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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Environment - Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases Macroeconomics and Economic Growth - Climate Change Economics Transport Economics Policy and Planning Energy - Energy Production and Transportation Environmental Economics and Policies Transport |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:20061&r=env |
| By: | Jared C. Carbone (Division of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines); Nicholas Rivers (University of Ottawa) |
| Abstract: | When considering adoption of a domestic climate change policy, politicians and the public frequently refer to concerns about competitiveness. Competitiveness in this context does not have a precise economic definition. In this article, we discuss possible ways to anchor the concept of competitiveness in economic analysis. This framework then serves as the basis of a systematic survey the literature on the quantitative impacts of unilateral climate change policy derived from the results of computable general equilibrium (or CGE) models. We provide empirical estimates of the magnitude of competitiveness effects that might be associated with the adoption of unilateral climate change policies and a meta-analysis of the key sensitivities displayed by the models as a guide to future research. |
| Keywords: | competitiveness, leakage, policy, carbon tax, climate change, computable general equilibrium |
| JEL: | C68 Q52 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mns:wpaper:wp201405&r=env |
| By: | Dudu, Hasan; Cakmak, Erol H |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the effects of climate change and trade liberalization on Turkish Economy between 2008 and 2099 by using a recursive dynamic CGE model. Results of a crop-irrigation requirement model are used to generate climate change shocks. The results suggest that the effects of climate change will be effective especially after 2030s with acceleration after 2060s. GDP loss gets as high as 3.5 percent. Main drivers of the loss in GDP are the significant decline in private consumption and up to two percent increase in imports. A trade liberalization scenario where tariffs on imports from EU are eliminated unilaterally by Turkey is also simulated to investigate the interaction between climate change and trade liberalization. Trade policy alleviates the negative effects of climate change only marginally for Turkey, as suggested by the literature for many other regions in the world. Trade liberalization with EU causes a trade diversion effect and decreases imports from other trading regions. The main adjustment mechanism of the economy under trade liberalization works through the substitution of factors for intermediate goods, imported consumption goods and intermediate inputs for domestic goods. Maize, oilseeds, fruits and processed food benefit from trade liberalization while production of other crops generally decline. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Trade Liberalization, Agriculture, Computable General Equilibrium, Turkey, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C68, Q54, Q17, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:172964&r=env |
| By: | Daniel Iglesias Márquez |
| Abstract: | Multinational corporations (MNCs) benefit from globalization, they have emerged as major actors of the global economy and expanded their activities worldwide. Meanwhile, international society has become increasingly concerned about environmental issues and, therefore, a considerable number of international instruments providing environmental protection have been adopted. Moreover, various groups across the social and economic spectrum have expressed their concerns about environmental degradation caused by industrial activities and demanded greater awareness with respect to business decisions that might have a potential impact on the environment. Since the 1970s, several attempts have been made to adopt instruments regulating multinational corporations conduct at the international level. The result has been a number of codes of conduct at international and regional level focused on the impact of MNCs in two main areas: social conditions and the environment. Among the codes of conduct are: the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights, the Global Compact and, the most recent attempt in this field, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' Framework proposed by UN Special Representative John Ruggie. These codes are voluntary in nature and have no enforcement mechanism. This paper examines the environmental approaches of the above mentioned codes. The guiding question is whether environmental issues included in the international codes of conduct fall within the principles of international environmental law in order to encourage a more environmentally friendly behavior of MNCs (green businesses). The first part of this paper provides an overview of the relationship between business and the environment and, moreover, the impact of industrial activities on the environment. The second part analyses the environmental content of the above mentioned codes of conduct. It also identifies the principles of international environmental law that are included in these codes. The third part examines how MNCs apply these codes, either for reducing their impact on the environment or making use of them as a green marketing strategy. Finally, conclusions are drawn as to the effectiveness and influence of these codes over company management and environmental behavior of MNCs. |
