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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Cascavilla, Alessandro |
| Abstract: | Given the increasing relevance of sustainability debates, this paper investigates the relationship between the climate change concern and the willingness to pay an environmental tax, considering the interplay with the general level of individual tax morale. By employing a survey among Italian economics students, we show that the climate change concern affects the attitude towards paying an environmental tax both directly and indirectly, via a change in the preferences between the general and the specific tax morale. We find that also tax immoral subjects are significantly willing to pay an environmental tax as their awareness of climate change increases. Given the goal to increase the public acceptance of an environmental tax, we provide three main policy implications: i) carry on campaigns to increase the general level of tax morale, following the guidelines given by the OECD (2019); ii) raise the climate change awareness among people, for instance through investments in sensibilization campaigns on environmental-related topics; iii) increase awareness about climate change in particular among individuals who show lower attitude towards paying taxes. The evidence about an inconsistent tax preference made us recommend a policy addressed to a specific target group rather than to individuals and based on non-monetary incentives, such as nudging and moral suasion tools. |
| Keywords: | Energy survey; Carbon tax; Climate change; Tax evasion and avoidance; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies |
| JEL: | H23 Q40 Q50 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:113039&r= |
| By: | Adha, Rishan; Hong, Cheng-Yih; Agrawal, Somya; Li, Li-Hua |
| Abstract: | The global rise in energy consumption makes managing energy demands a priority. Here, the potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in controlling energy consumption is still debated. Within this context, the main objective of the current study is to measure the impact of ICT, its potential benefit, and environmental factors on household electricity demand in Taiwan. A panel of data from 20 cities in Taiwan was collected during the period 2004-2018. We adopted PMG estimation and applied the DH-causality test for analysis. The estimation results show that ICT, carbon emissions, and climate change will drive household electricity demand in Taiwan in the long term. However, ICT has a higher potential to reduce electricity demand in the short-term period. In addition, the results of the causality test reveal a two-way interrelationship between ICT and electricity demand. Our study also found that climate change indirectly affects the use of electricity through household appliances. We also presented several policy implications at the end of this paper. |
| Keywords: | energy demand, ICT, carbon emissions, climate change, dynamic panel data model |
| JEL: | C3 C33 Q4 Q43 |
| Date: | 2021–10–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:113009&r= |
| By: | Rigolini, Jamele (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the role of Social Protection and Labor in supporting both climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. The Climate Crisis is impacting the poor and vulnerable disproportionally, both as a consequence of climate shocks and through the distributional impacts of climate mitigation policies. The paper discusses how – even without explicit environmental objectives – Social Protection and Labor strengthens resilience against climate shocks. However, integrating crisis-sensitive elements into social protection and labor programs increases substantially their ability to respond to shocks. Social protection and labor programs also facilitate green and Just Transitions by supporting equitable policies and can ease transitions towards Green jobs. Finally, Social protection and labor programs can also directly support mitigation measures by positively affecting behaviors. While investments in climate-related Social Protection and Labor are rapidly expanding, its full potential to support adaptation, decarbonization and mitigation is still to be realized. |
| Keywords: | social protection, climate change, adaptation, mitigation |
| JEL: | I38 Q54 |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izapps:pp184&r= |
| By: | Gourdel, Régis; Monasterolo, Irene; Dunz, Nepomuk; Mazzocchetti, Andrea; Parisi, Laura |
| Abstract: | The analysis of the conditions under which, and extent to which climate-adjusted financial risk assessment affects firms’ investment decisions in the low-carbon transition, and the realisation of the climate mitigation trajectories, still represent a knowledge gap. Filling this gap is crucial to assess the “double materiality” of climate-related financial risks. By tailoring the EIRIN Stock-Flow Consistent model, we provide a dynamic balance sheets assessment of climate physical and transition risks for the euro area, using the climate scenarios of the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). We find that an orderly transition achieves important co-benefits already in the mid-term, with respect to carbon emissions abatement, financial stability, and economic output. In contrast, a disorderly transition can harm financial stability, thus limiting firms’ capacity to invest in low-carbon activities that could decrease their exposure to transition risk and help them recover from climate physical shocks. Importantly, investors’ climate sentiments, i.e. their anticipation of the impact of the carbon tax across NGFS scenarios, play a key role for smoothing the transition in the economy and finance. Our results highlight the importance for financial supervisors to consider the role of firms and investors’ expectations in the low-carbon transition, in order to design appropriate macro-prudential policies for tackling climate risks. JEL Classification: B59, Q50 |
| Keywords: | climate physical risk, climate transition risk, double materiality, Network for Greening the Financial System scenarios, Stock-Flow Consistent model |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20222665&r= |
| By: | Tiziano De Angelis; Peter Tankov; Olivier David Zerbib |
| Abstract: | This paper shows how green investing spurs companies to mitigate their carbon emissions by raising the cost of capital of the most carbon-intensive companies. Companies’ emissions decrease when the wealth share of green investors and their sensitivity to climate externalities increase. We show that the impact of green investors primarily governs companies’ long-run emissions. Companies are further incentivized to reduce their emissions when green investors anticipate tighter climate regulations and climate-related technological innovations. However, heightened uncertainty regarding future climate risks alleviates green investors’ pressure on the cost of capital of companies and pushes them to increase their emissions. Calibrated on United States data, our model suggests that, albeit effective, the impact of green investors remains limited given their current wealth share and practices. |
| Keywords: | Climate finance, socially responsible investing, ESG, impact investing |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wpaper:676&r= |
| By: | De Juan Fernández, Aránzazu; Poncela, Pilar; Rodríguez Caballero, Carlos Vladimir; Ruiz Ortega, Esther |
| Abstract: | In this paper,we surve yrecent econometric contributions t omeasure the relationship between economic activity and climate change.Due to the critical relevance of these effectsfor the well-being of future generations,there is an explosion of publications devoted to measuring this relationship and its main channels.The relation between economic activity andclimate change is complex with the possibility of causality running in both directions. Starting from economic activity,the channels that relate economic activity and climate changeare energy consumption and the consequent pollution. Hence, we first describe the main econometric contributions about the interactions between economic activity and energy consumption, moving then to describing the contributions on the interactions between economicactivity and pollution. Finally, we look at the main results on the relationship between climate change and economic activity. An important consequence of climate change is the increasing occurrence of extreme weather phenomena. Therefore,we also survey contributions on the economice effects of catastrophic climate phenomena. |
| Keywords: | Catastrophic Weather; Energy Consumption; Environmental Kuznets Curve; Global Warming; Greenhouse Gases; Temperature Trends |
| Date: | 2022–06–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:wsrepe:35044&r= |
| By: | Confidence Duku; Carlos Alho; Rik Leemans; Annemarie Groot |
| Abstract: | This article reviews how food system activities contribute to climate change and how dietary changes affect food systems. It shows that while emissions from food production are increasing in most regions, emissions from land use change are decreasing. Despite these trends, land use emissions remain huge and are greater than emissions from food production in some regions. While there is strong scientific consensus that climate change negatively affects food production, current scientific evidence is unclear about the impacts of climate change on post-production activities. This article also shows that dietary change has large potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Despite its potential, the costs and feasibility of dietary change are not well understood and require further research. Strategies to reduce emissions should focus on further reducing land use change as the current rate of reduction is inadequate to achieve a targeted reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Strategies must also address meat consumption in regions where it consumption is excessive. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2022–05–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:unadrs:320722&r= |
| By: | Koen van Ruijven (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Joep Tijm (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis) |
| Abstract: | We find strong associations between house prices and environmental factors that are directly noticeable. This mainly concerns noise pollution and the amount of greenery and water in close proximity to a house. The strong negative associations for noise are mainly found in low levels (below 40 dB) and at high levels (above 65 dB). We find positive effects up to 200 meters for the presence of greenery and water. After 200 meters we find no, or only a small negative association with house prices. Surprisingly, air pollution is only weakly related to housing prices. These results follow from research in which we relate house prices to this set of environmental factors. We find the strongest price effects for greenery and water within 50 meters of a house. In particular, the price relationship for greenery decreases the further away the greenery is from a house. For example, we see that a 10% increase in the percentage of grass and shrubs (trees) within 50 meters is associated with a 1% to 4% (1% to 3%) increase in house prices. For water, we find that a comparable 10% increase is associated with a 0.5% to 1.5% increase in house prices. Our results have important policy implications, as they suggest that households have a limited willingness to pay for environmental goods that they do not directly notice. This result is especially relevant for air pollution. Recent studies indicate that health costs are significantly higher than our estimates of what households seem willing to pay for better air quality. This suggests that households are not fully aware of the effects of local air pollution on their health when purchasing their home. |
| JEL: | Q51 Q53 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:438&r= |
| By: | Ruhnau, Oliver; Schiele, Johanna |
| Abstract: | Electrolytic hydrogen complements renewable energy in many net-zero energy scenarios. In these long-term scenarios with full decarbonization, the “greenness” of hydrogen is without question. In current energy systems, however, the ramp-up of hydrogen production may cause additional emissions. To avoid this potential adverse effect, recently proposed EU regulation defines strict requirements for electrolytic hydrogen to qualify as green: electrolyzers must run on additional renewable generation, which is produced in a temporally and geographically congruent manner. Focusing on the temporal dimension, this paper argues in favor of a more flexible definition of green hydrogen, which keeps the additionality criterion on a yearly basis but allows for dispatch optimization on a market basis within that period. We develop a model that optimizes dispatch and investment of a wind-hydrogen system—including wind turbines, hydrogen electrolysis, and hydrogen storage—and apply the model to a German case study based on data from 2017-2021. Contrasting different regulatory conditions, we show that a flexible definition of green hydrogen can reduce costs without additional power sector emissions. By contrast, requiring simultaneity implies that a rational investor would build a much larger wind turbine, hydrogen electrolyzer, and hydrogen storage than needed. This leads to additional costs, underutilized resources, and a potential slow-down of green hydrogen deployment. We discuss that current trends in the energy transition are likely to amplify the economic and environmental benefits of a flexible definition of green hydrogen and recommend this as the way forward for a sustainable hydrogen policy. |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:258999&r= |
