|
on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Nasre Esfahani, Mohammad; Rasoulinezhad, Ehsan |
| Abstract: | Exploring the short-run and long-run relationships between consumption of various sources of non-renewable energy, economic growth and carbon dioxide(CO2) emissions would be considered as a golden key to provide rational energy policies of Iran in the post sanctions era. The aim of this paper is to find these mentioned relationships by using the Johanesen cointegration approach, the VECM Granger causality test, Generalized impulse responses functions and variance decomposition in Iran for the period 1966-2013. The findings support evidence for the existence of long-run linkage between non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth and CO2 emissions. The short-run relationship examination proves the causality running from non-renewable energy consumption to economic growth in Iran. The variance decomposition highlights that economic growth changes are explained more by gas consumption than by consumption of other non-renewable energy resources. Furthermore the contribution to CO2 emissions is mainly from oil consumption. The study recommends some new policy insights for Iran in order to reach a higher economic growth by non-renewable energy resources, while lower carbon dioxide emissions. |
| Keywords: | Economic growth; CO2 emissions; Energy consumption; Iran. |
| JEL: | Q30 Q43 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71124&r=env |
| By: | Xu, Wenli; Xu, Kun; Lu, Hongyou |
| Abstract: | This paper, by building a New Keynesian dynamic general equilibrium model that combines with distortionary taxation, pollution decision of firms, and environmental quality evolution under uncertainty, analyzes shocks from markets and taxation policies on macro-economy and environmental quality under different environmental policies circumstance theoretically. Further, parameters are calibrated on the basis of macroeconomic and pollution data from 1978 to 2014 in China as well as results from completed researches of others, and accordingly simulates differentiated response of macro-economy and environment to altering policy circumstance. Empirical results indicate that: (1) carrying out various environmental policies indeed causes economic loss, for which economic costs in average reach 0.1950% with 1% reduction of pollution elimination while change of economic costs (0.11149) under implement of pollution-discharge-permit system; (2) various environment polices play the role as automatic stabilizers for halting aggregate fluctuation, the most magnificently effect of decreasing instability relatively comes from Discharge Permit System in particular; (3) rising obstacles on price transmission lead to decreasing pollution-cut struggle from enterprises and increasing pollution emission; (4) taxation polices play effective roles for encouraging firms to participate on emission-cut activities. Potential suggestions, hence, root in: (1) putting environment regulation into effect fast, in which Discharge Permit police should be dominant and others be complementary; (2) carrying out marketization reforms by removing price intervention and posing fundamental effect of markets; (3) putting leading function of fiscal and taxation polices into effect by realizing green taxation institution. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Policy; Macroeconomic Dynamics; New Keynesian Model |
| JEL: | E32 E62 H3 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–05–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71314&r=env |
| By: | Fischer, Carolyn |
| Abstract: | Industrial policy has long been criticized as subject to protectionist interests; accordingly, subsidies to domestic producers face disciplines under World Trade Organization agreements, without exceptions for environmental purposes. Now green industrial policy is gaining popularity as governments search for low-carbon solutions that also provide jobs at home. The strategic trade literature has largely ignored the issue of market failures related to green goods. I consider the market for a new environmental good (like low-carbon technology) whose downstream consumption provides external benefits (like reduced emissions). Governments may have some preference for supporting domestic production, such as by interest-group lobbying, introducing a political distortion in their objective function. I examine the national incentives and global rationales for offering production (upstream) and deployment (downstream) subsidies in producer countries, allowing that some of the downstream market may lie in nonregulating third-party countries. Restraints on upstream subsidies erode global welfare when environmental externalities are large enough relative to political distortions. Climate finance is an effective alternative if political distortions are large and governments do not undervalue carbon costs. Numerical simulations of the case of renewable energy indicate that a modest social cost of carbon can imply benefits from allowing upstream subsidies. |
| Keywords: | Green Industrial Policy, Emissions Leakage, Externalities, International Trade, Renewable Energy, Subsidies, Environmental Economics and Policy, F13, F18, H21, Q5, |
| Date: | 2016–04–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemmi:234935&r=env |
| By: | Michel Aglietta; Etienne Espagne |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we develop the notion of climate systemic risk. Climate change is usually considered as a negative externality, against which society can insure itself through a carbon tax or an emission trading market. But except under the unrealistic efficient market hypothesis, there is little chance that such a simple approach to climate policy succeeds in mitigating climate damages. Financial and climate fragility reinforce each other. We argue that in concrete economies, a collective insurance approach to climate change has to target the financial sector, as well as its articulation with monetary policy. As in the financial world, climate change thus constitutes a systemic risk against which specific ex ante and ex post monetary policies and financial regulations should be deployed. The Paris Agreement of COP21 ignores the policy consequences of such an approach to the climate threat, but the exegesis of the text still offers some indispensable pillars to promote a new financial order mitigating climate systemic risk. |
| Keywords: | Systemic Risk;Climate Fragilit;Monetary Policy;Macroprudential Policy;COP21 |
| JEL: | Q51 Q54 Q58 E42 E44 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2016-10&r=env |
| By: | Eriksson, Mathilda (Department of Economics, Umeå University) |
| Abstract: | This thesis consists of an introductory part and four papers related to the optimal use of forest as a mitigation strategy. In Paper [I], I develop the FOR-DICE model to analyze optimal global forest carbon management. The FOR-DICE is a simple framework for assessing the role of the boreal, tropical, and temperate forests as both a source of renewable energy and a resource to sequester and store carbon. I find that forests play an important role in reducing global emissions, especially under ambitious climate targets. At the global level, efforts should focus on increasing the stock of forest biomass rather than increasing the use of the forest for bioenergy production. The results also highlight the important role of reducing tropical deforestation to reduce climate change. In Paper [II], I develop the FRICE to investigate the role of two key efforts to increase the stock of forest biomass, namely, afforestation and avoided deforestation. FRICE is a multi-regional integrated assessment model that captures the dynamics of forest carbon sequestration in a transparent way and allows me to investigate the allocation of these actions across space and time. I find that global climate policy can benefit considerably from afforestation and avoided deforestation in tropical regions, and in particular in Africa. Avoided deforestation is particularly effective in the short run while afforestation provides the largest emissions reductions in the medium run. This paper also highlights the importance of not solely relying on avoided deforestation as its capacity to reduce emissions is more limited than afforestation, especially under more stringent temperature targets. In Paper [III], we investigate how uncertainties linked to the forest affect the optimal climate policy. We incorporate parameter uncertainty on the intrinsic growth rate and climate effects on the forest by using the state-contingent approach. Our results show that forest uncertainty matters. We find that the importance of including forest in climate policy increases when the forest is subject to uncertainty. This occurs because optimal forest response allows us to reduce the costs associated with uncertainty. In Paper [IV], we explore the implications of asymmetries in climate policy arising from not recognizing forest carbon emissions and sequestration in the decision-making process. We show that not fully including carbon values associated with the forest will have large effects on different forest controls and lead to an increase in emissions, higher carbon prices, and lower welfare. We further find, by investigating the relative importance of forest emissions compared to sequestration, that recognizing forest emissions from bioenergy and deforestation is especially important for climate policy. |
| Keywords: | climate change; integrated assessment; forest carbon sequestration; forest bioenergy; avoided deforestation; afforestation; uncertainty; dynamic modeling; DICE; RICE |
| JEL: | C61 D81 H23 Q23 Q42 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2016–04–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:0927&r=env |
| By: | Marianna Gilli (Department of Economics and Management, University of Ferrara, Italy.) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to shed light on the role of environmental policies, technological change and their interaction, on CO2 emissions in Europe. Building on the literature, which studies the relationship between environmental performances and technological change, as well as the literature related to the effects of environmental policy, two hypothesis are framed: the first one is that both environmental policy and technological change have a negative effect on CO2 emissions level. The second one is that technological change and environmental policy are complementary determinants of a reduced CO2 level. Both a fixed effects model and IV model are applied. Results offer support to these hypothesis and highlight sectorial differences in policy and technology effects toward lower emissions levels. |
| Keywords: | technological change, environmental policy, pollution emissions |
| JEL: | L60 O33 Q53 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:0516&r=env |
| By: | Ahmed, Khalid |
