|
on Environmental Economics |
|
Issue of 2014‒12‒19
fifty-one papers chosen by Francisco S. Ramos Universidade Federal de Pernambuco |
| By: | Banzhaf, H. Spencer; Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future); Chung Criscimagna, Susie; Cosby, Bernard J.; Evans, David A.; Krupnick, Alan (Resources for the Future); Siikamaki, Juha (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | The concept of ecosystem services has become increasingly influential in conservation policy, uniting natural and social scientists in efforts to develop values for environmental benefits consistent with underlying ecological and social processes. Understanding the consequences for ecosystem services is crucial for crafting well-designed environmental policies and management practices. For example, in the United States, new air pollution policies are driving a reduction in atmospheric emissions of sulfur dioxide and reducing acid precipitation in the Southern Appalachians, which, in turn, is expected to contribute to the ecological recovery of the region. Linking detailed ecosystem modeling to stated preference methods, we illustrate how multidimensional ecosystems can be evaluated to identify policy priorities. We also report estimates of willingness to pay for these policies that can be used in benefit-cost analysis. We estimate these benefits to be $15.67 per year per household in the region to be achieved by 2060. |
| Keywords: | acidification, acid rain, ecosystem values, contingent valuation, choice experiments, willingness to pay, stated preference |
| JEL: | Q51 Q57 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-16&r=env |
| By: | Mrabet, Rachid |
| Abstract: | Mediterranean agriculture is highly vulnerable to climate change. A crop production strategy that responds to climate change must address both adaptability and mitigation aspects, and should also contribute to decreasing the overall agricultural carbon footprint in the economy. Over the past decades, there have been concerted efforts to promote such strategy through application of conservation agriculture (CA). CA is a set of soil management practices that minimize the disruption of the soil's structure, composition and natural biodiversity. Despite high diversity in the types of crops grown, all forms of CA share 4 core principles. These include (i) maintenance of permanent or semi-permanent soil cover, (ii) direct seeding with minimum soil disturbance, (iii) regular crop rotations or sequences and (iv) integrated weed control. It also uses or promotes where possible or needed various management practices such as utilization of green manures/cover crops, integrated pest and disease management, use of well adapted, high yielding varieties and good quality seeds, efficient water management and controlled traffic over agricultural soils. The origins, inventions and evolution of CA principles and practices are embedded in North and South American farming societies who, out of necessity, had to respond to the severe erosion and land degradation problems and productivity declines on their agricultural soils due to “intensive” tillage-based production agriculture. CA is currently practiced on 117 million hectares in all continents and all ecologies, including the dry Mediterranean environments. Presently, CA is advertised as a climate-smart agriculture permitting to (i) cope with drought and climate variability, (ii) invert erosion processes, (iii) mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and (iv) sustain food production and tackle food security. For Mediterranean environments, many researchers believe that agriculture has the potential of becoming a much larger sink for CO2, if CA principles are followed. In fact, the accumulated scientific and farmer’s evidences have shown that CA can successfully provide a range of unequivocal productivity, socio-economic and environmental co-benefits to the producers and the society at large. To achieve these benefits, CA needs heightened attention in agricultural policy processes and strategies from national to regional levels. This paper is addressing these issues in order to smooth policy shifts to CA in dry Mediterranean areas. |
| Keywords: | Conservation agriculture, Mediterranean climate, ecological intensification, climate-smart agriculture, no-tillage systems., Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:morc11:188547&r=env |
| By: | Shrader, Jeffrey |
| Abstract: | For many environmental problems, economics adaptation will likely be the primary means by which potential damages are avoided. How and by how much humans adapt to environmental risks, therefore, is a question of paramount importance. This paper uses a novel dataset documenting the introduction of forecasts of an important, global driver of climate variation—El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO)—to derive the first well identified estimates of total adaptation in a climate exposed industry. The primary results indicate that for the setting under consideration, risks from ENSO events can be almost entirely mitigated given 3 months of advance warning. This adaptation comes from a combination of daily and annual actions. In sum, the results point both to the ability for individuals in some settings to mitigate their own environmental risks given high quality information. |
| Keywords: | Adaptation, Climate, Fisheries, Forecasts, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty, D8, Q22, Q54, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170626&r=env |
| By: | Garg, Teevrat |
| Abstract: | Despite growing concern about the effect of environmental degradation on human health, little effort has been made to quantify the effect of ecosystem damage on public health indicators such as the incidence and burden of infectious diseases. Using village-level panel data and satellite data on forest cover, I find that the average within-sample deforestation results in a 2-4.5\% increase in the probability of malarial outbreak in each village in that district, translating to 360,000 - 880,000 additional infected individuals during the course of this study. The evidence is consistent with an ecological response and the effect of deforestation on malaria cannot be explained by post-deforestation land use change, anti-malarial programs or migration. The effect is specific to malaria, with deforestation having no discernible effect on other diseases (measles, respiratory infections, dengue and diarrhea) whose disease ecology differs from that of malaria. These large effects underscore that forest conservation can have local health benefits in addition to global carbon benefits. |
| Keywords: | Deforestation, Malaria, Public Health, Environmental Economics and Policy, Health Economics and Policy, International Development, Land Economics/Use, Public Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169822&r=env |
| By: | Ranganathan, Shyam (Department of Mathematics); Bali Swain, Ranjula (Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Global emissions beyond 44 gigatonnes of carbondioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) in 2020 can potentially lead the world to an irreversible climate change. Employing a novel dynamical system modeling approach, we predict that in a business-asusual scenario, it will reach 61 GtCO2e by 2020. Testing estimated parameters, we nd that limiting the burden of emission reduction to the top 25 global emitters, does not increase their encumbrance. In absence of emission cuts, technology and preferences for environmental quality have to improve by at least 2.6 percent and 3.5 percent if the emission target has to be met by 2020. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable Development Goals; dynamical systems; Bayesian; greenhouse gases |
| JEL: | C51 C52 C53 C61 Q01 Q50 |
| Date: | 2014–10–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:uunewp:2014_010&r=env |
| By: | Cai, Yongxia; Beach, Robert H.; Zhang, Yuquan |