| By: | Florian Bucher; Lucas Scheu; Benedikt Schröpf |
| Abstract: | This study examines the link between economic complexity and environmental quality by exploiting the similar starting points of the former socialist transition countries after the fall of the iron curtain. We refer to the extended theories of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), stating that environmental pollution follows an inverted u-shaped course with respect to economic complexity. Using comprehensive data of 27 countries for the period 1995-2017, our results show that the EKC can be found for countries whose complexity rose over time. Additionally, since the results for production-based and consumption-based CO2 emissions are similar, we can discard emissions offshoring as a major explaining factor. Consequently, our findings suggest that more complex products are the drivers of the EKC. However, as the turning point is associated with high levels of pollution, our estimates imply that complexity may even exacerbate environmental issues in the short and middle run in less developed countries. |
| Keywords: | Economic Complexity, Environmental Kuznets Curve, Former Socialist States preference transmission |
| JEL: | O44 P28 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bav:wpaper:218_bucherscheuschroepf&r= |
| By: | Singh, Tejendra Pratap |
| Abstract: | Air pollution remains one of the most challenging environmental phenomena. Despite its importance in impacting various facets of everyday life, there is a paucity of well-identified air pollution estimates on short-term outcomes for developing countries. Using novel data, I provide detailed empirical evidence on the direct effect of air pollution on student absenteeism in India by linking local exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) to school attendance. I find a large negative effect of increased air pollution on school attendance. My results are robust to a host of specifications and a battery of robustness checks. Consistent with other works, I find that the effect is more pronounced for younger students and find evidence for differential impacts of air pollution on absenteeism by gender. Exploring the mechanisms behind increased absenteeism, I show that reduced school attendance might be resulting from increased incidence of respiratory ailments in the students exposed to air pollution. |
| Date: | 2022–05–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:pcva2&r= |
| By: | Karel Janda; Anna Kortusova; Binyi Zhang |
| Abstract: | Green bonds have gained prominence in China’s capital market as tools that help to fuel the transition to a climate-resilient economy. Although the issuance volume in the Chinese green bond market has been growing rapidly in recent years, the impact of the green label on bond pricing has not been adequately studied. Therefore, this paper investigates whether the newly developed financial instrument offers investors in China an attractive yield compared to other equivalent conventional bonds. By matching green bonds with their conventional counterparts and subsequently applying a fixed-effects estimation, our empirical results reveal a significant negative green bond yield premium of -1.8 bps on average in the Chinese secondary market. In addition, the yield premium is found to vary across issuers’ business sectors mainly due to the public reputation of bond issuers. Moreover, our empirical results reveal an insignificant relationship between the green certification and the yield premium, possibly reflecting inconsistent green bond standards in the Chinese market. Our results point to some practical implications for policymakers and investors. |
| Keywords: | Green Finance, Green bonds, ESG, China |
| JEL: | G12 Q56 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2022-38&r= |
| By: | Ralph De Haas; Ralf Martin; Mirabelle Muuls; Helena Schweiger |
| Abstract: | We use data on 10,852 firms across 22 emerging markets to analyse how credit constraints and deficient firm management inhibit corporate investment in green technologies. For identification, we exploit quasi-exogenous variation in local credit conditions. Our results indicate that both credit constraints and green managerial constraints slow down firm investment in more energy efficient and less polluting technologies. Complementary analysis of data from the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) reveals the pollution impact of these constraints. We show that in areas where more firms are credit constrained and weakly managed, industrial facilities systematically emit more CO2 and other gases. This is corroborated by the finding that in areas where banks needed to deleverage more after the Global Financial Crisis, industrial facilities subsequently reduced their carbon emissions considerably less. On aggregate this kept CO2 emissions 5.6% above the level they would have been in the absence of credit constraints. |
| Keywords: | credit constraints, green management, CO2 emissions, energy efficiency |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1837&r= |
| By: | Doll, Claire A.; Burton, Michael P.; Pannell, David J.; Rollins, Curtis L. |
| Abstract: | With climate change, it is becoming more challenging for water-limited cities to sustain historic watering levels in urban parks, leading park managers to consider changes to park designs. But whether and to what extent the public value parks that deviate from conventional designs featuring large areas of irrigated lawn remains uncertain. We use a choice experiment to assess public preferences for different park groundcovers in Perth, Australia. With a scale-adjusted latent class model, we identify optimal groundcover compositions for four preference classes. We find that while having some watered grass in urban parks is important, the public are also accepting of non-irrigated alternatives. Incorporating at least 40% native vegetation cover can increase the utility the public derives from parks and conserve water. Park managers also have a degree of flexibility in designing parks that vary from the optimal groundcover composition but that still deliver near-optimal benefits to communities. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2022–05–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwauwp:320820&r= |
| By: | José-Luis Cruz; Esteban Rossi-Hansberg |
| Abstract: | We study local carbon policy to address the consequences of climate change. Standard analysis suggests that the social cost of carbon determines optimal carbon policy. We start by using the spatial integrated assessment model in Cruz and Rossi-Hansberg (2021) to measure the local social monetary cost of CO² emissions: the Local Social Cost of Carbon (LSCC). Although the largest welfare costs from global warming are concentrated in the warmest parts of the developing world, adjusting for the local marginal utility of income implies that the LSCC peaks in warm and high-income regions like the southern parts of the U.S. and Europe, as well as Australia. We then proceed to study the effect of the actual carbon reduction pledges in the Paris Agreement and the progress they can make in implementing the expressed goal of keeping global temperature increases below 2°C. We find that although the distribution of pledges is roughly in line with the LSCC, their magnitude is largely insufficient to achieve its goals. The required carbon taxes necessary to keep temperatures below 2°C over the current century are an order of magnitude higher and involve large implicit inter-temporal transfers. Increasing the elasticity of substitution across energy sources is important to reduce the carbon taxes necessary to achieve warming goals. |
| JEL: | F1 O18 Q5 R1 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30027&r= |
| By: | Jane Ellis (OECD); Luca Lo Re (International Energy Agency); Federico De Lorenzo (OECD) |
| Abstract: | Greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation actions will need to be accelerated and scaled up at both national and sub-national levels in order to meet the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. National governments can play an important role in enabling GHG mitigation actions by non-Party stakeholders (NPS), and in enhancing the interaction between national policies and NPS actions. This paper explores actions national governments could take to facilitate NPS mitigation action in two sub-sectors with large mitigation potential and where NPS play a key role in the successful implementation of mitigation activities. These sectors are renewable electricity generation and procurement in cities and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in sub-national jurisdictions. This paper outlines some institutional, regulatory, financial and technical barriers faced by NPS in implementing GHG mitigation activities in these sub-sectors and highlights some examples of national policies and measures that have allowed specific NPS to overcome these barriers. The paper also showcases examples of enabling policy frameworks at the national level that could encourage the replication of such mitigation actions by NPS. An important, common element for successful replication of mitigation activities is for national governments to facilitate co-ordination with NPS; to improve consistency between national and sub-national policies; to identify and clarify responsibilities between different actors; and to regularly review and potentially revise national policies that may unintentionally create barriers to NPS mitigation actions. |
| Keywords: | climate change, mitigation, non-party stakeholders, REDD+, renewable electricity |
| JEL: | H70 K32 O13 Q15 Q28 Q54 |
| Date: | 2022–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaab:2022/02-en&r= |
| By: | Christoph Böhringer (University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics); Carolyn Fischer; Nicholas Rivers (University of Ottawa) |
| Abstract: | Carbon pricing policies worldwide are increasingly coupled with direct or indi-rect subsidies where emissions pricing revenues are rebated to the regulated enti-ties. This paper analyzes the incentives created by two novel forms of rebating that reward additional emission intensity reductions: one given in proportion to output (intensity-based output rebating) and another that rebates a share of emission pay-ments (intensity-based emission rebating). These forms are contrasted with output-based rebating, abatement-based rebating, and lump sum rebating. Given the same emission price, intensity-based output rebating incentivizes the most intensity reduc-tions, while abatement-based rebating incentivizes the most output reductions, and output-based rebating puts the least pressure on output (and emissions); intensity-based emissions rebating lies in between these, by implicitly subsidizing emissions while incentivizing intensity reductions. The paper supplements partial equilibrium theoretical analysis with numerical simulations to assess the performance of di?erent mechanisms in a multisector general equilibrium model that accounts for economywide market interactions. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, policy, carbon pricing |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:old:dpaper:439&r= |
| By: | Ujjayant Chakravorty; Martino Pelli; Ridhima Gupta |
| Abstract: | Pollution from the use of fuels like fuelwood and crop residue is a huge environmental issue in developing countries. It leads to poor indoor air quality and adverse impacts on human health, mainly that of women and children who spend most of their time indoors. It also leads to deforestation in areas where fuelwood and charcoal use is high. This chapter describes the problem of fuel use for cooking in developing economies, and the challenges they pose for human health and the environment. The findings from many economic studies are analysed on different aspects of this issue, evaluations of government policies and the difficulties associated with the desired transition to cleaner, more efficient fuels such as natural gas and electricity. To quote this document: Chakravorty U., Gupta R. and Pelli M. (2022). The economics of rural energy use in developing countries (2022s-12, CIRANO). https://doi.org/10.54932/XCOZ6579 La pollution due à l'utilisation de combustibles tels que le bois de chauffage et les résidus de récolte est un problème environnemental majeur dans les pays en développement. Elle entraîne une mauvaise qualité de l'air intérieur et a des effets néfastes sur la santé humaine, principalement celle des femmes et des enfants qui passent la plupart de leur temps à l'intérieur. Elle conduit également à la déforestation dans les zones où l'utilisation de bois de chauffage et de charbon de bois est élevée. Ce chapitre décrit le problème de l'utilisation de combustibles pour la cuisson dans les économies en développement, et les défis qu'ils posent pour la santé humaine et l'environnement. Les conclusions de nombreuses études économiques sont analysées sur différents aspects de cette question, les évaluations des politiques gouvernementales et les difficultés liées à la transition souhaitée vers des combustibles plus propres et plus efficaces tels que le gaz naturel et l'électricité. Pour citer ce document: Chakravorty U., Gupta R. and Pelli M. (2022). The economics of rural energy use in developing countries (2022s-12, CIRANO). https://doi.org/10.54932/XCOZ6579 |
