|
on Environmental Economics |
|
Issue of 2016‒11‒13
fifty-two papers chosen by Francisco S. Ramos Universidade Federal de Pernambuco |
| By: | Robert S. Pindyck |
| Abstract: | An estimate of the social cost of carbon (SCC) is key to climate policy. But how should we estimate the SCC? A common approach is to use an integrated assessment model (IAM) to simulate time paths for the atmospheric CO2 concentration, its impact on global mean temperature, and the resulting reductions in GDP and consumption. I have argued that IAMs have serious deficiencies that make them poorly suited for this job, but what is the alternative? I present a more transparent approach to estimating an average SCC, which I argue is a more useful guide for policy than the marginal SCC derived from IAMs. I rely on a survey through which I elicit expert opinions regarding (1) the probabilities of alternative economic outcomes of climate change, including extreme outcomes such as a 20% or greater reduction in GDP, but not the particular causes of those outcomes; and (2) the reduction in emissions required to avert an extreme outcome. My estimate of the average SCC is the ratio of the present value of damages from an extreme outcome to the total emission reduction needed to avert such an outcome. I discuss the survey instrument, explain how experts were identified, and present results. I obtain SCC estimates of $200/mt or higher, but the variation across experts is large. Trimming outliers and focusing on experts who expressed a high degree of confidence in their answers yields lower SCCs, $80 to $100/mt. |
| JEL: | D81 Q5 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22807&r=env |
| By: | Kent D. Daniel; Robert B. Litterman; Gernot Wagner |
| Abstract: | Pricing greenhouse gas emissions is a risk management problem. It involves making trade-offs between consumption today and unknown and potentially catastrophic damages in the (distant) future. The optimal carbon price is based on society’s willingness to substitute consumption across time and across uncertain states of nature. A large body of work in macroeconomics and finance has attempted to infer societal preferences using the observed behavior of asset prices, and has concluded that the standard preference specifications are inconsistent with observed asset valuations. This literature has developed a richer set of preferences that are more consistent with asset price behavior. In this paper, we explore the implications of these richer preference specifications for the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC), the expected discounted damage of each marginal ton of carbon emissions at an optimal emissions reductions pathway. We develop a simple discrete-time model in which the representative agent has an Epstein-Zin preference specification, and in which uncertainty about the effect of carbon emissions on global temperature and on eventual damages is gradually resolved over time. In our model the SCC is equal to the value of the carbon emissions price at any given point in time that maximizes the utility of the representative agent at that time. We embed a number of features including tail risk, the potential for technological change, and backstop technologies. When coupled with the potential for low-probability, high-impact outcomes, our calibration allows us to decompose the SCC into the expected damages and the risk-premium. In contrast to most modeled carbon price paths, our calibration suggests a high SCC today that is expected to decline over time. It also points to the importance of backstop technologies and, in contrast to standard specifications, to potentially very large deadweight costs of delay. We find, for example, that with damage distributions calibrated to an SCC of $40, a value associated with only a small risk premium, the deadweight loss in utility associated with delaying the implementation of optimal pricing by 15 years is equivalent to a 6% loss of consumption. |
| JEL: | G0 G12 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22795&r=env |
| By: | Samuel Fankhauser; Nicholas Stern |
| Abstract: | The past three decades have seen an unprecedented increase in world living standards and a fall in poverty across many fundamental dimensions. Increased confidence in what was possible together with greater acceptance of moral responsibilities led to the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the turn of the century. They provided a real basis for international cooperation and development. In the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed in September 2015, there is now a common platform for the next phase of the fight against poverty. The SDGs make it clear that environmental protection will be a key feature of this next phase and increasingly intertwined with poverty reduction. Thirteen of the 17 SDGs are directly concerned with the natural environment, climate or sustainability. Environment, climate and sustainability were not prominent in the MDGs. With hindsight we can now see that this was a mistake. A key factor in all this is climate change. Climate change is not the only environmental problem we face, nor is it the only threat to global prosperity. But climate change is unique in its magnitude and the vast risks it poses. It is a potent threat-multiplier for other urgent concerns, such as habitat loss, disease and global security (IPCC 2014) and puts at risk the development achievements of the past decades (World Bank 2016). If unchecked, climate change could fundamentally redraw the map of the planet, and where and how humans and other species can live. Climate change is also unique in the scale of the response that is needed. Reducing climate risks requires cooperation from all countries, developed and developing, to reorient their economic systems away from fossil fuels and harmful land-use practices. This reorientation is urgent. Our activities in the next two decades will determine whether our successes in development will be sustained or advanced, or whether they will be undermined or reversed in a hostile environment. The nature of the climate problem has implications for economic analysis. Economics has much to offer, and indeed continues to provide important insights, but there has been a dangerous tendency to force climate change into narrow existing ways of thinking. This must change. We need to construct theories and models that reflect the structure and scale of the problem and the contexts in which it occurs. Climate change also has implications for development policy. In the Paris Agreement – negotiated at the end of 2015 – there is now an international platform through which global climate action can be advanced and coordinated. The Paris Agreement sets out a process through which the rise in global mean temperatures may be curtailed to “well below†2oC above pre-industrial levels and perhaps as low as 1.5oC. These are the central long-term objectives of the agreement. Meeting the Paris objectives requires sustained action over many decades. It also requires the reorientation of investment. At least US$ 100 trillion will be invested over the next two or three decades into buildings and urban infrastructure, roads, railways, ports and into new energy systems. It is imperative that these investment decisions are taken with climate change in mind. If they are there will be substantial benefits for development and poverty reduction – living spaces where we can move, breathe and be productive, better protection for fragile ecosystems, as well as the fundamental reduction of the risks of climate change. Putting the SDGs and Paris together, the agreements of 2015 have given us, for the first time, a global agenda for sustainable development applying to all countries. This paper sets out the implications of this agenda, and climate change in particular, for development economics and development policy. It emphasizes the nature of the required changes and their implications. We start with an examination of what economics has had to say about the link between economic prosperity and the environment. We then explain why climate change is a different kind of problem and why it requires a new approach to both analysis and policy. The final two sections explore how this new approach might look. |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp253&r=env |
| By: | Billette de Villemeur, Etienne; Leroux, Justin |
| Abstract: | We explore an alternative to existing economic instruments to tackle climate change: carbon liabilities. Such liabilities would hold countries responsible for future climate damage to the tune of their emissions over time. The prospect of having to repay this carbon debt over time is enough to discipline emitters, leading to the efficient emissions level. Contrary to existing instruments, our scheme does not rest on a consensus regarding the discount factor nor about climate forecasts; this, together with its reliance on observed damage, allows for better international participation as well as to a fairer division of costs and risks. |
| Keywords: | Carbon liabilities, climate policy, market instruments, Pigou tax |
| JEL: | H23 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:74998&r=env |
| By: | Matthew Gibson (Williams College) |
| Abstract: | Regulations may cause firms to re-optimize over pollution inputs, leading to unintended consequences. By regulating air emissions in particular counties, the Clean Air Act (CAA) gives rms incentives to substitute: 1) toward polluting other media, like landlls and waterways; and 2) toward pollution from plants in other counties. Using EPA Toxic Release Inventory data, I examine the eect of CAA regulation on these types of substitution. Regulated plants increase water emissions by 105 percent (72 log points). Regulation of an average plant increases air emissions at unregulated plants within the same firm by 13 percent. This leakage offsets 57 percent of emissions reductions by regulated firms. |
| JEL: | Q53 Q52 H23 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wil:wileco:2016-04&r=env |
| By: | Shimon, Otieno Peter; Ogutu, Chris Ackello; Mburu, John; Nyikal, Rose Adhiambo |