| Abstract: | In the light of urban environmental transition (UET) theory, this study explores the relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, economic growth, urbanization and trade openness using updated Chinese data over the extended period (1971-2013). After confirming that all the underlying series are stationary and adjusted with single structural break point, the results of auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test approach to cointegration confirms the cointegration between the variables. The long- and short-run dynamics reveal that urbanization reduces the CO2 emissions both in short- and long-run, but statistically insignificant. These findings contrast with previous literature and sounds the validation of urban environmental transition theory (UET). However, economic growth and trade openness contribute environmental degradation both in long- and short-run paths. The causality analysis reports bi-directional causal link between trade openness and urbanization in the short-run. However, in the long-run, economic growth ranger cause carbon dioxide emissions, urbanization and trade openness. Similarly, trade openness Granger cause carbon dioxide emissions, economic growth and urbanization in the long-run. The overall results imply that rural to urban immigration is still mostly driven by exports related manufacturing sectors. In addition, the higher GDP also contributes to urbanization as a feedback effect. In the end, stability of the model is also checked, model found stable and findings are suitable for environmental policy control use. |
| Keywords: | Carbon dioxide; Urbanization; Long-run dynamics; Multiple structural breaks; Bounds test; China. |
| JEL: | Q5 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71035&r=env |
| By: | Martinez, Pilar; Blanco, Maria; Van Doorslaer, Benjamin; Ramos, Fabien; Stanca, Lucian |
| Abstract: | Recent studies point to climate change being one of the long-term drivers of agricultural market uncertainty. To advance in the understanding of the influence of climate change on future agricultural market developments, we compare a reference scenario for 2030 with alternative simulation scenarios that differ regarding: (1) emission scenarios; (2) climate projections; and (3) the consideration of carbon fertilization effects. For each simulation scenario, the CAPRI model provides global and EU-wide impacts of climate change on agricultural markets. Results show that climate change would considerably affect agrifood markets up to 2030. Nevertheless, market-driven adaptation strategies (production intensification, trade adjustments) would soften the impact of yield shocks on supply and demand. As a result, regional changes in production would be lower than foreseen by other studies focused on supply effects. |
| Keywords: | Bio-economic modelling, Climate change, Agricultural market uncertainty, Food security, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, C55, Q11, Q13, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:212230&r=env |
| By: | Carolyn Fischer (Resources for the Future, Gothenburg University, FEEM, and CESifo Research Network) |
| Abstract: | Industrial policy has long been criticized as subject to protectionist interests; accordingly, subsidies to domestic producers face disciplines under World Trade Organization agreements, without exceptions for environmental purposes. Now green industrial policy is gaining popularity as governments search for low-carbon solutions that also provide jobs at home. The strategic trade literature has largely ignored the issue of market failures related to green goods. I consider the market for a new environmental good (like low-carbon technology) whose downstream consumption provides external benefits (like reduced emissions). Governments may have some preference for supporting domestic production, such as by interest-group lobbying, introducing a political distortion in their objective function. I examine the national incentives and global rationales for offering production (upstream) and deployment (downstream) subsidies in producer countries, allowing that some of the downstream market may lie in nonregulating third-party countries. Restraints on upstream subsidies erode global welfare when environmental externalities are large enough relative to political distortions. Climate finance is an effective alternative if political distortions are large and governments do not undervalue carbon costs. Numerical simulations of the case of renewable energy indicate that a modest social cost of carbon can imply benefits from allowing upstream subsidies. |
| Keywords: | Green Industrial Policy, Emissions Leakage, Externalities, International Trade, Renewable Energy, Subsidies |
| JEL: | F13 F18 H21 Q5 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.31&r=env |
| By: | İriş, Doruk; Tavoni, Alessandro |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of loss-aversion and the threat of catastrophic damages, which we jointly call threshold concerns, on international environmental agreements. We aim to understand whether a threshold for dangerous climate change is as an effective coordination device for countries to overcome the global free-riding problem and abate sufficiently to avoid disaster. We focus on loss-averse countries negotiating either under the threat of either high environmental damages (loss domain), or low damages (gain domain). Under symmetry, that is when countries display identical degrees of threshold concern, we show that such beliefs have a positive effect on reducing the emission levels of both signatories to the treaty and non-signatories, leading to higher global welfare and weakly larger coalitions of signatories. We then introduce asymmetry, by allowing countries to differ in the degree of concern about the threat of disaster. We show that stable coalitions are mostly formed by the countries with higher threshold concern. When enough countries having no threshold concern could cause the coalition size to diminish, regardless of the other countries have strong or mild threshold concerns. |
| Keywords: | Catastrophic Climate Change, Threshold, Loss-Aversion, International Environmental Agreements, Coalition Formation Game, Environmental Economics and Policy, D0, D03, Q5, Q50, Q58, |
| Date: | 2016–03–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemei:232927&r=env |
| By: | Milan Ščasný (Charles University in Prague, Environment Center); Iva Zvěřinová (Charles University in Prague, Environment Center); Mikolaj Czajkowski (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Eva Kyselá (Charles University in Prague, Environment Center); Katarzyna Zagórska (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw) |
| Abstract: | Our study examines public acceptability of the EU’s future mitigation targets. Using the discrete choice experiment, we elicit the preferences of about 4,098 respondents from the Czech Republic, Poland, and the United Kingdom for the GHG emission reduction policies that differ in four attributes: emission reduction target, burden sharing across the EU Member States, the distribution of costs within each country, and cost. The three specific reduction targets we analysed correspond to the EU 2050 Roadmap and deep decarbonisation policy (80% target), the climate-energy 2014 targets (40% target), and the status quo policy (20% target); each will result in a specific emission trajectory by 2050. Our results reveal stark differences between the three countries. Czechs would be on average willing to pay around EUR 13 per household and year for the 40% GHG emission reductions by 2030 or EUR 17 for 80% reduction target by 2050, and the citizens of the UK are willing to pay about EUR 40. Conversely, the mean willingness to pay of the Polish household for adopting more stringent targets is not statistically different from zero. The willingness to pay for adopting 40% and 80% targets are not statistically different in any of the examined countries. However, we found that the preferences in all three countries are highly heterogeneous. In addition, we provide an insight into the preferred characteristics of the future GHG emission reduction policies. |
| Keywords: | discrete choice experiments; climate change mitigation policy; consumer preferences; burden sharing; cost distribution; GHG emission targets |
| JEL: | Q48 Q51 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2016-11&r=env |
| By: | Goher-Ur-Rehman Mir (Ecofys Consulting, Kanaalweg 15G, 3526 KL Utrecht, The Netherlands); Servaas Storm (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | We assess the Carbon-Kuznets-Curve hypothesis using internationally consistent and comparable production-based versus consumption-based CO2 emissions data for 40 countries (and 35 industries) during 1995-2007 from the World Input Output Database (WIOD). The estimates for per capita CO2 emissions are truly comprehensive as these include all carbon emissions embodied in international trade and global commodity chains. Even if we find evidence suggesting a decoupling of production-based CO2 emissions and growth, consumption based CO2 emissions are monotonically increasing with per capita GDP. We draw out the implications of these findings for climate policy and binding emission reduction obligations. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Kuznets Curve; Climate change; Economic growth; Production-based CO2 emissions, Consumption-based CO2 emissions; Decoupling. |
| JEL: | F64 Q54 Q55 Q56 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:thk:wpaper:41&r=env |
| By: | Doruk Iris (School of Economics, Sogang University, Mapo-gu, Seoul); Alessandro Tavoni (Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics, London) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of loss-aversion and the threat of catastrophic damages, which we jointly call threshold concerns, on international environmental agreements. We aim to understand whether a threshold for dangerous climate change is as an effective coordination device for countries to overcome the global free-riding problem and abate sufficiently to avoid disaster. We focus on loss-averse countries negotiating either under the threat of either high environmental damages (loss domain), or low damages (gain domain). Under symmetry, that is when countries display identical degrees of threshold concern, we show that such beliefs have a positive effect on reducing the emission levels of both signatories to the treaty and non-signatories, leading to higher global welfare and weakly larger coalitions of signatories. We then introduce asymmetry, by allowing countries to differ in the degree of concern about the threat of disaster. We show that stable coalitions are mostly formed by the countries with higher threshold concern. When enough countries having no threshold concern could cause the coalition size to diminish, regardless of the other countries have strong or mild threshold concerns. |
| Keywords: | Catastrophic Climate Change, Threshold, Loss-Aversion, International Environmental Agreements, Coalition Formation Game |
| JEL: | D0 D03 Q5 Q50 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.25&r=env |
| By: | Wolf, David; Klaiber, H. Allen |
| Abstract: | Over the past decade harmful algal blooms (HABs) have become a nationwide environmental concern. HABs are likely to increase in frequency and intensity due to rising summer temperatures caused by climate change and higher nutrient enrichment from increased urbanization. Policymakers need information on the economic costs of HABs to design optimal management policies in the face of limited budgets. Using a detailed, multi-lake hedonic analysis across 6 Ohio counties between 2009 and 2015 we show capitalization losses associated with near lake homes between 12% and 17% rising to over 30% for lake adjacent homes. In the case of Grand Lake Saint Marys, we find capitalization losses exceeding $48 million for near lake homes which dwarfs the State of Ohio’s cleanup expenditure of $26 million. |
| Keywords: | harmful algal bloom, hedonic, blue green algae, cyanobacteria, capitalization, inland lake, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q25, Q51, Q53, Q57, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235159&r=env |
