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on Mining |
| By: | Rim Berahab |
| Abstract: | This policy brief examines what the 2025–2026 period reveals about the future of global energy risk and the energy transition. After the shocks of 2021–2023, 2025 brought broad price easing: oil and coal prices declined as supply growth outpaced demand, and the World Bank projects further declines in the global energy price index in 2026, offering short-term relief for energy-importing economies. The brief argues, however, that the macroeconomic relevance of energy entering 2026 is no longer defined primarily by commodity price levels, but by the distribution of risks and by the capacity of energy systems—grids, flexibility resources, supply chains, and investment frameworks—to absorb shocks and deliver reliable power. It identifies four structural forces shaping 2026 and beyond: artificial intelligence-related demand growth, grid congestion and resilience constraints, critical mineral concentration, and a capital-rich but execution-constrained investment environment. Taken together, these dynamics suggest that energy risk is increasingly shifting toward infrastructure and supply-chain bottlenecks, with widening asymmetries across regions, particularly for emerging and developing economies. |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:pbecon:pb02_26 |
| By: | Yasmine Kamal (Cairo UniversityAuthor-Name: Mahmoud Mohieldin; Cairo University); Myriam Ramzy (Cairo University) |
| Abstract: | Egyptian firms are a vital case for examining the impact of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in its current transitional phase. CO2 emissions tariffs on imports implemented under the CBAM could threaten export competitiveness of developing countriesincluding Egypt- in the EU market. Thus, this study examines Egyptian firms’ performance in greening their production process and the determinants of their environmental measures using data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey. Our findings indicate that green management practices matter for Egyptian firms’ probability of adoption of green measures as well as the number of measures they adopt. In contrast, financial constraints negatively impact the probability of undertaking capital-intensive green investments such as machinery and vehicle upgrades. Also, specific targets for carbon emissions and energy consumption exert greater positive effect on the extensive and intensive margins of a firm’s environmental performance than any other green management action. Qualitative analysis supports the quantitative findings on the importance of both managerial and financial factors in determining environmental performance. Egyptian firms in steel, fertilizers, and cement sectors that export to the EU have technically complied with CBAM requirements with the help of government bodies and through hiring consultants and training their employees. In interviews, they emphasized their need to establish reliable monitoring, reporting, and verification systems for their carbon emissions and to secure concessional long-term finance to undertake their decarbonization plans. They are also willing to engage in the trading of carbon certificates in the Egyptian exchange on the newly developed voluntary carbon market. Even as they are actively responding to CBAM, firms acknowledged their need to diversify their export destination markets so as not to depend primarily on the EU. |
| Date: | 2024–12–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1771 |
| By: | Steenkamp, Daan; Fourie, Jurgens |
| Abstract: | We show that national total factor productivity estimates mask significant heterogeneity across industries. Our estimates imply that there has been broad-based decline in productivity since the global financial crisis, particularly for mining, manufacturing and construction. While we highlight challenges to measuring productivity in South Africa, we show that our estimates are broadly similar to estimates from other international agencies. Over the long term, productivity is a key determinant of a country's per capita income. South Africa's poor productivity performance since 1990 is therefore very concerning. Our estimates have profound policy implications, highlighting the impact that electricity and logistical constraints, rising regulatory compliance costs, policy uncertainty and municipal mismanagement. |
| Keywords: | productivity, TFP, production functions |
| JEL: | D24 O47 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esrepo:335705 |
| By: | Dolphin, Geoffroy; Ferrucci, Gianluigi |
| Abstract: | The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) came into force on 1 October 2023, introducing reporting requirements for importers of covered products and, from 2026, an obligation to pay a fee on the carbon content of imported goods. This paper uses indices of ad valorem tariffs to assess the incidence of the EU CBAM on both EU member states and the EU’s trading partners. Overall, the direct impact on EU countries’ trade is estimated to be small, adding 0.1 percent to the value of EU imports when averaged across all imports, and 0.04 percent to the average cost of non-EU countries’ exports to the EU—with a maximum of 1.2 percent. However, effects could be sizeable for specific products such as iron, steel and aluminium, which can help explain CBAM’s political salience. Moreover, an expanded CBAM featuring full coverage of ETS sectors, and a significantly higher carbon price could entail larger costs in the more distant future. JEL Classification: F13, F64, Q54, Q56 |