| Abstract: | The need to minimize farm-level greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Kenya’s smallholder French bean production is gaining increased attention. French beam production has over the years adopted private voluntary standards notably Global-GAP that regulates both environmental and food safety aspects among farmers. Despite increasing global warming concerns, the impact of Global-GAP policy on smallholder farmers’ GHG emissions is unclear. This paper documents effects of Global-GAP policy on GHG emissions among French bean farmers in Central and Eastern regions of Kenya using household data collected between September and October 2013 from a random sample of 616 farmers. The study used a combined linear programming (LP) and life cycle assessment (LCA) models to examine the economic and environmental metrics and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression method to analyze factors affecting farm-level GHG emissions. Eco-efficiency, defined as net farm income divided by global warming potential, was used as an integrated indicator for assessing the economic and environmental feasibilities. There was a significant (p>0.05) higher eco-efficiency in Kenya Shillings per ton of carbon dioxide equivalence (Kshs per tCO2e) among Global-GAP policy complying farmers compared to non-complying farmers due to a reduced GWP (by 7 percent) and a higher net farm income given the optimum activity level used. The Global-GAP regulatory measures on the management practices seems to have caused economic advantage in exchange for environmental advantage (lower emissions in tCO2e by 7 percent). The regression model results found that Global-GAP compliance negatively and significantly affect GHG emissions. It further found that region of the farmer, French bean yields, gasoline fuel use, DAP fertilizer application and French bean seed positively and significantly affected smallholder farmer’ GHG emissions. More explicitly, the model using these explanatory variables indicates that smallholder farmers complying with Global-GAP policy are more likely to emit less GHG compared to non-complying farmers. The paper recommends inclusion of Global-GAP compliance and these other significant socio-economic factors in the smallholder French bean greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies by the government and industry stakeholders. |
| Keywords: | Global-GAP, Greenhouse gas emissions, Eco-efficiency, LCA model, LP model, smallholder, French beans, Central region, Eastern region, Kenya, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:246437&r=env |
| By: | Alessandro Vercelli (DEPS, University of Siena and SOAS, University of London); Eric Clark (University of Lund); Andrew Gouldson (The University of Leeds) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between finance and environmental sustainability. The first part summarises a few crucial methodological and foundational issues underlying meaning and implications of financialisation, sustainability and their mutual relation. The second part focuses on a particularly significant case study: the unsustainability of the existing energy system based on carbon fuels focusing on the urgency of a rapid transition to a low carbon economy. The third part explores which role financial instruments may play to facilitate the transition towards a low carbon economy. In particular, it investigates the implications for sustainability of the growing trade of energy derivatives. The forth part examines the consequences of the disembedment of money from the socioecological flows of matter and energy. The fifth part investigates the relations between financialisation of built environments and urban sustainability. The final part of the paper draws the main policy implications from the preceding analysis in the light of the growing problems affecting environmental policy in a financialised economy. The main policy conclusion is that, notwithstanding the growing conflict between the ongoing process of financialisation and sustainability, finance has to play a crucial role to implement a process of convergence towards a sustainable path of development. |
| Keywords: | financialisation, sustainability, low carbon economy, energy derivatives, disembedment of money, financialisation of built environment, urban sustainability, green paradox, sustainability policies |
| JEL: | B40 F10 F18 G15 H50 O11 O33 P10 P52 Q20 Q30 Q40 |
| Date: | 2016–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fes:wpaper:wpaper166&r=env |
| By: | Charles Palmer; Luca Taschini; Tim Laing |
| Abstract: | Acre State in Brazil is at the forefront of efforts to institutionalize jurisdictional-scale policies that aim to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). Given limited REDD+ funds and uncertain returns from alternative land uses, this paper estimates the minimum incentive payment Acre’s government would have to pay forest landowners in each of its 22 municipalities to ensure forest conservation. Despite low profits but with relatively low conversion costs and stable returns over time, pasture generates the highest returns in 19 municipalities. Municipalities are ranked according to their relative policy costs, a ranking which is compared to the distribution of forest carbon stocks across Acre. Finally, the relative cost per ton of carbon is derived, which enables the identification of a group of 13 municipalities with the greatest potential for ‘carbon bang’ for a given ‘buck’. |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp254&r=env |
| By: | Thomas Covert (University of Chicago); Michael Greenstone (University of Chicago); Christopher R. Knittel (MIT Sloan School of Management) |
| Abstract: | Scientists believe significant climate change is unavoidable without a drastic reduction in the emissions of greenhouse gases from the combustion of fossil fuels. However, few countries have implemented comprehensive policies that price this externality or devote serious resources to developing low carbon energy sources. In many respects, the world is betting that we will greatly reduce the use of fossil fuels because we will run out of inexpensive fossil fuels (i.e., decreases in supply) and/or technological advances will lead to the discovery of less expensive low carbon technologies (i.e., decreases in demand). The historical record indicates that the supply of fossil fuels has consistently increased over time and that their relative price advantage over low carbon energy sources has not declined substantially over time. Without robust efforts to correct the market failures around greenhouse gases, relying on supply and/or demand forces to limit greenhouse gas emissions is relying heavily on hope. |
| Keywords: | fossil fuels, alternative energy, renewables, climate change, fracking, technological change |
| JEL: | Q31 Q41 Q42 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2016-02&r=env |
| By: | Berhe, Melaku; Hoag, Dana; Tesfay, Girmay; Oniki, Shunji; Kagatsume, Masaru |
| Abstract: | The varying circumstances driven by climate threats and the consequences posed on the environment and humans of dry-land regions, where pastorals and agro-pastorals dominantly live have become the prior policy concerns in Africa. Hence, this study was tended to investigate the effects of various adaptation measures on the income level of pastorals and agro-pastorals in northern Ethiopia. Data were gathered using semi-structured questionnaires including qualitative ideas obtained from group discussants and key informants. The study revealed that repeated droughts caused by climate change left the pastorals and agro-pastorals with herd decimation due to lack of animal feed. In responding this, they applied various adaptation actions such as water harvesting schemes; fodder production, feed purchase, migration, livestock diversification and animal restocking. Using such measures, cattle owners generated income from livestock, cropping, sales of fuel-wood, agricultural wages, remittance and relief aid. Thus, it is concluded that sustainable income creation via various adaptation methods is an important pathway to enable the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities while they respond to the adverse effects of climatic change. |
| Keywords: | Adaptation, cattle, climate change, income, pastoral, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:246974&r=env |
| By: | Janda, Karel; Kourilek, Jakub |
| Abstract: | World e�ort to reduce climate changes drives demand for more environmentally friendly alternative fuels, since transport emits quarter of total greenhouse gas emissions. For many years biofuels were main mean for achieving more green transport. Nevertheless, there are rising concerns that some of biofuels have negative environmental and social impacts sometimes worse than fossil fuels. This work links European Union's biofuels development with expansion of natural gas caused by exploitation from shale formations. We conclude that the expansion will not be driven by exploitation of shale gas at European Union territory. |
| Keywords: | biofuels, shale gas |
| JEL: | Q16 Q42 |
| Date: | 2016–11–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:74885&r=env |
| By: | Haile, Mekbib G.; Wossen, Tesfamichael |
| Abstract: | Agriculture is one of the key drivers and victims of climate change. Climate-resilient agriculture is therefore vital for achieving enhanced food security—which is a crucial component of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This paper provides answers to questions that are prerequisite for policies that address agriculture and climate change. We analyze the determinants of global average crop production for maize, wheat, rice, and soybeans over the period 1961–2013. We find strong and statistically significant supply elasticities for all four crops with respect to own crop prices. Our results also underscore the relevance of output price volatility for the supply of these key global agricultural staple crops—especially on production of wheat and maize. Comparing the standardized effect sizes of own price and price volatility estimates, the effects are on par for wheat production while the price volatility effect is only a fifth of the own price effect on maize production. In agreement with previous studies, we also find that climate change has significant adverse effects on production of the world’s key staple crops. More importantly, this study finds that weather extremes—both in terms of temperature and precipitation shocks— during the growing months have significant adverse impacts on the production of the abovementioned food crops. Price and weather extremes do not only adversely affect average global food production, they also positively contribute to the year-to-year fluctuations of food availability. Thus, combating climate change using both mitigation and adaptation technologies is crucial for global production and hence food security. |