| Keywords: | Cooking fuels,air pollution,indoor air quality,fuelwood markets,clean energy, Combustibles de cuisson,pollution atmosphérique,qualité de l'air intérieur,marchés du bois de chauffage,énergie propre |
| JEL: | O13 Q42 Q53 |
| Date: | 2022–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirwor:2022s-12&r= |
| By: | Comello, Stephen (Stanford U); Reichelstein, Julia (Piva Capital, San Francisco); Reichelstein, Stefan (U of Mannheim and Stanford U) |
| Abstract: | We propose and describe a corporate carbon reporting framework intended to strengthen the credibility and transparency of the existing net-zero pledges. We refer to this framework as the Time-Consistent Corporate Carbon Reporting (TCCR) standard. Firms adhering to the TCCR framework would commit to disclose: (i) firm annual carbon emissions determined according to a core metric which we define as the Direct Net Emissions (DNE), (ii) an initial forecast of the firm’s future emissions trajectory up to the year 2050, and (iii) periodic revisions of the forecast emission trajectories for the remaining years up to 2050. In addition to DNE disclosures at the corporate entity level, we advocate for firms to adopt a system of accumulating and reporting carbon balances at the product level. When added up across all products and services sold to the firm’s customers, these carbon balances would effectively absorb the firm’s annual DNE, and the carbon balances accumulated in the production inputs from the firm’s upstream suppliers. Borrowing a concept from the construction industry, this sequential process would ensure that products delivered to a firm’s customers reflect the embodied carbon accumulated through the entire upstream supply chain. |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:4016&r= |
| By: | Felix Bracht; Dennis Verhoeven |
| Abstract: | Existing estimates of the economic costs of air pollution do not account for its effect on inventive output. Using two weather phenomena as instruments, we estimate this effect in a sample of 1,288 European regions. A decrease in exposure to small particulate matter of 0.17µg/m3 - the average yearly reduction in Europe - leads to 1.7% more patented inventions. After ruling out reallocation of human capital, inventor mortality and R&D expenditures as drivers of the effect, we conclude that air pollution's harm to economic output increases by at least 10% when accounting for innovation. |
| Keywords: | air pollution, air quality, innovation, patent, productivity |
| Date: | 2021–11–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1817&r= |
| By: | Gannon, Kate; Pettinotti, Laetitia; Surminski, Swenja; Ndilhana, Edward; Nyumba, Tobias |
| Abstract: | In this paper we advance a novel approach to integrated assessment of the ways in which the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are likely to manifest and interact within a given development context, using Q-Methodology and the conceptual framing of imaginaries. We apply this to development corridors and identify three qualitatively distinct imaginaries of SDG futures that exist among stakeholders across five development corridors in East Africa. These imaginaries articulate shared understandings of the ways in which corridors are likely to support, or limit, achievement of the SDGs and construct explanatory logics around the ways in which SDG trade-offs and synergies are likely to manifest within corridors. Our analysis suggests that SDG goals and targets are mostly synergistic in corridor landscapes, but that interactions can be multi-dimensional. We also (1) identify specific clusters of goals and targets that may be directly mutually reinforcing and which, strengthened in parallel, could upscale development within corridors and; (2) identify ways in which, following current corridor trajectories, progress towards some SDGs is likely to threaten progress towards other goals and targets. Particularly, the analysis identifies biodiversity conservation (SDG14/SDG15), sustainability (SDG11, SDG12, SDG13), secure and equal access to land (SDG2.3) and inequality reduction (SDG10) to be likely trade-offs to other development gains in current corridor trajectories. The research emphasises the need for more integrated corridor governance to achieve the SDGs efficiently, as a whole and for all. The method is flexible and could be applied to enable rapid assessment of SDG trajectories within other development contexts. |
| Keywords: | development corridors; sustainable development goals (SDGs); SDG synergies and tradeoffs; policy coherence/integrated development planning; imaginaries; East Africa; ES/K006576/1; ES/P011500/1 |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2022–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:112965&r= |
| By: | Yoshua Bengio; Prateek Gupta; Dylan Radovic; Maarten Scholl; Andrew Williams; Christian Schroeder de Witt; Tianyu Zhang; Yang Zhang |
| Abstract: | Insufficient Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) estimation methods and short-term decision-making horizons have hindered the ability of carbon emitters to properly correct for the negative externalities of climate change, as well as the capacity of nations to balance economic and climate policy. To overcome these limitations, we introduce Retrospective Social Cost of Carbon Updating (ReSCCU), a novel mechanism that corrects for these limitations as empirically measured evidence is collected. To implement ReSCCU in the context of carbon taxation, we propose Retroactive Carbon Pricing (ReCaP), a market mechanism in which polluters offload the payment of ReSCCU adjustments to insurers. To alleviate systematic risks and minimize government involvement, we introduce the Private ReCaP (PReCaP) prediction market, which could see real-world implementation based on the engagement of a few high net-worth individuals or independent institutions. |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2205.00666&r= |
| By: | Erica Marujo; Nuno Goncalves; Rui Dias |
| Abstract: | The response to climate change will demand profound transformations in social and economic systems, requiring significant investments from both the public budget and the private sector. This occasional paper contextualizes the issue of climate change in the Portuguese economy and analyses its effects on public finances. This document explains the main concepts underlying climate change and analyses the main theoretical transmission channels to the economy. The empirical evidence for Portugal regarding this issue is reviewed and the policies and financial instruments already adopted in the country to ensure the decarbonization of the economy until 2050 are surveyed. A detailed analysis of the financial dimension of the climate action for Portugal is presented, aiming to clarify the financing strategy of the country to reach carbon neutrality and the allocation of the financial effort to be executed between the public and the private sectors. This study concludes that, in Portugal, despite the approval of several climate action plans, there is a clear need for better articulation between the multiple instruments and to develop their financial dimension in order to ensure greater transparency of the inherent processes and to secure the achievement of the agreed targets. The impact of climate change over the economic growth and other dimensions of the society will be greater the less action taken by policy makers to adopt mitigation and adaptation measures that fulfil the goals of the Paris Agreement. |
| Keywords: | Climate change; macroeconomic impacts; decarbonization; public investment; public financing; budgetary impact |
| JEL: | E60 H23 O44 Q51 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:alf:opaper:2022-03&r= |
| By: | Dröge, Susanne |
| Abstract: | Im Rahmen des Green Deal erwägt die EU die Einführung eines CO2-Grenzausgleichsmechanismus (CBAM) für Importe, damit sie ihre ehrgeizigen klimapolitischen Ziele erreichen kann, ohne dass energieintensive Sektoren ihre Emissionen ins Ausland verlagern (Carbon Leakage). Der CBAM sieht die virtuelle Anbindung der EU-Handelspartner an das Emissionshandelssystem der EU (EU ETS) vor - und wird von ihnen entsprechend kritisch beurteilt. Denn der CBAM wird ihre Produkte bei der Einfuhr durch Einpreisung der CO2-Kosten verteuern. Um wie viel, wird in dieser Studie für drei Sektoren - Zement, Stahl und Strom - exemplarisch durchgerechnet. Ein CBAM generiert Einnahmen. Der Umgang damit spielt für die WTO-konforme Ausgestaltung eine wichtige Rolle. Davon ist nur dann auszugehen, wenn die Einnahmen konsequent an den Zweck gebunden werden, klimapolitische Maßnahmen im In- und Ausland zu finanzieren. Ein CBAM wirkt als klimapolitischer Hebel. Je mehr Staaten mit der EU in der Klimapolitik zusammenarbeiten, desto geringer wird der Bedarf, das Instrument auch einzusetzen. Ist er erfolgreich, wird der CBAM überflüssig. Damit die klimapolitische Maßnahme handelsrechtlich durchzusetzen ist, muss sie mit den WTO-Regeln in Einklang gebracht werden. Das schließt Sonderregeln für Entwicklungsländer ein. Zudem sollte das Gerechtigkeitsprinzip (CBDR&RC) des UN-Klimaregimes beachtet werden, das den Entwicklungs- und Schwellenländern geringere Beiträge zum Klimaschutz abverlangt als den Industrieländern. Die EU und die Mitgliedstaaten müssen sich darauf einstellen, dass es zu einer Sanktionsdynamik kommen könnte, wenn sie es versäumen, mit ihren Handelspartnern intensive Gespräche zu führen, in denen sie ihr Vorgehen erklären und über Details der Anwendung sowie Ausnahmen verhandeln. Das erfordert Fingerspitzengefühl, Klarheit und ein hohes Maß an Abstimmung mit den Partnerländern. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:swpstu:92021&r= |
| By: | Marcel Henkel, Eunjee Kwon, Pierre Magontier |
| Abstract: | Post-disaster aid aims to relieve affected communities, but excessive bailouts may Encourage economic activity to remain in exposed areas. We provide new empirical and theoretical evidence on the spatial consequences of post-disaster policies related to political motives. Using the exogenous variation in the timing of natural disasters, we show that hurricanes close to Election Day lead to increased post-disaster efforts at the local level and result in increased population sorting into the impacted areas. To quantify and comprehend the implications of this new sorting pattern for the aggregate economy, we introduce the relationship between electoral cycles and post-disaster policies as a new feature in a dynamic spatial general equilibrium model. We show that households respond to current post-disaster policies by sorting in hazard-prone coastal areas. Under the assumption of no climate change, current post-disaster policies improve aggregate welfare at the expense of overall GDP and productivity losses. |
| Keywords: | Natural Disasters, Political Budget Cycles, Spatial Sorting |
| JEL: | Q54 D72 H53 H84 |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rdv:wpaper:credresearchpaper37&r= |
| By: | Tra Thi Trinh (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan); Alistair Munro (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan) |
| Abstract: | Forecasting the impact of climate change on migration is difficult, given widespread reliance on historical data and limited exposure to actual climate change amongst target populations. This study takes a different approach, developing a new methodology that employs a choice experiment to examine intentions to migrate among farmers living in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, one of the areas in the world most significantly affected by climate change. The respondents are asked to make migration choices for scenarios constructed using six attributes: drought intensity, flood frequency, income change from migration, migration networks, neighbors’ choices, and crop choice restriction. The results suggest that increasing the intensity/frequency of drought/flood increases the likelihood of migration; the effects are stronger for individuals with prior experience of climate change. Furthermore, the contribution of network attribute is gendered and dependent on migration experience. Finally, crop choice restriction, such as those widely employed by the Vietnamese government to control rice planting, may trigger a higher probability of migration. These findings provide insights into the debate on climate change-migration nexus in rural and lowland areas that are seriously affected by climate change. Furthermore, extensive choice experiment data on migration preferences under a diverse range of climate variabilities facilitates projections of environmentally induced migration. |
| Keywords: | Climate change; migration; choice experiment; drought and saline intrusion; flood; Vietnam; Mekong Rivers |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ngi:dpaper:22-07&r= |
| By: | Raphael Calel; Jonathan Colmer; Antoine Dechezleprêtre; Matthieu Glachant |
| Abstract: | We develop and implement a new method for identifying wasted subsidies, and use it to provide systematic evidence on the misallocation of carbon offsets in the Clean Development Mechanism - the world's largest carbon offset program. Using newly constructed data on the locations and characteristics of 1,350 wind farms in India - a context where it was believed, ex-ante, that the Clean Development Mechanism could significantly increase development above baseline projections - we estimate that at least 52% of approved carbon offsets were allocated to projects that would very likely have been built anyway. In addition to wasting scarce resources, we estimate that the sale of these offsets to regulated polluters has substantially increased global carbon dioxide emissions. |