| By: | Aurora D’Aprile (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) and Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC)) |
| Abstract: | With the long term goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C and "to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C", the Paris Agreement puts renewed attention on the portfolio of technologies needed to achieve consistent emission reductions and reach "a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks” in the second half of this century. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, after having been hailed as a promising mitigation option around a decade ago, is undergoing a gruelling path to stay on top of the expectations. The opportunities and constraints in deploying large-scale carbon capture and storage systems are of the utmost actuality, as the technology promises to get rid of up to 90% of the most common greenhouse gases produced in industrial and energy plants before they reach the atmosphere (or even to achieve “negative” emissions, if combined with biomass). Despite potential benefits, CCS development and deployment proceeded at a far slower rate than what was expected and are struggling to emerge as a sound low-carbon choice for governments and investors. Based on recent existing literature, this reflection explores the main progress and deadlocks in CCS’s difficult path. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Carbon Sequestration, CCS, Carbon Mitigation, Low-carbon Technology |
| JEL: | Q42 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.33&r=env |
| By: | W. Brock (Economics Department, University of Wisconsin, University of Missouri and Beijer Fellow); A. Xepapadeas (Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of International and European Economic Studies and Beijer Fellow) |
| Abstract: | Polar amplification is an established scientific fact which has been associated with the surface albedo feedback and to heat and moisture transport from the Equator to the Poles. In this paper we unify a two-box climate model, which allows for heat and moisture transport from the southern region to the northern region, with an economic model of welfare optimization. Our main contribution is to show that by ignoring spatial heat and moisture transport and the resulting polar amplification, the regulator may overestimate or underestimate the tax on GHG emissions. The direction of bias depends on the relations between marginal damages from temperature increase in each region. We also determine the welfare cost when a regulator mistakenly ignores polar amplification. Finally we show the adjustments necessary to the market discount rate due to transport phenomena as well as how our two-box model can be extended to Ramsey-type optimal growth models. Numerical simulations confirm our theoretical results. |
| Keywords: | Polar Amplification, Spatial Heat and Moisture Transport, Optimal Policy, Emission Taxes, Market Discount Rate |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.19&r=env |
| By: | Solomon M. Hsiang |
| Abstract: | Identifying the effect of climate on societies is central to understanding historical economic development, designing modern policies that react to climatic events, and managing future global climate change. Here, I review, synthesize, and interpret recent advances in methods used to measure effects of climate on social and economic outcomes. Because weather variation plays a large role in recent progress, I formalize the relationship between climate and weather from an econometric perspective and discuss their use as identifying variation, highlighting tradeoffs between key assumptions in different research designs and deriving conditions when weather variation exactly identifies the effects of climate. I then describe advances in recent years, such as parameterization of climate variables from a social perspective, nonlinear models with spatial and temporal displacement, characterizing uncertainty, measurement of adaptation, cross-study comparison, and use of empirical estimates to project the impact of future climate change. I conclude by discussing remaining methodological challenges. |
| JEL: | C33 H84 I1 O13 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22181&r=env |
| By: | Stefan Pauliuk; Karsten Neuhoff; Anne Owen; Richard Wood |
| Abstract: | After the Paris Climate Agreement, it is anticipated that carbon prices will differ across regions for some time. If countries use free allowance allocation as carbon leakage protection, only a fraction of carbon prices are passed through to consumers particularly by carbon intensive materials producers. Adding a consumption charge based on benchmarks applied to the material content can reinstate the carbon price signal. The paper investigates the implications of such a consumption charge for industry and consumers based on material flow analysis and material flow cost accounting. The material‐related carbon liabilities for production, import, export, and consumption are estimated for 4000 commodity groups that contain one or more of the five bulk materials steel, aluminium, plastics, paper, and cement. Assuming an underlying carbon price of 30 Euros per ton of CO2, the total charge to European final consumers is estimated to be about 17 billion EUR. The total charges levied on imports and those waived for exports are each of similar size and roughly amount to half of the total charge to European final consumers. To reduce administrative efforts, the charge is not levied on imported products for which the value of the consumption charge compared to product price falls below a threshold. Thus administrative efforts for 77 to 83% of imports could be avoided while still 85% to 90% of import‐related carbon liabilities are included. |
| Keywords: | Material flow analysis, material flow cost accounting, carbon pricing, inclusion of consumption |
| JEL: | F18 H23 Q56 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1570&r=env |
| By: | Kunlayanee Pornpinatepong (Prince Songkhla University, Thailand) |
| Abstract: | The major objective of this study was to develop appropriate water quality control policies for a sustainable fishery in Southern Songkhla Lake (Southern Lake) so the impact of water pollution on fishery production in the lake was the first consideration. The three major components of this study were: (i) the identification of the situation and trends in fishery production associated with water quality in the lake, using secondary data and statistical analysis, (ii) the evaluation of technological options to improve water quality using secondary data and cost-effectiveness analysis, and (iii) the analysis of proposed policy alternatives for better water quality. In order to identify the current situation and trends in fishery production associated with water quality in Southern Lake, the natural shrimp catch was used as an indicator of water quality deterioration while the water quality composite index (WQCI) was used as the indicator of the relationship between water quality and pollution from various sources. |
| Keywords: | fishery production, water quality, Thailand |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:pbrief:pb20160414&r=env |
| By: | Daniel Rais |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the issues of dual pricing and export restrictions in the energy sector, stressing the comparability of their economic and climate change impacts. It assesses whether WTO disciplines relevant and applicable to such practices are well-equipped to ensure fair access to energy resources. It finds that relevant GATT disciplines are overall deficient in the case of dual pricing and export taxes, while the landscape of WTO-plus obligations generally consisting of a network of narrowly tailored commitments. It discusses possible avenues to address such practices under the ASCM to the extent that they distort domestic energy prices and subsidize consumption of cheap fossil fuels |
| Date: | 2015–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wti:papers:848&r=env |
| By: | Budy P. Resosudarmo (Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | The excessive use of pesticides in Indonesia during the 1970s and 1980s caused serious environmental problems, such as acute and chronic human pesticide poisoning, animal poisoning, the contamination of agricultural products, the destruction of both beneficial natural parasites and pest predators, and pesticide resistance in pests. To overcome these environmental problems, the Indonesian government implemented an integrated pest management (IPM) program from 1991 to 1999. During that time, the program was able to help farmers reduce the use of pesticides by approximately 56% and increase yields by approximately 10%. However, economic literature that analyzes the impact of the IPM program on household incomes and national economic performance is very limited. The general objective of this research is to analyze the impact of the IPM program in food crops on the Indonesian economy and household incomes for different socioeconomic groups. |
| Keywords: | Integrated Pest Management, Indonesia |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:report:rr2016059&r=env |
| By: | Kihiu, Evelyne Nyathira; Amuakwa-Mensah, Franklin |
| Abstract: | Productivity of rangelands in Kenya is affected by increasing crop farming especially in more fertile range areas. Among the key factors driving the encroachment of crops on rangelands are the changing opportunities brought about by markets. We hypothesize that the existing market inefficiencies characterizing livestock markets, especially the price disincentives that livestock producers face, are major risks rangelands face. To analyze the effect of livestock market conditions on rangeland management, we draw on household survey and economic modeling tools. We find that traders’ rent seeking behavior and high transport costs act as disincentives to livestock producers’ participation in livestock markets and influence their decisions in seeking alternative rangeland uses to sustain livelihoods. However, improved livestock market access enhances livestock producers’ livelihoods and the stewardship of the ecosystems thus reducing pastoralists’ vulnerability to ecological climate variability associated with rangelands. |
| Keywords: | Extensive livestock production, market access, ecological-economic model, positive mathematical programming (PMP) model, Kenya, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Q13, Q15, Q24, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:235107&r=env |
| By: | Pablo Pintos (Universidad Pontificia Comillas and Economics for Energy); Pedro Linares (Instituto de Investigación Tecnológica, Universidad Pontificia Comillas,Harvard Kennedy School; and Economics for Energy.) |
| Abstract: | The European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is the main instrument of the European Union (EU) against climate change. This mechanism is considered, from the theoretical point of view, as the most cost-effective method to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG). However, previous studies show that the agents who participate in these markets can behave in a way which may lead to inefficient CO 2 prices, creating doubts about the effectiveness of the system. This paper analyzes these possible anomalies by modeling the EU ETS under a rational market hypothesis and comparing the results with real market transactions. For this, we have built a bottom-up model, which represents the EU ETS in an integrated way, paying particular attention to the interactions among the most emissions intensive industries. The results show the benefits of this integrated modeling approach and how it better reflects real market conditions. We also present some preliminary conclusions regarding the behavior of the agents in the ETS market. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: EU ETS; industry; GHG emissions; behavior modeling; costs |
