|
on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Paul, Anthony (Resources for the Future); Beasley, Blair; Palmer, Karen (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Concerns about budget deficits, tax reform, and climate change are fueling discussions about taxing carbon emissions to generate revenue and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Imposing a carbon tax on electricity production based on the social cost of carbon (SCC) could generate between $21 and $82 billion in revenues in 2020 and would have important effects on electricity markets. The sources of emissions reductions in the sector depend on the level of the tax. A carbon tax based on lower SCC estimates reduces emissions by reducing demand and through the substitution of gas for coal, whereas taxes based on higher SCC estimates induce switching to wind and nuclear generation. The slow rate of growth of the SCC estimates means that any SCC-based carbon tax trajectory provides weaker long-run incentives for expanded renewable and nuclear generation than a cap-and-trade program that achieves an equivalent level of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions reductions. Taxing carbon at the SCC is welfare enhancing, but the SCC may not be the optimal tax rate. Classification-JEL: Q58, H23, H77 |
| Keywords: | carbon tax, cap and trade, social cost of carbon, electricity, energy, climate |
| Date: | 2013–11–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-23-rev&r=env |
| By: | Aronsson, Thomas (Department of Economics, Umeå School of Business and Economics); Schöb, Ronnie (School of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | Economic models of climate policy (or policies to combat other environmental problems) typically neglect psychological adaptation to changing life circumstances. People may adapt or become more sensitive, to different degrees, to a deteriorated environment. The present paper addresses these issues in a simple model of tax policy to combat climate change and elaborates on the consequences for optimal climate policies, and argues from a normative point of view that psychological adaptation needs to be taken into account by a pure welfarist government, which aims at internalizing an intertemporal externality. |
| Keywords: | Behavioral environmental economics; climate change; intertemporal externalities; adaptation; sensitization; taxation |
| JEL: | D03 D61 D91 H21 |
| Date: | 2014–05–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:0885&r=env |
| By: | Stuart McDonald (School of Economics, The Universty of Queensland, Australia); Joanna Poyago-Theotoky (School of Economics, La Trobe University, Australia; Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis (RCEA), Italy) |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of an optimal emissions tax on research and development of emission reducing green technology (E-R&D) in the presence of R&D spillovers. We show that the size and eectiveness of the optimal emissions tax depends on the type of the R&D spillover: input or output spillover. In the case of R&D input spillovers (where only knowledge spillovers are accounted for), the optimal emissions tax required to stimulate R&D is always higher than when there is an R&D output spillover (where abatement and knowledge spillovers exist simultaneously). We also nd that optimal emissions taxation and cooperative R&D complement each other when R&D spillovers are small, leading to lower emissions. |
| Keywords: | Environmental R&D, Green Technology, R&D Spillover, Emissions Tax |
| JEL: | H23 L11 Q55 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:07_14&r=env |
| By: | Fischer, Carolyn (Resources for the Future); Newell, Richard G.; Preonas, Louis |
| Abstract: | Myriad policy measures aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector, promote generation from renewable sources, and encourage energy conservation. To what extent do innovation and energy efficiency (EE) market failures justify additional interventions when a carbon price is in place? We extend the model of Fischer and Newell (2008) with advanced and conventional renewable energy technologies and short and long-run EE investments. We incorporate both knowledge spillovers and imperfections in the demand for energy efficiency. We conclude that some technology policies, particularly correcting R&D market failures, can be useful complements to emissions pricing, but ambitious renewable targets or subsidies seem unlikely to enhance welfare when placed alongside sufficient emissions pricing. The desirability of stringent EE policies is highly sensitive to the degree of undervaluation of EE by consumers, which also has implications for policies that tend to lower electricity prices. Even with multiple market failures, emissions pricing remains the single most cost-effective option for reducing emissions. Classification-JEL: Q42, Q52, Q55, Q58 |
| Keywords: | climate change, cap-and-trade, renewable energy, portfolio standards, subsidies, spillovers, energy efficiency, electricity |
| Date: | 2013–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-20&r=env |
| By: | Michel Moreaux (Toulouse School of Economics (IDEI and LERNA)); Cees Withagen (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We study optimal carbon capture and storage (CCS), taking into account damages incurred from the accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere and exhaustibility of fossil fuel reserves. High carbon concentrations call for full CCS. We identify conditions under which partial or no CCS is optimal. In the absence of CCS the CO2 stock might be inverted U-shaped. With CCS more complicated behavior may arise. It can be optimal to have full capture initially, yielding a decreasing stock, then partial capture while keeping the CO2 stock constant, and a final phase without capturing but with an inverted U-shaped CO2 stock. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, carbon capture and storage, non-renewable resources |
| JEL: | Q32 Q43 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2014.01&r=env |
| By: | Brian C. Murray (Duke University); Peter T. Maniloff (Division of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines); Evan M. Murray (Duke University) |