| Keywords: | carbon offsets, infra-marginal support, misallocation, investment, subsidies, wind power, Green Growth |
| Date: | 2021–10–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1808&r= |
| By: | Stern, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | The case for action on climate change with urgency and at scale rests on the immense magnitude of climate risk, the very rapid emissions reductions which are necessary, and that there is a real opportunity to create a new and attractive form of growth and development. The analysis must be based on a dynamic approach to the economics of public policy, set in a complex, imperfect and uncertain world. The economics of climate change, and further, economics more broadly, must change to respond to the challenge of how to foster rapid transformation. It is time for economics and economists to step up. |
| Keywords: | climate change; economic analysis; public policy; investment; innovation; ES/R009708/1; OUP deal |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2022–05–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:113456&r= |
| By: | Sareh Vosooghi; Maria Arvaniti; Frederick Van Der Ploeg |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the formation of international climate coalitions by heterogeneous countries. Countries rationally predict the consequences of their membership decisions in climate negotiations. We offer an approach to characterise the equilibrium number of coalitions and their number of signatories independent of their heterogeneity, and we suggest a tractable algorithm to fully characterise the equilibrium. In a dynamic game analysis of a general equilibrium model of the economy integrated with climate dynamics, a grand climate coalition or multiple climate coalitions may form in equilibrium, but if the policymakers are patient, the number of signatories in all climate treaties is a Tribonacci number. Our results are robust to the possibility of renegotiation and investment in green technologies besides fossil fuels. |
| Date: | 2022–05–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:971&r= |
| By: | Chepeliev, Maksym |
| Abstract: | Since GTAP 5 Data Base, a special satellite account that estimates CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion has been developed (Lee, 2002). A corresponding approach to the estimation of emissions has remained unchanged since then and relies on the Tier 1 method of the 1996 IPCC Guidelines (IPCC/OECD/IEA, 1997). However, a number of concerns regarding discrepancies between GTAP CO2 emissions data and other international data sources, such as EDGAR and IEA, have been raised. In this paper, we compare GTAP CO2 emissions data with other international data sources and quantify the revealed discrepancies. To address the identified differences, we develop and implement a revised emissions accounting framework based on the Tier 1 method of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines. Our revised approach includes estimation of emission factors at a more granular commodity level than implemented in the standard GTAP 10A Data Base. Two additional refinements include an updated accounting of emissions from blast furnaces and other recovered gases, as well as a more transparent treatment of CO2 emissions from flaring. We implement an updated emissions accounting framework for the case of GTAP 11 energy database and show that it helps to substantially reduce discrepancies between GTAP and other international data sources both at the global and country levels. |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gta:resmem:6695&r= |
| By: | Sunday, Nathan; Kahunde, Rehema; Atwine, Blessing; Adelaja, Adesoji; Kappiaruparampil, Justin |
| Abstract: | Uganda continues to be prone to climate shocks especially drought which has adverse impact on food security. This paper studies household resilience capacities with special focus on how different resilience capacities mitigate the impact of drought on food security. The study follows the TANGO framework and two-step factor analysis to construct resilience capacity indexes. It employs a panel data from the Uganda National Panel Surveys (UNPS) undertaken between 2010/11 and 2018/19, spanning five waves. To minimize the bias arising from subjective self-reported drought shock, we introduce an objective measure of drought from the global SPEI database into the UNPS data. We also control for attrition bias by controlling for attrition hazard estimated from the attrition function. Our analysis reveals that households in Uganda exhibit significantly low and nearly static resilience capacities. This implies majority of households in Uganda remain highly susceptible food insecurity in the event of severe drought. The study shows that building resilience capacities is an effective way of protecting households from such devastating situation. In this regard, adaptive capacity is found to be the most effective in mitigating the effect of drought on food security. Transformative capacity and absorptive capacities possess limited mitigating power. Based on significant components from each of the capacities, we recommend investing in early warning systems and wide dissemination of climate related information to enhance preparedness adaptation, encouraging and supporting formation and sustainability of informal institutions at local levels, enhancing access to communal resources, improved infrastructure and agriculture extension services by the most vulnerable groups. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2021–08–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miprrp:320708&r= |
| By: | John Van Reenen |
| Abstract: | In the second anniversary lecture marking 30 years since CEP began, former director John Van Reenen focused on productivity, an issue that has been at the heart of the Centre's work for three decades. He sets out how technological innovation and better management can bring about growth that is both inclusive and compatible with efforts to address the world's climate emergency. |
| Keywords: | Technological change, Productivity, environment, innovation, management, growth, climate |
| Date: | 2021–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:604&r= |
| By: | Olivier Chanel; Alberto Prati; Morgan Raux |
| Abstract: | We provide an estimate of the environmental impact of the recruitment system in the economics profession, known as the "international job market for economists". Each year, most graduating PhDs seeking jobs in academia, government, or companies participate in this job market. The market follows a standardized process, where candidates are pre-screened in a short interview which takes place at an annual meeting in Europe or in the United States. Most interviews are arranged via a non-profit online platform, econjobmarket.org, which kindly agreed to share its anonymized data with us. Using this dataset, we estimate the individual environmental impact of 1,057 candidates and one hundred recruitment committees who attended the EEA and AEA meetings in December 2019 and January 2020. We calculate that this pre-screening system generated the equivalent of about 4,000 tons of avoidable CO2-eq and a comprehensive economic cost over e3.5 million. We contrast this overall assessment against three counterfactual scenarios: a more efficient in-person system, a hybrid system (where videoconference is used for some candidates) and a fully online system (as it happened in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Overall, the study can offer useful information to shape future recruitment standards in a more sustainable way. |
| Keywords: | job market for economists, international job market, carbon footprint, environmental impact, comprehensive economic cost |
| Date: | 2021–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1819&r= |
| By: | Wesley Howden (University of Arizona); Remy Levin (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | We study the direct impacts that long-run experiences of climate change have on individual risk preferences. Using panel surveys from Indonesia and Mexico (total N = 25,000), we link within-person changes in elicited risk preferences to state-level, lifetime experiences of climate change. In line with the predictions of a Bayesian model of learning over background climate risk, we find that in both settings increases in the experienced means of temperature and precipitation cause significant decreases in measured risk aversion, while increases in the experienced variance of temperature in Indonesia and the variance of precipitation in Mexico lead to significant increases in measured risk aversion. We replicate this analysis globally using a survey with a representative sample from 75 countries (N = 75,000) containing an elicited measure of risk preference which we link to country-level, lifetime climate experiences. We find significant results for both the means and variances of both climate variables that are consistent with our panel analyses. Across all settings, experiences of climate variance have first-order effects, with coefficient magnitudes of the standard deviation of climate 0.6-2.6 times that of the climate mean. We develop a novel method for estimating the welfare effects of observed risk preference changes using panel data, and find that the climate-induced changes in risk preferences we observe increased welfare in both Indonesia and Mexico by approximately 1%. |
| Keywords: | Risk preferences, climate change, experience effects, volatility, welfare |
| JEL: | D14 D81 D83 I31 O12 Q54 |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2022-13&r= |
| By: | Simplice A. Asongu; Nicholas M.Odhiambo |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to assess the nexus between governance and renewable energy consumption in sub-Saharan Africa. The focus is on 44 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with data from 1996 to 2016. The empirical evidence is based on Tobit regressions. It is apparent from the findings that political and institutional governance are negatively related to the consumption of renewable energy in the sampled countries. The unexpected findings are clarified and policy implications are discussed in the light of sustainable development goals. This study extends the extant literature by assessing how political governance (consisting of political stability and “voice & accountability†) and institutional governance (entailing the rule of law and corruption-control) affect the consumption of renewable energy in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:afa:wpaper:aesriwp11&r= |
| By: | Jung, Heejung; Johnson, Kent; Lopez, Brenda |
| Abstract: | Studies have shown that long-term exposure to ambient air pollution endangers human health. Regulations targeting internal combustion engines have proven effective in reducing their particulate matter (PM) emissions over the years. However, PM from non-tailpipe sources such as brake and tire wear are not currently regulated and are expected to eventually become the dominant source of traffic-related PM emissions. Although studies have produced a greater understanding of brake wear, laboratory tests are an imperfect substitute for real-world activity. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate brake activity for diverse vehicle classes and sizes under in-use conditions. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside aimed to establish a test method to determine brake activity of a heavy-duty vehicle under both dynamometer tests and on-road tests. The results advance the research methodology, ultimately contributing to a more accurate determination of brake activity and informing efforts to improve non-tailpipe PM emissions inventories. This policy brief summarizes the key findings from that research. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Engineering, Braking, Heavy duty vehicles, Pollutants |
| Date: | 2022–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt50r6m4dm&r= |
| By: | Luca Buzzanca; Caterina Conigliani; Valeria Costantini |
| Abstract: | The literature identifies three main drivers for forced migration, namely conflict, food nsecurity, and natural and man-made disasters, although finds no empirical consensus on the association between climate change and migrations. Aim of this study is to identify the different push and pull factors of forced migration in different regions of the world by means of gravity-type models. Particular attention is devoted to determining the effects of climatic factors and conflicts, while controlling for the economic, political and social relationship between the origin and the destination countries. We model both total forced migration, that includes refugees, asylum seekers, internal displacements, and returnees, and cross-border forced migrations. Finally, we consider a full panel data analysis and estimate both fixed effects and random effects model specifications. The former offers interesting insights when looking at the most significant country pair fixed effects, that after controlling for all the different drivers, represents the migration routes whose intrinsic characteristics are most relevant for explaining forced migrations. The latter, on the other hand, allows estimating also the effect of time-constant bilateral predictors such as the distance between countries or the fact that they share a common language or have a colonial relation. |
| Keywords: | Forced migration; IDPs; Conflicts; Natural disasters; Climate change; Gravity models |
| JEL: | C23 D74 F22 K37 K38 O15 Q54 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtr:wpaper:0268&r= |