| Abstract: | Efforts to satisfy global energy demand and improve food security while simultaneously taking action to mitigate climate change pose many key challenges for the world. In this study, the Applied Dynamic Analysis of the Global Economy (ADAGE), a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, is applied to examine the impact of oil price on biofuel expansion, and subsequently, on food supply/price, land use change and climate mitigation potential, when both first and second generation biofuel feedstocks are considered. The results indicate despite a continued increase in land productivity and energy efficiency, increases in population and economic growth lead to a global increase in agriculture production, rising food, agriculture, biofuels, and energy prices, and land conversion from the other four land types to cropland in the REF scenario from 2010 to 2040. Oil price plays an important role in biofuel expansion. Globally, higher oil price leads to the expansion of biofuel production, increasing its share in total liquid fuel consumption in the private transportation sector. Consequently, more land is allocated for biofuel production, reducing global agriculture output and increasing agricultural consumption prices. Although emissions from land-use change increase, the overall emissions including fossil fuel emissions decreases. Regions display different patterns on biofuel expansions, land-use change, prices for food/agriculture and energy/biofuels, and GHG emissions. |
| Keywords: | Biofuels, Computable General Equilibrium, Oil Price, Food security, GHG Mitigation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170589&r=env |
| By: | Narayan, Tulika; Belova, Anna |
| Abstract: | To support low-emission development strategies (LEDS) in the agriculture sector in Vietnam, this paper estimates marginal abatement cost curves (MACC) for mitigation options for rice cultivation in Vietnam: short-duration rice variety, draining of rice fields and reduced use of fertilizer or alternate wetting and drying (AWD). The MACC, which show the average cost of reducing total greenhouse gas emissions by one unit in rice cultivation in Vietnam, are the first attempt at using representative data on rice management practices and their costs are realized by farmers on the field. Typically, these estimates are usually developed using expert judgment and assuming perfect adoption of the technology. In addition, the MACC uses with region-specific estimates of carbon emissions from rice fields. Furthermore, when estimating the potential for potential for carbon emissions abatement from alternative management practices, we consider the behavioral constraints in adopting management practices, rather than just focusing on the technical potential. Among these potential mitigation options, in the South (An Giang Province), the largest percentage area is under low fertilizer and short-duration variety, followed by short duration with AWD. In the North (Thai Binh Province), majority of the area is under low fertilizer and short-duration variety. In the North, low fertilizer and short-duration variety appear to be production cost-reducing options, but do not have as much mitigation potential compared to alternate wetting and drying (AWD). However, AWD is a production cost-increasing option, implying that farmers may need a financial incentive to adopt AWD. Furthermore, farmers have trouble adopting AWD given its complexity. Therefore, when accounting for adoption constraints for AWD the abatement potential reduces significantly for AWD. This implies that the Government of Vietnam will have to focus on areas and communities that are more likely to adopt these technologies: farmers with ability to control irrigation and farmers with deeper pockets and access to high value markets. In the South, the use of short-duration variety had higher emissions. Short-duration varieties lead to lower methane (CH4) emissions but can have higher nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The explanation for this outcome is that the South has more rain and hotter temperatures, which can lead to higher nitrous oxide emissions. Thus, the short-duration variety needs to be revisited as a mitigation option in the South. In particular, this option needs to be combined with reduced fertilizer use to be an effective mitigation option. The application of organic amendments and crop residue management were not practiced much in the South. Therefore, these options could be not be analyzed. Overall, only AWD was a viable option, which is why we did not generate MACCs for the South. |
| Keywords: | MACC, Marginal Abatement Cost Curve, Rice Cultivate, Climate change mitigation., Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, International Development, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170185&r=env |
| By: | Li, Shanjun; Kyul Yoo, Han; Shih, Jhih-Shyang (Resources for the Future); Palmer, Karen (Resources for the Future); Macauley, Molly K. (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas and has a global warming potential at least 28 times as high as carbon dioxide. Municipal solid waste landfills are reported to be the third-largest source of anthropogenic methane emissions in the United States, responsible for 18 percent of emissions in 2011. Capturing landfill gas for use as an energy source for electricity or heat produces alternative energy as well as environmental benefits. A host of federal and state policies encourage the development of landfill-gas-to-energy projects. Our research provides the first systematic economic assessment of the role these policies play in adoption decisions. Results suggest that renewable portfolio standards and investment tax credits have contributed to the development of these projects, accounting for 13 of 277 projects during our data period from 1991 to 2010. These policy-induced projects have led to 12.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide–equivalent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and a net benefit of $52.59 million. |
| Keywords: | renewable energy, landfill methane, renewable portfolio standards, investment tax credit |
| JEL: | Q48 Q53 |
| Date: | 2014–07–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-17&r=env |
| By: | Daigneault, Adam; Brown, Pike; Gawith, David |
| Abstract: | This paper quantifies the economic impacts of flooding in the Ba River and Penang River catchments in Viti Levu, Fiji. We conducted a detailed assessment of flood damage stemming from two major flooding events in 2012 that severely affected the two important catchments, primarily by using evidence from a novel survey administered in early 2013. We combine these empirical measures of damage with GIS data to estimate total damages from flooding and find that the January 2012 flood caused FJ$36.4 and FJ$12.2 in damages for the Ba River and Penang River catchments, respectively, while the March 2012 flood caused FJ$24.1 and FJ$8.4 in damages for the Ba River and Penang River catchments, respectively. We then estimate the cost of future flooding under moderate and severe climate change projections. Flooding is projected to become more frequent and more severe under both scenarios, with annual losses increasing by 100% with moderate climate change and by 300% with severe climate change. For perspective, damages from a 1-in-50 year flood, which is the estimated return period of the January 2012 event, are projected to cause between FJ$76.5 and FJ$153 million in damages in the Ba River Catchment under these two scenarios. |
| Keywords: | Natural disasters, climate change, flooding, Pacific Islands, economic impacts, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Land Economics/Use, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169398&r=env |
| By: | Williams III, Roerton C. (Resources for the Future); Gordon, Hal (Resources for the Future); Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future); Jared C. Carbone; Morgenstern, Richard D. (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Carbon taxes efficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions but are criticized as regressive. This paper links dynamic overlapping-generation and microsimulation models of the United States to estimate the initial incidence. We find that while carbon taxes are regressive, the incidence depends much more on how carbon tax revenue is used. Recycling revenues to cut capital taxes is efficient but exacerbates regressivity. Lump-sum rebates are less efficient but much more progressive, benefiting the three lower income quintiles even when ignoring environmental benefits. A labor tax swap represents an intermediate option, more progressive than a capital tax swap and more efficient than a rebate. |
| Keywords: | carbon tax, distribution, incidence, tax swap, income quintiles, climate change |
| JEL: | H22 H23 Q52 |
| Date: | 2014–08–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-24&r=env |
| By: | Debashis Chakraborty (Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, India); Sacchidananda Mukherjee (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi, India) |