| Abstract: | The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a consortium of northeastern states that have agreed to limit carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation through a regional emissions trading program. Since the initiative came into effect in 2009, emissions have dropped precipitously, while the price of emissions allowances has fallen from approximately \$4 per ton to the program floor price of just under \$2.00. We ask why the emission reductions have come so fast and inexpensively, finding that it is due to a combination of factors, including the emissions trading program itself, complementary environmental programs, lower natural gas prices, and possibly some regional spillover effects. We find that the effect of the recession was small compared with other factors. Lower natural gas prices had a substantial impact on regional emissions. Econometric challenges makes it difficult to assign how much of the RGGI reduction is due to the price and how much is due to an overall ``regime effect'' guiding long-term planning decisions. We also present results consistent with but not dispositive of RGGI emissions reductions being due to policy leakage. But taken together, and compared to emission reduction outcomes in the rest of the U.S., it appears the RGGI program has induced a substantial reduction in the emissions, all else equal. |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mns:wpaper:wp201404&r=env |
| By: | Ryo Horii (Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University); Masako Ikefuji (Department of Environmental and Business Economics, University of Southern Denmark) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the implications of the mutual causality between environmental quality and economic growth. While economic growth deteriorates the environment through increasing amounts of pollution, the deteriorated environment in turn limits the possibility of further economic growth. In a less developed country, this link, which we call “limits to growth,” emerges as the “poverty-environment trap,” which explains the persistent international inequality both in terms of income and environment. This link also threatens the sustainability of the world’s economic growth, particularly when the emission of greenhouse gases raises the risk of natural disasters. Stronger environmental policies are required to overcome this link. While there is a trade-off between the environment and growth in the short run, we show that an appropriate policy can improve both in the long run. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Kuznets Curve, Limits to Growth, Poverty-Environment Trap, Sustainability, Natural Disasters |
| JEL: | Q5 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2014.37&r=env |
| By: | Wong, Sam |
| Abstract: | We develop the climate finance-gender equity framework in this paper and use the .contextual-procedural-distributive. equity as a lens of analysis to examine how climate finance helps challenge, and reinforce, gender inequities in the mitigation, adaptati |
| Keywords: | climate finance, gender equity, access, land rights, Green Climate Fund |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-064&r=env |
| By: | Blackman, Allen (Resources for the Future); Raimondi, Alicia; Cubbage, Frederick |
| Abstract: | Certification is intended to improve management of and environmental outcomes in developing country forests. Yet we know little about whether and how it actually generates such benefits. To address that question, we analyze 1,162 corrective action requests (CARs) issued after third-party inspections of a diverse set of 35 forests in Mexico certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). CARs detail the changes in procedures and on-the-ground conditions that forest managers must make to either obtain or retain certification. Our analysis indicates that a relatively small proportion of CARs required major changes in on-the-ground environmental conditions. The majority focused on social and legal issues, and the vast majority called for only minor procedural changes. In general, forest managers complied with CARs expeditiously, and the number of CARs they received declined over time. We hypothesize that these findings were at least partly driven by the tendency of FSC certification to attract already-sustainably managed forests and by the governance challenges of community forestry in developing countries. One implication is that policymakers using FSC certification to generate environmental benefits may want to target forests with less-than-stellar management—particularly in the case of reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) initiatives that emphasize improvement beyond business-as-usual—and to build the community and legal institutions needed for sustainable forestry. |
| Keywords: | forest certification, ecolabel, corrective action request, Mexico |
| JEL: | Q23 Q56 Q57 |
| Date: | 2014–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-06&r=env |
| By: | Linn, Joshua (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Compared with gasoline engines, diesel fuel engines significantly reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles, but they emit more nitrogen oxides and other pollutants. Across countries, the market share of diesel fuel engines in passenger vehicles varies from close to zero to more than 80 percent. Using a structural model of vehicle markets in seven European countries, I show that vehicle taxes and willingness to pay for fuel costs, rather than fuel prices or supply, explain adoption. The model is used to compare the environmental implications of fuel taxes and carbon dioxide emissions rate standards. |
| Keywords: | vehicle demand estimation, demand for fuel economy and performance, fuel taxes, vehicle taxes, carbon dioxide emissions rates |
| JEL: | L62 Q4 Q5 |
| Date: | 2014–04–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-08&r=env |
| By: | Jeff Bielicki (Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering - The Ohio State University, The John Glenn School of Public Affairs - The Ohio State University); Guillaume Calas (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - AgroParisTech); Richard Middleton (Earth and Environmental Sciences - Los Alamos National Laboratory); Minh Ha-Duong (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - AgroParisTech) |
| Abstract: | Planning for the deployment of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS), infrastructure must consider numerous uncertainties regarding where and how much CO2 is produced and where captured CO2 can be geologically stored. We used the SimCCS engineering-economic geospatial optimization models to determine the characteristics of CCS deployment in France and corridors for pipelines that are robust to a priori uncertainty in CO2 production from industrial sources and CO2 storage locations. We found a number of stable routes that are robust to these uncertainties, and thus can provide early options for pipeline planning and rights-of-way acquisition. |