| By: | Weshah A. Razzak |
| Abstract: | Evidence-based policy of global warming is best relying on a relevant sample of data. We choose a sample of annual data from 1959 to-date to provide some statistically robust stylized facts about the relationships between actual CO2 and temperature. Visually, there is a clear upward trend in both data. Time series analyses suggest that CO2 is difference-stationary and temperature is trend-stationary. Thus, the moments (mean, variance, etc.) of the data in levels are functions of time, which means that the correlation between the two variables may be spurious. Most importantly is that the variance of CO2 (and all greenhouse gases) are significantly smaller than the variance of temperature, hence they cannot explain the variations in temperature. We find no statistically robust evidence of correlation, long run co-variation, long run common trend, or common cycles between CO2 and temperature over a period of 60 years. Nonetheless, at most 40 percent of the variance of the Northern Hemisphere temperature is due to , 20 percent of the Southern Hemisphere, and much less of global temperature. |
| Keywords: | Econometrics of unit root, trend, cycle, VAR, temperature, global warming, CO2, greenhouse gasses, fossil fuel consumption. |
| JEL: | C01 C22 C3 Q54 |
| Date: | 2022–03–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2022_06&r= |
| By: | Hirschler, Olivier; Osterburg, Bernhard; Weimar, Holger; Glasenapp, Sebastian; Ohmes, Marie-Friederike |
| Abstract: | Peat is a fossil material and is since decades the major growing media constituent for horticulture in Europe. Because of its climate impacts, some European countries developed national strategies to reduce peat use. A coordinated European action would bring fairer and more effective impacts than isolated national strategies. The replacement of peat is possible using alternative growing media constituents based on biomass. Potential limitations of the resource availability for the production of alternative growing media constituents is one of the major concerns of the growing media industry. Although this paper does not constitute a final evaluation, it aims to initiate further discussions and investigations on this aspect of peat reduction. We compare potential amounts for the supply and demand of raw materials for the production of wood fibres, composted bark, green compost and coir pith in European countries. Moreover, we discuss the economic and legal conditions for the availability of alternatives. Our findings suggest that the resource supply does not generally indicate a limitation to an extended use of alternative growing media constituents in Europe. In a maximal demand scenario, the amounts considered would also be sufficient to completely replace peat. However, in this scenario, the current supply for nationally sourced alternative materials could be scarce for some countries like the Netherlands or the Baltic States. Competition for wood resources, e.g., with the energy sector, could limit their use in the growing media sector. Moreover, the conditions set by the EU Fertilising Products Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 might hamper a large use of wood fibres as growing media constituent. For bark, green waste and coir by-products, an increased demand from the growing media sector may support mobilization of additional resources. For coir by-products, a future rise of the international demand might lead to a strong competition and an exhaustion of the world's potential. Transportation costs play an important role for the access to biomass potentials. They could be reduced with the development of the infrastructure for processing available resources. Other growing media constituents like Sphagnum are not significantly used today but could represent additional potentials for the replacement of peat in future. In order to avoid displacement effects, the focus of peat substitution should be set on potential amounts of biomass that are currently not or not fully used, or the creation of new potentials. |
| Keywords: | growing media,horticulture,peat,peat alternatives,availability,biomass resources,Kultursubstrate,Gartenbau,Torf,Torfersatz,Verfügbarkeit,Biomasse |
| JEL: | Q21 Q31 Q54 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:jhtiwp:190&r= |
| By: | Luis E. Gonzales; Koichiro Ito; Mar Reguant |
| Abstract: | Effective and economical expansion of renewable energy is one of the most urgent and important challenges of addressing climate change. However, many countries are facing a problem because existing network infrastructures (i.e., transmission networks) were not originally built to accommodate renewables, which creates disconnections between demand centers and renewable supply. In this paper, we study the static and dynamic impacts of market integration on renewable energy expansion. Our theory highlights that statically, market integration improves allocative efficiency by gains from trade, and dynamically, it incentivizes new entry of renewable power plants. Using two recent grid expansions in the Chilean electricity market, we empirically test our theoretical predictions and show that commonly-used event study estimation underestimates the dynamic benefits if renewable investments occur in anticipation of market integration. We build a structural model of power plant entry and show how to correct for such bias. We find that market integration resulted in price convergence across regions, increases in renewable generation, and decreases in generation cost and pollution emissions. Furthermore, a substantial amount of renewable entry would not have occurred in the absence of market integration. We show that ignoring this dynamic effect would substantially understate the benefits of transmission investments. |
| JEL: | L94 L97 Q41 Q42 Q53 Q56 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30016&r= |
| By: | Saurabh Bandyopadhyay (National Council of Applied Economic Research); Laxmi Joshi (National Council of Applied Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Various policy mechanisms are available to support the positive effects of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and reduce the negative outcomes of economic activities on the environment through effective interventions. To preserve the integration of dairy development strategies and practices with SDGs, this paper examines the key relationships involved in this process by major stakeholders and observes critically some of the initiatives undertaken during the phases of executing the National Dairy Plan-I (NDP-I). The paper narrates how the dairy sector can actively help achieve sustainability goals recommended by the UN resolutions using the field data received from the Socio-Economic Survey of NCAER, carried out during the year 2019 for the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). Increased demand for dairy products adds pressure on ecosystems, biodiversity, and the dairy sector faces greater competition for capital, labour, land, water, and energy. On the other hand, increased milk production could prompt the emergence and spread of communicable diseases. In this count, NDP-I has reportedly helped expand the milk yield through effective cattle, buffalo breeding programmes, and scientific feeding methods that have enhanced the availability and affordability of feed and fodder. The programme extended the benefits of collective bargaining capacity for the landless, marginal, and small producers through the cooperative arrangement along with measures for sustaining milk production through village-based milk procurement systems (VBMPS), which has unequivocally boosted the share of the organised market and has contributed income-generating dairy activities for the poor and marginalised section of society. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, Dairy Development, Dairy Production, Dairy Cooperative Society, India |
| JEL: | Q12 Q13 Q18 |
| Date: | 2022–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nca:ncaerw:139&r= |
| By: | Juliana Helo Sarmiento |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the relationship between temperature, mortality, and adaptation opportunities in a tropical country. Such countries host almost 40% of the world's population, and face inherently different environmental, demographic, and socio-economic conditions than their counterparts in temperate areas. Using detailed data from all Colombian municipalities, I show that even at narrow temper- ature ranges, which are characteristic of the tropics, anomalously hot or cold days increase mortality. An additional day with mean temperature above 27°C (80.6°F) increases mortality rates by approximately 0.24 deaths per 100,000, equivalent to 0.7% of monthly death rates. Unlike temperate locations, I find that deaths attributed to infectious diseases and respiratory illnesses drive this relationship in the hot part of the distribution, mainly affecting children aged 0-9. These findings uncover new factors and populations at risk, and imply that the average person who dies after a hot temperature shock loses approximately 30 years of life. I also provide evidence that access to health care and quality of services could serve as a mediating factor between temperature and mortality. |
| Keywords: | Weather, Temperature, Mortality |
| JEL: | I12 Q50 Q54 |
| Date: | 2022–05–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:020127&r= |
| By: | Christina Carty (Northwestern University, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences.); Oscar Claveria (AQR-IREA, Department of Econometrics and Statistics, University of Barcelona, Diagonal 690, 08034 Barcelona, Spain. Tel.: +34-934021825.) |
| Abstract: | We propose a new approach for the visual inspection of interactions between several variables related to the wind and solar energy sector, and a set of socioeconomic variables and natural factors that may be affecting the sector. Focusing on fifteen European countries in the period from 2007 to 2019, we use Categorical Principal Component Analysis to reduce our data into two factors, the first relating to energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, per capita income, and solar energy, and the second capturing climactic and sociopolitical factors. The dimensionality reduction also displays a decoupling between natural factors and variable renewable energy sources (VRES) development, particularly in the case of solar energy, and instead shows a more influential relationship with economic factors. We additionally project all countries into a perceptual map and observe three clusters that roughly correspond to the main European regions (Southern and Eastern Europe, Northern Europe and Western Europe). Finally, we plot the average level and growth level of both the wind and solar energy share for each nation and observe a negative relationship in wind share and a slightly positive relationship in solar share. Our results show that, especially for wind energy, countries with higher levels of overall renewable energy development are more likely to show more intense VRES development than countries who already have high existing levels of the technology in their renewable energy mix. Solar energy investment on the other hand is more likely to be dominated by countries with pre-existing high levels of solar in the renewables mix. Our results emphasize the importance of individual nations attitude towards renewables as a whole as playing a key role in VRES development, as much as the natural resource availability of these energies. |
| Keywords: | Renewable energies, Wind share growth, Solar share growth, Economic growth, Human development, Multivariate analysis, Europe. JEL classification: C38, C55, O44, Q20, Q50. |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:202207&r= |
| By: | Raouf Boucekkine (Rennes School of Business, France); Weihua Ruan (Purdue University Northwest, USA); Benteng Zou (DEM, University of Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | We study a 2-country differential game with irreversible pollution. Irreversibility is of a hard type: above a certain threshold level of pollution, the self-cleaning capacity of Nature drops to zero. Accordingly, the game includes a non-concave feature, and we characterize both the cooperative and non-cooperative versions with this general non-LQ property. We deliver full analytical results for the existence of Markov Perfect Equilibria. We first demonstrate that when pollution costs are equal across players (symmetry), irreversible pollution regimes are more frequently reached than under cooperation. Second, we study the implications of asymmetry in the pollution cost. We find far nontrivial results on the reachability of the irreversible regime. However, we unambiguously prove that, for the same total cost of pollution, provided the irreversible regime is reached in both the symmetric and asymmetric cases, long-term pollution is larger in the symmetric case, reflecting more intensive free-riding under symmetry. |
| Keywords: | Differential games, Irreversible pollution, Non-concave pollution decay, Asymmetric pollution cost, Markov Perfect Equilibria |
| JEL: | C72 C61 Q53 |
| Date: | 2022–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2022012&r= |
| By: | International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) |
| Keywords: | WORLD; climate change; food systems; nutrition; food security; mitigation; trade; social protection; governance; diet; resilience; healthy diets; innovation; value chains; finance; research; data; technology; policies; Coronavirus; coronavirus disease; Coronavirinae; COVID-19; climate finance; digital innovation; food systems transformation |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:synops:9780896294301&r= |