| Keywords: | Globalization, Multinational Corporations, Environment, Codes of Conduct |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msm:wpaper:2014/24&r=env |
| By: | Harry Clarke (School of Economics, La Trobe University); Iain Fraser (School of Economics, La Trobe University; University of Kent); Robert Waschik (School of Economics, La Trobe University) |
| Abstract: | The economic implications for Australia of replacing its carbon tax policy with an Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) scheme are examined. A computable general equilibrium model is used to show that the budget allocated for the ERF is about 50 per cent of that required to meet Australia's greenhouse gas abatement commitments. |
| Keywords: | carbon tax, emissions reduction fund, computable general equilibrium model |
| JEL: | C68 Q48 Q52 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:ccepwp:1416&r=env |
| By: | Omar O. Chisari; Sebastián J. Miller |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effectiveness of carbon taxes on macroeconomic performance when manufacturing firms have the opportunity to change their scale of operation and degree of formality. The hypothesis is that when tax evasion or elusion is possible, it cannot be ruled out that emissions increase rather than decrease due to the reallocation of resources from the rest of manufacturing towards informal small-scale firms. When informality is high, industry could adapt to carbon taxes by reducing the scale of operation of big firms and increasing the number of small firms. However, when taxes are enforceable in all types of firms, there is a cost in terms of GDP and employment, since small-scale firms are more labor intensive. For numerical experiments, two CGE models calibrated for Argentina and Mexico are used. The 'domestic leakage' is found to be more relevant for Argentina than for Mexico. |
| Keywords: | Environmental taxes, Tax evasion, Taxation, Argentina, Mexico, Informality, Carbon taxes, General Equilibrium Model (CGE) |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:86256&r=env |
| By: | Cortignani, Raffaele; Dono, Gabriele; Giraldo, Luca |
| Abstract: | Sustainable management of natural resources and climate action together form one of the three objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2014–2020. They are addressed by replacing the existing direct payments under Pillar 1 with a basic payment topped up by an additional payment conditional on farmers undertaking “agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment”, under a policy referred to as greening. In this study, the impact of greening was assessed using a Discrete Stochastic Programming model that describes the farm production in a Mediterranean agricultural area in different climate scenarios. The results show that greening is not beneficial throughout the study area. Some farm types are particularly affected because of the recent price increase for maize silage for biogas. However, greening appears to have a positive impact on chemical use, particularly nitrogen. The application of the measures greening in the current climate scenario seems to have a more significant impact respect to the future climate scenario. |
| Keywords: | greening measures, agricultural supply analysis, mathematical programming, sustainability, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C61, Q01, Q18, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:173098&r=env |
| By: | Iñigo Capellán-Pérez; Mikel González-Eguino; Iñaki Arto; Alberto Ansuategi; Kishore Dhavala; Pralit Patel; Anil Markandya |
| Abstract: | This report has various objectives: (i) to provide an overview of the climate Integrated Assessment approach; (ii) to describe the Global Climate Assessment Model (GCAM); (iii) to outline the new IPCC scenario framework represented by the Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs) and the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs); and (iv) to document the implementation of the new scenario framework in version 3.1 of the GCAM. The GCAM baseline is thus calibrated to the “Middle of the Road†or SSP2 scenario using the data calculated by the OECD. The implications of this scenario are important because it will probably become a standard scenario among the research community. The exogenous variables, the implications for income convergence and the results in terms of energy mix, emissions, temperature and radiative forcing of SSP2 implementation in the GCAM are presented at both global and regional levels. These results are also compared with the GCAM-Reference baseline and the IPCC SRES representative scenarios. Then the feasibility, cost and implications of a climate policy that seeks to stabilize temperature at 2ºC (2.6 W/m2 RCP) using a global uniform carbon tax are analyzed. The study is completed by a decomposition analysis that enables the main driving factors of CO2 variation to be identified, including population, affluence, energy intensity, carbon intensity and fossil-fuel share of the energy mix. Finally we draw some conclusions and highlight points for further research. |
| Keywords: | SSPs, Integrated Assessment Model, long-run projections, energy systems, climate stabilization. |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcc:wpaper:2014-04&r=env |
| By: | Coderoni, Silvia; Esposti, Roberto |