| Keywords: | Food supply, climate change, price volatility, staple crops, global, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q11, Q15, Q54, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:246374&r=env |
| By: | Martin Distekamp (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research); Mark Meyer (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research) |
| Abstract: | Though the sustainability research community as well as international decision makers seem to share the conviction that, akin to the challenges of climate policy, a great transi-tion will also be needed in order to decouple human wellbeing from resource use over the next decades, there exist only scarce quantitative assessments of possible transition scenarios which do also concern this matter. Our paper is intended to advance this branch of research by a presentation of key scenario insights from the global simulation model GINFORS which take account of the complex interrelations between different environmental objectives. Whereas a multitude of publications already applied various MRIO databases for ex post assessments of resource-related national footprint indicators, there exist only scarce ex ante assessments of possible transition scenarios concerning this matter. The modelling framework of GINFORS also rests on a MRIO database. Thus, GINFORS is also able to map quantitative indicators of material extractions embedded in regional consumption activities over the global supply chain. |
| Keywords: | raw material consumption, RMC, raw material input, RMI, CO2 emissions, macro-econometric model, GINFORS, MRIO, WIOD, policy simulations, resource-efficiency, low-carbon economy |
| JEL: | Q34 Q37 Q51 Q56 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gws:dpaper:16-10&r=env |
| By: | Richard S.J. Tol (Department of Economics, University of Sussex; Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam; CESifo, Munich) |
| Abstract: | This paper combines uncertainty about the impact of climate change on human welfare with the distribution of impacts over space and time. The best guess of world average impacts shows a relatively small impact, but with an uncertainty is large and skewed towards negative surprises. Poorer countries are more vulnerable to climate change. There is a 1% chance of a total loss in some countries at warming above 3°C. Generally, economic growth would reduce vulnerability, but this may not be true for the tail of the distribution for warming above 3°C. Thus, 3°C global warming appears as a critical threshold above which climate change is dangerous. |
| Keywords: | climate change |
| JEL: | Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susewp:10016&r=env |
| By: | Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada; Oueslati, Walid |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether membership in Regional Trade agreements (RTAs) with environmental provisions (EPs) affect relative and absolute levels of environmental quality and whether the inclusion of most comprehensive EPs is associated to higher environmental quality. In order to do so, the determinants of PM2.5 population weighted concentrations are estimated for a sample of OECD countries and OECD+BRIICS over the period 1990 to 2011. The usual controls for scale, composition and technique effects are added to the estimated model and the endogeneity of income and trade variables is addressed using instruments. The main results indicate that membership in RTAs with EPs is in general associated with higher environmental quality in absolute terms, whereas no significant results are found for RTAs without EPs. Moreover, the concentration in emissions of the pairs of countries that belong to an RTA with EPs tends to converge for the country sample. |
| Keywords: | regional trade agreements,environmental provisions,convergence,environmental regulations |
| JEL: | F18 O13 L60 Q43 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:292&r=env |
| By: | Willy, Daniel Kyalo; Kuhn, Arnim; Müller, Karin Holm |
| Abstract: | The fact that agriculture is associated with negative external effects on ecosystems is of great concern. Most of these agri-environmental externalities are public goods in nature and therefore solving them through conventional market and regulation tools is challenging. Collective action has been identified as an option in dealing with externalities emanating from activities touching on agriculture and the environment especially in circumstances where markets and government regulation are not effective. In this paper we assess the potential for agri-environmental cooperation in dealing with agri-environmental externalities. The study achieves this objective using cross-sectional household survey data collected from 308 households in the Lake Naivasha basin, Kenya. Results indicate that non-cooperation is a dominant strategy in the Lake Naivasha basin. The study also identifies factors that influence the probability of cooperating and therefore could be catalysts to encourage cooperation. Such factors include expected private incentives, labour endowments and agricultural commercialization. Positive perceptions and attitudes, presence of social sanctions and norms of trust were also found to significantly influence cooperation. To deal with agri-environmental challenges through cooperation, policy needs to focus on facilitating selective incentives, awareness creation and embracing local participation in resource management. |
| Keywords: | Cooperation, Incentives, Institutions, Lake Basin, Community Initiatives, Soil Erosion, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:249268&r=env |
| By: | Joungseok Park |
| Abstract: | The decision-makers choose progressive or conservative actions towards climate change. A decision-maker from a country with greater damage from climate change is more likely to be progressive than a country with lesser damage. Climate scientists can manipulate this decision-making by sending publicly observed cheap-talk messages. The likelihood of both players choosing progressive action on climate change decreases if both players are “coordination” types and the scientist is conservative. The conservative scientist can cause this by sending skeptical messages that trigger a spiral of climate change skepticism. This reduces the welfare of both decision-makers. If both players are opportunistic types, a progressive scientist can send alarming messages that cause the decision-maker from the country with greater damage from climate change to be more progressive. This reduces his welfare but benefits the other decision-maker. I show that there does not exist any communication equilibrium for either kind of scientist, for any other combination of player types. Key Words: Climate Change; Climate Politics. |
| JEL: | D74 D82 D83 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:apl:wpaper:16-21&r=env |
| By: | Willson, Matt |
| Abstract: | The majority of a company’s environmental impacts exist outside its operational footprint—in its supply chain and typically in the production and harvesting of raw materials for food for human and animal consumption, fuel and materials. The impacts of commodities like palm oil, soy, timber, and pulp and paper on iconic places like the forests of the Amazon and Borneo are well known; a similar magnitude of impact is being felt globally with approximately 50% of the loss of biodiversity being due to primary production. These impacts also pose some of the most significant threats to a company’s security of supply of key inputs, brand reputation and bottom line. These risks are increasingly leading some companies, particularly multinational food, beverage and grocery companies and brands, to implement wide-ranging strategies for sourcing raw materials more sustainably. WWF’s analysis shows that around 500 companies control or influence roughly 70 per cent of global markets for commodities. Initial steps toward improved sourcing include using tools to better understand environmental and social risks in their supply chains and prioritising focus areas for risk mitigation. With this information companies are developing transition programs for key commodities, including publishing time-bound targets for the purchase of credibly certified commodities, engaging primary producers, and partnering with NGOs to improve their understanding of social and environmental issues. Others are going further by supporting collaborative action to shift their sectors and influence government, for example, through multi-stakeholder initiatives and roundtables or joint advocacy with NGOs and other private sector actors. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfcp15:245056&r=env |
| By: | Houessionon, Prosper; Balana, Bedru; Zahodogo, Pam; Thiombiano, Noël; Bossa, Aymar |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the results of a choice experiment measuring social benefits for sustainable management practices related to water and resource recovery and reuse solutions in agricultural in Burkina-Faso for ecosystem services preservation. Sustainable management is conceptualized with four illustrative practices that impact water availability, water save, soil restoration, soil fertility improvement and productivity growth: storing water with small water infrastructure in rainy season, complete fresh water with waste water from household, watering crop with drip irrigation and fertilizing with organic matter of sludge from septic tank (human faeces). Data for a choice experiment are collected using a face-to-face survey of farmers practicing off-season production in two region (Dano and Ouagadougou) in Burkina- Faso. Results identify substantial benefits for ecosystem services preservation, the use of small water infrastructure, drip irrigation, waste water and organic matter from human faeces. Results also suggest that the estimated household benefits of all fours sustainable management practices combined are similar in magnitude to the benefits from ecosystem services alone. Based on model results, policy and future research may wish to examine possibilities for subsidizing sustainable management practices in urban-influenced areas as a more cost-effective means of providing benefits similar to those realized through ecosystem services sustainability. |