| Abstract: | Over the last decade cross-country trade and investment flows have increased considerably, which is often linked to climate change concerns. The present analysis attempts to understand the influence of trade and investment flows on CO2 emissions through panel data model estimation for a set of 181 countries over 1990-2009. The empirical findings confirm that both in case of lower and higher income countries, higher merchandise trade growth in general and service and merchandise export growth in particular leads to the higher CO2 emission growth in their territories. Both FDI inward and outward stock is found to be positively related to CO2 emission, reflecting a complementary relationship between the two. The empirical results indicate that the composition, scale and technology effects significantly influence the trade-climate change interrelationship |
| Keywords: | environment and trade, foreign direct investment, climate change; democracy |
| JEL: | F21 Q56 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ift:wpaper:1021&r=env |
| By: | Yang, Sansi; Shumway, C. Richard |
| Abstract: | We construct a stochastic dual model to investigate the structural adjustment of three aggregate input and two aggregate output categories in U.S. agriculture under climatic change uncertainty. A century of national annual data (1910-2011) is used in the empirical analysis. Independent and instantaneous adjustment is rejected for each output and input, but strict fixity cannot be rejected for livestock and capital. It takes about four years for crops, and three years for fertilizer to adjust towards their optimal levels. Labor adjustment reaches the equilibrium within one year. |
| Keywords: | adjustment costs, climate change, dynamic duality, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, D21, Q54, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170609&r=env |
| By: | Taheripour, Farzad; Tyner, Wallce E. |
| Abstract: | This paper examines and quantifies the consequences of increases in supplies of oil and gas from shale resources for the US economy and its agricultural and biofuel industries using a computable general equilibrium modeling framework under alternative economic conditions and emissions reduction policies. It shows that increases in supplies of oil and gas from shale resources generate enormous gains for the US economy. The question is do we use it all for higher economic growth or do we allocate part of it for reducing future global warming. This paper shows that we can sacrifice about 43% of the gains to reduce GHG emissions by 27%. Finally, the results of this paper indicate that in the presence of shale resources elimination of biofuel mandates negatively affect biofuels and crop industries. However, the impact is not huge because using shale resources increases national income and that generates a higher demand for food (including livestock product) which eventually prevents a big fall in demand for crops. |
| Keywords: | Shale Resources, Biofuels, Agriculture, General Equilibrium, Emissions Reduction, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, C68, D60, F18, Q10, Q20, Q40, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170238&r=env |
| By: | Halkos, George; Tzeremes, Nickolaos; Tzeremes, Panagiotis |
| Abstract: | This paper by using the system of LEAP (Long range Energy Alternatives Planning System) constructs four different energy scenarios for the Greek transport, energy and industry sectors. By projecting the renewable energy use for the years 2020 and 2030 and the associated resulting carbon dioxide emissions, the paper constructs through nonparametric analysis efficiency measures evaluating the different energy policy which can be adopted. As a result it provides a quantitative measure of future policy performance under different energy consumption scenarios. The results reveal that the largest policy challenge for the Greek authorities will be the energy usage of the Greek industry since it is robust towards the adoption of renewable energy sources. It appears that under the four different policy scenarios the Greek industry sector will not be able to meet the environmental targets set by the Greek government. Finally, the analysis reveals that the targets for 2020 and 2030 can be met for the energy sector however for transport can only be met for the year 2030. |
| Keywords: | Climate change; Renewable energy sources; Greek energy system; linear programming; nonparametric analysis. |
| JEL: | C60 C67 Q40 Q53 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:59994&r=env |
| By: | Thai-Thanh Dang; Annabelle Mourougane |
| Abstract: | Multifactor productivity (MFP) is increasingly used in economic policy, not least to compute potential output. Most measures are based on a standard production function combining labour and capital, but do not incorporate the negative by-products of the production process such as air pollution that could have deleterious effect on health and productivity in the medium to long term (see for instance OECD (2014)). The failure to account for the costs of environmental damages and the benefits associated with emission reduction impart a bias to standard measures of MFP. Ignoring these dimensions can give a misleading idea of growth prospects over the medium to long term... |
| Date: | 2014–08–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envddd:2014/1-en&r=env |
| By: | France, Caillavet; Adélaide, Fadhuile; Véronique, Nichèle |
| Abstract: | Europe committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 40 % by 2030 from 1990 levels. Food emits about 30% of all GHG, the major toll arising from animal products (half of food GHG). This urges the necessity of public actions to encourage sustainable diets. Food policy is now at the double stake of preserving environment and improving health. To implement a public policy combining environmental and nutritional issues in a socially- conscious framework, a food demand study and the potential substitutions between foods is necessary. This article aims at offering a solid base for such policy decisions. Which are the food groups more suitable for a price change? Where are the more disparities in price responsiveness among income classes? Are own-price effects the only relevant? Do cross-price effects matter? To study food demand, we estimate an EASI demand system. It is based on a pseudo panel of 8112 observations constructed from Kantar panel data (1998-2010). It registers French households purchases for food-at-home. We add the nutritional content and Greenhouse gas emission related to foods through Life Cycle Analysis. For 21 food groups, built according to their environmental and nutritional characteristics, we run expenditure and price elasticities. Based on these results, two taxation scenarios are implemented. For each we increase by 20% the prices of food categories with most adverse effects on (1) environment only (ENV) and (2) both environment and health (ENV-NUT). The ENV scenario induces more reductions in environment impact than the ENV-NUT scenario, in particular for SO2 emissions. A greatest impact is observed for lower-average income households and with a household head less than 30 years old. However, undesirable nutritional effects lead to consider the necessity of a trade-off between environment and nutrition. Our conclusions find that this trade-off is not so costly (-18% in terms of CO2). Moreover, our results give new insights for targeting public policies toward the youngest households which we find more sensitive to prices and which are at the beginning of the consumption life-cycle. |
| Keywords: | EASI demand system, food purchases, socioeconomic inequalities, public policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, C35, D12, Q15, |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169974&r=env |
| By: | Ndebele, Tom; Marsh, Dan |
| Abstract: | There is growing interest in non-market valuation research to explore the importance of attitudes and perceptions in explaining heterogeneity of preferences among consumers. Previous research on environmental attitude (EA) and its influence on preferences has been criticised for the non-systematic way in which researchers have measured EA. This paper investigates the effect of environmental attitude on the demand for green electricity in New Zealand, identifies groups (latent classes) with homogenous preferences, and estimates willingness (WTP) for “green” electricity in the context of supplier choice or switching. The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale is used to measure EA, and we examine the effect of using sub-scales of the NEP Scale on posterior class membership probabilities. To generate the data required for this research, an online choice experiments survey targeting residential electricity bill payers in New Zealand was conducted in February 2014. A usable sample of 224 respondents was achieved. Data was analysed using a latent class framework in which the integration of EA with stated choice is either direct via the utility function as interactions with the attribute levels of alternatives or as a variable in the class membership probability model. We identify three latent classes with different preferences for the attributes of electricity suppliers. A typical respondent with a high NEP Scale score is willing to pay on average $12.80 more per month on their power bill to secure a 10% increase in electricity generated from renewable energy sources compared to respondents with low NEP scores. Furthermore, the results suggest that the sub-scales of the NEP Scale are less accurate in assigning respondents to environmental classes and that the sub-scale with 5 items is less accurate than the sub-scale with 10 items. |
