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on Resource Economics |
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Issue of 2013‒01‒26
eight papers chosen by |
| By: | Sridhar, Kala S.; Kumar, Surender |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on air and water pollution in India’s cities, provides empirical evidence to demonstrate the seriousness of the challenges, discusses the relevant policies of national and local government that are used to address the challenges, discusses relevant political economy issues related to introducing pollution taxes or other policies which are aimed at “green” cities. |
| Keywords: | Urbanisation; Environment; Air pollution; Water pollution; Fiscal instruments |
| JEL: | R0 Q53 N95 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:43810&r=res |
| By: | Lionel Nesta (SciencesPo, OFCE-DRIC); Francesco Vona (SciencesPo, OFCE-DRIC); Francesco Nicolli (University of Ferrara) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effectiveness of policies in favor of innovation in renewable energy under different levels of competition. Using information regarding renewable energy policies, product market regulation and high-quality green patents for OECD countries since the late 1970s, we develop a pre-sample mean count-data econometric specification that also accounts for the endogeneity of policies. We find that renewable energy policies are significantly more effective in fostering green innovation in countries with deregulated energy markets. We also find that public support for renewable energy is crucial only in the generation of high-quality green patents, whereas competition enhances the generation of green patents irrespective of their quality. |
| Keywords: | Renewable Energy Technology, Patents, Environmental Policies, Product Market Regulation, Policy Complementarity |
| JEL: | Q55 Q58 Q42 Q48 O34 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2012.90&r=res |
| By: | Stephens, Heather; Partridge, Mark |
| Abstract: | Regional migration and growth are increasingly associated with high-quality in situ natural amenities. However, most of the previous U.S. research has focused on the natural amenities of the Mountain West or the South. The Great Lakes, with their abundant fresh water and natural amenities, would also appear well-positioned to provide the foundation for this type of economic growth. Yet, while some parts of the western Great Lakes region are prime examples of amenity-led growth, other areas in the eastern Great Lakes may not have capitalized on their natural amenities, perhaps because of their strong industrial legacy. Using a unique county-level dataset for the Great Lakes region (including Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin), we test whether growth in the region is associated with proximity to lake amenities and whether there are offsetting industrial legacy or pollution effects. We also examine whether amenities have additional attraction value for those with high levels of human capital. Consistent with theory that suggests that natural amenities are normal or superior goods, we find that coastal areas in the region are positively associated with increases in shares of college graduates. However, we find little evidence that lake amenities contribute to broader household migration, especially after 2000. Based on these results, there may be opportunities to leverage Great Lake amenities to support economic growth in terms of attracting individuals with high levels of human capital who are most likely to make quality of life migration decisions. |
| Keywords: | Regional growth; natural amenities |
| JEL: | O18 |
| Date: | 2012–12–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:43903&r=res |
| By: | Enrico Saltari (Department of Economics and Law, Università "La Sapienza" Roma); Giuseppe Travaglini (Department of Economics, Society & Politics, Università di Urbino "Carlo Bo") |
| Abstract: | In this paper we address the control problem of a social optimum in presence of waste and capital stocks. We address this problem in two stages. In the first, we suppose that output is fixed; next, we endogenize output allowing for growth. The analytical framework is simple. Consumption is assumed to generate an undesirable residue. Society can control waste accumulation using abatement capital, and rise output using productive capital which accumulates over time. We have three main results. (1) On the analytical ground we are able to find a closed form solution to the optimal consumption with waste, abatement and productive capital stocks. (2) For the case of fixed output, we get a solution where stocks and flows affect the dynamics of the system. Environmental policies may have permanent effects on the level of variables. Then, (3) when waste and abatement capital are embedded in a classical growth model, we obtain an Environmental Keynes-Ramsey rule which states that the growth rate of the productive capital is positive if and only if its net marginal productivity is greater than the net social cost it generates, given by the marginal disutility of waste weighted by its shadow cost. |
| Keywords: | Abatement capital, waste accumulation, optimal control, Pigouvian taxes and subsidies, output growth |
| JEL: | E22 L51 H23 Q28 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:urb:wpaper:13_01&r=res |
| By: | Emmanuelle AUGERAUD-VERON; Marc LEANDRI |
| Abstract: | We present a model of optimal stock pollution control with distributed delays in the stock accumulation dynamics. Using generic functional forms and a distribution structure that covers a wide range of distributions, we solve analytically the complex dynamic system that arises from the introduction of these distributed delays. Our contribution extends the dynamic optimization literature that focused on the single discrete delay case and develops an original method to address control problems with mixed type functional differential equations. Our results show the qualitative impact of acknowledging these distributed delays on the optimal pollution paths dynamics and identify the occurrence of limit cycles and the stability conditions of such a model that can be used to design efficient environmental policies. |
| Keywords: | Optimal Pollution Control, Distributed Delays, Mixed Type Functional Differential Equations, Hopf Bifurcation |
| JEL: | C61 Q5 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2013-03&r=res |
| By: | Moussa Diaby (University of Caen Basse-Normandie - CREM UMR CNRS 6211, France); Hélène Ferrer (University of Caen Basse-Normandie - CREM UMR CNRS 6211, France); Fabrice Valognes (University of Caen Basse-Normandie - CREM UMR CNRS 6211, France) |
| Abstract: | We consider in the present paper an original approach to a decision making problem related to the management of a primary resource, namely the rubber tree. By using the social choice theory through the approval voting, we show that it is possible to improve the return of the crop. Hence, by selecting the best varieties to be plant with respect to some environmental constraints, we demonstrate that approval voting can be easily used (opposed to classical operation research methods) by the african rubber tree planters in order to get a plantation at peak performance. |
| Keywords: | Natural Resource Management, Rubber Tree, Social Choice, Group Decision Making |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tut:cremwp:201305&r=res |
| By: | López, Ramón; Yoon, Sang Won |
| Abstract: | The standard theoretical literature has shown that environmental sustainability and positive economic growth are not incompatible as long as environmental policies are optimal. However, in showing this result earlier studies have relied on strong assumptions that may appear to charge the dice in favor of such result. Here we show that once the role of the consumption composition effect is recognized, environmentally sustainable economic growth may exist even if some of the most questionable assumptions used by the canonical models are relaxed. In particular, we show that sustainable growth is possible even if environmental and man-made factors of production are complement rather than highly substitutable as has been invariably assumed by the literature and even if technological change is entirely pollution-augmenting. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, O44, Q01, Q56, |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umdrwp:142561&r=res |
| By: | Steven Van Passel (Hasselt University, Faculty of Business Economics, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Agoralaan, Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies); Emanuele Massetti (Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Robert Mendelsohn (Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies) |
| Abstract: | This research estimates the impact of climate on European agriculture using a continental scale Ricardian analysis. Data on climate, soil, geography and regional socio-economic characteristics were matched for 37 612 individual farms across the EU-15. Farmland values across Europe are sensitive to climate. Even with the adaptation captured by the Ricardian technique, farms in Southern Europe are predicted to suffer sizeable losses (8% -13% per degree Celsius) from warming. In contrast, agriculture in the rest of Europe is likely to see only mixed impacts. Increases (decreases) in rain will increase (decrease) average farm values by 3% per centiliter of precipitation. Aggregate impacts by 2100 vary depending on the climate model scenario from a loss of 8% in a mild scenario to a loss of 44% in a harsh scenario. |
| Keywords: | Ricardian Analysis, Climate Change, European Agriculture, Climate Change Economics |
| JEL: | Q54 Q51 Q15 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2012.83&r=res |