| By: | International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) |
| Keywords: | WORLD; climate change; food systems; nutrition; food security; mitigation; trade; social protection; governance; diet; resilience; healthy diets; innovation; value chains; finance; research; data; technology; policies; Coronavirus; coronavirus disease; Coronavirinae; COVID-19; climate finance; digital innovation; food systems transformation |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:synops:9780896294295&r= |
| By: | Costanza Torricelli; Fabio Ferrari |
| Abstract: | The scope of this paper is to assess the effect 2021 ECB Climate stress test on the stock prices of the banks included in the exercise. To this end, we set up an event study analysis, whereby at the relevant dates we use market data in order to test for the existence of abnormal returns. Three main results emerge from our research. First, on 18.03.2021 investors’ fear arising from the details published about the methodology of the ECB climate stress test and some preliminary evidence had a negative impact on banks stock prices. Second, on the date of publication of the final results on 22.09.21, we find a positive reaction from market participants, since the market possibly expected the banks’ exposure to climate risks to be greater than the one emerging from final results. Third, on the starting date of COP26, an event related to the worldwide consensus on the need to manage climate change, we find a negative effects on banks’ quote that can be explained by the too tiny progresses reached by the summit, which are considered too mild and not adequate to reach the Paris Agreement goals. Finally, robustness tests including small banks not directly supervised by the ECB and banks with a business model not focused on credit intermediation, indicate that the market consider them less exposed to climate risks than larger banks. Our results may have implications in view of future climate stress tests. |
| Keywords: | banks climate stress test; physical risk; transition risk; abnormal returns; event study. |
| JEL: | G14 G28 F55 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:wcefin:0086&r= |
| By: | Carla Morvan (GATE UMR 5824, 93 Chemin des mouilles, F-69130 Ecully (France)) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this study is to analyze the causal impact of natural disasters on municipal budget choices, using a original database that allows us to study a sample of several thousand municipalities, 22,972 of which were affected by a natural disaster between 2000 and 2019. This quasi-experimental setting allows us to use panel regression models to estimate municipalities' responses to a shock and with respect to their prevention strategies. We find evidence of increased spending for about 10 years after the disaster, together with increased in revenues and debt. Furthermore, it appears that prevention allows municipalities to effectively mitigate the effect of the disaster in terms of public spending, as municipalities with a natural hazard prevention plan in place did not increase their spending and their debt in the long run. |
| Keywords: | Local public finance, Local expenditure, Natural disasters, Risks prevention |
| JEL: | H72 Q54 R50 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:2206&r= |
| By: | Beisheim, Marianne |
| Abstract: | The UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) is widely appreciated as a venue where representatives of the member states, the UN system and stakeholders can discuss the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study analyses the negotiations on the HLPF review conducted in 2020/21 under the UN General Assembly. The intended strengthening of the HLPF was blocked by numerous conflicts over environmental and development issues as well as overarching conflict lines concerning the international order. Lessons should be drawn for future UN reform processes. The resulting resolutions largely confirm the status quo. The few incremental improvements should now be realised. The German government and the EU should work to improve the preparation and follow-up for the HLPF meeting in July 2022. The new Coordination Segment of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which meets for the first time in February 2022, offers an important opportunity. The German government and the EU should prepare ambitious annual UN strategies that also cover their work in ECOSOC and the HLPF. The identified conflict themes should be taken into consideration. The UN Secretary-General's report "Our Common Agenda", requested by the member states and published in September 2021, creates a window of opportunity for progress on UN reforms. By early 2024, when the next HLPF review is due, the German government and the EU should have developed reform proposals. They should communicate these in good time in the Alliance for Multilateralism and seek to build coalitions of the willing. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:swprps:92021&r= |
| By: | Raouf Boucekkine (Rennes School of Business, France); Carmen Camacho (Paris School of Economics and CNRS, France); Weihua Ruan (Purdue University Northwest, USA); Benteng Zou (DEM, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | We use a parsimonious two-stage differential game setting where the duration of the first stage, the coalition stage, depends on the will of a particular player to leave the coalition through an explicit timing variable. By specializing in a standard linear-quadratic environmental model augmented with a minimal constitutional setting for the coalition (payoff share parameter), we are able to analytically extract several nontrival findings. Three key aspects drive the results: the technological gap as an indicator of heterogeneity across players, the constitution of the coalition and the intensity of the public bad (here, the pollution damage). We provide with a full analytical solution to the two-stage differential game. In particular, we characterize the intermediate parametric cases leading to optimal finite time splitting. A key characteristic of these finite-time-lived coalitions is the requirement of the payoff share accruing to the splitting country to be large enough. Incidentally, our two-stage differential game setting reaches the conclusion that splitting countries are precisely those which use to benefit the most from the coalition. Constraining the payoff share to be low by Constitution may lead to optimal everlasting coalitions only provided initial pollution is high enough, which may cover the emergency cases we are witnessing nowadays. |
| Keywords: | Coalition splitting; environmental agreements; constitutional vs technological heterogeneity; differential games; multistage optimal control |
| JEL: | C61 C73 D71 |
| Date: | 2022–05–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2022013&r= |
| By: | Paul, Michael; Swistek, Göran |
| Abstract: | Russia wants to realise a high degree of self-regulated stability in the Arctic. Moscow considers this necessary for overcoming the many problems and obstacles to development that are linked to its ambitious plans as well as the consequences of climate change. The regression of sea ice is perceived as a loss of security by the Kremlin, which reinforces its traditional siege mentality. Russian foreign policy is shaped by a reflexive priorisation of security policy above all, even in the Arctic region. Moscow tries to guarantee its national security (including economic interests) by using a broad spectrum of military build-up and corresponding strategic initiatives, which include new nuclear weapons systems. Other Arctic states as well as neighbouring countries and NATO consider these efforts a threat. Russia takes a defensive attitude in the Arctic, but it is prepared for rapid escalation in the event of confrontation. Russia's Arctic policy is a part of its strategy for exerting economic and political influence over Europe. Cooperation between its Northern and Baltic fleets is therefore increasingly important to preserve its geostrategic interests, project power and to defend its territory. The Arctic states have to perform a delicate balancing act: they want to secure sea routes and resources but avoid spiralling escalation in the region. The dialogue on military security should be revived in order to contain the consequences of the security dilemma. Opportunities for cooperation do exist, for example on climate and environmental projects, sustainable and environmentally sound energy use, infrastructure, maritime safety and security as well as economic cooperation. |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:swprps:32022&r= |
| By: | Sirini Jeudy-Hugo (OECD); Leon Charles |
| Abstract: | This paper explores modalities, enablers, and political moments that could help to translate the outputs of the global stocktake (GST) into an outcome that informs and enhances national and international actions as intended in the Paris Agreement. How to move from the collective outputs of the GST to desired outcomes is critical but not straightforward. Drawing on lessons learnt from previous international assessment and review processes under the UNFCCC and beyond, this paper sets out insights on modalities, outputs and enabling factors that could help ensure the GST leads to action on the ground. The paper concludes that achieving the outcomes of the GST requires a well-designed process that effectively engages Parties and non-Party stakeholders in separate but sequenced technical and political discussion tracks. The paper also finds that specific, actionable outputs that target different actors can facilitate subsequent follow-up. The paper identifies different enabling factors that could support the translation of GST outputs formulated at the collective level into national processes to update and enhance actions and support. It also highlights the importance of leveraging different political moments and building linkages with parallel processes, both within and outside the UNFCCC context, to maintain momentum on the GST and ensure operational action follows over time so that collective efforts are in line with the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, Global stocktake, LT-LEDS, NDCs, Outcomes, Outputs, Paris Agreement, UNFCCC |
| JEL: | Q54 Q56 Q58 F53 |
| Date: | 2022–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaab:2022/01-en&r= |
| By: | Aditya Jain; Akhil Rao |
| Abstract: | Orbit-use management efforts can be structured as binding national regulatory policies or as self-enforcing international treaties. New treaties to control space debris growth appear unlikely in the near future. Spacefaring nations can pursue national regulatory policies, though regulatory competition and open access to orbit make their effectiveness unclear. We develop a game-theoretic model of national regulatory policies and self-enforcing international treaties for orbit-use management in the face of open access, regulatory competition, and catastrophe. While open access limits the effectiveness of national policies, market-access control ensures the policies can improve environmental quality. A large enough stock of legacy debris ensures existence of a global regulatory equilibrium where all nations choose to levy environmental regulations on all satellites. The global regulatory equilibrium supports a self-enforcing treaty to avert catastrophe by making it costlier to leave the treaty and free ride. |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2205.03926&r= |
| By: | Ary Júnior |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the effects of income inequality on the relationship between environmental attitudes and life satisfaction across 27 European countries. Furthermore, it assesses the influence of the European Union on their citizens’ behavior regarding the link between environmental attitudes and happiness. Using data from European Values Study, it applies an ordered probit model. The findings suggest that subjective and objective income inequality do not change the relationship between environmental attitudes and welfare, providing evidence of the “commitment effect”. The results also show similar performance of the relationship between environmental attitudes and well-being between EU-members and non-EU members. |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp02292022&r= |
| By: | Kristian S. Blickle; Katherine Engelman; Theo Linnemann; João A. C. Santos |
| Abstract: | The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was designed to reduce household and lender flood-risk exposure and encourage lending. In this post, which is based on our related study, we show that in certain situations the program actually limits access to credit, particularly for low-income borrowers—an unintended consequence of this well-intentioned program. |
| Keywords: | flood maps; climate change; bank lending; regulation; unintended consequences |
| JEL: | D14 G52 |
| Date: | 2022–05–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednls:94257&r= |
| By: | Úbeda, Fernando; Mendez, Alvaro; Forcadell, Francisco Javier |
