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on Resource Economics |
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Issue of 2013‒10‒11
five papers chosen by |
| By: | A. Mantovani; C. Vergari |
| Abstract: | In this paper we compare two policy instruments that can be adopted to curb carbon emissions. The first is a conventional pollution tax. The second is an environmental campaign aiming to influence consumers to switch to a green good. We consider two different scenarios. When consumers are characterized by hedonic quality preferences, in this case the pollution tax is more efficient than the campaign. On the contrary, when consumers develop environmental quality preferences, there are cases in which the campaign is preferred. To sum up, while both policy instruments are effective in reducing pollution emissions, their efficiency viewed from a welfare perspective crucially depends on consumers' environmental awareness. |
| JEL: | D62 L13 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp906&r=res |
| By: | Das Gupta, Monica |
| Abstract: | The literature is reviewed on the relationships between population, poverty, and climate change. While developed countries are largely responsible for global warming, the brunt of the fallout will be borne by the developing world, in lower agricultural output, poorer health, and more frequent natural disasters. Carbon emissions in the developed world have leveled off, but are projected to rise rapidly in the developing world due to their economic growth and population growth -- the latter most notably in the poorest countries. Lowering fertility has many benefits for the poorest countries. Studies indicate that, in high fertility settings, fertility decline facilitates economic growth and poverty reduction. It also reduces the pressure on livelihoods, and frees up resources to cope with climate change. And it helps avert some of the projected global warming, which will benefit these countries far more than those that lie at higher latitudes and/or have more resources to cope with climate change. Natural experiments indicate that family planning programs are effective in helping reduce fertility, and that they are highly pro-poor in their impact. While the rest of the world wrestles withthe complexities of reducing emissions, the poorest countries will gain much from simple programs to lower fertility. |
| Keywords: | Population Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases,Climate Change Economics,Health Monitoring&Evaluation |
| Date: | 2013–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6631&r=res |
| By: | Iris Butzlaff (Georg-August-University Göttingen); Nicole Grunewald (Georg-August-University Göttingen); Stephan Klasen (Georg-August-University Göttingen) |
| Abstract: | There is a large number of regional agreements concerning Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, often linked to other regional integration agreements. The most successful one in making effort in reducing carbon emissions is the Emission Trading System by the European Union (EU ETS). Apart from this exceptional agreement there are many others, which either focus directly on reducing GHG emissions or were embedded in another agreement. There is little known about the origin, the design or funding of those agreements. Therefore, we point to the potential contribution of those agreements in order to reduce GHG emissions and give an overview on the nature of those agreements to evaluate their success. We classify 15 agreements by their subject (technology / R&D, trade and finance) and examine their record to date. We find that the impact on mitigating climate change has been negligible to date, but the potential to contribute to mitigation climate change at the regional level is substantial. |
| Keywords: | Regional cooperation; climate change; mitigation |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 Q55 |
| Date: | 2013–10–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:gotcrc:152&r=res |
| By: | Flues, Florens; Löschel, Andreas; Lutz, Benjamin Johannes; Schenker, Oliver |
| Abstract: | Current climate and energy policy has to operate under an ex-ante unforeseen economic crisis. An obvious consequence is the collapse of prices for carbon emission allowances as, for example, seen in the European Union. However, this price collapse may be amplified by the interaction of a carbon emission cap and supplementary policy targets such as the minimum shares for renewables in the power sector. The static interaction between climate and renewable policies has been discussed extensively. This paper extends this debate by analysing how uncertain differences in medium to long-run growth rates affect the effciency and effectiveness of a policy portfolio containing an emission trading scheme and a target for a minimum renewable share. Making use of a simple partial equilibrium model we identify an asymmetric interaction of emissions trading and renewable quotas with respect to different growth rates of an economy. The results imply that unintended consequences of the policy interaction may be particularly severe and costly when economic growth is low and that carbon prices are more sensitive to changes in economic growth if they are applied in combination with renewable energy targets. Our main example for the policy interaction is the EU, yet our research also relates particularly well to the uncertainty of economic growth in fast growing emerging economies like China. -- |
| Keywords: | EU Climate Policy,Growth Uncertainty,Overlapping Regulation |
| JEL: | Q43 Q48 Q58 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:13066&r=res |
| By: | Ghisetti, Claudia; Rennings, Klaus |
| Abstract: | Much of the empirical literature analysing the relation between environmental innovation and competitiveness has focused on the question whether 'it pays to be green'. We differentiate between different types of environmental innovations, which will be disentangled in those aiming at reducing the negative externalities and those allowing for efficiency increases and cost savings. What we analyze is at first the extent to which these two typologies have impacts on firms' profitability with opposite signs, and, secondly, whether the motivations driving the adoption of those innovations make the difference in terms of economic gains. We find empirical evidence that both the typology of Environmental Innovation and the driver of their adoption affect the sign of the relationship between competitiveness and environmental performance. The empirical strategy is based on a sample of German firms and makes use of a merge of two waves of the Mannheim Innovation Panel in 2011 and 2009 that allow overcoming some endogeneity issues which may arise in a cross-section setting. -- |
| Keywords: | Profitability,Externality Reducing Innovations,Energy and Material Efficiency Innovations,Mannheim Innovation Panel |
| JEL: | Q55 Q20 M10 K32 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:13073&r=res |