| JEL: | Q31 Q37 Q48 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:efe:wpaper:01-2016&r=env |
| By: | Ribaudo, Marc; Marshall, Elizabeth; Aillery, Marcel; Malcolm, Scott |
| Abstract: | Reducing the size of the hypoxic zone (Dead Zone) in the northern Gulf of Mexico will require a significant reduction in nutrient loads from the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB). This research uses an agriculture sector model and data on conservation system effectiveness and costs to estimate costs to the agriculture sector of meeting nutrient load goals at the outlet to the Gulf and at outlets of sub-basins in the watershed. The analysis also estimates resulting changes in crop prices and the resulting impacts on agricultural production and nutrient and sediment loss outside the MARB. |
| Keywords: | hypoxia, nutrients, REAP model, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235197&r=env |
| By: | Daniel Rais |
| Abstract: | Abstract Destined to channel a significant part of the US$ 100 billion pledge made by developed countries under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has been set up with the ambition of becoming the main global fund in the area of climate finance. Although many pieces of the final puzzle are still missing the GCF is now ready to solicit funding. It is a fact that its institutional design has little in common with the very successful trust funds operating under the aegis of the World Bank. This paper explores the reasons that are at the centre of the massive growth in ‘multi-bi-financing’ and provides an overview of the most recent trends in ODA and climate finance. Based on this study, it analyses whether the GCF is an attractive institutional channel for donors. It concludes that many of the GCF’s design elements should be improved, notably with the view to enhancing value for money integrating actively civil society actors and leveraging effectively private capital. |
| Date: | 2014–07–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wti:papers:747&r=env |
| By: | Jin Fan (School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China); Jun Li (School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China); Yanrui Wu (Business School, University of Western Australia); Shanyong Wang (School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China); Dingtao Zhao (School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China) |
| Abstract: | Personal carbon trading (PCT) is a downstream cap-and-trade scheme which could be used to reduce carbon emissions from the household sector. To explore the effectiveness of this scheme, it is necessary to investigate how consumers respond to allowance price change.. In this paper, a general utility optimization (GUO) model and a constant elasticity of substitution (CES) utility function are proposed to examine the price, substitution and income effects of carbon allowance price changes. It is shown that higher income consumers are more sensitive to the allowance price changes than lower income consumers. Moreover, the short-run adjustment in consumers’ consumption of electricity in response to a change in allowance price would be lower than the long-run value. According to the sensitivity analysis, downward (upward) adjustments in the elasticity of substitution result in a positive (negative) effect on price effect. The findings in this study are used to draw policy implications. Suggestions for future research are also provided. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:16-07&r=env |
| By: | Soren T. Anderson; James M. Sallee |
| Abstract: | We review what is known about the economic efficiency of fuel taxes relative to efficiency standards aimed at mitigating environmental externalities from automobiles. We present a simplified model of car choice that allows us to emphasize the relationships between fuel economy, other car attributes, and miles traveled. We focus on greenhouse gas emissions, although we note how other environmental externalities affect our conclusions. Our main conclusion—that standards are substantially less efficient than a fuel tax—is already familiar. Less familiar are points we make about the relative importance of the rebound effect, on the effects of attribute-based policies, and the implications of behavioral biases. We point to areas where we believe future research can have the greatest contribution, including work on uncertainty, heterogeneity, and empirical work in low and middle-income countries. |
| JEL: | H23 Q48 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22242&r=env |
| By: | Daniel Rais |
| Abstract: | Abstract The authors argue that even today there is law and there are actors that can provide this protection. Although they do not deny that the law and the mandates of actors can be improved, they suggest that the immediate priority should be ensuring that persons subject to CCID are protected. |
| Date: | 2015–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wti:papers:832&r=env |
| By: | Aragon,Fernando M.; Miranda Montero,Juan Jose; Oliva,Paulina |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of air pollution on labor supply in Lima, Peru. It focuses on fine particulate matter (PM2.5), an important pollutant for health according to the medical literature, and shows that moderate levels of pollution reduce hours worked for working adults. The research design takes advantage of rich household panel data in labor outcomes to address omitted variables and allows investigation of whether the response to air pollution is non-linear. The analysis finds that the effect of moderate pollution levels on hours worked is concentrated among households with susceptible dependents, that is small children and elderly adults, while the highest concentrations affect all households. This suggests that caregiving is likely a mechanism linking air pollution to labor supply at moderate levels. Further evidence of this mechanism is provided using DHS data on children morbidity for the same time period. Finally, no evidence is found of intra-household attenuation behavior. For instance, there is no re-allocation of labor across household members, and earnings decrease with air pollution. |
| Keywords: | Air Quality&Clean Air,Brown Issues and Health,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Population Policies |
| Date: | 2016–04–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7658&r=env |
| By: | Huiban, J.P.; Mastromarco, C.; Musolesi, A.; Simioni, M. |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to estimate the impact of pollution abatement investments on the production technology of firms by pursuing two new directions. First, we take advantage of recent econometric developments in productivity and efficiency analysis and compare the results obtained with two complementary approaches: parametric stochastic frontier analysis and conditional nonparametric frontier analysis. Second, we focus not only on the average effect but also on its heterogeneity across ?rms and over time and search for potential nonlinearities. We provide new results suggesting that such an effect is heterogeneous both within ?rms and over time and indicating that the effect of pollution abatement investments on the production process is not monotonic. These results have relevant implications both for modeling and for the purposes of advice on environmentally friendly policy. ....French Abstract : Cet article estime l’impact des investissements anti-pollution sur la technologie en suivant deux nouvelles directions. Premièrement, il s’inspire de travaux économétriques récents en analyse de la productivité et de l’efficacité et compare les résultats obtenus en utilisant deux approches complémentaires : l’approche paramétrique des frontières stochastiques de production et celle non paramétrique de frontières de production. Deuxièmement, l’analyse de se concentre plus sur le seul comportement moyen mais s’intéresse à l’hétérogénéité des effets des investissements anti-pollution entre les firmes dans le temps. Une attention particulière est ainsi donnée à la détection de non linéarités. Les résultats empiriques apportent un éclairage nouveau sur ces effets en montrant qu’ils sont hétérogènes à la fois entre les firmes et dans le temps et qu’ils ne sont pas monotones. De tels résultats ont une implication en termes non seulement de modélisation des effets des investissements anti-pollution sur la technologie mais aussi de recommandations pour la politique environnementale de réduction des émissions polluantes des firmes. |
| Keywords: | POLLUTION ABATEMENT INVESTMENTS; TECHNOLOGY; STOCHASTIC FRONTIER ANALYSIS; CONDITIONAL NONPARAMETRIC FRONTIER ANALYSIS; GENERALIZED PRODUCT KERNELS; GENERALIZED LOCAL POLYNOMIAL KERNEL REGRESSION; INVESTISSEMENTS ANTIPOLLUTION; TECHNOLOGIE; FRONTIERES STOCHASTIQUE DE PRODUCTION; ESTIMATION NON PARAMETRIQUE DES FRONTIERES DE PRODUCTION; ESTIMATEURS DE NOYAUX; INDUSTRIE AGROALIMENTAIRE FRANCAISE |
| JEL: | C14 C23 D24 Q50 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umr:wpaper:201602&r=env |
| By: | Ichiroh Daitoh (Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio University); Nori Tarui (Department of Economics, University of Hawaii at Manoa) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates when poverty reduction and environmental resource preservation can be compatible in developing economies with two prominent institutional failures: wage rigidity in urban labor markets and open access to rural natural resources. We develop a small open dualistic economy model with these institutional features, and investigate the effects of an export tax on the resource good on urban unemployment and overexploitation of the rural resource. At the steady state, the first-best policy calls for an urban wage subsidy while rural labor should be subsidized at a lower rate, or be taxed. A rural tax constitutes the first-best policy when the domestic price of urban manufactured good is sufficiently high. Thus the well-known first-best policy prescription by Bhagwati and Srinivasan (1974) does not apply to developing countries when the world price of the resource good is low under free trade and/or an import tariff on the manufactured good is high. Unlike what the literature indicates, an increase in the export tax rate generally reduces the rate of urban unemployment, thereby improving welfare. However, the level of urban unemployment is more likely to increase if the initial rate of export tax is lower. A small export tax always improves welfare by mitigating the two institutional failures. |
| Keywords: | open access, renewable resource, urban unemployment, export tax on the resource good, Harris-Todaro model |
| JEL: | O13 Q27 F18 |
| Date: | 2016–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:keo:dpaper:2016-009&r=env |
| By: | Aburto-Oropeza,Octavio; Leslie,Heather M.; Mack-Crane,Austen; Nagavarapu,Sriniketh Suryasesha; Reddy,Sheila M.W.; Sievanen,Leila |