| Keywords: | Choice experiment, Water, Organic matter, Drip irrigation, Burkina-Faso, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:249343&r=env |
| By: | Tomas Balint (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne); Francesco Lamperti (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa - Institute of Economics and LEM); Antoine Mandel (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics); Mauro Napoletano (OFCE-Sciences Po and SKEMA Business School (Sophia-Antipolis)); Andrea Roventini (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa - LEM and OFCE); Alessandro Sapio (University Parthenope of Naples) |
| Abstract: | We provide a survey of the micro and macro economics of climate change from a complexity science perspective and we discuss the challenges ahead for this line of research. We identify four areas of the literature where complex system models have already produced valuable insights: (i) coalition formation and climate negotiations, (ii) macroeconomic impacts of climate-related events, (iii) energy markets and (iv) diffusion of climate-friendly technologies. On each of these issues, accounting for heterogeneity, interactions and disequilibrium dynamics provides a complementary and novel perspective to the one of standard equilibrium models. Furthermore, it highlights the potential economic benefits of mitigation and adaptation policies and the risk of under-estimating systemic climate change-related risks |
| Keywords: | climate change; climate policy; climate economics; complex systems; agent-based models; socio-economic networks |
| JEL: | C63 Q40 Q50 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:16058&r=env |
| By: | Joungseok Park |
| Abstract: | I show that a credibility gap is created between the scientist and the government if the preference of the scientist is not perfectly aligned with that of the government. I find a remarkable result that the credibility gap is eliminated and the ex-ante social welfare is maximized if and only if the scientist’s preference is perfectly aligned with that of the government, not with that of the median voter. This is endogenously achieved when the government is allowed to appoint its optimal scientist without election concerns. In the case where the government has election concerns, if the median voter perceives an alarming message from the climate scientist, then even a “right-wing” government must choose an aggressive climate change policy to avoid losing the election. Accordingly, it will prefer to appoint a climate scientist who is unlikely to send an alarming message. Thus the government deliberately creates a credibility gap which may cause a distorted climate change policy in a democracy. Key Words: Climate Change; Cheap-Talk; Elections; SocialWelfare. |
| JEL: | D72 D83 H89 Q48 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:apl:wpaper:16-19&r=env |
| By: | Tomas Balint (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Francesco Lamperti (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna [Pisa], LEM - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Management - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Antoine Mandel (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics); Mauro Napoletano (OFCE - OFCE - Sciences Po, SKEMA Business School - SKEMA Business School); Andrea Roventini (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna [Pisa], LEM - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Management - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Alessandro Sapio (DISAE - Universita degli studi di Napoli "Parthenope" [Napoli]) |
| Abstract: | We provide a survey of the micro and macro economics of climate change from a complexity science perspective and we discuss the challenges ahead for this line of research. We identify four areas of the literature where complex system models have already produced valuable insights: (i) coalition formation and climate negotiations, (ii) macroeconomic impacts of climate-related events, (iii) energy markets and (iv) diffusion of climate-friendly technologies. On each of these issues, accounting for heterogeneity, interactions and disequilibrium dynamics provides a complementary and novel perspective to the one of standard equilibrium models. Furthermore, it highlights the potential economic benefits of mitigation and adaptation policies and the risk of under-estimating systemic climate change-related risks. |
| Keywords: | climate change,climate policy,climate economics,complex systems,agent-based models,socio-economic networks |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-01390694&r=env |
| By: | Ochenje, I.M.; Ritho, C.N.; Guthiga, P.M.; Mbatia, O.L.E. |
| Abstract: | In the face of climate change, a number of climate variables such as temperature, precipitation, wind speed, humidity and solar radiation tend to affect water resources. This has led to changes in soil moisture, reduced stream run off, reduced ground water recharge and increased transpiration which ultimately causes deterioration of on-farm water resources. Deteriorating water resources at farm level as a result of climate change has led to decreased crop yields in sub Saharan Africa and threatens food security, livelihoods as wells as water security. Understanding factors affecting farmers’ perception of climate change effects on water resources is key in informing policies that can transform smallholder agriculture in Africa to be more resilient to the effects of climate change. This study assesses farmers’ climate change perceptions on water resources at farm-level in Kakamega County, Kenya. Using data collected from 159 farm households in Kakamega County, ordered probit was employed to assess factors affecting farmers’ perception of climate change based on water resources. The results indicate that gender, farm size, distance to the main water source, extension services, access to climate change information through radio and wealth status significantly explained levels of farmers’ perception of climate change based on water resources. The findings inform policies aimed at increasing awareness of climate change effects on on-farm water resources and consequently enhance adaptive water management strategies among smallholder farmers. |
| Keywords: | perception, climate change, ordered probit, water resources, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:249339&r=env |
| By: | Asfaw, Solomon; Carraro, Alessandro; Davis, Benjamin; Handa, Sudhanshu; Seidenfeld, David; Zambia Cash Transfer Evaluation Team |
| Abstract: | Cash transfer programmes are increasingly being utilized in order to combat poverty and hunger as well as to building the human capital of future generations. Even though most of these programmes are not explicitly designed to help households manage climate risk, there are good reasons to expect that cash transfers can be good instrument to build household resilience against climatic risk. The goal of this study is to provide an empirical analysis of the effect of weather risk on rural households’ welfare using impact evaluation data from the Zambia Child Grant Programme (CGP) together with set of novel weather variation indicators based on interpolated gridded and re-analysis weather data that capture the peculiar features of short term and long term variations in rainfall. In particular, we estimate the impact of weather shocks on a rich set of welfare and food security indicators (including total expenditure, food expenditure, non-food expenditure, calorie intake and dietary diversity) and investigate the role of cash transfer for managing climate risk. We find strong evidence that cash transfer programmes has a mitigating role against the negative effects of weather shocks. Our results in fact highlight how important the receipt of social cash transfer is for households lying in the bottom quantile of consumption and food security distributions in moderating the negative effect of weather shock. Hence, integrating climate change and social protection tools into a comprehensive poverty reduction and social protection strategy should be of primary interest for policy makers and government when setting their policy agenda. |
| Keywords: | cash transfer, impact, weather shock, experimental design, Zambia, Africa, Agricultural Finance, Financial Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:246280&r=env |
| By: | Tatyana Deryugina; Garth Heutel; Nolan H. Miller; David Molitor; Julian Reif |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effect of acute air pollution exposure on mortality, life-years lost, and health care utilization among the US elderly. We address endogeneity and measurement error using a novel instrument for air pollution that strongly predicts changes in fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) concentrations: changes in the local wind direction. Using detailed administrative data on the universe of Medicare beneficiaries, we find that an increase in daily PM 2.5 concentrations increases three-day county-level mortality, hospitalizations, and inpatient spending, and that these effects are not explained by co-transported pollutants like ozone and carbon monoxide. We then develop a new methodology to estimate the number of life-years lost due to PM 2.5. Our estimate is much smaller than one calculated using traditional methods, which do not adequately account for the relatively low life expectancy of those killed by pollution. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that life-years lost due to PM 2.5 varies inversely with individual life expectancy, indicating that unhealthy individuals are disproportionately vulnerable to air pollution. However, the largest aggregate burden is borne by those with medium life expectancy, who are both vulnerable and comprise a large share of the elderly population. |