| Keywords: | electricity suppliers, choice experiments, “green” electricity, willingness to pay, latent class model, New Ecological Paradigm Scale, environmental attitude, New Zealand, Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar14:188376&r=env |
| By: | Wang, Sun Ling; Ball, Eldon; Nehring, Richard; Williams, Ryan; Chau, Truong |
| Abstract: | We employ state panel data for the period 1961-2004 to identify the role of climate change on U.S. agricultural productivity growth using a stochastic production frontier method. We examine the patterns of productivity changes and weather variations across regions and over time. Climate variables are measured using temperature humidity index (THI) load and Oury index at both their means and the degree of deviation from their historical norm (shocks). We also incorporate irrigation ratio and local public goods—R&D, extension, and road infrastructure—to capture the effects of specific state characteristics and to check for the robustness of the estimates of climate variables’ impacts. Results indicate that higher THI load can drive farm production from its best performance using given inputs and best technology. On the other hand, a higher Oury index, irrigation ratio, local R&D, Extension, and road density can drive state overall farm production closer to the production frontier. In addition, weather “shock” variables seem to have more consistent and robust impacts in explaining technical inefficiency than do level variables. |
| Keywords: | U.S. agricultural productivity, technical inefficiency, stochastic frontier, climate change, THI load, Oury index, Environmental Economics and Policy, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:177170&r=env |
| By: | Crago, Christine; Chernyakhovskiy, Ilya |
| Abstract: | State policy incentives for solar power have grown significantly in the past several years. This paper uses county level panel data to investigate whether state policy incentives are effective in increasing residential solar PV capacity. Empirical findings show that tax incentives, rebates, solar-specific mandates, and loan financing programs are important drivers of residential PV adoption. These results suggest that policy incentives play a significant role in encouraging wider use of solar energy. Results also point to a significant positive relationship between hybrid vehicle sales and residential PV adoption, indicating the importance of pro-environmental preference as a predictor of solar PV demand. |
| Keywords: | Renewable energy, solar, photovoltaic, policy, technology adoption, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169939&r=env |
| By: | Banterle, Alessandro; Ricci, Elena Claire |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyse if there is a diffuesed interest among consumers about the environmental impacts of their food choices, and try to capture the different types of attitudes of Italian consumers with respect to environmental sustainability of food products. The analysis builds on a survey based on vis-a-vis interviews with 240 consumers in Milan, and on a cluster analysis. The results highlight a high level of stated concern about environmental issues and about possible impacts of personal food consumption choices on the environment. Nevertheless, when investigating their actions during everyday shopping we have identified four groups of consumers: (1) those who take into consideration the environmental information on labels do not require additional information; (2) those for which environmental information on labels does not have a great effect on purchase, but would like to receive more information; (3) those for which the presence of environmental information directs product selection and would also like to receive more; (4) those that do not take into account environmental issues when purchasing and are not interested in receiving more information about the impacts of the products. |
| Keywords: | Consumer Choices, Environmental Sustainability, Food labelling, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Health Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, D12, Q13, Q56, |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi13:164735&r=env |
| By: | Clive L. Spash |
| Abstract: | The debate over how to address greenhouse gas emissions reduction remains unresolved. The basic conflict between the environment and economic growth is fundamental to the problem but is something now being denied. Green Growth has been put forward as resolving the issue in a report backed by people working at the highest levels in international community from organisations such as the World Bank, United Nations, OECD, and IEA, who combine their knowledge with five ex-heads of state, experts from the banking and finance world and a committee of economics professors. This powerful elite has stated that all the countries of the world can have better growth and a better climate, and indeed strong growth is how to reduce poverty. This paper analyses the synthesis report proposing this “new climate economy” and exposes how the climate issue is framed in a narrow reductionist fashion that fails to address the fundamental contradictions of a growth economy and its model of development. The paper covers the framing of the debate, getting the prices right, energy and material throughput, growth versus human health and the environment, the ethics of a growth society, and the conflicts between corporate interests, government and civil society. One conclusion is that planning is back on the agenda, but this raises serious questions of governance that are not being addressed. Another is that little can be expected from the Conference of the Parties (COP) on climate change as long as they ignore the wider implications of the growth society, its institutions and structure. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, Green Growth, climate economics, governance, public policy, poverty, development, corporations, externality theory, energy policy, Stern |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwsre:sre-disc-2014_04&r=env |
| By: | Claudio Vitari (MTS - Management Technologique et Strategique - Grenoble École de Management (GEM)) |
| Abstract: | Ecological sustainability and social equity are among the United Nations' Millennium Development. Goals - but, unfortunately, as the years pass, they are still far from being reached. But concern about these issues has made its way to industry and the IS community. IS play a central ro le in companies as they are cross - functional and have a strategic role in our current information society. We argue that it is our responsibility, as IS scholars, to dedicate some of our research efforts toward environmental sustainability and to social eq uity, and that our teaching, our journals and our associations should also address these two objectives. This article proposes Commoning and Common Information Systems as a possible tentative to facilitate the inclusion of both ecological sustainability an d social equity concerns within the IS discipline. We advance this new concept of Common Information Systems, which are IS where (1) the surrounding society is considered a human community, (2) the material and energy input into the IS are seen as common g oods, and the material and energy leaving the IS are viewed as common bads, (3) commoning (i.e. sharing) information output is preferred |
| Keywords: | Social Equity. Ecological Sustainability. Common IS. Commoning |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00961288&r=env |
| By: | Knierim, Andrea; Schmid, Julia Christiane; Knuth, Ulrike |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi14:187298&r=env |
| By: | REYNAERT, Mathias |