| Keywords: | carbon leakage, carbon taxation, emissions trading, trade policy |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20263177 |
| By: | Snyder, Robert W. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Resource/Energy Economics and Policy |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:neaecp:291397 |
| By: | Ome, Alejandro; Giles Álvarez, Laura; Larrahondo, Cristhian; Pérez, Jorge |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the impact of natural resource funds (NRF) on municipal fiscal results in Colombia, using an instrumental variable approach. It specifically analyzed the case of the Colombian Savings and Price Stabilization Fund (FAEP). The results suggest that a 1 percent increase in royalty revenue caused a 0.2 percent increase in gross capital formation (GCF) expenses and that this effect was cancelled out by FAEP participation. We also find that neither resource revenue windfalls nor participation in the FAEP had any impact on operating expenses nor on tax revenues, and that resource revenues have had impact on capital expenses other than GCF, but FAEP participation did not. Although we find that the NRF was indeed effective in reining in GFC expenses, the results suggest that other factors, such as subnational fiscal rules, could have had a strong effect on operating and other investment spending. Countries should thus consider a range of instruments to promote fiscal discipline and smooth out spending, including regulation and NRFs, in the face of natural resource revenue windfalls. |
| Keywords: | natural resource funds;local public finances;instrumental variables |
| JEL: | Q32 H72 C36 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:14474 |
| By: | Abbasi, Umar; Ali, Amjad; Audi, Marc |
| Abstract: | This study examines sustainability reporting practices among firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, focusing on sectoral differences, reporting patterns, and the interconnection between economic, social, and environmental dimensions. The research analyzes standalone sustainability reports from sixty-two organizations across fifteen sectors between 2016 and 2020, using content analysis aligned with the global reporting initiative standards. The findings indicate that although sustainability reporting has increased in Pakistan, it remains uneven and largely motivated by compliance. Disclosures heavily emphasize economic indicators such as financial performance, with leading firms disclosing at a rate of 94.4 percent, while lagging firms report significantly less on environmental issues such as emissions and energy consumption, and social concerns including labor rights and child labor, ranging between eleven and twenty-three percent. Sectoral analysis reveals that banking, oil and gas, and cement sectors report more frequently, largely due to regulatory obligations and stakeholder scrutiny, while retail and engineering sectors lag behind. The presence of integrated reporting positively correlates with comprehensive performance across the three sustainability dimensions i.e., economic, environmental, and social, but remains limited due to the voluntary nature of frameworks, inadequate resources, and weak enforcement mechanisms. The study highlights the need for mandatory reporting, capacity development programs, and strategic alignment with global frameworks such as the global reporting initiative and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Policy reforms, tailored sector-specific guidelines, and active stakeholder engagement are essential to bridge the divide between symbolic gestures and meaningful sustainability disclosures. This research contributes to the discourse on environmental, social, and governance reporting in emerging markets, offering insights for policymakers, corporate executives, and investors aiming to advance sustainable development in Pakistan. |
| Keywords: | Sustainability Reporting, GRI Standards, ESG Disclosures, Corporate Governance |
| JEL: | M14 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:127311 |
| By: | Learmouth, Tom |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to our understanding of how Japan became the only Asian country to achieve sustained catch-up industrialisation before WWII. It does so by analysing the absorption of useful foreign knowledge in a traditional Japanese textile town and its subsequent evolution into a modern rubber manufacturing cluster. The cluster analysed is Kurume in Fukuoka Prefecture which began the interwar period as a major producer of cotton tabi (split-toed footwear). The core argument is that Kurume firms Nihon Tabi and Tsuchiya Tabi built on their foundations as large sewing factories by ‘borrowing capacity’ from general trading companies. This enabled them to evolve into large-scale rubber-soled footwear manufacturers capable of absorbing high-level engineering knowledge necessary to compete with Dunlop and US tyremakers in Asian motor tyre markets. A rich body of new primary material ranging from the corporate archives of Mitsui Bussan and Mitsubishi Shōji to regional industrial surveys is analysed using a novel conceptual framework. This framework draws upon Klepper’s (2010) heritage theory which suggests that best-practice industry knowledge is diffused out of leading firms. Integrated into this approach is Abe & Nakamura’s (2010) suggestion that the ‘indigenous industrialization process’ in Japan identified by Tanimoto (2006) was not separate from, but interacted with, the diffusion of Western-style manufacturing. |
| JEL: | L62 L65 N15 N75 N85 N95 O14 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:wpaper:130283 |