| JEL: | I1 Q53 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22796&r=env |
| By: | Bernd Meyer (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research); Gerd Ahlert (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research) |
| Abstract: | Computable General Equilibrium Models and Macro-Econometric Models are deeply disaggregated macro-economic systems, which are used in economic environmental studies to explain the emissions of pollutions and the extraction of resources. CGE models are based on neoclassical theory depicting equilibrium of perfectly competitive markets, whereas the macro-econometric models – better characterized as neokeynesian – have been developed from a critical position vis-a-vis neoclassical theory stressing the importance of market imperfections. The paper at hand shows that this fundamental difference in approach to a large extent is responsible for differences in modelling results concerning the impact of policy instruments on the economy, social relations and the environment. Furthermore the outcome of concrete model applications is affected by differences in both the construction of the references and the concrete implementation of the policy instruments in the models. |
| Keywords: | Integrated Assessment Modelling, CGE models, Macro-Econometric Models, Neoclassical Theory, Neokeynesian Theory |
| JEL: | E12 E13 E17 E27 F62 Q01 Q56 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gws:dpaper:16-9&r=env |
| By: | Sven Rudolph; Achim Lerch; Takeshi Kawakatsu |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kue:epaper:e-16-009&r=env |
| By: | Shimon, Otieno Peter; Ogutu, Chris Ackello; Mburu, John; Nyikal, Rose Adhiambo |
| Abstract: | This paper presents findings of a study to examine smallholder French bean farmers’ perception of climate change and effect of Global-GAP policy on their perception in Central and Eastern regions of Kenya. A random sample of 616 households were interviewed in Kirinyaga (Central), Makueni and Meru (Eastern) counties leading to identification of 7 climate change perceptions. Using principal component analysis (PCA) to derive a few latent variables summarizing maximum variance in the perceptions, three components (latent variables) proxying for ‘droughts’, ‘delay in rainy seasons’, ‘diseases and pests’ and three proxying for ‘hot days’, ‘floods’, and ‘diseases and pests’ risk factors were extracted for Central and Eastern region respectively. The results show that common study area-wide climate change perception risk factor was incidence of diseases and pest. Using logit regression method to analyze factors influencing perceptions, the results found that Global-GAP policy positively and significantly influence perception on long term changes in temperature and rainfall. Climate change risk factors of droughts, diseases and pests, floods, and increase in number of hot days were found to influence farmers’ perception of long term changes in temperature and rainfall. Other socioeconomic factors found to influence perception of long term changes in temperature and rainfall were access to extension services, formal education and acreage under French bean production. The study concluded that farmers’ past experience with Global-GAP is a predictor of climate change attitudes. The policy implication of this study is that incorporating promotion of Global- GAP policy compliance in awareness creation strategies in a manner that considers local context and local farmers’ views can bring about progress in smallholder farm sector by resolving some of the climate change related constraints. |
| Keywords: | Global-GAP, climate change perception, Principal Component analysis, OLS regression model, smallholder, French bean, Central region, Eastern region, Kenya, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:249325&r=env |
| By: | Ramsden, Jessica |
| Abstract: | The development and adoption of new innovation in livestock production (including products, practices and genetics) can help farmers produce more food, more sustainably. Conservation organisations, among others, are calling for the need to freeze the environmental footprint of agriculture, particularly animal agriculture. In so doing, food can also be kept more affordable. This is an achievable goal. For example, with existing innovations, such as improved animal welfare, nutrition and genetics, we can raise the average annual increase in global milk yield from 13.5 litres/yr/cow to 24 litres. Realising this potential involves a combination of commercial opportunity, corporate responsibility and responsiveness to post-farm gate consumer dynamics. It also requires predictable science-based policy to support innovation across diverse production systems, and to facilitate global food trade. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfcp15:245052&r=env |
| By: | Orea, Luis; Álvarez, Inmaculada C.; Jamasb, Tooraj |
| Abstract: | An important methodological issue for the use of efficiency analysis in incentive regulation of regulated utilities is how to account for the effect of unobserved cost drivers such as environmental factors. This study combines the spatial econometric approach with stochastic frontier techniques to control for unobserved environmental conditions when measuring firms’ efficiency in the electricity distribution sector. Our empirical strategy relies on the geographic location of the firms as a useful source of information that has previously not been explored in the literature. The underlying idea in our empirical proposal is to utilise variables from neighbouring firms that are likely to be spatially correlated as proxies for the unobserved cost drivers. We illustrate our approach using the data of Norwegian distribution utilities for the years 2004 to 2011. We find that the lack of information on weather and geographic conditions can likely be compensated with data from surrounding firms using spatial econometric techniques. Combining efficiency analysis and spatial econometrics methods improve the goodness-of-fit of the estimated models and, hence, more accurate (fair) efficiency scores are obtained. The methodology can also be used in efficiency analysis and regulation of other types of utility sectors. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oeg:wpaper:2016/06&r=env |
| By: | Matilde Bombardini; Bingjing Li |
| Abstract: | Has the expansion in exports affected pollution and health outcomes across different prefectures in China in the two decades between 1990 and 2010? We exploit variation in the initial industrial composition to gauge the effect of export expansion due to the decline in tariffs faced by Chinese exporters. We construct two export shocks at the prefecture level: (i) PollutionExportShock represents the pollution content of export expansion and is measured in pounds of pollutants per worker; (ii) ExportShock measures export expansion in dollars per worker. The two measures differ because prefectures specialize in different products: while two prefectures may experience the same shock in dollar terms, the one specializing in the dirty sector has a larger PollutionExportShock. We instrument export shocks using the change in tariffs faced by Chinese producers exporting to the rest of the world. We find that the pollution content of export affected pollution and mortality. A one standard deviation increase in PollutionExportShock increases infant mortality by 2.2 deaths per thousand live births, which is about 13% of the standard deviation of infant mortality change during the period. The dollar value of export expansion tends to reduce mortality, but is not always statistically significant. We show that the channel through which exports affect mortality is pollution concentration: a one standard deviation increase in PollutionExportShock increases SO2 concentration by 5.4 micrograms per cubic meter (the average is around 60). We find a negative, but insignificant effect on pollution of the dollar-value export shocks, a potential “technique” effect whereby higher income drives demand for clean environment. We find that only infant mortality related to cardio-respiratory conditions responds to exports shocks, while deaths due to accidents and other causes are not affected. |
| JEL: | F1 I1 Q53 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22804&r=env |
| By: | Asfaw, Solomon; Palma, Alessandro; Lipper, Leslie |
| Abstract: | This paper provides fresh empirical evidence on the adaptation process to face climate changes through the analysis of original cross-sectional data collected at household-level in Niger merged with detailed geo-referenced climatic information. In particular, we identify the main drivers and barriers of crop and labour diversification, which constitute two livelihood strategies in mitigating the adaptation deficit by employing a Seemingly-Unrelated Regression (SUR) model, which accounts for potential interdependence among different diversification practices. Secondly, the effectiveness of diversification practices is assessed by means of three complementary welfare measures, namely income changes, food security and the poverty gap using quantile regression and instrumental variable strategy. We find that, aside from climate shocks, the diversification level varies in response to the educational level of household members and spatial location as well as the adoption of ICTs. The impacts of diversification appear differentiated. While labour diversification is always positively associated with all the three welfare measures, positive coefficients of crop diversification are significant only when associated to food security. Robust causal inference confirms that anomalies in rainfall patterns and droughts in particular, induce adaptation responses, which result in welfare gains limited by a richer calorie intake, while the effects on income and severity of poverty appear detrimental. |