| Abstract: | Devolving property rights to local institutions has emerged as a compelling management strategy for natural resource management in developing countries. The use of property rights among fishing cooperatives operating in Mexico's Gulf of California provides a compelling setting for theoretical and empirical analysis. A dynamic theoretical model demonstrates how fishing cooperatives'management choices are shaped by the presence of property rights, the mobility of resources, and predictable environmental fluctuations. More aggressive management comes in the form of the cooperative leadership paying lower prices to cooperative members for their catch, as lower prices disincentivize fishing effort. The model's implications are empirically tested using three years of daily logbook data on prices and catches for three cooperatives from the Gulf of California. One cooperative enjoys property rights while the other two do not. There is empirical evidence in support of the model: compared to the other cooperatives, the cooperative with strong property rights pays members a lower price, pays especially lower prices for less mobile species, and decreases prices when environmental fluctuations cause population growth rates to fall. The results from this case study demonstrate the viability of cooperative management of resources but also point toward quantitatively important limitations created by the mismatch between the scale of a property right and the scale of a resource. |
| Keywords: | Corporate Law,E-Business,Fisheries and Aquaculture,Microfinance,Markets and Market Access |
| Date: | 2016–05–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7662&r=env |
| By: | Bui Dung The (College of Economics, Hue University); Bui Duc Tinh (College of Economics, Hue University) |
| Keywords: | Vietnam, flood, adaptation, climate change, cost-benefit |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:pbrief:pb20160433&r=env |
| By: | Daniel Rais |
| Abstract: | The shift to renewable energy is of key importance to decarbonisation of economies and to achieving effective results addressing global warming and rapid climate change. Enhanced recourse in the production of electricity – the main driver and engine of modern life – to solar, wind and tidal energy, complementing hydropower, is essential if informally defined goals to keep the increase of average global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius in this century are to be realised. |
| Date: | 2014–11–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wti:papers:766&r=env |
| By: | Richard Danvers Smart; Matthias Blum; Justus Wesseler |
| Abstract: | Genetically engineered (GE) crops are subject to regulatory oversight to ensure their safety for humans and the environment. Their approval in the European Union (EU) starts with an application in a given Member State followed by a scientific risk assessment, and ends with a political decision-making step (risk management). In the United States (US) approval begins with a scientific (field trial) step and ends with a 'bureaucratic' decision-making step. We investigate trends for the time taken for these steps and the overall time taken for approving GE crops in the US and the EU. Our results show that from 1996-2015 the overall time trend for approval in the EU decreased and then flattened off, with an overall mean completion-time of 1,763 days. In the US in 1998 there was a break in the trend of the overall approval time. Initially, from 1988 until 1997 the trend decreased with a mean approval time of 1,321 days; from 1998-2015, the trend almost stagnated with a mean approval time of 2,467 days. |
| Keywords: | GE; Genetically modified organism (GMO); Transgenic; US; EU; Regulatory oversight; Authorization |
| JEL: | O32 O38 O57 Q16 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qub:wpaper:1603&r=env |
| By: | Paul Watkiss; Federica Cimato |
| Abstract: | This working paper aims to inform the development community about the current state-of-knowledge and emerging thinking on the economics of adaptation and the application to development. The paper explores a number of key challenges on the economics of adaptation, and investigates examples of how these are being addressed in practical case studies. The case studies are drawn from the portfolio of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the wider literature. The key areas of focus have been to assess: – Mainstreaming adaptation into development planning. – The analysis and appraisal of building (adaptive) capacity and non-technical adaptation. – The consideration of distributional effects. – The phasing and prioritisation of adaptation and the application of light-touch approaches for decision making under uncertainty. |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp235&r=env |
| By: | Silvia Santato (Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Jaroslav Mysiak (Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Carlos Dionisio Pérez-Blanco (Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei) |
| Abstract: | The current Water Abstraction License (WAL) regime in Italy is no longer flexible enough to cope with the challenges posed by human-induced climate and global environmental changes. The cornerstones of the current regime were laid down in the 1930s and have remained essentially unchanged ever since. The sole noteworthy reform of the Italian WAL regime was the decentralization of the regulatory competences from the state to the regional authorities in the late 1990s. In this paper, we review the WAL regimes across the administrative regions comprising the Po River Basin District (PRBD), the largest and economically most important in Italy. PRBD’s WAL regime includes a rigid and scattered WAL normative that hinders the performance of bottom-up conflict resolution mechanisms at a basin scale; a water pricing scheme that does not reflect the cost of water conveyance and use, and does not encourage efficient water allocation; and the lack of a central WAL register, which delays and in some cases impedes an environmental impact assessment for issuing new licenses or renewing existing ones, and does not allow prioritizing applications according to their full economic value. We argue these deficiencies may compromise both the integrity of riverine and water dependent ecosystems and the economic uses of water. This paper offers insights that can inform reform of water allocations in the PRBD and elsewhere in Italy and in Europe. |
| Keywords: | Water Abstractions License, Water Fee, Water Security, Po River Basin District |
| JEL: | Q21 Q25 Q28 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.29&r=env |
| By: | Wineman, Ayala; Mason, Nicole M.; Ochieng, Justus; Kirimi, Lilian |
| Abstract: | Households in rural Kenya are sensitive to weather shocks through their reliance on rain-fed agriculture and livestock. Yet the extent of vulnerability is poorly understood, particularly in reference to extreme weather. This paper uses temporally and spatially disaggregated weather data and three waves of household panel survey data to understand the impact of weather extremes –including periods of high and low rainfall, heat, and wind– on household welfare. Particular attention is paid to heterogeneous effects across agro-ecological regions. We find that all types of extreme weather affect household well-being, although effects sometimes differ for income and calorie estimates. Periods of drought are the most consistently negative weather shock across various regions. An examination of the channels through which weather affects welfare reveals that drought conditions reduce income from both on- and off-farm sources, though households compensate for diminished on-farm production with food purchases. The paper further explores the household and community characteristics that mitigate the adverse effects of drought. In particular, access to credit and a more diverse income base seem to render a household more resilient. |
| Keywords: | food security, household welfare, Kenya, resilience, weather shocks, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Production Economics, D60, I32, O13, Q12, |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:egtewp:233678&r=env |
| By: | Asfaw, Solomon; Lipper, Leslie |
| Abstract: | We assess farmers' incentives and the conditioning factors for adoption of agricultural technologies under climate risk and evaluate its impact on food security in Niger. Results show that while the use of modern inputs and organic fertilizers improves productivity, results are unclear for crop residues. Results also show that factors driving modern input use are different than those of crop residues and organic fertilizer which can be characterized at low capital requirements, higher labour requirements and longer time for results versus modern inputs which can be characterized as higher capital requirements, less labour requirement and shorter time for returns. Results show that greater climate variability increases use of risk-reducing inputs, but reduce the use of modern inputs. Results presented have implications for understanding and overcoming barriers to adoption, distinguishing structural aspects such as exposure and sensitivity from potential interventions at the household or system levels linked to adaptive capacity. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, adaptation, food security, multivariate probit, instrumental variable, Niger, Africa, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Q01, Q12, Q16, Q18, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:225667&r=env |
| By: | Goldlücke, Susanne; Schmitz, Patrick W. |
| Abstract: | A pollution-generating firm (the principal) can offer a contract to an agent (say, a nearby town) who has the right to be free of pollution. Subsequently, the agent privately learns the disutility caused by pollution. Then a production level and a payment from the principal to the agent are implemented as contractually specified. We explore the implications of a non-negativity constraint on the payment. For low cost types there is underproduction, while for high cost types there is overproduction. Hence, there may be too much pollution compared to the first-best solution (which is in contrast to standard adverse selection models). |
| Keywords: | Coasean bargaining; externalities; hidden information; incentive contracting; limited liability |
| JEL: | D23 D62 D82 D86 H23 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11217&r=env |
| By: | Covre, Julyana; Clemente, Felippe; Lirio, Viviani S. |
| Abstract: | Brazil is a continental country, with more than 8 million square kilometers and many biomes, which have permanent preservation areas and legal reserves protected by the Forest Code. On the other hand, Brazil is an agricultural country, that increasingly needs of agricultural land. In 2012 after much controversy approved the new Brazilian Forest Code. The article, then, is to evaluate the changes brought by the new Forest Code and the future impact of the same on small and medium farms and the environment. We conclude that the new forest code can have serious consequences for the environment and human life. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:212768&r=env |
| By: | Jan, Pierrick; Calabrese, Chiara; Lips, Markus |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the determinants of nitrogen surplus and of its two components-nitrogen intensity and nitrogen-inefficiency- at farm level in Swiss agriculture. Our analysis is based on a cross-section of 210 farms from the eyar 2010. The nitrogen balance of each farm is estimated according to the OECD soil-surface approach. The determinants are analysed by means of a three-equartion regression model estimated using a robust SUR approach. Farm size, part-time farming, organic farming, arable cropping and farmer's age are found to negatively affect nitrogen surplus, whilst dairy, pig and poultry farming are associated with a higher nitrogen surplus. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:211795&r=env |