| Date: | 2013–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00944665&r=env |
| By: | Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future); Linn, Joshua (Resources for the Future); Palmer, Karen (Resources for the Future); Paul, Anthony (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | US climate policy is unfolding under the Clean Air Act. Mobile source and construction permitting regulations are in place. Most important, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states will determine the form and stringency of the regulations for existing power plants. It is widely believed that flexible approaches could be suggested in EPA guidelines or proposed by states. Various approaches would create an implicit price on emitting greenhouse gases and create valuable assets that would be distributed differently among electricity producers, consumers, and the government. We compare a tradable performance standard with three variations on cap-and-trade policies that would distribute the asset value in different ways. Keeping the value within the electricity sector by distributing it to fossil-fueled producers or consumers or spending on energy efficiency has smaller effects on average electricity prices than a revenue-raising policy. These approaches impose greater social cost, but comparable net benefits in the sector. Classification-JEL: Q54, Q58 |
| Keywords: | climate policy, efficiency, equity, Clean Air Act, coal, compliance flexibility, regulation |
| Date: | 2014–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-01&r=env |
| By: | Goulder, Lawrence H. (Resources for the Future); Hafstead, Marc A.C. (Resources for the Future); Williams, Roberton C. (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Economists have tended to view emissions pricing (e.g., cap and trade or a carbon tax) as the most cost-effective approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This paper offers a different view. Employing analytical and numerically solved general equilibrium models, the paper indicates plausible conditions under which a more conventional form of regulation—namely, the use of a clean energy standard (CES)—is more cost-effective. The models reveal that in a realistic economy with prior taxes on factors of production, the CES distorts factor markets less because it is a smaller implicit tax on factors. This advantage more than offsets the disadvantages of the CES when relatively minor reductions in emissions are called for. Numerical simulations indicate that the cost-effectiveness of the CES is sensitive to what is deemed “clean” electricity. To achieve maximal cost-effectiveness, the CES must offer significant credit to electricity generated from natural gas. Classification-JEL: Q58, Q54, H23 |
| Keywords: | clean energy standard, intensity standard, emissions pricing, climate |
| Date: | 2014–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-02&r=env |
| By: | Andreas Exenberger; Andreas Pondorfer; Maik H. Wolters |
| Abstract: | We estimate the impact of climate change on agricultural production in a panel of 127 countries from 1961 to 2002. In contrast to the existing literature we account for cross-sectional dependence and technology heterogeneity. We find no significant impact of climate change on agricultural production in high income countries, but significant adverse effects in middle and low income countries. These adverse effects include a moderate negative impact of increases in temperature on agricultural output and for low income countries also negative effects of reductions in precipitation and of increases in the frequency of droughts. The latter two effects are particularly strong in Sub-Sahara Africa where low-tech rain-fed agriculture with very limited climate change adjustment capacities dominates. Thus, our findings reinforce the importance of proper adaptation strategies to climate change considering heterogeneous production technologies across countries. |
| Keywords: | agricultural production, climate change, panel data, cross-sectional dependence, parameter heterogeneity, common correlated effects estimator |
| JEL: | C33 N50 O13 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inn:wpaper:2014-16&r=env |
| By: | Parlow, Anton |
| Abstract: | Empirical Kuznets Curves (EKC) usually imply an inverted U-shaped relationship between a pollutant and per capita GDP growth. We initially find an inverted U-shaped EKC between CO2-emissions and per capita GDP for the period 1960 to 2004. However, once accounting for a major uprising in 1988 in Myanmar, we can identify two different growth regimes. This structural break changes the nature of the EKC relationship. |
| Keywords: | Empirical Kuznets Curve, GDP, Armed Conflicts, CO2-emissions |
| JEL: | O5 O53 |
| Date: | 2014–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:55828&r=env |
| By: | Muchapondwa, Edwin |
| Abstract: | This study seeks to understand what aid flows have been doing to the environment in eight countries in Eastern, Western and Southern Africa. Total aid to these countries. environmental sectors for the 2000s decade is about US$10.17 billion and bilateral a |
| Keywords: | Africa, aid, environment, environmental mainstreaming |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-063&r=env |
| By: | Sandmo, Agnar (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration) |
| Abstract: | This paper considers economists’ treatment of problems related to the environment prior to the establishment of environmental economics as a separate field in the 1960s. In discussing the literature from the late 18th century onwards, it looks on the one hand for awareness in the work of the early economists of the effects of economic activity on the natural and social environment and of the feedback from the environment to the economy. On the other hand, it describes how economic theory developed in a way which made it increasingly relevant for the study of environmental issues and the design of economic policy. |
| Keywords: | History of thought; environment; natural resources |
| JEL: | B00 Q30 Q50 |
| Date: | 2014–04–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2014_010&r=env |
| By: | Antonello Lobianco (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Philippe Delacote (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech; Climate Economic Chair); Sylvain Caurla (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Ahmed Barkaoui (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech) |