| Abstract: | This paper firstly aims at proposing and applying a methodology to reconstruct the agricultural GHG emissions and the consequent Carbon Footprint at the farm level. This allows investigating how the emission performance of Italian farms evolves over time also distinguishing among different typologies of farms and territories. Secondly, the paper attempts to put forward some hypotheses explaining the observed heterogeneous evolution of the farm-level CF. In particular, the attention focuses on the possible role of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) here intended both as the 2005 reform of its first pillar and those second pillar’s measures targeted to activities and practices that have a direct impact on the CF. The empirical analysis concerns a balanced panel of Italian FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network) farms observed over years 2003-2007. This period covers the 2003/2005 reform of the first pillar of the CAP as well as the full application of the second pillar’s measures for the 2000-2007 programming period. A tentative estimation of the farm-level CF and its link to the farm-level delivery of CAP payments is thus provided. Results, although interesting and encouraging, deliver unclear and ambiguous evidence on the role of both aspects of the CAP on the observed CF performance and evolution. Several improvements seem needed to achieve more conclusive evidence putting forward appropriate theoretical concepts, models and econometric approaches to make this assessment more sound and robust, in order to inform the debate and the decisions about the proper policies to mitigate agricultural GHG emission. |
| Keywords: | agricultural greenhouse gases emissions, carbon footprint, farm-level data, CAP, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, O130, Q120, Q150, Q540, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:173012&r=env |
| By: | Chao Wei (Department of Economics/Institute for International Economic Policy, George Washington University); Shanjun Li (Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | During the recent economic crisis, many countries have adopted stimulus programs designed to achieve two goals: to stimulate economic activity in lagging durable goods sectors and to protect or even enhance environmental quality. The environmental benefits are often viewed and much advocated as co-benefits of economic stimulus. This paper investigates the potential tradeoff between the stimulus and environmental objectives in the context of the popular U.S. Cash-for-Clunkers (CFC) program by developing and estimating a dynamic discrete choice model of vehicle ownership. Results from counterfactual analysis based on several specifcations all show that the design elements to achieve environmental benets significantly limit the program impact on demand stimulus: the cost of vehicle demand stimulus after netting out environmental benets can be up to 77 percent higher under the program than that from an alternative policy design without the design elements aimed at the environmental objective. |
| Keywords: | Stimulus, Dynamic Discrete Choice Model, Vehicle Scrappage |
| JEL: | E62 H23 H31 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gwi:wpaper:2014-12&r=env |
| By: | Bertrand Crettez; Pierre-André Jouvet; Ludovic A. Julien |
| Abstract: | We introduce a pollution permits market in a general oligopoly equilibrium model. Specifically, we consider a two-commodity economy with one productive sector. The first commodity is inelastically supplied by a set of competitive traders. The second commodity is produced by a set of strategic traders, using the first commodity as an input. The production of the second commodity is a polluting activity. Introducing a competitive emissions permits market solves the pollution control problem but is not sufficient to eliminate market distortions and to reach a Pareto optimal allocation. We study the conditions under which a subsidy to the strategic agents, financed by a tax on the competitive agents, is welfare increasing. |
| Keywords: | oligopoly equilibrium, taxation policy, pollution. |
| JEL: | D43 D51 H2 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cec:wpaper:1413&r=env |
| By: | Weitzman, Martin L. |
| Abstract: | The choice of an overall discount rate for climate change investments depends critically on how different components of investment payoffs are discounted at differing rates reflecting their underlying risk characteristics. Such underlying rates can vary enormously, from ≈1 percent for idiosyncratic diversifiable risk to ≈7 percent for systematic nondiversifiable risk. Which risk-adjusted rate is chosen can have a huge impact on cost-benefit analysis. In this expository paper, I attempt to set forth in accessible language with a simple linear model what I think are some of the basic issues involved in discounting climate risks. The paper introduces a new concept that may be relevant for climate-change discounting: the degree to which an investment hedges against the bad tail of catastrophic damages by insuring positive expected payoffs even under the worst circumstances. The prototype application is calculating the social cost of carbon. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hrv:faseco:12841971&r=env |