| By: | Anil Markandya (BC3); Enrica De Cian (CMCC and FEEM); Laurent Drouet (CMCC and FEEM); Josué M. Polanco-Martìnez (BC3); Francesco Bosello (CMCC and FEEM) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes an operationally simple and easily generalizable methodology to incorporate climate change damage uncertainty into Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs). Uncertainty is transformed into a risk-premium, damage-correction, region-specific factor by extracting damage distribution means and variances from an ensemble of socio economic and climate change scenarios. This risk premium quantifies what society would be willing to pay to insure against the uncertainty of the damages, and it can be considered an add-up to the standard “average damage”. Our computations show the addition to be significant, but highly sensitive to the coefficient of relative risk aversion. Once the climate change damage function incorporates the risk premium into the model, results show a substantial increase in both mitigation and adaptation, reflecting a more conservative attitude by the social planner. Interestingly, adaptation is stimulated more than mitigation in the first half of the century, while the situation reverses afterwards. Over the century, the risk premium correction fosters more mitigation, which doubles, than adaptation, which rises by about 80%. |
| Keywords: | Risk, Uncertainty, Climate, Adaptation, Mitigation |
| JEL: | Q2 Q3 D8 D9 D62 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.21&r=env |
| By: | Daniel Rais |
| Abstract: | Abstract With its wide coverage of economic spheres and the variety of trade and investment measures currently under negotiation, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) opens windows of opportunity for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The paper examines the possible avenues and the WTO law implications for the alignment of emissions standards between the European Union (EU) and United States of America (US). Looking particularly at the automobile sector, it argues that TTIP negotiators should strive for the mutual recognition of equivalence of EU and US car emissions standards, while pursuing full harmonisation in the long term. It concludes that the preferential trade agreement (PTA) status of TTIP would not be able to exempt measures taken for regulatory convergence from compliance with applicable WTO rules, particularly the rules of the WTO’s Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). Furthermore, the EU and the US would not be able to ignore requests for the recognition of equivalence of third countries’ standards and would need to provide the grounds upon which they assess third countries’ standards as not adequately fulfilling the objectives of their own regulations and therefore rejecting them. |
| Date: | 2014–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wti:papers:732&r=env |
| By: | Situngkir, Hokky |
| Abstract: | A city park has been built from the organic urban settlement in the Cikapundung River, Bandung, Indonesia. While the aim for the development is the revitalization of the river for being unhealthy from the waste coming from the settlement. A study on how Indonesian people, in general, treating water source, like river, lake, and ocean is revisited. Throwing waste into the river has actually become paradox with the collective mental understanding about water among Indonesians. Two scenarios of agent-based simulation is presented, to see the dynamics of organic settlement and life of the city park after being opened for public. The simulation is delivered upon the imagery of landscape taken from the satellite and drone. While experience for presented problems gives insights, the computational social laboratory also awaits for further theoretical explorations and endeavors to sharpen good policymaking. |
| Keywords: | agent-based model, computational social science, settlement, slum, river, water, waste management, indonesia |
| JEL: | C63 C88 I31 Q1 Q25 Q53 Q57 R28 Z13 Z18 |
| Date: | 2016–04–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71078&r=env |
| By: | Vitor Castro (University of Coimbra and NIPE) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of political ideology on sustainable development. The value of doing this is two-fold. First, in the face of important social challenges, ranging from climate change to aging populations, the question of sustainable development has become a top priority for many observers and policy makers. Second, sustainability is intrinsically linked to issues of governance.Thus, we study the effect of political ideology on sustainable development, measured as investment in genuine wealth, in a dynamic panel of 79 countries between 1981 and 2013. We find that a switch from a left-wing or centrist government to a right-wing government has a robust positive and statistically significant effect on investment in genuine wealth. We find no evidence of opportunistic cycles in these investments. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable development, Political ideology; Genuine investment. |
| JEL: | C23 D72 I31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:3606234&r=env |
| By: | Antonio Musolesi; Jean Pierre Huiban; Camilla Mastromarco; Michel Simioni |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to estimate the impact of pollution abatement investments on the production technology of firms by pursuing two new directions. First, we take advantage of recent econometric developments in productivity and efficiency analysis and compare the results obtained with two complementary approaches: parametric stochastic frontier analysis and conditional nonparametric frontier analysis. Second, we focus not only on the average effect but also on its heterogeneity across firms and over time and search for potential nonlinearities. We provide new results suggesting that such an effect is heterogeneous both within firms and over time and indicating that the effect of pollution abatement investments on the production process is not monotonic. These results have relevant implications both for modeling and for the purposes of advice on environmentally friendly policy. |
| Keywords: | Pollution abatement investments; technology; stochastic frontier analysis; conditional nonparametric frontier analysis; generalized product kernels; eneralized local polynomial kernel regression |
| JEL: | C14 C23 D24 Q50 |
| Date: | 2016–05–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udf:wpaper:2016025&r=env |
| By: | Herminia Francisco (EEPSEA, Singapore); David Glover (EEPSEA, Singapore) |
| Abstract: | This research program was managed by the Environmental Economics Unit of the Faculty of Economics, National University, Ho Chi flinh City. This document is the product of that research program. However, this book signifies something more - the EEF'SEA and the Vietnam government's shared efforts for capacity building and strengthening of environmental economics research in Vietnam. This is our first step in environmental economics, a new field for the country. I hope it provides a helpful reference for methodologies and case studies that may be used in training and policymaking for government officials and others working in environmental management. |
| Keywords: | environment, case study, vietnam |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:report:rr2016043&r=env |
| By: | Sheng, Di; Lambert, Dayton M.; Hellwinckel, Chad |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2016–01–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea16:230006&r=env |
| By: | Jeff Manuel; Jeanne Nel; Kristal Maze; Mandy Driver; Anthea Stephens; Emily Botts; Azisa Parker; Mahlodi Tau; John Dini; Stephen Holness |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an in-depth review of experiences and insights from mainstreaming biodiversity and development in South Africa. More specifically, it describes how biodiversity considerations have been mainstreamed in five key sectors/areas, namely: land use planning, mining, water, infrastructure, and the agricultural sector. It discusses the types of barriers and challenges that have been encountered, the key ingredients and lessons learned to help ensure more effective biodiversity mainstreaming, and the role of development co-operation in supporting in mainstreaming in South Africa. Examples of the key elements of success include good science, the ability to harness windows of opportunity, and ensuring genuine links to development objectives. Ce document présente un tour d'horizon détaillé des expériences et des éclairages apportés par l'intégration transversale de la biodiversité et du développement en Afrique du Sud. Plus précisément, il décrit la façon dont les considérations de biodiversité ont été systématiquement prises en compte dans cinq secteurs ou domaines clés, à savoir : l'aménagement de l'espace, l'exploitation minière, l'eau, les infrastructures et le secteur agricole. Il examine les types d'obstacles rencontrés et de défis relevés, les principaux ingrédients et enseignements susceptibles de favoriser une transversalisation plus efficace de la biodiversité, ainsi que l'appui pouvant être apporté par la coopération pour le développement à l'intégration transversale en Afrique du Sud. Parmi les principaux facteurs de réussite cités en exemple figurent une bonne base scientifique, l'aptitude à tirer parti des occasions propices et l'instauration de liens véritables avec les objectifs de développement. |
| Keywords: | sustainable development, international finance, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, ecological economics, Finances infranationales, économie de l’écologie, services écosystémiques, conservation de la biodiversité, développement durable |
| JEL: | F3 Q1 Q56 Q57 |
| Date: | 2016–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaaa:107-en&r=env |
| By: | Yamagata, Tatsufumi |
| Abstract: | The Development Cooperation Charter of Japan, which took over the ODA (Official Development Assistance) Charter in February 2015, drives Japan's cooperation towards non-poor countries and non-poverty issues. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) put Japan forward in these directions. As a result, in Japan the focus on global poverty reduction is overshadowed by its national interests and sustainability under the concept of universality, which was a core principle of the SDGs as differentiated from the Millennium Development Goals. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable development, Poverty, Development aid, Sustainable Development Goals, ODA, ODA Charter, Development Cooperation Charter, Japan, universality |
| JEL: | F35 O20 O53 F55 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper598&r=env |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | Subsidized energy is provided to all Indonesian citizens as a public service obligation. This study measures the size of fossil fuel subsidies such as underpricing of petroleum products and electricity, tax exemptions, and subsidized credit; examines the potential economic, energy, and environmental impacts of reducing them; and discusses options for social safety nets to mitigate the impacts of the reforms. It shows that the short-term adverse impacts of subsidy reform turn positive in the long term as households and industry respond to changing market realities by adjusting energy demand, supply, and production capacity. Policy options for sustainable energy use are provided to aid policymakers in their current subsidy reform process. |