| Abstract: | Given the importance of anthropogenic determinants in forest ecosystems within Europe, the objective of FFSM++ is to link the evidence arising from biological models with socioeconomic determinants, where the expected returns of forest investments represent the main drivers. An inventory-based forest dynamic model is hence coupled with a market module and a management one in a national level forest sector model for France (FFSM++). In this paper we show that only considering the environment heterogeneity, and hence considering the local characteristics of the forest under management, we can realistically model the micro-based management module. In particular, an application is proposed that spatialises the forest growth rate and long-term scenarios (until 2100) are run to examine the effects on the forest dynamic, and notably the interaction with forest management strategies, of a potential increase of coniferous mortality in certain areas due to climate change. |
| Keywords: | Forest sector modelling, Spatial model, Bio-economic model, Forest mortality. |
| JEL: | C63 L52 Q23 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lef:wpaper:2014-04&r=env |
| By: | Jaime de Melo (FERDI); Mariana Vijil (FERDI) |
| Abstract: | Barriers to trade in Environmental Goods (EGs) and Environmental Services (ESs) are documented for a large sample of countries and compared with barriers to trade in other goods and other services. Some progress at reduction in barriers has occurred at the national, regional and sectoral levels but not at the multilateral level, where countries have been unable to agree on an approach to reduce barriers to trade. For EGs, tariffs and NTBs are highest for low-income countries and low for high-income countries. First-order estimates of the import response to a 50% reduction in tariffs for low-income countries suggest an increase in imports of around 4%. For ESs, estimates draw on the comparison of an Environment Services Liberalization index calculated across modes and services sub-sectors. The limitations of this ordinal index coupled with the inadequacy of the UN CPC list where services are defined in an exclusionary manner so that they cannot appear on two lists, casts greater uncertainty as to the informational content of the commitment measures presented here which, at best, indicate bindings on market access and national treatment rather than actual policies. It would appear nonetheless that at least as great, and probably greater commitments took place in the environmental sectors (as defined by the CPC) both multilaterally and regionally than for ‘other’ services with the same pattern across income groups: greater commitments observed for HIC than for MICs and LICs although it is widely recognized that GATS commitments by HICs largely amounted to consolidated members’ unilateral services policies. North-South Regional Trade Agreements resulted mostly in commitments by the Southern partners indicating greater prospects for reducing barriers to trade in a regional than in a multilateral context. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Goods, Environmental Services, Doha Round, Tariff Reductions |
| JEL: | F18 Q56 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2014.36&r=env |
| By: | Ogundipe, Adeyemi; Alege, Philip; Ogundipe, Oluwatomisin |
| Abstract: | The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis asserts that pollution levels rises as a country develops, but reaches a certain threshold where pollution begins to fall with increasing income. In EKC analysis, the relationship between environmental degradation and income is usually expressed as a quadratic function with turning point occurring at a maximum pollution level. The study seeks to examine the pattern and nature of EKC in Africa and major income groups according to World Bank classification comprising low income, lower middle income and upper middle income in Africa. In ensuring the robustness of our study; the paper proceeded by ascertaining the nature of EKC in all fifty-three countries of Africa in order to confirm the results obtained from basic and augmented EKC model. The study could not validate EKC hypothesis in Africa (combined), low income and upper middle income but empirical and analytical evidences supports the existence of EKC in lower middle income countries. Likewise, evidences from the robustness checks confirmed the findings from the basic and augmented EKC model. The study could not attain a reasonable turning point as there are evidences that Africa could be turning on the EKC at lower levels of income. Also, there is need to strengthen institutions in order to enforce policies that prohibits environmental pollution and ensure pro-poor development. |
| Keywords: | Pollution, Income, Environmental Kuznets Curve, Africa |
| JEL: | N17 Q1 Q4 Q5 |
| Date: | 2014–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:55822&r=env |
| By: | Kahyarara, Godius |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an assessment of what aid has actually been doing in the area of environment in Tanzania through a critical review of the flows, modalities and management of aid. Focusing on the funding for environmental degradation projects, the stud |
| Keywords: | aid, development, environment |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-077&r=env |
| By: | Calderone, Margherita Bernal; Headey, Derek D.; Maystadt, Jean-François |
| Keywords: | Climate change, food security, Conflict, resilience, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:12&r=env |
| By: | Francesco Bosello (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change and University of Milan); Lorenza Campagnolo (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and University of Venice Ca’ Foscari); Fabio Eboli (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change and University of Venice Ca’ Foscari); Ramiro Parrado (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change and University of Venice Ca’ Foscari) |
| Abstract: | The present research proposes a macroeconomic assessment of the role of waste incineration with energy recovery (WtE) and controlled landfill biogas to electricity generation and their potential contribution to a CO2 emission reduction policy, within a recursive-dynamic computable general equilibrium model. From the modelling viewpoint, introducing these energy sectors in such a framework required both the extension of the GTAP7 database and the improvement of the ICES production nested function. We focus our analysis on Italy as a signatory of the GHG reduction commitment of 20% by 2020 wrt 1990 levels proposed by the European Community; the rest of the world is represented by 21 geo-political countries/regions. It is shown that albeit in the near future WtE and landfill biogas will continue to represent a limited share of energy inputs in electricity sector (in Italy, around 2% for WtE and 0.6% for biogas in 2020) they could play a role in a mitigation policy context. The GDP cost of the EU emission reduction target for the Italian economy can indeed be reduced by 1% when the two energy generating options are available. In absolute terms, this translates into an annuitized value of 87-122 million €. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Mitigation, Energy From Waste |