| Keywords: | diversification, adaptation, welfare, climate change, Niger, Environmental Economics and Policy, Financial Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q01, Q12, Q16, Q18, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:246282&r=env |
| By: | Gebremariam, Gebrelibanos; Wünscher, Tobias |
| Abstract: | Sustainable agricultural practices are being promoted across Africa. While literature provides robust evidence on their welfare impacts in isolation, there is limited evidence on how combinations of sustainable agricultural practices contribute to households’ welfare. Due to complementary and substitution effects and cost involved in adopting SAPs, combinations may have impacts that are higher or lower than individual effects. To shed light on this question we employ cross-sectional data from northern Ghana, which was collected from 421 households and 1229 plots. We investigate the adoption and impacts of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) on net crop income per acre and consumption expenditure per capita. We employed a maximum simulated likelihood estimation of a Multinomial Endogenous Treatment Effect Model (METEM) to account for observable and unobservable heterogeneity that influences SAP adoption decisions and the outcome variables. Our results reveal that adoption decisions are affected by household and plot level characteristics. We find that adoption of SAPs significantly increase net crop income and consumption expenditure except when soil & water conservation is adopted in isolation. Contrary to some previous studies elsewhere in Africa on this area, we find that SAPs have a stronger effect on income and expenditure when adopted as a package (all together) rather than in isolation or in sub groups. |
| Keywords: | Net crop income, consumption expenditure, SAPs, multinomial endogenous treatment effect, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:246452&r=env |
| By: | Stephan Heblich (University of Bristol); Alex Trew (University of St Andrews); Yanos Zylberberg (University of Bristol) |
| Abstract: | Why are the East sides of former industrial cities like London or New York poorer and more deprived? We argue that this observation is the most visible consequence of the historically unequal distribution of air pollutants across neighborhoods. In this paper, we geolocate nearly 5,000 industrial chimneys in 70 English cities in 1880 and use an atmospheric dispersion model to recreate the spatial distribution of pollution. First, individual-level census data show that pollution induced neighborhood sorting during the course of the nineteenth century. Historical pollution patterns explain up to 15% of within-city deprivation in 1881. Second, these equilibria persist to this day even though the pollution that initially caused them has waned. A quantitative model shows the role of non-linearities and tipping-like dynamics in such persistence. |
| Keywords: | Neighborhood Sorting, Historical Pollution, Deprivation, Per- sistence, Environmental Disamenity. |
| JEL: | R23 Q53 N90 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:san:wpecon:1613&r=env |
| By: | Gollin, Douglas; Hansen, Casper Worm; Wingender, Asger |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of the Green Revolution, defined as the diffusion of high-yielding crop varieties (HYVs), on aggregate economic outcomes in developing countries during the second half of the 20th century. We use time variation in the development and diffusion of HYVs of 10 major crops, and the spatial variation in agro-climatically suitability for growing them, to identify the causal effects of adoption. In a sample of 84 counties, we estimate that a 10 percentage points increase in HYV adoption increases GDP per capita by about 15 percent. This effect is fully accounted for by a combination of the direct effect on crop yields, factor adjustment in agriculture, and structural transformation. Our analysis also reveals that the Green Revolution reduced fertility and that the reduction was only partly offset by decreasing mortality rates. The net effect on population growth was therefore negative. |
| Keywords: | agriculture; Green Revolution; High Yielding Variety crops; macoeconomic development; productivity shock |
| JEL: | N50 O11 O13 O50 Q16 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11611&r=env |
| By: | Joungseok Park |
| Abstract: | I test the theoretical predictions from Park (2016) that the right-wing politicians will distort environmental policy to avoid losing the election. I study how the population environmental preferences, as measured by the LCV scores, influence state governors to become more concerned about the environment. From a U.S. panel data in the period of 1971-2007, I find the Republican state governors increase the environmental expenditure per capita by approximately 1.5 percent as the Democrat LCV scores increase by 1 percent; and they increase the environmental expenditure per capita by 4.8 percent as the Republican LCV scores decrease by 1 percent. That is, Republican governors respond positively to the environmental preferences of Democrats, but not to that of Republicans. Key Words: Democracy; Environmental Policy. |
| JEL: | Q48 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:apl:wpaper:16-20&r=env |
| By: | Liao, Xianchun; Dogan, Eyup; Baek, Jungho |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the income-energy-SO2 emissions nexus by taking a corruption variable into account. To that end, the panel cointegration methods are applied to 29 Chinese provinces over 1999-2012. The authors' empirical evidence shows that an increase in the number of anticorruption cases tends to drive down SO2 emissions in China. It is also found that income growth appears to have a beneficial effect on decreasing SO2 emissions over the past two decades. Finally, energy consumption is found to increase SO2 emissions. |
| Keywords: | China,corruption,environment,EKC,panel,SO2 |
| JEL: | C23 Q56 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201643&r=env |
| By: | John C. Whitehead; Daniel K. Lew |
| Abstract: | We develop econometric models to jointly estimate revealed preference (RP) and stated preference (SP) models of recreational fishing behavior and preferences using survey data from the 2007 Alaska Saltwater Sportfishing Economic Survey. The RP data are from site choice survey questions, and the SP data are from a discrete choice experiment. Random utility models using only the RP data may be more likely to estimate the effect of cost on site selection well, but catch per day estimates may not reflect the benefits of the trip as perceived by anglers. The SP models may be more likely to estimate the effects of trip characteristics well, but less attention may be paid to the cost variable due to the hypothetical nature of the SP questions. The combination and joint estimation of RP and SP data seeks to exploit the contrasting strengths of both. We find that there are significant gains in econometric efficiency, and differences between RP and SP willingness to pay estimates are mitigated by joint estimation. We compare a number of models that have appeared in the environmental economics literature with the generalized multinomial logit model. The nested logit “trick” model fails to account for the panel nature of the data and is less preferred to the mixed logit error components model that accounts for panel data and scale differences. Naïve (1) scaled, (2) mixed logit, and (3) generalized multinomial logit models produced similar results to a generalized multinomial logit model that accounts for scale differences in RP and SP data. Willingness to pay estimates do not differ across these models but are greater than those in the mixed logit error components model. Key Words: discrete choice experiment, generalized multinomial logit model, hypothetical bias, revealed preference, stated preference, travel cost method |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:apl:wpaper:16-22&r=env |
| By: | Sibiko, Kenneth W.; Veettil, Prakashan C.; Qaim, Matin |
| Abstract: | Smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable to climate shocks but often lack access to agricultural insurance. Weather index insurance (WII) could reduce some of the problems associated with traditional, indemnity-based insurance programs, but uptake has been lower than expected. One reason is that WII contracts are not yet sufficiently tailored to the needs and preferences of smallholders. This study combines survey and choice-experimental data from Kenya to analyse the experience with an existing WII program and how specific changes in contractual design might increase insurance uptake. Many smallholders struggle with fully understanding the functioning of the program, which undermines their confidence. Better training and communication are needed. Regular provision of relevant rainfall measurements and thresholds would significantly increase farmers’ willingness to pay for WII. Mechanisms to reduce basis risk are also valued by farmers, although not to the same extent as higher levels of transparency. Finally, offering contracts to small groups rather than individual farmers could increase insurance uptake. Group contracts may help to reduce transaction costs. Farmer groups can also be important platforms for learning about complex innovations, including novel risk transfer products. While the concrete results are specific to Kenya, they provide some broader policy-relevant insights into typical issues of WII in a small-farm context. |
| Keywords: | Climate risk, smallholder farmers, crop insurance, discrete choice experiment, Africa, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:246399&r=env |
| By: | Kropff, Martin |