| Abstract: | Lack of access to banking is a major problem that contributes to inequality in the developing world. For this reason, financial inclusion is a crucial objective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this study, we investigate the impact of the sustainable practices of multinational banks (MNBs) on financial inclusion. Drawing from a sample of 24 developing countries and 28,089 individuals, we obtain robust evidence about the positive effect of sustainable practices on financial inclusion. We find that MNBs increase the use of mobile bank accounts in the developing world. We also find that when these MNBs follow sustainable practices, the use of mobile bank accounts positively intensifies. These findings are consequential because mobile banking is one of the most powerful means to achieve financial inclusion in the developing world. |
| Keywords: | sustainable banking; finance inclusion; mobile banking accounts; sustainable development goals |
| JEL: | G00 G20 G21 Q01 Q56 D63 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:115063&r= |
| By: | Pavel Ciaian; Andrej Cupak; Pirmin Fessler; d'Artis Kancs |
| Abstract: | Individuals invest in ESG-assets not only because of higher expected returns but also for ethical and social considerations. Controversies surrounding the ESG footprint of crypto-assets – mainly on grounds of the energy-intensive crypto mining and their use for illegal activities – offer an interesting object of inquiry. Leveraging a unique representative survey for the Austrian population, we examine whether investors’ ESG preferences can explain cross-sectional differences in individual portfolio exposure to crypto-assets. While we find no statistically significant relationship between ESG concerns of investors and the probability of holding bonds or shares, in contrast, we find a strong association between investors’ ESG preferences and crypto-investment exposure. |
| Keywords: | Crypto-assets; financial behaviour; environmental-social-governance preferences. |
| JEL: | D14 G11 G41 |
| Date: | 2022–03–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2022_07&r= |
| By: | Inderst, Roman; Sartzetakis, Eftichios S.; Xepapadeas, Anastasios |
| Abstract: | We analyze firms incentives to coordinate on the introduction of a more sustainable product variant when consumers preferences for greater sustainability depend on the perceived social norm, which in turn is shaped by average consumption behavior. Such preferences lead to multiple equilibria. If the more sustainable variant allows firms to sufficiently expand their aggregate market share, when a lenient legal regime makes this feasible they will coordinate on the more sustainable outcome. If their aggregate market share however does not expand sufficiently under the more sustainable variant, coordination can forestall a more sustainable outcome. Our analysis thus both confrms and qualifies the notion of a sustainability first-mover disadvantage as a justification for an agreement between competitors, which has gained traction in antitrust. We also provide empirical evidence for norm-based sustainability preferences. |
| Keywords: | Sustainability,Antitrust,Firm Cooperation |
| JEL: | A13 D11 D22 K21 L11 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:254323&r= |
| By: | International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) |
| Abstract: | Le changement climatique constitue une menace croissante pour nos systèmes alimentaires, dont les implications sont graves pour la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle, les moyens de subsistance et le bien-être général, en particulier pour les personnes pauvres et vulnérables du monde entier. Une action urgente contre le changement climatique est attendue à l’échelle mondiale – à la fois pour réaliser les importantes réductions d’émissions requises pour limiter le réchauffement climatique et pour accroître les capacités d’adaptation et la résilience. Le Rapport 2022 sur les politiques alimentaires mondiales (Global Food Policy Report – GFPR) propose un large éventail d’opportunités d’actions accélérées à examiner dans les prises de décisions politiques et d’investissement en faveur de l’adaptation, de l’atténuation et de la résilience au changement climatique. |
| Keywords: | WORLD; climate change; food systems; nutrition; food security; mitigation; trade; social protection; governance; diet; resilience; healthy diets; innovation; value chains; finance; research; data; technology; policies; Coronavirus; coronavirus disease; Coronavirinae; COVID-19; climate finance; digital innovation; food systems transformation |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:synops:9780896294288&r= |
| By: | Rostek, Leon; Thurid Lotz, Meta; Wittig, Sabine; Herbst, Andrea; Loibl, Antonia; Espinoza, Luis Tercero |
| Abstract: | Steel is of extraordinary importance for the European economy as well as society, but is responsible for enormous energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, steel flows are an obvious subject for the European climate protection. The quantification of steel stocks and flows is useful to be included in discussions regarding Circular Economy, energy system transformation and resource efficiency. Therefore, we developed a retrospective and dynamic material flow model covering the entire European steel and iron cycle from 2002 to 2019. Based on data by Worldsteel and assumptions mainly adopted by Cullen et al. (2012), the value and production chain of steel and iron products is covered by the model. It appears that the European steel and iron use reached a saturation from 2007 on, where the stock of steel in anthropogenic use phase reached around 5,600 Mt. In 2019, around 140 Mt of steel left the use phase, of which circa 6 Mt dissipated or are abandoned in place. Out of the remaining scrap, 110 Mt were collected as secondary raw materials for recycling. Recycling of steel in Europe reached a peak of approx. 140 Mt in 2007, from where on recycling declined equally to overall steel production leading to an almost constant recycling input rate of 57 %. The decline of steel recycling did not significantly affect the collection of steel scrap, but led to an increase of iron and steel scrap export. In 2019, 110 Mt of steel and iron were recycled in Europe, 65 % via EAF, 25 % via BOF and the remaining via ironmaking. Post-consumer waste is by mass more important than new scraps from production and manufacturing as evident in an old scrap ratio of 73 %. Further research could examine the effect of steel scrap prices on their use, further trace these export flows or analyse the potentials of secondary steel production for industry decarbonisation. |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisisi:s072022&r= |
| By: | Ruben, Ruerd; Cavatassi, Romina; Lipper, Leslie; Smaling, Eric; Winter, Paul |
| Abstract: | Food systems must serve different societal, health, and environmental objectives. They therefore face numerous challenges. This paper highlights five fundamental paradigm shifts that are required to overcome trade-offs and build synergies between health and nutrition, inclusive livelihoods, environmental sustainability, and food system resilience. We focus on the challenges to raise policy ambitions, harmonize production and consumption goals, improve connectivity between these goals, strengthen food system responsiveness, and anchor inclusive and participatory governance of food systems. Taken together, these paradigm shifts shape a new narrative for food system transformation that will be capable of responding to current and future policy challenges. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2022–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:unadrs:320667&r= |
| By: | Jan Fagerberg (Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo); Håkon Endresen Normann (The Nordic Institute for Studies of Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU)) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the role of innovation policy, including regulation, in the transition to a society characterized by net zero emissions of climate gasses. A broad range of policy-actors, notably the European Union, have already publicly embraced this goal. Nevertheless, transforming the society to a state consistent with the net-zero objective is a very demanding task, and to succeed in this endeavour extensive change – including a lot of innovation - in the way energy is provided, distributed and used across all parts of society will be needed. A crucial question, therefore, is how policy – and particularly innovation policy – can contribute to mobilize innovation for this purpose. This paper critically examines the extant literature on the subject, and discusses examples of transformational change from policy practice, including onshore wind and solar in Denmark and Germany; offshore wind in the UK, Denmark and Norway; and the emerging quest for zero-emission ships. |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tik:inowpp:20220531&r= |
| By: | Robert S. Pindyck |
| Abstract: | How does the sustainable level of consumption depend on productivity growth and the size and growth rate of the population? What is the effect of uncertainty over these growth rates? I address these questions using a model in which productivity and population growth are stochastic, and social welfare allows for human lives to have (positive or negative) intrinsic value. I show how the maximum sustainable consumption-wealth ratio depends on expected rates of productivity and population growth, the volatility of those growth rates, and the extent to which welfare depends directly on the size of the population. For plausible parameter values, the sustainable consumption-wealth ratio is well below the optimal ratio that maximizes welfare. This raises a question: Given its cost, should sustainability be a social objective? |
| JEL: | D60 Q5 Q56 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30019&r= |
| By: | Tverskoi, Denis; Guido, Andrea (Institute for Futures Studies); Andrighetto, Giulia; Sánchez, Angel; Gavrilets, Sergey |
| Abstract: | In social interactions, human decision-making, attitudes, and beliefs about others coevolve. Their dynamics are affected by cost-benefit considerations, cognitive processes (such as cognitive dissonance, social projecting, and logic constraints), and social influences by peers (via descriptive and injunctive social norms) and by authorities (e.g., educational, cultural, religious, political, administrative, individual or group, real or fictitious). Here we attempt to disentangle some of this complexity by using an integrative mathematical modeling and a 35-day online behavioral experiment. We utilize data from a Common Pool Resources experiment with or without messaging promoting a group-beneficial level of resource extraction. We first show that our model provides a better fit than a wide variety of alternative models. Then we directly estimate the weights of different factors in decision-making and beliefs dynamics. We show that material payoffs accounted only for about 20\% of decision-making. The remaining 80\% was due to different cognitive and social forces which we evaluated quantitatively. Without messaging, personal norms (and cognitive dissonance) have the largest weight in decision-making. Messaging greatly influences personal norms and normative expectations. Between-individual variation is present in all measured characteristics and notably impacts observed group behavior. At the same time, gender differences are not significant. We argue that one can hardly understand social behavior without understanding the dynamics of personal beliefs and beliefs about others and that cognitive, social, and material factors all play important roles in these processes. Our results have implications for understanding and predicting social processes triggered by certain shocks (e.g., social unrest, a pandemic, or a natural disaster) and for designing policy interventions aiming to change behavior (e.g. actions aimed at environment protection or climate change mitigation). |
| Date: | 2022–05–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:z5m9h&r= |
| By: | Adhikari, Ambika P; Bhattarai, Keshav; Sharma, Basu |
| Abstract: | Nepal has long aspired to graduate from the Least Development Country (LDC) to Developing Country category as defined by the United Nations system. Nepal had met two of the three graduating criteria and could have technically graduated from the LDC status in 2015. However, based on the Nepal government’s request to defer the review, the new 2021 assessment by the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP) recommended that the country should graduate from the LDC status by 2026. The graduation requires not only meeting pre-defined development-related thresholds, but also maintaining sustained improvements in at least two consecutive assessments in two of three areas: gross national income (GNI) per capita, human assets index (HAI), and economic and environmental vulnerability index (EnVI). Nepal’s economy is dependent on several environment-related factors such as agriculture, tourism, hydro-power, and natural resources. Thus, economic development is also solidly tied to the environmental well-being of the country. The authors agree with the Nepal government’s desire to graduate from the LDC status. In this paper, we review the graduation process, assess indicators of the Environmental Vulnerability (EnVI), review the current situation with respect to environmental vulnerability, and point out where it needs to develop appropriate goals, policies, and programs to help the country graduate and join the ranks of developing countries. |
| Date: | 2022–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:42zgh&r= |
| By: | Demissie, Birhan S.; Kasie, Tesfahun A.; Upton, Joanna B.; Blom, Sylvia A. |