| JEL: | C68 E27 Q42 Q43 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2014.38&r=env |
| By: | Eric Clark; Kenneth Hermele (Lund University, Department of Human Geography and Human Ecology Division) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a review of research into financialisation of the environment, focusing on the role of financialisation in the interface between social and natural dimensions of sustainability, the geographical penetration of finance into environmental sectors, and its increasing control over the production of nature and environmental governance through regulating flows of capital and consequently material flows. Financialisation is conceptualised as a profoundly spatial process, forging financial ecologies with consequences crucial to conditions for sustainability of social-ecological systems. The paper introduces the theme by framing financialisation in historical contexts. Financialisation of the environment is then related to processes of commodification, privatisation, neoliberalisation and accumulation by dispossession within the broader context of intersections between political economy and political ecology, highlighting the distinction between use-value/object-oriented investments and exchange-value/’investor’-oriented investments, the right to inhabit place, and the shift from control and command to economic incentives, drawing out implications for sustainability. Research on financialisation of agriculture and land resources, and on financialisation in relation to economic and social dimensions, is reviewed, and current moves towards re-regulation are considered from the perspective of a Polanyian countermovement. Conclusions reconsider the nature of the relationship between financialisation and sustainability and the challenges of bringing financial systems into the service of achieving social and natural sustainability. |
| Keywords: | financialisation, sustainability, commodification, political ecology, land |
| JEL: | Q14 Q15 Q24 Q57 R11 R51 Z10 |
| Date: | 2013–12–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fes:wpaper:wpaper32&r=env |
| By: | Frédéric Gonand |
| Abstract: | A rising share of renewables in the energy mix pushes up the average price of energy - and so does a carbon tax. However the former bolsters the accumulation of capital whereas the latter, if fully recycled, does not. Thus, in general equilibrium, the effects on growth and intertemporal welfare of these two environmental policies differ. The present article assesses and compares these effects. It relies on a computable general equilibrium model with overlapping generations, an energy module and a public finance module. The main result is that an increasing share of renewables in the energy mix and a fully recycled carbon tax have opposite (though limited) impacts on activity and individuals’ intertemporal welfare in the long run. The recycling of a carbon tax fosters consumption and labour supply, and thus growth and welfare, whereas an increasing share of renewables does not. Results also suggest that a higher share of renewables and a recycled carbon tax trigger intergenerational redistributive effects, with the former being relatively detrimental for young generations and the latter being pro-youth. The policy implication is that a social planner seeking to modify the structure of the energy mix while achieving some neutrality as concerns the GDP and triggering some proyouth intergenerational equity, could usefully contemplate the joint implementation of higher quantitative targets for the future development of renewables and a carbon tax fully recycled through lower proportional taxes. |
| Keywords: | Energy transition, intergenerational redistribution, overlapping generations, carbon tax, general equilibrium |
| JEL: | D58 D63 E62 L7 Q28 Q43 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cec:wpaper:1408&r=env |
| By: | Kousky, Carolyn (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Between 1972 and 1994, the New England Division of the US Army Corps of Engineers undertook five studies evaluating the benefits and costs of protecting natural valley storage (NVS) areas as a flood mitigation strategy in various watersheds. NVS lands function as natural reservoirs, temporarily storing floodwaters. In only one case—along the Charles River in Massachusetts—were the benefits found to outweigh the costs. Along the Charles, the Corps acquired approximately 8,500 acres of floodplain land to keep as open space in perpetuity. This paper reviews the five studies in detail to inform ongoing interest in green approaches to flood control. The analysis finds that large-scale land acquisition to contain major riverine flood events is difficult to justify by avoided flood damages alone. For such a project to generate net benefits, there must be significant amounts of NVS lands still undeveloped, substantial development pressure on those lands, and downstream areas that would sustain high levels of damage in the event of a flood. Perhaps more importantly, however, these studies raise two fundamental institutional questions: (1) Should the Corps, or the federal government more broadly, be involved in land acquisition? (2) Should regulating land use be preferred over purchasing NVS land? The economic and political issues uncovered in the historic examination of these five studies suggest an explanation for the current focus on other approaches to green flood control, such as multipurpose projects, levee setbacks, and green infrastructure to manage stormwater. |
| Keywords: | floodplain conservation, flood mitigation, Corps of Engineers, natural valley storage, cost-benefit analysis |
| Date: | 2014–04–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-07&r=env |
| By: | Bruno Lanz (The Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva) |