| By: | Margaretha Wewerinke (Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge; European University Institute, Florence, Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the extent to which international human rights law offers protection to "climate migrants" irrespective of whether these persons would qualify for refugee status. In contrast with most existing literature, it does not focus on States’ obligations arising from the right to life or the prohibition of inhumane treatment. Instead, the paper focuses on the right of persons belonging to minorities to enjoy their culture as protected under Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The paper peruses the Human Rights Committee's interpretation of Article 27, with particular attention to its link with the rights of peoples to self-determination and to freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources as protected under Article 1 of the Covenant. Based on this analysis the paper challenges the presupposition that a normative gap exists, pointing instead at a need for further research into the interpretation of norms and obstacles to enforcement. |
| Keywords: | Cultural rights, Human rights, Climate change, International Law |
| JEL: | K32 K33 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ccc:wpaper:007&r=env |
| By: | Banerjee, Simanti; de Vries, Frans P.; Hanley, Nick; van Soest, Daan |
| Abstract: | The Agglomeration Bonus (AB) is a mechanism to induce adjacent landowners to spatially coordinate their land use for the delivery of ecosystem services from farmland. This paper uses laboratory experiments to explore the performance of the AB in achieving the socially optimal land management configuration in a local network environment where the information available to subjects varies. The AB poses a coordination problem between two Nash equilibria: a Pareto dominant and a risk dominant equilibrium. The experiments indicate that if subjects are informed about both their direct and indirect neighbors’ actions, they are more likely to coordinate on the Pareto dominant equilibrium relative to the case where subjects have information about their direct neighbors’ action only. However, the extra information can only delay – and not prevent – the transition to the socially inferior risk dominant Nash equilibrium. In the long run, the AB mechanism may only be partially effective in enhancing delivery of ecosystem services on farming landscapes featuring local networks. |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration bonus, agri-environment schemes, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, information spillovers, Payments for Ecosystem Services, spatial coordination, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edn:sirdps:570&r=env |
| By: | Myriam Merad (INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques - INERIS); Nicolas Dechy (INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques - INERIS); Lisa Serir (FEMTO-ST - Franche-Comté Électronique Mécanique, Thermique et Optique - Sciences et Technologies - CNRS : UMR6174 - Université de Franche-Comté - Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard - Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et des Microtechniques); Michel Grabisch (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris); Frédéric Marcel (INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques - INERIS) |
| Abstract: | The implementation of Sustainable Development (SD) within an Organization is a difficult task. This is due to the fact that it is difficult to deal with conflicting and incommensurable aspects such as environmental, economic and social dimensions. In this paper we have used a Multi-Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA) methodology to cope with these difficulties. MCDA methodology offers the opportunity to avoid monetary valuation of the different dimensions of the SD. These dimensions are not substitutable for one another and all have a role to play. There is an abundance of possible aggregation procedures in MCDA methodology. In this paper we have proposed an innovative method to choose a suitable aggregation procedure for SD problems. Real life case studies of the implementation of an outranking approach (i.e., ELECTRE) and of a mono-criterion synthesis approach (i.e., MAUT approaches based on the Choquet integral) were done to respectively rank 22 SD strategic actions within an expertise Institute and rank 20 practical operational actions to control energy consumption of the Institute's buildings. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable Development indicators; Sustainable Development action plan; Multi-Criteria Decision Aid; ELECTRE; Choquet Integral |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00752736&r=env |
| By: | Schaller, Lena; Ehmeier, V; Kapfer, M; Kantelhardt, J |
| Abstract: | The use and valorisation of landscape services provided in agricultural landscapes are assumed to create socio-economic benefits, which in turn can enhance the competitiveness of rural regions. However, the causal relationships between the valorisation of landscape and the socio-economic benefits are complex and up to now not comprehensively understood. Results of a stakeholder workshop held in a rural area in the northern Austrian Alps indicate, that functioning networks of regional actors are of utter importance for successful landscape valorisation. Also literature reveals that the successful involvement of stakeholders is a major factor for an effective management of complex social processes. Against this background our paper analyses the contribution of social networks to landscape valorisation in the