| Abstract: | Emission standards are one of the major policy tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. The welfare effects from this type of regulation depend on how ?firms choose to abate emissions: by changing relative prices, by downsizing their fl?eet or by adopting technology. This paper studies the response of fi?rms to a new emission standard in the European car market using panel data covering 1998-2011. The data show that ?rms choose to comply with the regulation by adopting new technology. To evaluate the welfare e¤ects of the regulation I estimate a structural model using data from before the policy announcement and explicitly test the ability of the model to explain the observed responses. I fi?nd that, because the abatement is done by technology adoption, consumer welfare increases and overall welfare effects depend on market failures in the technology market. The design of the regulation matters to induce technology adoption. |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ant:wpaper:2014025&r=env |
| By: | Casey J. Wichman; Laura O. Taylor; Roger H. von Haefen |
| Abstract: | The efficiency properties of price and non-price instruments for conservation in environmental policy are well understood. Yet, there is little evidence comparing the effectiveness of these instruments, especially when considering water resource management. We exploit a rich panel of residential water consumption to examine heterogeneous responses to both price and non-price conservation policies during times of drought while controlling for unobservable household characteristics. Our empirical models suggest that the burden of pricing policies fall disproportionately on low-income households and fail to reduce consumption among households who generally are large consumers of water. However, prescriptive policies such as restrictions on outdoor water use result in uniform responses across income classes while simultaneously targeting reductions from households with irrigation systems or historically high consumption. |
| JEL: | D12 H42 L51 L95 Q25 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20466&r=env |
| By: | Gao, Jianfeng; Norton, George W. |
| Abstract: | The adoption of new technologies by farmers may impact the environment, and hence affect consumer welfare. This channel of impact is seldom assessed in the literature, especially when the production technologies adopted are not labeled on the consumption goods, and as a result are not directly observed by the consumers. We propose a novel theoretical framework where the supply of and demand for an agricultural good are incorporated to estimate consumers’ general and partial equilibrium willingness to pay (WTP) for producers’ unlabeled technology adoption choices. The framework is applied to a sample of 219 tomato farms and a sample of 498 consumers in Maryland, New York and Ohio. Results show that the consumer’s average partial equilibrium marginal WTPs for the tomato grower’s adoption of single-species cover crops, mixed-species cover crops, and environmentally-sound greenhouses range from -1.28 to -1.78 $/lb, 1.36 to 1.76 $/lb, and 1.63 to 1.94 $/lb, respectively, compared to the baseline scenario where cover crops and greenhouses are not adopted. In contrast, the corresponding general equilibrium marginal WTPs are between -1.15 and -0.98 $/lb, between 1.30 and 1.67 $/lb, and between 0.24 and 0.32 $/lb, respectively. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Valuation, Technology Adoption, General Equilibrium Willingness to Pay, Model in WTP Space, Two-part Model, Fresh Tomato, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q120, Q510, Q160, C510, D500, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169940&r=env |
| By: | Cho, Seong-Hoon; Kim, Taeyoung; Larson, Eric R.; Armsworth, Paul R. |
| Abstract: | Market failure results in more human conversion of ecosystems for development and other uses than likely socially desirable. In response, many government agencies and nonprofits focus on conservation, often acquiring land rights to establish protected areas on which further conversion of ecosystems is precluded. The protected areas created vary greatly in size, even within a particular conservation program. Here we examine the costs that conservation organizations face when acquiring sites for protection and pay particular attention to the consequences of this variability in protected area size. We use as our case study parcels in Central and Southern Appalachian forest ecosystems that were protected through fee simple acquisition and using easements by The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit land trust. We compare these sites to unprotected areas similar to the protected areas in terms of site characteristics as identified by post-hoc matching methods. When comparing average costs, we found parcels protected under by fee simple transactions cost less than matched unprotected parcels, and that average costs of protecting parcels using easements were lower still. We also found that acquisition costs of protected areas achieve economies of scale under fee simple transactions. However, these economies of scale were often weaker than those present when considering matched, unprotected parcels. Parcels protected by easements did not show economies of scale with area. We were able to identify a subset of transactions where the agreed price was reduced to reflect an explicit donative intent on the part of the seller. For this subset of transactions, we found that the presence of donative intent disrupted any kind of systematic relationship between lot size and acquisition costs for conservation. Our findings imply that to achieve cost effective conservation, conservation organizations will need to strategize with respect to parcel size and contract type. For example, when acquiring parcels under a fee simple transaction, economies of scale in acquisition costs provide an incentive for conservation organizations to favor larger parcels, reinforcing ecological arguments that favor protecting larger protected areas. Also, by quantifying the cost differential between fee simple and easement acquisitions, we provide a benchmark for evaluating how much greater the ecological benefits of fee simple acquisition would have to be to provide the most effective option for conservation. |
| Keywords: | Protected Area Size, Economies of Scale in Size, Spatial Econometrics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Labor and Human Capital, Marketing, Q57, Q24, Q51, |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:177182&r=env |
| By: | Chen, Xiaoguang; Khanna, Madhu |
| Abstract: | We developed an integrated model of U.S agricultural and transportation sectors to examine the impacts of corn ethanol production on the reduction in CRP enrollment and grassland conversion during the period 2007-2012. We also examine the extent to which ethanol production raised the budgetary cost of maintaining the CRP program at the 2007 level. Our simulation analysis shows that by raising crop prices and increasing opportunity costs of marginal lands, corn ethanol production led to additional 1.6 million acres reduction in CRP enrollment and grassland conversion relative to a no-biofuel policy baseline scenario. In order to maintain the CRP enrollment at the 2007 levels, a net present value of government expenditure of $1.85 billion on reenrollment would be needed under the baseline scenario for the period 2007-2012. Government expenditure will increase to $2.07 billion with the booming of corn ethanol industry. |
| Keywords: | Biofuels, Conservation Reserve Program, Maintenance Cost, Grassland Conversion, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170284&r=env |
| By: | Ghimire, Monika; Boyer, Tracy A.; Chung, Chanjin; Moss, Justin Q. |
| Abstract: | This study determines the consumer’s preference for different turfgrass varieties using two different stated choice methods discrete choice and best-worst methods. Results shows that the ranking of turfgrass attributes were more homogenous across states using best-worst method compared to discrete choice method. These two methods yielded similar rankings for drought tolerant and low maintenance turf, but different rankings for shade tolerant and low purchase price turf. |
| Keywords: | Turfgrass, Discrete choice method, Best worst method, Willingness to pay, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169784&r=env |
| By: | Campbell, Benjamin; Khachatryan, Hayk; Behe, Bridget; Hall, Charles; Dennis, Jennifer |