| Abstract: | We study the role of alternative intertemporal preference representations in a model of economic growth, stock pollutant and endogenous risk of catastrophic collapse. We contrast the traditional “discounted utility” model, which assumes risk neutrality with respect to intertemporal utility, with a multiplicative choice model that displays risk aversion in that dimension. First, we show that both representations of preferences can rationalize the same “business as usual” economy for a given interest rate and no pollution externality. Second, once we introduce a collapse risk whose hazard rate is a function of the pollution stock, multiplicative preferences recommend a much more stringent policy response. An illustration in the context of climate change indicates that switching to the multiplicative preference representation has a similar effect, in terms of policy recommendations, as scaling up the schedule of the hazard rate by a factor of 100. |
| Keywords: | Environme ntal policy; Climate change; Catastrophic risks; Risk aversion; Discounting. |
| JEL: | D63 D81 D99 Q53 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:ciesrp:cies_rp_21&r=env |
| By: | Vincent Boulanger (Office National des Forêts); Max Bruciamacchie (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Sandrine Chauchard (Université de Lorraine – Écologie et Écophysiologie Forestières; INRA – Écologie et Écophysiologie Forestières UMR 1137); Arnaud Dragicevic (Chaire Forêts pour Demain AgroParisTech – Office National des Forêts); Jean-Luc Dupouey (Université de Lorraine – Écologie et Écophysiologie Forestières; INRA – Écologie et Écophysiologie Forestières UMR 1137); Anne Stenger (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech) |
| Abstract: | Forest management aims at building ecological networks that minimize the impacts on timber production. We formalize the construction of ecological networks in forest environments as the optimal control dynamic graph-theoretic problem. The ecological network is based on a set of bioreserves and patches linked by green corridors. The network is defined as a graph, in which bioreserves, which host the species, are represented by the target nodes provided with an attraction function. The role of patches, which are represented by the unmarked nodes, is to receive the species before redirecting them to bioreserves. We consider two cases: a case of complete graph, where the ecological network is fully connected, and a case of incomplete graph, where the ecological network is partially connected. We use an ecologically and economically weighted Mahalanobis distance when dealing with the species migration through the grid. We find that the connectivity between areas depends on their ecological similarity. In both cases, at the equilibrium, the ecological network maintains its connectedness while minimizing the opportunity costs of timber production weighted by the distances between the nodes. Whether the graph is complete or incomplete, the optimal control imposes specific conditions on the shadow values. Our simulations show that taking into account the opportunity costs of timber production is essential to determine the economic soundness of the ecological project, but the optimality threshold depends on the type of network that is envisaged. |
| Keywords: | Bioeconomics, Graph Theory, Optimal Control, Spatial Dynamics, Green Corridors, Timber Production, Opportunity Cost. |
| JEL: | C61 C65 C67 N5 Q57 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lef:wpaper:2013-05&r=env |
| By: | Antonello Lobianco (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Philippe Delacote (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech; Climate Economic Chair); Sylvain Caurla (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Ahmed Barkaoui (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech) |
| Abstract: | Given the importance of anthropogenic determinants in forest ecosystems within Europe, the objective of this paper is to link the evidence arising from biological models with socioeconomic determinants, where the expected returns of forest investments represent the main driver. An inventory-based forest dynamic model is hence coupled with a market module and a management one in a national level forest sector model for France (FFSM++). Running long-term scenarios (until 2100) we show the implications on the forest composition of an active management: when the most profitable option drives forest investments, coniferous forests are generally preferred over broadleaved ones. This result is however reappraised when the risk aversion of forest owners is explicitly considered in the model, given the higher risk associated with the former. We further show the strong stability of forest ecosystems that, due to the very long cycles, undergoes very small variations in volume stocks even in scenarios where the initial forest regeneration is strongly influenced. |
| Keywords: | Forest sector modelling, Investment, Risk Aversion. |
| JEL: | C63 L52 Q23 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lef:wpaper:2014-05&r=env |
| By: | Pierre Courtois (INRA-Lameta); Charles Figuières (INRA-Lameta); Chloé Mulier (Lameta) |
| Abstract: | This note incorporates ecological interactions into the Noah's Arch problem [M.L. Weitzman, The Noah's Arch problem, Econometrica 66(6) (1998) 1279-1298]. In doing so, we arrive at a general model for ranking in situ conservation projects accounting for species interrelations and provide an operational cost-effectiveness method for the selection of best preserving diversity projects under a limited budget constraint. |
| Keywords: | Conservation priorities, Ecological interactions, Biodiversity, Weitzman's ranking criterion |
| JEL: | C6 Q5 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2014.02&r=env |
| By: | Little, Peter D.; McPeak, John G. |
| Abstract: | The recent popularity of the term resilience in the development discourse concerning arid and semiarid lands in Africa can be traced to two major international issues. The first is climate change, concerned with how to build resilient communities in the face of increasingly extreme weather events. The other is recurrent humanitarian crises, especially traced to the most recent drought†and conflictâ€induced 2011 disaster in the Horn of Africa. |
| Keywords: | food security, Nutrition security, Pastoralism, Climate change, Weather, resilience, shocks, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:9&r=env |
| By: | Arnaud Costinot; Dave Donaldson; Cory B. Smith |
| Abstract: | A large agronomic literature models the implications of climate change for a variety of crops and locations around the world. The goal of the present paper is to quantify the macro-level consequences of these micro-level shocks. Using an extremely rich micro-level dataset that contains information about the productivity---both before and after climate change---of each of 10 crops for each of 1.7 million fields covering the surface of the Earth, we find that the impact of climate change on these agricultural markets would amount to a 0.26% reduction in global GDP when trade and production patterns are allowed to adjust. |