| Abstract: | Our ability to deliver food security to the world’s poor in a sustainable way depends on three converging global challenges: climate change, population growth, and limited available natural resources. Understanding the severity of these challenges, and the actions that must be taken to successfully tackle them, is high on the international research agenda. Although the future is uncertain, it is possible to construct a range of likely scenarios, which are determined by a number of factors. This paper discusses changing trends, and provides recommendations for one of the principal factors driving the future of development: investments in international agricultural research. CIMMYT contributes to sustainable agriculture, rural development, and value chains for maize and wheat agri-food systems, with projects in more than 50 countries. Although most research has long been funded by public sector donors and philanthropic foundations, cooperation with the private agricultural industry is increasingly necessary to achieve desired development impacts. More specifically, cooperation between public and private sector institutions is essential to develop and utilize new technologies that address current and future food security challenges. Delivering joint, high-quality research will not only improve food products for clients and build farmers’ capacity, but also ensure that all partners benefit from cost-sharing and complementary technical expertise in precompetitive domains. Research will remain an academic undertaking, unless it is informed by real problems on farms and efforts are made to deliver solutions to real users. As compared to the traditional, separated approach, public-private collaborations will have the greatest impact on both agricultural productivity and long-term food security. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfcp15:245058&r=env |
| By: | Willy, Daniel Kyalo; Muyanga, Milu; Jayne, Thomas |
| Abstract: | The Boserupian theory holds that population density growth can be accompanied by sustainable agricultural intensification (Boserup, 1965). However, it is not certain whether the positive link between population density and environmental/economic benefits associated with agricultural intensification are indefinite. The current study utilizes cross sectional data from a random sample of farm households drawn from two densely populated Counties in Kenya to assess whether Boserupian agricultural intensification is sustainable at high population densities. The study utilizes a robust approach that incorporates soil quality parameters into economic analysis to assess the effect of population density on soil quality and crop productivity. It employs non- parametric regression, OLS regression and asymmetric trans-log production function estimation methods. Results indicate that at low a population density, endogenous sustainable agricultural intensification occurs, which is associated with improvements in soil quality and crop yields. However, as population densities exceed 600 persons/Km2, soil quality attributes such as soil texture, soil pH levels and fertility indicators such as soil organic matter (SOM) and electrical conductivity (EC) start to deteriorate. The end result of deteriorating soil quality is binding of critical nutrients and thus reduction in the crop yield response to fertilizer application. This reduces crop productivity and consequently returns to agriculture. These findings have imperative policy bearing on livelihoods and smallholder agriculture considering that a large proportion of sub-Saharan Africa’s population is dependent on rain-fed agriculture and population densities continue grow. |
| Keywords: | Population density, Intensification, soil quality, crop productivity, Crop Production/Industries, Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:246433&r=env |
| By: | Fiorillo, Damiano; Senatore, Luigi |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we examine some important aspects related to safeguarding environmental quality. Beginning by defining the identity of the agents considered, we conceptually describe how whilethey have different identities, they can be simultaneously influenced by three distinct elements: self image and environmental attitude and behavior. We define self image as the individual's willingness to cooperate for the sake of the public good, we define environmental attitude as the individual's concern regarding waste prevention and disposal, and the environmental behavior as the individual's recycling behavior. Using the 1998 wave of the Multipurpose Household Survey (MHS), which is conducted annually by the Italian Central Statistical Offce, and univariate probit models, we show that there is a positive relationship among these factors that is robust to the inclusion of social participation variables and to the use of a sub-sample of individuals who have no interest in environmental issues. |
| Keywords: | Self Image, Waste Concern, Recycling Behavior, Pro-Social Behaviors, Italy. |
| JEL: | C21 C25 C6 C60 Q50 Q53 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:74888&r=env |
| By: | Gerd Ahlert (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research); Frank Hohmann (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research); Michael Lettenmeier (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research); Christa Liedke (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research); Mark Meyer (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research); Sören Steger (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research); Helena Walter (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research) |
| Abstract: | On behalf of the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) the research project „Global nachhaltige materielle Wohlstandsniveaus“ analysed material needs for German households’ spending on durable consumer goods. Based on these findings, prototypical household endowments can be classified within the boundary conditions of global fairness and sustainable resource use. The applied classification scheme is based on the methodological concept of availability corridors which was developed and implemented over the project term by the Institute of Economic Structures Research (GWS) and the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. This methodological research has been accompanied by software development activities: A handy, easy understandable and instructive web tool ( http://resourcetool.gws-os.com/ ) has been established which illustrates the main findings of the research project in an intuitive way. Users can experience the research topic "raw material consumption and sustainability" in the context of own household endowments and identify the implied material needs of individual consumption patterns. |
| Keywords: | availability corridor, disposition corridor, sustainability, global fairness, durable home appliances, raw materials inventory, useful live, web tool |
| JEL: | A2 E6 Q3 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gws:dpaper:16-2&r=env |
| By: | Murendo, Conrad; Gwara, Simon; Mpofu, Nkululeko; Pedzisa, Tarisayi; Mazvimavi, Kizito; Chivenge, Pauline |
| Abstract: | Climate change and variability and soil fertility depletion are among the main biophysical limiting factors for increasing per capita food production for smallholder farmers in developing countries. To tackle these challenges, the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs), has become an important policy topic among donors and development agencies in developing countries. This paper examines the adoption decisions for SAPs, using recent primary data collected in 51 villages in 3 districts of Zimbabwe. The article employs a multivariate probit regression to model simultaneous interdependent adoption decisions by farm households. The analysis reveals that education, farm experience, farm size, income, access to information and agroecology influence the adoption of SAPs. Policies that are aimed at improving household income and enhancing access to information can increase the uptake of SAPs by smallholder farmers. Extension messages should aim to emphasize the complementarities between different SAPs. This information could help policy makers and extension agents to formulate and promote a package of SAPs. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable agricultural practices, multiple adoption, multivariate probit, Zimbabwe, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:246383&r=env |
| By: | KARBOWNIK, Krzysztof; WRAY, Anthony |
| Abstract: | We utilize the individual-level World War I Draft Registration Cards matched to late-nineteenth century hurricane paths and the 1940 U.S. Census to explore whether fetal and early childhood exposure to stress caused by hurricanes affects human capital development and labor market outcomes in adulthood. Difference-in-differences estimates indicate that white males who were born in the South and experienced a hurricane either in utero or as infants had lower income at ages 42 to 53. They are robust to alternate specifications of either the treatment or outcome variables, as well as changes in the tolerance for imperfectly matched historical data. |
| Keywords: | Prenatal stress, natural disasters, labor market outcomes |
| JEL: | I10 J24 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hiasdp:hias-e-36&r=env |
| By: | Pilon, André Francisco |
| Abstract: | In view of the overwhelming pressures on the global environment and the need to disrupt the systems that drive them, an ecosystemic theoretical and practical framework is posited for the evaluation and planning of public policies, research and teaching programmes, encompassing four dimensions of being-in-the-world (intimate, interactive, social and biophysical), as they combine, as donors and recipients, to induce the events (deficits/assets), cope with consequences (desired/undesired) and contribute for change (potential outputs). The focus should not be on the “bubbles” of the surface (consequences, fragmented issues), but on the configurations deep inside the boiling pot where the problems emerge. New paradigms of development, growth, power, wealth, work and freedom, embedded at institutional level, include heterogeneous attributes, behaviours and interactions and the dynamics of the systems (institutions, populations, political, economic, cultural and ecological background). Instead of dealing with the bubbles (segmented, reduced issues) and trying to solve isolated and localized problems without addressing the general phenomenon, the proposal emphasizes the definition of the problems deep inside the “boiling pot”, where the problems emerge, encompassing the current “world-system” with its boundaries, structures, techno-economic paradigms, support groups, rules of legitimation, and coherence. In the socio-cultural learning niches, heuristic-hermeneutic experiences generate awareness, interpretation and understanding beyond established stereotypes, both from a thematic (“what”) and an epistemic point of view (“how”). |