| Abstract: | Although there is growing public awareness and concern about environmental issues, incentive mechanisms leading individuals to engage in pro-environmental behaviors remain less investigated. This article examines the impact of bottle deposit laws, municipal recycling programs, and the ease of municipal recycling on recycling frequency for numerous products. Utilizing very specific treatment groups and propensity score matching to control for unobserved heterogeneity, we find that municipal recycling programs have a greater impact on recycling behaviors than bottle deposit laws, and that the perceived ease of municipality recycling program positively influences individual recycling behaviors. For bottle deposit laws without a municipal program being present, their effect is only for those products requiring the deposit. |
| Keywords: | recycling behaviors, community recycling, bottle deposit laws, pro-environmental behaviors, propensity score matching, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q53, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170379&r=env |
| By: | Hellman Miller, Kelly; Colantuoni, Francesca; Lasco Crago, Christine |
| Abstract: | Uncertainties about future levels of energy availability and concern for climate change have raised public interest in energy efficiency and conservation. In particular, efficiency gains in the residential sector, which accounts for about 22% of energy end-use in the United States has the potential to yield large benefits for society. In this research we conduct an empirical analysis to investigate the likelihood of adoption of energy efficiency (EE) measures in the residential sector. We consider heterogeneity of occupants and homeowners based on their demographic characteristics, as well as the structural characteristics of housing units, weather parameters and geographical characteristics. Our empirical results shed light on (1) the drivers of EE adoption for households, (2) the extent to which EE adoption differs between homeowners and landlords, and (3) the extent to which EE adoption differs among types of housing (utility-included vs. utility-excluded rent, owner occupied). |
| Keywords: | Energy efficiency, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170533&r=env |
| By: | Paola Floreddu (Università di Cagliari - Università di Cagliari); Claudio Vitari (MTS - Management Technologique et Strategique - Grenoble École de Management (GEM)) |
| Abstract: | While a great amount of literature has focused on dynamic capability and IT dynamic capabilities, there has been little theory and systematic research done on their lifecycle. Based on the dynamic capability and IS literature, this paper aims to contribute to this body of knowledge by studying the lifecycle of the Green Information Technologies/Systems (IT/S). Dynamic Capability is defined as the two-fold organizational process of: (1) recognizing the role played in ecological sustainability by the Information Technologies and Systems (IT/S), and (2) the contribution made to the ecological sustainability by the IT/S. We advance a research model aimed at understanding the role of the Green IT/S' Dynamic Capability in choosing and managing green IT/S strategies. |
| Keywords: | Dynamic capabilities framework; Green IT/IS; Capabilities, Capability Lifecycle; Green IT/S strategies |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00969204&r=env |
| By: | Boutwell, J. Luke; Westra, John |
| Abstract: | This research investigates the relationship between three important factors that influence economic damages from coastal storms: economic risk, storm intensity and wetland protection. To address recent challenges to the notion that wetlands provide valuable protection against stronger storms, we analyze how the degree of protection provided by wetlands is associated with storm intensity. This analysis allows for the identification of any threshold effects that result from a supposed mitigating capacity, beyond which wetlands are not as effective as protection. Exploring these three factors simultaneously provides a useful framework for thinking of wetlands as resources for storm damage reduction. |
| Keywords: | coastal wetlands, storm buffers, hurricanes, ecosystem services, Louisiana, factor analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170110&r=env |
| By: | Parminter, Terry G; Vujcich, Hayley |
| Abstract: | Wellington Regional Council has identified community values and objectives to guide fresh and coastal water policy development. In over twenty workshops people identified commercial use values for the consumption of water to obtain a financial return. They had direct use values for activities that required contact or consumption of water without expecting a financial return. They had intrinsic values associated with the existence of waterway form and function unrelated to any expected practical or material benefit for humans. People also expressed indirect use values related to the contribution of water and waterways towards social and cultural well-being. |
| Keywords: | commercial use, direct use, intrinsic, indirect use, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar14:187500&r=env |
| By: | Paola Floreddu (Università di Cagliari - Università di Cagliari); Claudio Vitari (MTS - Management Technologique et Strategique - Grenoble École de Management (GEM)) |
| Abstract: | While a great amount of literature has focused on dynamic capability and IT dynamic capabilities, there has been little theory and systematic research done on their lifecycle. Based on the dynamic capability and IS literature, this paper aims to contribute to this body of knowledge by studying the lifecycle of the Green Information Technologies/Systems (IT/S). Dynamic Capability is defined as the two-fold organizational process of: (1) recognizing the role played in ecological sustainability by the Information Technologies and Systems (IT/S), and (2) the contribution made to the ecological sustainability by the IT/S. We advance a research model aimed at understanding the role of the Green IT/S' Dynamic Capability in choosing and managing green IT/S strategies. Keywords: Dynamic |
| Keywords: | Dynamic capabilities framework; Green IT/IS, Capabilities; Capability Lifecycle; Green IT/S strategies |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00969198&r=env |
| By: | Ye, Fanglin; Paulson, Nicholas; Khanna, Madhu |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the impacts of technology uncertainties and learning curve on investment decisions in the cellulosic biofuel industry. We find the future success of cellulosic biofuel may depend on the learning by doing effects rather than expected advances in conversion technology. The anticipated technology breakthroughs may even further delay investment decisions because the firm has incentives to wait until the breakthrough is realized. If the government wants to trigger commercialized production through the promotion of learning effects, an enforced mandate level of at least 500 million gallons may be needed. |
| Keywords: | cellulosic biofuel, technology uncertainties, real options analysis, learning curve, Agricultural Finance, Environmental Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, Q42, Q48, Q55, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169789&r=env |
| By: | Woods, Bethany; Deaton, B. James |
| Abstract: | As of 2011, 39% of drinking water systems on Canadian First Nations’ reserves could be classified as high risk, or unequipped to safely deal with the infiltration of a pollutant (Neegan Burnside 2011a). In recent years, some First Nations have contracted water services from neighboring population centres through ‘Municipal Type Agreements’, or ‘MTAs’. Using a unique data set of 804 First Nation water systems, we explore both factors that influence participation in MTAs, and the effect of participation on the likelihood that a First Nation will be under a boil water advisory. Our empirical analysis consists of two probit models. The first model describes the likelihood that a MTA agreement will emerge between a First Nation and neighbouring population centre. The second estimates the likelihood that a First Nation will be under a boil water advisory. Our primary finding is that MTAs reduce the likelihood of a boil water advisory being in effect on a reserve. This is an important consideration when developing incentives or institutions that influence infrastructure collaboration between First Nations and Canadian population centres. |
| Keywords: | First Nations, Reserves, Population Centres (POPCTRs), Infrastructure Partnerships, Municipal Type Agreements (MTAs), Local Intergovernmental Cooperation, Contracts, Transaction Costs, Economies of Scale, Standards, Drinking Water Quality, Probit, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:171166&r=env |
| By: | Nicole Grunewald; Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen / Germany) |