| JEL: | F0 O0 Q0 R0 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20079&r=env |
| By: | Philippe Delacote (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech; Climate Economic Chair); Serge Garcia (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Anne Stenger (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Gengyang Tu (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech) |
| Abstract: | Natura 2000 is a European Union network of protected areas. In France, all forest owners whose forests are located in a Natura 2000 site are eligible to enroll in a biodiversity conservation program by signing a Natura 2000 contract. In this case, the forest owner benefit from financial support that covers all additional costs for conservation and restoration measures and is also exempt from certain taxes such as land tax. Natura 2000 contracts were created as incentive-based conservation tools to enhance landholders’ participation to improve some identified ecological outcomes. Since landowners are very heterogeneous in terms of their preferences and values, it is crucial to understand the determinants of participation for those who signed the proposed contracts. Our study has several objectives: first, to ascertain whether the conservation program is attractive for the private forest owners who want to conserve the biodiversity of their land; second, to investigate which types of forest owners are the most likely to participate; and third, to determine the type of region the most conducive to implementing Natura 2000 programs. |
| Keywords: | Forest, Natura 2000, incentive contracts, participation. |
| JEL: | D2 D8 Q2 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lef:wpaper:2014-02&r=env |
| By: | Salant, Stephen W. (Resources for the Future); Yu, Xueying |
| Abstract: | Over the past 65 years, forest tenure in China has oscillated unpredictably between private and common property regimes. This policy-induced uncertainty has distorted the harvesting decisions of individuals granted rights to grow trees and has lowered the value of China’s forest output. We provide an analytical framework for assessing these effects quantitatively. Understanding the consequences of this policy-induced uncertainty is particularly important since China is currently engaged in an ambitious plan to increase its domestic supply of timber. We estimate that net revenue from nonstate forests would approximately double if farmers had entirely secure use rights to grow trees. Contrary to the standard result in the literature that catastrophic risk makes farmers harvest earlier, we find that they may delay harvesting if the government pays sufficient compensation for the loss. |
| Keywords: | forest tenure risk, Faustmann model, optimal rotation period under uncertainty |
| JEL: | Q23 Q28 |
| Date: | 2014–02–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-08-rev&r=env |
| By: | Drichoutis, Andreas C.; Lusk, Jayson; Pappa, Valentina |
| Abstract: | We conduct a field valuation experiment where we vary the valuation method (contingent valuation vs. inferred valuation) as well as the payment format (dichotomous choice vs. payment card). Willingness-to-accept and willingness-to-pay valuations are elicited in a within-subjects design for foods with climate neutral labels. We find a similar gap for valuations elicited with the contingent or the inferred valuation method. However, we also find that the gap can be muted by using a payment card elicitation format. |
| Keywords: | willingness to pay; willingness to accept; contingent valuation; inferred valuation; payment card; single bounded |
| JEL: | C93 D12 |
| Date: | 2014–05–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:55831&r=env |
| By: | Wei Jin (College of Public Policy and Administration, Zhejiang University); ZhongXiang Zhang (Department of Public Economics School of Economics, Fudan University) |
| Abstract: | International diffusion of advanced environment and energy-related technologies has received much attention in recent environmental economics studies. As a much needed complement to the “black box” complex numerical modelling, this paper contributes to developing a simple, intuitive analytical framework to unveil the mechanism of international technology diffusion for energy productivity growth. We draw on the Solow growth model to build a benchmark exogenous framework to explore the basic mechanism of energy technology diffusion. This exogenous model is then extended to a Romer-type endogenous one where the R&D-induced expansion of energy technology varieties is used to represent the deep structure of technology diffusion. We show that the growth rates of energy productivity are the same across countries in the balanced growth path equilibrium, but the cross-country differences in the efficiency of foreign technology absorption and indigenous innovation lead to cross-country divergence in the levels of energy productivity. The economy that has a stronger capacity of assimilating foreign technology diffusion and undertaking indigenous innovation tends to gain a higher level of energy productivity. |
| Keywords: | Technological Innovation, Energy Technology Diffusion, Solow Growth Model, Endogenous Growth Model |
| JEL: | Q55 Q58 Q43 Q48 O13 O31 O33 O44 F18 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2014.40&r=env |
| By: | Pavla Blahova (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic); Karel Janda (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic and University of Economics, Prague); Ladislav Kristoufek (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic and Institute of Information Theory and Automation, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | This paper connects the biofuels literature with genetic modifications literature by considering the potential of genetic modifications for increasing the efficiency of cellulosic biofuels production. This is done for one particular case through analyzing the effect of genetically modified corn adoption on overall yields of corn for silage. Our econometric model confirms that the use of genetically modified corn with inserted MON810 gene increases the overall corn biomass yield in the production and environmental conditions of the Central Europe, in particular in the Czech Republic. |
| Keywords: | Cellulosic Biofuels; Genetic Modifications |
| JEL: | C23 Q16 Q42 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2014_02&r=env |
| By: | Ceyhun Elgin; Oguz Oztunali |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bou:wpaper:2014/03&r=env |
| By: | Tatiana G. Zárate Barrera; Jorge Higinio Maldonado |
