Kenya. |
| Keywords: | Population, growth, energy, Kenya, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149016&r=env |
| By: | Michael MacLennan (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | The prevalence of highly mono-cultural economies within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region (over half the countries in the region have fewer than eight sectors accounting for 75 per cent of exports), primarily agrarian or dependent on mineral resources, shaped the selection of five (5) priority policy intersections which define the region?s social, environmental and economic development. (?) |
| Keywords: | From Research to Results: Greener Pathways for the SADC Region |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:197&r=env |
| By: | Jane Fortson; Susanne James-Burdumy; Martha Bleeker; Nicholas Beyler; Rebecca A. London; Lisa Westrich; Katie Stokes-Guinan; Sebastian Castrechini |
| Keywords: | Playworks, School Climate, Academic Learning, Student Social Skills and Behavior |
| Date: | 2013–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:7779&r=env |
| By: | Daniela P. Stoycheva (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | Access to basic services is a universal human right, and access to a decent ?quality? of water, energy and food are key to sustainable human development. With them, people?s capabilities, opportunities and basic freedoms can expand exponentially. This interconnectedness between the quantity and quality of resources is expressed in the definition of energy access by the UN Secretary General in his declaration of 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All and the launch of the Sustainable Energy for All (SEE4ALL) initiative. Defined as ?the physical availability of modern energy services, including electricity and improved end-use devices such as cookstoves, to meet basic human needs at affordable price? (Sustainable Energy for All, 2012), ?access? thus relates to more than availability; it also captures factors such as affordability and relevance. For poor people, this implies that the price of modern energy should be, to some extent, in line with their ability to pay and comparable to the cost and effort of accessing traditional fuels. (?) |
| Keywords: | Green Innovations: Reducing Energy Poverty and Inequitable Access |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:pbrief:24&r=env |
| By: | Michael MacLennan (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | The Green Guide?s emphasis on ?going green with equity? is not simply a new policy option but, rather, critical to regional survival. Defined largely by mineral-dependent growth, a number of challenges and lessons relating to the inclusiveness of the recent Southern African Development Community?s (SADC) regional growth have emerged, see One Pager No. 195, Challenges to the status quo have emerged from project research findings to date related to? (?) |
| Keywords: | SADC Parliamentarians as Green Growth Leaders |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:196&r=env |