| Abstract: | This research focuses on identifying the main policy strategies that could potentially contribute to the advance of three Latin American economies, namely Brazil, Chile and Mexico towards a green growth model that is social and inclusive, given the actual patterns of development of those economies. With this aim, we first identify and describe past and current policies in each country in terms of economic, social and environmental indicators. A detailed analysis follows for Brazil, Chile and Mexico, in which we propose a series of green growth indicators and choose a definition and classification of green growth sectors. We estimate an empirical model to explain the determinants of green house gas emissions and deforestation in Latin American countries. We broadly identify the sectors that contribute to its increase and describe the main green policies applied in each country. In turn we identify the sectors with higher potential for the future. Finally, we present policy recommendations and reflections for the future. |
| Date: | 2014–11–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:iaidps:229&r=env |
| By: | Sansi Yang; C. Richard Shumway |
| Abstract: | We construct a stochastic dynamic dual model to investigate the structural adjustment of two aggregate output and three aggregate input categories in U.S. agriculture under climatic change uncertainty. A century of national annual data (1910-2011) is used in the empirical analysis. No constraints on asset fixity are imposed. Results indicate that both output categories as well as all input categories exhibit quasi-fixity in response to market change and stochastic climate change. Crops adjust most rapidly toward equilibrium levels and capital adjusts most slowly. |
| JEL: | Q11 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–11–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jmp:jm2014:pya413&r=env |
| By: | Jeon, Hocheol |
| Abstract: | The rising rate of obesity has become a prominent social concern in the U.S. and through-out the world. Several recent literature examines how obesity influences households driving or vehicle choice behavior. While the results in prior studies are compelling, the studies suffer from two shortcomings. First, the researches rely on aggregate data (national or county level), rather than individual level observations, potentially masking important factors determining individual choices on vehicles and driving. Second, while they are able to establish a link between obesity and vehicle choice or driving, linking vehicle choice in turn to overall emissions requires information regarding vehicle miles driven. The objective of this study is to address these two limitations using household observations from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), jointly modeling the impact of obesity on the vehicle choice and vehicle miles traveled (VMT). In particular, we investigate the impact of obesity and overweight by employing both reduced-form (linear panel model) and structural model (joint discrete/continuous choice model). Our empirical study suggests that the comprehensive impacts of obesity and overweight on gasoline consumption are little or ambiguous. In other words, the effect of the policy to reduce the rate of obesity and overweight are not as rosy as prior studies expect. |
| Keywords: | Obesity and Overweight, VMT, Fuel Economy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170550&r=env |
| By: | Li, Huan; Khanna, Neha; Vidovic, Martina |
| Abstract: | In 2005, the Responsible Care (RC) program implemented a major structural change that mandated independent third party certification for all participants. The goal of this paper is to explore whether the introduction of mandatory third party certification has reduced accidents in RC facilities compared to non-RC facilities in the U.S. chemical industry. Using a sample of 21,741 observations from 1,460 facilities owned by 956 firms between 1995 and 2010, we estimate the average treatment effect by comparing RC facilities to statistically equivalent non-RC facilities before and after the introduction of third party certification. We find that, on average, the effect of third party certification on reducing the accidents is statistically insignificant. The results do not change when we account for self-selection into RC and endogenous treatment. |
| Keywords: | self-regulation, third party certification, accidents, Responsible Care, chemical industry, difference-in-difference, endogenous treatment effect., Environmental Economics and Policy, Health Economics and Policy, Industrial Organization, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q 53, Q58, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170492&r=env |
| By: | Kanza, Patrick; Boyer, Tracy A.; Ghimire, Monika; Moss, Justin Q. |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170547&r=env |
| By: | Lopez-Claros, Augusto; Perotti, Valeria |
| Abstract: | Economists have either avoided or struggled with the concept of culture and its role in economic development. Although a few theoretical works -- and even fewer empirical studies -- have appeared in the past decades, this paper tries to build on a multidisciplinary approach to review the evidence on whether and how culture matters for development. First, the paper reviews available definitions of culture and illustrates ways in which culture can change and create favorable conditions for economic development. Second, the paper discusses the challenges of separating the effect of culture from other drivers of human behavior such as incentives, the availability of information, or climate. Finally, the paper argues that globalization has led to the emergence of a set of progressive values that are common cultural traits of all developed economies. |
| Keywords: | Cultural Policy,Cultural Heritage&Preservation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Anthropology,Economic Theory&Research |
| Date: | 2014–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7092&r=env |
| By: | Andalon, Mabel; Azevedo, Joao Pedro; Rodriguez-Castelan, Carlos; Sanfelice, Viviane; Valderrama, Daniel |
| Abstract: | Poor health at birth has negative long-run effects on individual well-being and is also detrimental for intergenerational mobility. This paper examines whether health outcomes at birth are affected by in utero increased exposure to rainfall and temperature shocks in Colombia, one of the countries in the world with the highest incidence of extreme weather events per year. The paper uses a fixed effects design to gauge the causal effect using variation in fetal exposure to these shocks by municipality and date of birth. The analysis finds negative effects of temperature shocks on birth health outcomes and no effect of rainfall shocks. The results indicate that heat waves lead to a 0.5 percentage point reduction in the probability of being born at full term and a decline of 0.4 percentage point in the probability of newborns classified as healthy. The timing of exposure to the shock matters and it matters differently for different outcomes. These findings are critical to prioritize responses to counteract the negative effects of weather, particularly hot shocks, which are projected to become more frequent and intense with changing climate. |
| Keywords: | Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Disease Control&Prevention,Population Policies,Gender and Health,Climate Change Impacts |
| Date: | 2014–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7081&r=env |
| By: | Victor Lavy; Avraham Ebenstein; Sefi Roth |
| Abstract: | Cognitive performance is critical to productivity in many occupations and potentially linked to pollution exposure. We evaluate this potentially important relationship by estimating the effect of pollution exposure on standardized test scores among Israeli high school high-stakes tests (2000-2002). Since students take multiple exams on multiple days in the same location after each grade, we can adopt a fixed effects strategy estimating models with city, school, and student fixed effects. We focus on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO), which are considered to be two of the most dangerous forms of air pollution. We find that while PM2.5 and CO levels are only weakly correlated with each other, both exhibit a robust negative relationship with test scores. We also find that PM2.5, which is thought to be particularly damaging for asthmatics, has a larger negative impact on groups with higher rates of asthma. For CO, which affects neurological functioning, the effect is more homogenous across demographic groups. Furthermore, we find that exposure to either pollutant is associated with a significant decline in the probability of not receiving a Bagrut certificate, which is required for college entrance in Israel. The results suggest that the gain from improving air quality may be underestimated by a narrow focus on health impacts. Insofar as air pollution may lead to reduced cognitive performance, the consequences of pollution may be relevant for a variety of everyday activities that require mental acuity. Moreover, by temporarily lowering the productivity of human capital, high pollution levels lead to allocative inefficiency as students with lower human capital are assigned a higher rank than their more qualified peers. This may lead to inefficient allocation of workers across occupations, and possibly a less productive workforce. |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20648&r=env |