| Keywords: | indonesia, fossil fuel, energy, fossil fuel subsidies, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, economic impacts, social programs, developing asia |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt157694-2&r=env |
| By: | Kyle C. Meng |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a method for forecasting the marginal abatement cost (MAC) of climate policy using three features of the failed Waxman-Markey bill. First, the MAC is revealed by the price of traded permits. Second, the permit price is estimated using a regression discontinuity design (RDD) comparing stock returns of firms on either side of the policy's free permit cutoff rule. Third, because Waxman-Markey was never implemented, I extend the RDD approach to incorporate prediction market prices which normalize estimates by policy realization probabilities. A final bounding analysis recovers a MAC range of $5 to $18 per ton CO 2 e. |
| JEL: | G14 Q52 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22255&r=env |
| By: | Gawel, Erik; Lehmann, Paul; Strunz, Sebastian; Heuson, Clemens |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we propose a comprehensive Public Choice framework to identify and categorize barriers to efficient public climate adaptation. Specifically, we distinguish three dimensions of public adaptation: extent, structure (form and timing) and organisation (vertical and horizontal). Within each of these dimensions, we investigate how the self-interest of voters, pressure groups, bureaucrats and politicians may bias adaptation decisions. Thus, we indicate specific barriers to efficient public adaptation. Based on this framework, we illustrate how Germany's response to major flood disasters reflects the incentive structure of concerned stakeholders and their political interaction. The ad-hoc character of some public adaptation measures implies a clear bias from the efficient benchmark. In conclusion, we argue that the propositions of Public Choice theory shed some light on how empirical public adaptation processes unfold. |
| Keywords: | adaptation,barriers,climate change,climate policy,efficiency,public choice |
| JEL: | D78 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ufzdps:32016&r=env |
| By: | Olufolajimi Oke; Daniel Huppmann; Max Marshall; Ricky Poulton; Sauleh Siddiqui |
| Abstract: | We present a medium-term market equilibrium model of the North American crude oil sector via which we develop a scenario analysis to investigate strategies to mitigate the environmental and public-safety risks from crude-by-rail transportation across the United States. The model captures crude oil movements across rail- roads, pipelines and waterways, while distinguishing between light and heavy crude qualities. We find that restricting rail loads or increasing pipeline capacity from areas driving production will significantly reduce rail movements. However, lifting the United States crude oil export ban in isolation will only increase rail transportation volumes. We show that an integrated policy of targeted rail caps, pipeline investments and lifting the export ban sustainably addresses medium-term crude-by-rail risks in the United States. |
| Keywords: | Crude-by-rail, market equilibrium, mixed complementarity problem, transportation capacity, infrastructure investment |
| JEL: | Q31 Q38 L71 C61 C72 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1575&r=env |
| By: | Xu, Wenchao; Li, Man |
| Abstract: | This article analyzes how irrigating farmers change their micro-level water allocation in response to water supply variations under institutional water constraints and project the irrigation percentage and farm income under future climate scenarios. We use a highly-detailed data sample of irrigation status, water rights, water supply and agricultural land use from Idaho’s Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer area. Results indicate that 1-unit increase in irrigation percentage leads to ~US$18/ha increase in crop revenue. Compared to crop revenue, micro-level irrigation percentage is more prone to changes under long-term water stress. Seasonal water supply variations only have limited impact on the productivity of the irrigated agricultural sector as a whole. We postulate that average irrigation percentage and farm income will, in effect, increase under Idaho’s institutional water governance in the long run, when junior farmers stop irrigated agriculture practices due to persistent water shortage. |
| Keywords: | Irrigated Land Allocation, Crop Revenue, Water Supply, Water Rights, Climate Change, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, O13, Q12, Q15, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:211892&r=env |
| By: | Camille Bann (Cambodia) |
| Abstract: | This manual on the Economic Valuation of Mangroves has been compiled and developed from a number of sources as an aid to researchers in Southeast Asia involved in the evaluation of mangrove ecosystems. A companion EEPSEA manual 'The Economic Valuation of Alternative Tropical Forest Land Use Options' (Bann, 1997) contains a more detailed theoretical discussion of the issues and valuation approaches presented here, and should be referred to by the user as appropriate. The manual was originally developed as an aid to Cambodian researchers in the execution of an EEPSEA-Pioneered study of Koh Kong mangrove, Cambodia. (The report resulting from that study is available as an EEPSEA Research Report.) Special thanks are due to Jack Ruitenbeek for careful comments on an earlier draft. The main components of this Manual are: an introduction to the values of, and threats to, mangrove ecosystems (Chapter 1); a theoretical introduction to valuation of the environment (Chapter 2); a methodology for the economic assessment of mangrove management options (Chapters 3-9); a qualitative discussion of the possible impacts associated with common development options for mangrove ecosystems (Chapter 10); and, two case-study examples from Asia (Chapter 11). |
| Keywords: | Economic valuation,mangrove |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:report:rr2016032&r=env |
| By: | Ma. Salome B. Bulayog (Department of Economics, College of Management and Economics, Visayas State University); Humberto R. Montes, Jr (Visayas State University); Suzette B. Lina (Visayas State University); Teofanes A. Patindol (Visayas State University); Adelfa C. Diola (Visayas State University); Eliza D. Espinosa (Visayas State University); Analyn M. Mazo (Visayas State University); Julissah C. Evangelio (Visayas State University); Art Russel R. Flandez (Visayas State University); Marianne A. Gesultura (Visayas State University); Ris Menoel R. Modina (Visayas State University) |
| Keywords: | Natural capital, Philippines, Assessment |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:pbrief:pb20160425&r=env |
| By: | de Sousa, Elaine P. de; de Miranda, Silvia H.G. |
| Abstract: | This study aims to discuss Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) in Brazil focusing on policies for agriculture and livestock defense. The main concepts and analytical tools were presented, and the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) was highlighted as the most recommended by policy makers for RIA. To illustrate the application of this method in programs for agriculture defense, we discuss three case studies which were carried out in Brazil: Carambola fruit fly in Amapá State, Huanglongbing (greening) and citrus canker. The results show that the benefits surpassed the costs in these programs, particularly from the government point of view. Besides, when the analysis for citrus canker took into consideration the private costs, there were scenarios in which these costs were not offset by the economic benefits. Although the CBA allows identifying and comparing returns for different policy alternatives, the environmental and social aspects are usually poorly captured by this tool. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:212060&r=env |
| By: | Jürges, Nataly |
| Abstract: | Das Konzept der Bioökonomie hat zunehmend an Bedeutung gewonnen. Die Transformation zur Bioökonomie stellt die nachhaltige Nutzung von Böden vor neue Herausforderungen. Gesellschaftliche Wahrnehmungen müssen verstärkt bei der Entwicklung von Transformationsstrategien berücksichtigt werden. Dieses Diskussionspapier stellt dar, wie das Konzept der Bioökonomie von Akteuren im Poli-tikfeld Boden wahrgenommen und aufgegriffen wird. Dabei wird insbesondere untersucht, inwiefern der Begriff Bioökonomie von verschiedenen Akteuren verwendet und bewertet wird. Des Weiteren wird untersucht, welche Funktionen sie in der Transformation zur Bioökonomie einnehmen. Akteure aus dem Politikfeld Boden haben hierbei verschiedene Funktionen und könnten daher zukünftig einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur gesamtgesellschaftlichen Wahrnehmung und Gestaltung der Bioökonomie leisten. |
| Abstract: | The concept of bioeconomy has increasingly gained importance. The transition towards a bioeconomy is a new challenge for the sustainable use of soils. In the development of transition strategies, the perspectives of actors need to be sufficiently considered. This discussion paper presents how the con-cept of bioeconomy is perceived by actors relevant for soil policy. Specifically, it is analyzed how the concept of bioeconomy is used and perceived. Furthermore, it is examined which functions are ful-filled by actors in the transition towards a bioeconomy. Actors relevant for soil policy have different functions in the transition and might substantially impact the future perceptions of society and the implementation of the bioeconomy. |
| Keywords: | Akteur,Boden,Diskurs,Institutionen,Nachhaltigkeit,Stakeholder,Transition,Wahrnehmung,actor,discourse,institutions,perception,soil,stakeholder,sustainability,transition |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ufzdps:62016&r=env |
| By: | Yao Li (School of Management, University of Science and Technology, China); Jin Fan (School of Management, University of Science and Technology, China); Dingtao Zhao (School of Management, University of Science and Technology, China); Yanrui Wu (Business School, University of Western Australia); Jun Li (School of Management, University of Science and Technology, China) |
| Abstract: | This paper proffers a tiered gasoline pricing (TGP) method from a personal carbon trading (PCT) perspective. An optimization model of personal carbon trading is proposed, and then, an equilibrium carbon price is derived according to the market clearing condition. Based on the derived equilibrium carbon price, this paper proposes a calculation method of tiered gasoline pricing. Then, sensitivity analyses and consumers’ surplus analyses are conducted. It can be shown that a rise in gasoline price or a more generous allowance allocation would incur a decrease in the equilibrium carbon price, making the first tiered price higher, but the second tiered price lower. It is further verified that the proposed tiered pricing method is progressive because it would relieve the pressure of the low-income groups who consume less gasoline while imposing a greater burden on the high-income groups who consume more gasoline. Based on these results, implications, limitations and future studies are provided. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:16-02&r=env |
| By: | Cuicui Chen; Richard J. Zeckhauser |