| Keywords: | education, culture, politics, economics, ethics, environment, ecosystems |
| JEL: | I00 I25 I28 I29 O21 O31 Q2 Q28 Q5 Q51 Q56 Q57 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–11–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:74918&r=env |
| By: | Subhani Keerthiratnee (Department of Economics, University of Sussex); Richard S.J. Tol (Department of Economics, University of Sussex; Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam; CESifo, Munich) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the impact of natural disasters on financial development proxied by private credit. We employ a panel fixed effects estimator as our main estimation tool on a country level panel data set of natural disasters and other economic indicators covering 147 countries for the period from 1979 to 2011. We find that companies and households get deeper into debt after a natural disaster. This effect is stronger in poorer countries whilst the effect is weaker in countries where agriculture is more important. Accordingly, it appears that natural disasters significantly increase contemporaneous private per capita credit. This impact is mitigated by higher per capita income and further dampened by higher agriculture dependency in the economy. Our findings are robust to alternative estimators, specifications, and samples. |
| Keywords: | Natural disasters, economic impact, financial development, private credit |
| JEL: | Q54 O11 G00 G20 G21 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susewp:10116&r=env |
| By: | Amaya Muñoz, Wilson Enrique; Barón Ortegón, Brayan Alexander; Páramo Herrera, Isis Catalina; Martínez Castellanos, Antonio José |
| Abstract: | English Abstract: This article explores the relationship between International Investment Arbitration and the international standards of Human Rights, including the ones related to the environment. We found that there is an opposition when applying the Human Rights to the International Investment Regimen. We argue that there are sufficient law foundations to make the investor, and specifically the corporations they own, responsible for their violations of other international standards, even though they are not expressly named in investments treaties. But, there is a problem reflected in the lack of enforceability of the International Human Rights Law in the International Investment Regimen. Spanish Abstract: Este artículo explora la relación entre el Arbitraje Internacional de Inversión y las normas internacionales de Derechos Humanos, incluyendo por tanto las relacionadas con el ambiente. Se encontró que existe una oposición para aplicar los Derechos Humanos en el Régimen Internacional de Inversiones. Consideramos que existen suficientes fundamentos de derecho para que el inversor, y específicamente las empresas que poseen, sea responsable de sus violaciones de los demás estándares internacionales, aunque no estén expresamente en los tratados de inversión. Sin embargo, hay un problema de falta de aplicabilidad de la legislación internacional de derechos humanos en el régimen internacional de inversiones. |
| Keywords: | international arbitration, international investment, human rights, environment, investment protection, development economics, arbitraje internacional, inversión internacional, derechos humanos, ambiente, protección de la inversión, economía del desarrollo |
| JEL: | K00 K20 K22 K32 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:74912&r=env |
| By: | Allan Dahl Andersen (TIK Centre, University of Oslo); Olav Wicken (TIK Centre, University of Oslo) |
| Abstract: | Natural resource based industries (NRBIs) have received only limited attention in Innovation Studies. In this paper we explore how qualitative diversity of ecological and geological conditions influence innovation—a phenomenon we denote natural resource knowledge idiosyncrasy (NKI)—as one particular aspect of change in NRBIs. We find that the dominant thinking in Innovation Studies about innovation and industry change—which is largely informed by studies of high-tech manufacturing industries—does not allow us to achieve a full understanding of change in NRBIs. To advance our thinking about NRBIs we propose a definition of NKI, a conceptualization of how NKI influence innovation and industry change, and explore implications of the latter for strategies for resource based development and sustainability in natural resources. Lastly, we argue that a new model of innovation is required for grasping and guiding innovation and transformation in NRBIs. |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tik:inowpp:20161107&r=env |
| By: | Marie-Eve Yergeau (Centre de recherche de l’Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec) |
| Abstract: | L'écotourisme dans les zones protégées est souvent cité comme étant un mécanisme contribuant à l'amélioration du bien-être local et à la réduction de la pauvreté lorsque les populations sont contraintes au niveau de l'utilisation des ressources naturelles. Cependant, l'eet direct sur le bien-être est encore peu étudié dans la littérature. Dans cet article, nous estimons l'eet de l'écotourisme sur le bien-être des populations locales dans les zones protégées du Népal. De plus, nous vérions si les restrictions environnementales aectent le bien-être des ménages qui arment être contraints au niveau de l'utilisation des ressources naturelles. Nous utilisons un modèle hiérarchique linéaire à deux niveaux an de tenir compte de la structure de la base de données ainsi que de la présence de clusters. Nous estimons que l'implication d'un ménage dans le secteur écotouristique, en tant que travailleur autonome, aecte positivement et signicativement son bien-être. De plus, nous observons que le secteur écotouristique génère une externalité positive sur le bien-être des ménages appartenant à une même communauté. Enn, nous trouvons que le fait d'être contraint par la règlementation environnementale ne semble pas avoir un eet direct sur le bien-être local. |
| Keywords: | Bien-être, conservation, écotourisme, modèle multiniveaux, Népal |
| JEL: | I31 Q26 O13 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shr:wpaper:16-07&r=env |
| By: | N'Dri, Allou Nazaire |
| Abstract: | Le monde connaît une profonde mutation due aux changements climatiques dont les conséquences sont les catastrophes naturelles, le réchauffement climatique, etc. La production durable des matières premières agricoles est l’une des solutions à cette situation. C’est une pratique qui vise une production de qualité et de préservation de l’environnement. Elle comporte différentes techniques dont l’une est la certification. Celle-ci se présente comme le processus qui vise la transformation des comportements à travers l’adoption des bonnes pratiques agricoles, la préservation des écosystèmes tout en améliorant de façon substantielle les conditions de vie des cacaoculteurs. Cet article vise à évaluer l’impact de la certification sur le revenu des producteurs de cacao en Côte d’Ivoire. Elle utilise l’évaluation non expérimentale. A cet effet, les différentes techniques relatives à cette méthode ont servi à réaliser les diverses estimations. Ainsi à partir du propensity score matching (PSM), un probit est estimé pour déterminer les scores de propension. La confirmation de l’appariement des participants et des non participants au programme de certification s’effectue à travers la construction du support commun. L’effet moyen de l’impact de la certification sur le revenu des producteurs est obtenu à partir du PSM. Les résultats montrent que les participants au programme de certification dans la cacaoculture améliorent substantiellement leur revenu. De ce fait, les gouvernements et les partenaires privés au développement doivent unir leur force pour financer et organiser le processus de certification. |
| Keywords: | Evaluation non expérimentale, PSM, producteurs de cacao, Côte d’Ivoire, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:249305&r=env |
| By: | Kihoro, Esther M.; Irungu, Patrick; Nyikal, Rose; Maina, Immaculate N. |
| Abstract: | This study sought to contribute to a better understanding of market dynamics of green grams as a traditional crop within a resource poor producer community in Mbeere South sub-County, Kenya. The study aimed to characterize the green gram marketing channels and to evaluate the factors that influence the choice of green gram marketing channel by the producers. A multinomial logit model was estimated through data from households growing green grams. Results show that 70 percent of farmers in the study site grew green grams. On average, each household has 1 to 2 acres of land under green grams production each year. Farmers used three marketing channels, rural retailers (58 percent), wholesalers (14 percent) and assemblers (26 percent). The multinomial results showed that Age of the farmer (P=0.06), access to credit (p=0.065), price of green grams (p=0.079), and selling as individuals (p=0.000) positively influenced the choice of rural assembler marketing channel. Gender of the household head (p=0.001), production cost (p=0.000) and use of mobile phone to access marketing information (p=0.019) positively influenced the probability of choosing rural retailer over wholesaler marketing channel. In conclusion, farmers prefer marketing channels where they incur low production and transport cost and that offer higher prices to maximize profits. The study recommended first, identification and prioritization of unique farmer-trader relations that enhance adaptive resilience and increase farmers marketing options. Secondly, interventions to enhance market-based signals e.g. price should be reinforced. |
| Keywords: | marketing channels, green grams, ASALs, market signals, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaae16:249331&r=env |