| By: | Baldos, Uris Lantz C.; Hertel, Thomas |
| Abstract: | Poster Presentation for the 2014 AAEA Annual Meetings |
| Keywords: | Food Security, Green Revolution, Africa, Malnutrition, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170194&r=env |
| By: | Munnings, Clayton (Resources for the Future); Morgenstern, Richard (Resources for the Future); Wang, Zhongmin (Resources for the Future); Liu, Xu |
| Abstract: | China started seven carbon cap-and-trade pilot programs in order to inform the development of a future national cap-and-trade market. This paper assesses the design of three of the longer-running cap-and-trade pilot programs in Guangdong, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Based on extensive stakeholder interviews and a detailed literature review we formulate a series of recommendations to improve the design of these three pilots, including: strengthening the legal foundations for the cap-and-trade pilots, incorporating achievement of goals established by the cap-and-trade pilots into the performance reviews of participating government officials and executives of state-owned entities, further clarifying the cap-setting process, increasing the transparency of the cap, reducing or eliminating within-compliance period adjustments to enterprise-level allowance allocation, gradually moving away from free allocation toward auctioning, reforming enforcement policy, and adopting a symmetric safety valve to manage prices. By making these recommendations, we hope to shed light on ways that Chinese regulators might adapt cap and trade, a fundamentally market-based tool, to China's economy that has many non-market features. |
| Keywords: | emissions trading, carbon, China |
| JEL: | Q48 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014–10–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-36&r=env |
| By: | KAINOU Kazunari |
| Abstract: | Here the author quantified Japanese standard Gross Calorific Value and Carbon Emission Factor for various fossil fuels used in Japan upon the request of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of the Environment under the cooperation of relevant industrial organizations by the request of these Ministries, using real measured physical and chemical data and calorific value in 2013.<br /><br />The revised standard values have several unique natures compared to the current one as follows;<br />- The standard values are comprehensive and clearly traceable from the real measurement data of physical, chemical characteristics and calorific value of fuels and the data process and treatment.<br />- The gross calorific value and carbon emission factors are simultaneously measured from the same samples in a consistent manner, different from the current standard values.<br />- The interpolation and approximation equations are estimated using these data and that enabled estimation for minor energy sources and adjustment of small changes of physical, chemical characteristics for major energy sources.<br /><br />As a result, highly accurate and up to date standard gross calorific value and carbon emission factor are measured for various fossil fuels used in Japan listed in the current standard. So the author recommends the revision of the standard values.<br /><br />Moreover, based on the revision works, the author proposes several changes and amendments of energy origin CO₂ emission quantification and estimation process in Japanese greenhouse gas inventory systems under the UNFCCC. |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:14047&r=env |
| By: | Cong, Ronggang; Ekroos, Johan; Smith, Henrik G.; Brady, Mark |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2014–05–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa142:168928&r=env |
| By: | Kong, Wen; Knapp, Keith C. |
| Abstract: | International natural resources are typically subject to intense conflict, something likely to increase with population and economic growth. International cooperation over natural resources and the environment is the subject of a substantial literature (Kolstad), and is normally formulated as a game with given payoff functions for the individual countries. Within the literature on international rivers (the motivation here), Ambec and Sprumont (2002) assume a strictly increasing and strictly concave water benefit function, while Ambec and Ehlers (2007) assume that the benefit function exhibits satiation. Both of the papers are cooperative games. Ansink (2009) analyzes self-enforcing agreements on water allocation in a bargaining game. Fundamentally, the resource conflict might stem from the self-perception that an individual country will gain with additional resource allocation. This is reflected in the associated economic literature which is typically sector-level models with monotonic welfare functions. The overall objective of this work is to consider a broader setting such that cooperation over the natural resource might be joint self-interest for the political entities. The analytical framework is economic and political equilibrium when countries with joint resource access also trade produced goods/services. General equilibrium prices are functions of the water allocation, and these in turn identify country welfare as affected by water allocation. Political equilibrium is formulated as a game-theoretic problem. Here the welfare functions from the economic model are the payoff functions for individual countries, and standard solution concepts identify negotiated water allocations. A complete analytical solution is derived with this setup. Autarchic country welfare is increasing in water allocation as expected. However, with free trade the welfare functions can be non-monotone in some instances: starting from some initial allocation, it can be self-interest for one country to give up water to another country. Furthermore, there can be instances in which the highest level of welfare for one country is achieved with joint use of the resource as opposed to having a full allocation of the resource. At a minimum, where productivity coefficients imply a comparative advantage such that trade occurs, then the level of conflict as measured by the gains from an additional allocation of the resource will be reduced. |
| Keywords: | Natural resource allocation, welfare functions, international trade, game-theory., International Relations/Trade, Public Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170591&r=env |
| By: | Qi, Lingqiao; Bravo-Ureta, Boris E.; Cabrera, Victor E. |
| Abstract: | This study examines the effect of climatic variables on dairy farm productivity using panel data for the state of Wisconsin along with alternative stochastic frontier models. A noteworthy feature of this analysis is that Wisconsin is a major dairy producing area where winters are typically very cold and snowy, and summers hot and humid. Thus, it is an ideal geographical region for examining the effects of a range of climatic factors on dairy production. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of the climatic effect on the productivity of Wisconsin farms. We identify the effect of temperature and precipitation, both jointly and separately, on milk output. The analysis shows that increasing temperature in summer or in autumn is harmful for dairy production, while warmer winters and warmer springs are beneficial. By contrast, more precipitation has a consistent adverse effect on dairy productivity. Overall, in the past 17 years, climatic conditions have had a negative impact on the dairy farms in Wisconsin and the data reveals a mild negative trend. |
| Keywords: | climatic effect, dairy production, stochastic production frontiers, Wisconsin, Agricultural and Food Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Q12, D24, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:172411&r=env |