| Abstract: | Resumen El Subsistema de Áreas Marinas Protegidas que se está implementando en Colombia apunta a la conservación de ecosistemas marinos y costeros claves para la provisión de diversos servicios ambientales, que son la base del desarrollo de distintas actividades económicas en el país. El objetivo de este documento es valorar los servicios asociados a captura y almacenamiento de carbono oceánico –Blue Carbon- provistos por el Subsistema. A través de la construcción de una función de beneficios y la estimación de posibles escenarios futuros del precio del carbono se busca aproximar el valor monetario asociado a este servicio. Los resultados indican que el valor anual de los beneficios esperados asociados a la captura y almacenamiento de carbono, provistos por ecosistemas como manglares y pastos marinos, son significativos aunque altamente dependientes de las expectativas frente a las negociaciones sobre la extensión del Protocolo de Kyoto y las dinámicas entre oferta y demanda de los permisos de emisión; además, se encuentra que la tasa natural de pérdida de carbono de estos ecosistemas no parece tener mayor efecto sobre el valor anual de los beneficios. |
| Keywords: | Valoración económica, servicios ecosistémicos, Mercados de emisiones, Captura y almacenamiento de carbono, secuestro de carbono, carbono azul, carbono oceánico, Cambio Climático. |
| Date: | 2014–02–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:011003&r=env |
| By: | Giorgio FABBRI (EPEE,Université d'Evry-Val-d'Essonne, Département d'Economie); Silvia FAGGIAN (Dipartmento di Economia, Universitadi Venezia “Ca'Foscari”); Giuseppe FRENI (Department of Business and Economics, University of Naples “Parthenope”) |
| Abstract: | The paper provides a continuous-time version of the discrete-time Mitra-Wan model of optimal forest management, where trees are harvested to maximize the utility of timber flow over an infinite time horizon. The available trees and the other parameters of the problem vary continuously with respect to both time and age of the trees, so that the system is ruled by a partial differential equation. The behavior of optimal or maximal couple is classified in the cases of linear, concave or strictly concave utility, and positive or null discount rate. All sets of data share the common feature that optimal controls need to be more general than functions, i.e. positive measures. Formulas are provided for golden-rule configurations (uniform density functions with cutting at the ages that solve a Faustmann problem) and for Faustmann policies, and their optimality/maximality is discussed. The results do not always confirm the corresponding ones in discrete time. |
| Keywords: | Optimal harvesting problems, Forest Management, Measure-valued Control |
| JEL: | C61 C62 E22 D90 Q23 |
| Date: | 2014–05–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2014011&r=env |
| By: | Rafael Cuervo Sánchez; Jorge Higinio Maldonado; Mario E. Rueda |
| Abstract: | Resumen Las áreas marinas protegidas son reconocidas en la actualidad como una alternativa de conservación de los ecosistemas marinos. Aunque la figura de protección reduce el área disponible para la actividad pesquera, se ha documentado que la misma puede convertirse en una fuente de recursos para la actividad en las zonas aledañas, a través del efecto de rebosamiento. El objetivo de este estudio es valorar los cambios sobre la provisión de recursos pesqueros, resultado del aumento en las áreas marinas protegidas en las costas colombianas, a través de un modelo dinámico bioeconómico para las pesquerías del camarón blanco (Litopenaeus occidentalis), pelada (Cynoscion phoxocephalus), pargo rojo, (Lutjanus purpureus) y jurel (Caranx hippos), cuatro especies importantes en términos sociales y económicos, en las costas del Pacífico y del Caribe. El modelo incluye un área protegida –con disponibilidad de hábitats esenciales- y un área no protegida, así como la posibilidad de migración entre ellas. Se analizan los cambios en los niveles de biomasa, captura, esfuerzo y los beneficios económicos de la actividad pesquera a través del tiempo, ante diferentes escenarios de protección. Se concluye que a pesar de la reducción del área disponible para la pesca, las áreas protegidas generan –en el mediano plazo- un aumento en los niveles de biomasa y en los beneficios de la actividad pesquera a través del efecto de rebosamiento, lo que permite afirmar que las áreas marinas protegidas constituyen una alternativa de conservación válida, con el potencial de generar beneficios económicos. |
| Keywords: | parques naturales marinos, pesquerías, modelación dinámica, modelos bio-económicos, biodiversidad, efecto de rebosamiento |
| JEL: | C61 Q22 Q51 Q57 |
| Date: | 2014–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:011000&r=env |
| By: | Ana María Montañez Gil; Jorge Higinio Maldonado |
| Abstract: | Resumen El establecimiento de Áreas Marinas Protegidas se ha definido como la principal herramienta para la protección y conservación de los ecosistemas marinos y costeros. Dentro de los beneficios que ofrece el establecimiento de estas áreas se encuentran aumentos en la biodiversidad de especies, en las posibilidades turísticas y en la abundancia de especies destinadas a la pesca, entre otras. Este estudio tiene como objetivo estimar el valor que los hogares atribuyen a un incremento del subsistema de Áreas Marinas Protegidas en Colombia. Para cumplir con este objetivo, se emplea la metodología de experimentos de elección (choice experiments), en la cual se valoran los atributos de protección de ecosistemas, destinos turísticos y condiciones de las comunidades locales de pescadores. Los resultados muestran que aunque el conocimiento generalizado de los hogares sobre áreas marinas protegidas es bajo, ellos están dispuestos a pagar por la ampliación de estas áreas. Asociado a valores de opción y de existencia, la mayoría de los hogares colombianos desea que estas áreas marinas perduren para futuras generaciones. Los resultados muestran que el tener niveles bajos de ingreso, vivir en una ciudad costera y el hecho de no conocer el mar, generan que la disponibilidad a pagar como proporción del ingreso sea mayor. Finalmente, el estudio muestra que las autoridades ambientales contarían con una alta aceptabilidad por parte de los hogares para la ampliación del subsistema de áreas marinas protegidas si se garantizan las condiciones de las comunidades locales. |
| Keywords: | Experimentos de elección, Valoración Económica Total, Preferencias Declaradas, Valor de No Uso. |
| JEL: | Q20 Q22 Q25 Q26 Q51 Q57 |
| Date: | 2014–04–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:011009&r=env |