| Abstract: | Climate shock, specifically drought causes serious adverse effects on household welfare in rural Ethiopia. As a direct response to such shocks, resilience and related activities become the country’s key development agenda. In this context, we examine the relationship between climate shock and household consumption and then assess how household resilience influences this relationship. By combining historical observations of climate extremes and Ethiopian Socioeconomic survey datasets, we find that both short-term and long-term droughts are significantly associated with reduced consumption, and this relationship is moderated by resilience. We look at the resilience indicators that possibly mediate the effects of drought on either realized or probabilistic measures of consumption to understand what is associated with the ability to withstand or recover quickly from drought. We reframe the resilience as capacity approach and resilience as a normative condition approach that reflect two distinct ways of inferring resilience. In the resilience as capacity approach, we model realized consumption as a dependent variable and interaction terms between drought and hypothesized resilience indicators as joint explanatory variables. From our hypothesized resilience indicators, we find some indicators that are associated with attenuating the adverse effects of drought shock on realized household consumption. These include wealth index, informal transfer, and formal transfer indicators. In the resilience as a normative condition approach, we model probabilistic household consumption as a dependent variable and same interaction terms and find income diversification, livestock diversification, and agricultural asset indicators. This study has important implications for both research and policy. The adverse effects of droughts on consumption inform the investment need and policy design around resilience. The resilience indicators associated with attenuating the adverse effects of drought shock on realized and probabilistic consumption has also important implications. First, the nexus between drought and consumption via specific resilience indicators associated with attenuating the adverse effect of drought on consumption informs policy design around these indicators. Second, our interest variable framing to identify the specific resilience indicators associated with attenuating the adverse effects of drought on both realized and probabilistic household consumption provides insight to bridge the resilience as capacity and resilience as a normative condition approaches classic debate with the question of whether resilience is a right-hand or left-hand side variable. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2021–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miprrp:320707&r= |
| By: | Veron, Emilien |
| Abstract: | To satisfy the objectives of the European Green Deal, a quarter of the EU's agricultural land should be organic by 2030, compared to 8.5% today. France, the largest European country in terms of agricultural production, must become a major player in this transition. However, French farmers are hesitant to convert because of the uncertainty of whether organic farming will improve their income or not. We will conduct a double comparative analysis between the dierences in income (on 103,000 observations distributed between 2004 and 2019) and the dierences in the value of agricultural land (33,000 transactions between 2015 and 2019) between organic and conventional farmers. The study shows that the current monetary incentives for conversion are very low. Panel data modelling using the Breusch-Mizon-Schmidt estimator shows no dierence in income between organic and conventional farmers, despite higher subsidies and lower costs for organic farmers. Furthermore, using an OLS regression including Ricardian theory and residential rent determinants, it is demonstrated that organic land is sold for the same price as conventional land. This result is conrmed by the Spatial Matching method, showing that organic practice does not in uence the price of land. The article shows that it is necessary to consider whether the land is organic or not when selling agricultural land. Such dierentiation in the market can help to integrate environmental externalities (better soil quality) into the land value. This price increase could encourage land conversion through an anticipated increase in farmers' income. However, at present, the low supply of organic land for sale does not allow this price increase. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2022–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc22:320734&r= |
| By: | BARANZELLI Claudia; KUCAS Andrius (European Commission - JRC); KAVALOV Boyan (European Commission - JRC); MAISTRALI Antigoni (European Commission - JRC); KOMPIL Mert; OLIETE JOSA Sergio; PAROLIN Marco; LAVALLE Carlo (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | In the context of the 2021-2027 EU programming exercise, the identification and prioritisation of key strategic corridors in Africa, and the focus on their development, is an opportunity to deepen the Africa-EU partnership from a "policy first" perspective. In this context, JRC and DG INTPA have initiated a project on "Strategic Corridors and Urban Systems in Africa" (CUSA). This report describes methods and outcomes of the first phase of the CUSA project, herein referred to as CUSA-1. By employing more than 140 quantitative indicators, the project identified 55 strategic corridors along four policy scenarios: Strengthening Europe-Africa connectivity; Human development & peace and security; Green Deal; and Sustainable growth and jobs. A shortlist of 11 strategic corridors was obtained by analysing potential trade-offs across the four scenarios, focusing on 32 indicators related to economic welfare, equity, social inclusion, impact on the environment and impact on vulnerable groups. The 11 recommended corridors were formally unveiled in the conclusions of the EU-African Union Summit on 17th – 18th February 2022. The second phase of CUSA (CUSA-2) aims to identify a range of specific areas of interventions for each of the selected strategic corridors, looking at - but not limited to - transport performance, socio-economic aspects, logistics and trade development, and environmental impact. |
| Keywords: | Strategic Corridors, NDICI, transport |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc128942&r= |
| By: | Jevan M. Cherniwchan; M. Scott Taylor |
| Abstract: | Considerable progress has been made in our understanding of the relationship between international trade and the environment since Gene Grossman and Alan Krueger published their now seminal working paper examining the potential environmental effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1991. This review uses their original paper as a guide to highlight key developments along three main branches of research that all stem from their analysis: (i) the interaction between international trade, economic growth, and environmental outcomes, (ii) the role of environmental regulation in determining trade and investment flows, and (iii) estimating the relative magnitudes of the scale, composition, and technique effects induced by trade. It discusses key developments along each branch, with a particular focus on the empirical challenges that have impeded progress. It also highlights an area along each branch that is ripe for further study. These areas are termed the Three Remaining Challenges. |
| JEL: | F18 Q0 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30020&r= |
| By: | Carolina Concha-Arriagada (Department of Economics, Georgetown University); J.J. Naddeo (Department of Economics, Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | The extant literature suggests that precipitation—mainly in the form of rainfall—has a significant impact on electoral outcomes. This paper adds to this literature by investigating an understudied dimension of weather—sunshine. Using novel daily weather measurements from satellites, linked to county-level U.S. Presidential electoral returns from 1948-2016, we document how sunshine affects the decision-making of voters. We find that election-day exposure to sunshine increases support for the Democratic party on average. Additionally, we show that, contrary to prior findings that do not control for sunshine, precipitation has no detectable impact on partisan support, but universally depresses turnout. To rationalize our results we propose a mechanism whereby sunshine modulates voter mood which causes a change in voter choice, while precipitation only impacts turnout by increasing the cost of voting. We then build a theoretical model, which features this mechanism, and generates additional tests that we take to our data. Our results suggest that uninformative weather on election day, specifically sunshine, have detectable electoral impacts that teach us about voter choice. Classification- D7, D9, P1 |
| Keywords: | U.S. presidential elections, rainfall, weather, electoral outcomes, turnout, mood, voter choice, risk aversion, sunshine |
| Date: | 2022–03–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:geo:guwopa:gueconwpa~22-22-02&r= |
| By: | Kindsmüller, Anna |
| Abstract: | Natural disasters, which usually abruptly cause severe harm and cost lives, have been shown to affect governmental popularity by sometimes leading to additional governmental popularity and sometimes to a loss of popularity. By considering the various theoretical propositions and empirical findings about this nexus together in a systematic review, here we pinpoint which factors determine whether a government gains or loses popularity after a natural disaster. The review shows that a government's operational and symbolic reactions increase the governmental popularity after a natural disaster but suggest that symbolic actions do so more strongly. On the contrary, in a society with significant political knowledge, a government has fewer opportunities to increase their popularity when using only symbolic means or cheap talk. |
| Keywords: | natural disasters,crisis,governmental popularity |
| JEL: | H11 H12 H84 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ciwdps:12022&r= |
| By: | Geoff Boeing; Carl Higgs; Shiqin Liu; Billie Giles-Corti; James F Sallis; Ester Cerin; Melanie Lowe; Deepti Adlakha; Erica Hinckson; Anne Vernez Moudon; Deborah Salvo; Marc A Adams; Ligia Vizeu Barrozo; Tamara Bozovic; Xavier Delcl\`os-Ali\'o; Jan Dygr\'yn; Sara Ferguson; Klaus Gebel; Thanh Phuong Ho; Poh-Chin Lai; Joan Carles Martori; Kornsupha Nitvimol; Ana Queralt; Jennifer D Roberts; Garba H Sambo; Jasper Schipperijn; David Vale; Nico Van de Weghe; Guillem Vich; Jonathan Arundel |
| Abstract: | Benchmarking and monitoring urban design and transport features is critical to achieving local and international health and sustainability goals. However, most urban indicator frameworks use coarse spatial scales that only allow between-city comparisons or require expensive, technical, local spatial analyses for within-city comparisons. This study developed a reusable open-source urban indicator computational framework using open data to enable consistent local and global comparative analyses. We demonstrate this framework by calculating spatial indicators - for 25 diverse cities in 19 countries - of urban design and transport features that support health and sustainability. We link these indicators to cities' policy contexts and identify populations living above and below critical thresholds for physical activity through walking. Efforts to broaden participation in crowdsourcing data and to calculate globally consistent indicators are essential for planning evidence-informed urban interventions, monitoring policy impacts, and learning lessons from peer cities to achieve health, equity, and sustainability goals. |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2205.05240&r= |
| By: | LASARTE LOPEZ Jesus; RONZON Tevecia (European Commission - JRC); VAN LEEUWEN Myrna; ROSSI CERVI Walter; M'BAREK Robert (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | The analysis and monitoring of the bioeconomy at the regional level is of interest for policy design and evaluation, and it aligns with the territorial approach called for by the Bioeconomy Strategy (2018) of the European Union (EU). Although some initiatives provided estimates of the size and/or regional distribution of the bioeconomy in some countries, there are no homogeneous data allowing the analysis of the regional dimension of the EU’s bioeconomy. This report describes a methodology to estimate employment and value added of the bioeconomy sectors at the NUTS2 level in the EU. It consists of a systematic combination of Eurostat regional statistics with national bio-based shares from the public JRC-Bioeconomics database for allocating employment and value added in the bioeconomy sectors amongst regions. National bio-based shares are calculated following Ronzon et al. (2020)’s approach. When missing from Eurostat data sources, regional series are estimated by applying various criteria to regionalise national statistics. Finally, some missing data estimation algorithms are applied to complete the dataset. Preliminary results evidence that this approach manages to fill in the majority of missing series and data in the initial datasets. We extract some key figures and trends for the regional bioeconomies in the EU. We discuss our results through the comparison with available official statistics, other previous estimates and expert feedback, and propose potential improvements. |
| Keywords: | Bioeconomy, European regions, NUTS2, Employment, Value Added, Bio-based shares |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc128984&r= |