Austrian study region “Mittleres Ennstal”. We apply a Social Network Analysis (SNA) on a closed stakeholder network of altogether 22 institutions representing agriculture, tourism, local administration, local economy, nature conservation and rural development. We combine SNA with an expert evaluation of different strategies of landscape valorisation and assess how regional socio-economic benefits from landscape valorisation potentially impact on regional competitiveness. The study gives insights about the density of stakeholder networks in rural areas and about the different strategies of landscape valorisation pursued by different stakeholder groups. The method applied is suitable to show the potentials of stakeholder networks in fostering landscape valorisation. It furthermore is able to detect strategic gaps and thus can reveal potential starting points for the improvement and bundling of landscape valorisation strategies aiming at the enhancement of regional competitiveness. |
| Keywords: | Social Network Analysis, Stakeholder networks, Landscape valorisation strategies, Agricultural landscape, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Q15, Q180, Q51, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:174944&r=env |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policies International Economics and Trade - Free Trade Economic Theory and Research Private Sector Development - Emerging Markets International Economics and Trade - Trade Policy Macroeconomics and Economic Growth Environment |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:20014&r=env |
| By: | Simone Borghesi; Chiara Calastri; Giorgio Fagiolo |
| Abstract: | The issue of transportation is of primary importance in our societies. A large share of greenhouse gases is generated by the transport sector, and road casualties are one among the most common causes of death. In the present work, we study commuter choice between alternative transport modes using an evolutionary- game model, wherein commuters can choose between using their private car or taking the bus. We examine the possible dynamics that can emerge in a homogeneous urban population, where agents are boundedly rational and imitate the others. We obtain a different number of equilibria depending on the values of the parameters of the model. We carry out comparative-static exercises and examine possible policy measures that can be implemented in order to modify the agents' payoff, and consequently the equilibria of the system, leading the society towards more sustainable transportation patterns. |
| Keywords: | Commuter choices; Transportation; Evolutionary dynamics; Environmental policy |
| Date: | 2014–08–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2014/15&r=env |
| By: | Timothy Swanson; Chiara Ravetti; Yana Popp Jin; Mu Quan; Zhang Shiqiu (Centre for International Environmental Studies, IHEID, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines with a case study of Beijing, China, the health benefits that could be reaped from urban air quality improvements. The study implements a household survey to collect information about the yearly medical expenditures and lost days of work, to estimates the total costs of illness (COI) borne by a typical individual due to airborne diseases. The results of this survey provide a lower bound for the health costs borne by the urban population of Beijing due to air pollution. We find that the average individual COI in our sample is more than 3000 yuan per year, corresponding to almost one month of the average wage (slightly more than 500 US$ per year). This is quite sizeable, considering that it represents just the minimum benchmark for the damages caused by pollution to health. This result indicates that Beijing could benefit quite substantially from reducing air pollution in terms of health costs: if it could completely eliminate pollution, the savings in terms of COI would range in an order of magnitude of 21 million yuan per year only from hospitalized cases. |
| Keywords: | Cost of Illness, Air pollution, Household survey, Insurance |
| JEL: | Q53 I13 C83 |
| Date: | 2014–09–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:ciesrp:cies_rp_28&r=env |
| By: | Francesco Nicolli (Università di Ferrara); Francesco Vona (OFCE Sciences Po, Skema Business School) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates empirically the effect of market regulation and renewable energy policies on innovation activity in different renewable energy technologies. For the EU countries and the years 1980 to 2007, we built a unique dataset containing information on patent production in eight different technologies, proxies of market regulation and technology-specific renewable energy policies. Our main findings show that lowering entry barriers is a more significant driver of renewable energy innovation than privatisation and unbundling, but its effect varies across technologies, being stronger in technologies characterised by the potential entry of small, independent power producers. Additionally, the inducement effect of renewable energy policies is heterogeneous and more pronounced for wind, which is the only technology that is mature and has high technological potential. Finally, the ratification of the Kyoto protocol – determining a more stable and less uncertain policy framework - amplifies the inducement effect of both energy policy and market liberalisation. |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fce:doctra:1415&r=env |