| Abstract: | A central authority, possessing tax and expenditure responsibilities, can readily provide an efficient level of a public good. Climate change mitigation lacks a central authority. Thus, voluntary arrangements must replace coercive arrangements; significant under-provision must be expected. Potential contributors have strong incentives to free ride or ride cheaply. The players – the many nations of the world – are quite disparate. They thus frame negotiations from their own standpoints, making stalemate likely. Moreover, the focal-point solution where contributions are proportional to benefits clashes with the disproportionate cheap-riding incentives of little players. Our proposed solution, the Cheap-Riding Efficient Equilibrium (CREE), defines the relative contributions of players of differing size (or preference intensity) to reflect cheap riding incentives, yet still achieves Pareto optimality. CREE establishes the Alliance/Nash Equilibrium as a base point. From that point it proceeds to the Pareto frontier by applying the principles of the Lindahl Equilibrium (a focal point) or the Nash Bargaining Solution (a standard approach). We test the Alliance Equilibrium model using nations' Intended Nationally Determined Contributions at the Paris Climate Change Conference. As hypothesized, larger nations made much larger pledges in proportion to their Gross National Incomes. We apply our theory to examine the Nordhaus Climate Club proposal. |
| JEL: | C72 F53 H87 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22240&r=env |
| By: | Du, Ding; Zhao, Xiaobing |
| Abstract: | We use sub-national data to examine the relationship between temperature and growth within the US and the European Union. Different from previous studies based on the country-level data, we find that the optimal temperature is much lower. Because most of production takes place in regions with temperatures above the optimal temperature, even modest temperature increases (e.g., 1 °C warming) have statistically and economically significant (negative) impact on the GDP growth of the US and the European Union. Our results suggest more proactive climate policy. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, GDP Growth, Sub-national data, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q54, O44, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235105&r=env |
| By: | Rheinberger, Christoph; Treich, Nicolas |
| Abstract: | In light of climate change and other global threats, policy commentators sometimes urge that society should be more concerned about catastrophes. This paper reflects on what society’s attitude toward low-probability, high-impact events is, or should be. We first argue that catastrophe risk can be conceived of as a spread in the distribution of losses. Based on this conception, we review studies from decision sciences, psychology, and behavioral economics that elicit people’s attitudes toward various social risks. We find more evidence against than in favor of catastrophe aversion—the preference for a mean-preserving contraction of the loss distribution—and discuss a number of possible behavioral explanations. Next, we turn to social choice theory and examine how various social welfare functions handle catastrophe risk. We explain why catastrophe aversion may be in conflict with equity concerns and other-regarding preferences. Finally, we discuss current approaches to evaluate and regulate catastrophe risk. |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:30373&r=env |
| By: | Sang-Chul Suh (Department of Economics, University of Windsor); Yuntong Wang (Department of Economics, University of Windsor) |
| Abstract: | We consider a pollution permit sharing problem in which a ?nite number of countries, each identi?ed by a unique technology that transforms the pollution permits into an output, share a given amount of permits. We de?ne a Pollution Permit Sharing (PPS) game that assigns to each coalition of countries the maximal value of output they can generate collectively with their technologies and permits available to them. We show that the game is totally balanced. We also show that, for the well-known Cap and Trade (CAT) mechanism, namely the competitive equilibrium allocation which generates an efficient allocation of the permits, its corresponding (net) output distribution is in the core of the PPS game. We consider two other coalitional games whose de?nitions depend on the availability of either the total permits or the technologies. The Aspiration Upper Bound with given Permits (AUBP) game assigns to each coalition the maximal value they can generate by using the technologies available from all countries, but only with the permits available to the coalition. And the Aspiration Upper Bound with given Technologies (AUBT) game assigns to each coalition the maximal value they can generate using only the technolo-gies available to the coalition with the permits available from all countries. We show that the core of the AUBP game is nonempty. More importantly, we show that the competitive equilibrium allocation violates the above two aspiration upper bound restrictions. Finally, we suggest the Shapley value as one of the possible alternative solutions to the permit sharing problem. |
| Keywords: | Pollution Permits; Cap and Trade; Cooperative Games; Aspiration Upper Bounds. |
| JEL: | C71 D60 Q20 |
| Date: | 2016–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wis:wpaper:1604&r=env |
| By: | Thiemo Fetzer; Samuel Marden |
| Abstract: | Weak property rights are strongly associated with underdevelopment, low state capacity and civil conflict. In economic models of conflict, outbreaks of violence require two things: the prize must be both valuable and contestable. This paper exploits spatial and temporal variation in contestability of land title to explore the relation between (in)secure property rights and conflict in the Brazilian Amazon. Our estimates suggest that, at the local level, assignment of secure property rights eliminates substantively all land related conflict, even without changes in enforcement. Changes in land use are also consistent with reductions in land related conflict. |
| Keywords: | property rights; land titling; conflict; deforestation |
| JEL: | J1 N0 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:66534&r=env |
| By: | Anne Fournier, |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study how the proximity to cities affects the decision of farmers to enter the direct-selling market in presence of spatial heterogeneity in agricultural yields. We develop a theoretical model which takes into account the externality of urban pollution and market access costs on direct-selling profits. We find that regions hosting an intermediate-size city are more likely to supply a wider range of direct-selling varieties. Additionally, we highlight that spatial heterogeneity in productivity creates distortions in competition between farmers, and can have concomitant undesired effects on both the quality and the range of available varieties. |
| Keywords: | direct-selling farming, spatial heterogeneity, urban pollution, city sized |
| JEL: | D43 Q13 Q53 R52 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:201605&r=env |
| By: | Jaco Pieter Weideman and Roula Inglesi-Lotz |
| Abstract: | South Africa has been struggling to cope with its energy demand. In order to remedy the problem, the government of South Africa has committed itself to pursuing renewable energy as a viable alternative to traditional sources such as fossil fuels. The aim of this study is to understand whether or not the policies pursued by the South African government in the period 1990-2010 have had any effect on the behaviour of consumers and producers of renewable energy. To this end, the Bai & Perron (1998, 2003) break test methodology is employed to understand how renewable energy production and consumption series have evolved over this period. Deviations from the base case are then explained in the South African economic and policy context. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:602&r=env |
| By: | Midingoyi, Soul-kifouly; Hippolyte, Affognon; Georges, Ong'amo; Bruno, LeRu |
| Abstract: | This study adopted the economic surplus model to evaluate the impact of the biological control program (BC), implemented by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), on cereal crops production in Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia. The BC was implemented in East and Southern Africa between 1993 and 2008, with the aim of helping small scale farmers to reduce cereal yield losses due to stem-borers and improve their well-being. Findings show that BC-intervention substantially contributes to consumer and producer welfare in the three countries. The net present value of $US 271.76 million, the attractive Internal Rate of Return of 67%, as well as the estimated Benefit Cost Ration of 33.47, imply the efficiency of investment in BC-program. Moreover, 0.35%, 0.25% and 0.20% of poor are yearly lifted out of poverty respectively in Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia. These findings underscore the need for increased investment in BC in the sub-region. |
| Keywords: | Biological Control, Stemborers, Economic Surplus Model, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:212461&r=env |
| By: | Stefan P. Schleicher (Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change at the University of Graz); Angela Köppl (Austrian Institute of Economic Research); Alexander Zeitlberger (Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change at the University of Graz) |
| Abstract: | Pursuing an evidence based approach we summarize the key elements of the European Commission’s proposal of July 2015 for a reform of the EU Emissions Trading System and offer facts about the current state of EU ETS that underline the needs for such a reform. We supply key data for understanding the current state of EU ETS and report in particular the share of freely allocated allowances in emissions for the various sectors since the start of EU ETS in 2005. This is the most relevant parameter for evaluating the stringency and cost impacts of the EU ETS on sectors and installations. We provide propositions for enhancing the allocation procedure of both free and auctioned allowances, the fundamental element in the cap and trade design of this system. We link this procedure closely to the relevant suggestions of the Commission proposal and offer extensions that can make in particular the allocation of free allowances more targeted and effective. We indicate how the impacts of free allowances can be calculated both for sectors and installations and conclude that these reform steps could reduce the administrative burden of the system. |
| Keywords: | EU Emissions Trading System, Reform Options, EU Commission’s Proposal |
| JEL: | Q53 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.27&r=env |
| By: | Kunlayanee Pornpinatepong (Department of Economics, Prince of Songkla University); Pathomwat Chantarasap (Prince of Songkla University); Jumtip Seneerattaprayul (Prince of Songkla University); Wittawat Hemtanon (Prince of Songkla University); Papitchaya Saelim (Prince of Songkla University) |
| Keywords: | Shrim Fishing, Sustainable, Thailand |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:pbrief:pb20160441&r=env |
| By: | Shaufique Sidique (Institute of Agricultural and Food Policy Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia); Kusairi Mohd Noh (Universiti Putra Malaysia); Gazi Md Nurul Islam (Universiti Putra Malaysia); Aswani Farhana Mohd Noh (Universiti Putra Malaysia) |
| Keywords: | Artificial Reefs,Peninsular Malaysia |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:report:rr20160334&r=env |
| By: | Le Ha Thanh (National Economics University) |
| Keywords: | Leather industry, Vietnam |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:pbrief:pb20160457&r=env |