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on Resource Economics |
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Issue of 2015‒10‒04
five papers chosen by |
| By: | Jihad C. Elnaboulsi (CRESE, Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an analysis of environmental policy in imperfectly competitive markets. We investigate how environmental taxes should be optimally levied in a precommitment policy game and their e¤ects on social welfare. The paper also examines the potential impacts of the regulator?s environmental conscience on policy setting. We start the analysis with a benchmark model where all players are environmentally dirty in the marketplace. We then extend the model to the case in which the market is composed of a mix of dirty and clean strategic players. We show that, in both cases, the regulator must necessarily trade o¤ between regulation of environmental quality and the industry production ine¢ ciency problems. Furthermore, the results show how higher levels of concern for environmental issues outweigh the under taxation problem that arises in order to avoid further reductions in welfare. Finally, we show that the existence of clean players produces positive social externalities. Under an ex ant environmental policy game, higher social welfare outcomes are possible. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Policy, Emissions Tax, Environmental Conscience, Social Welfare, Strategic Behavior, Oligopoly Competition. |
| JEL: | D60 D82 L13 Q28 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crb:wpaper:2015-11&r=all |
| By: | Germà Bel (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Maximilian Holst (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | Mexico City’s bus rapid transit (BRT) network, Metrobus, was introduced in an attempt to reduce congestion, increase city transport efficiency and cut air polluting emissions. In June 2005, the first BRT line in the metropolitan area began service. We use differences-in-differences and quantile regression techniques in undertaking the first quantitative policy impact assessment of the BRT system on air polluting emissions. The air pollutants considered are carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOX), particulate matter of less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5), particulate matter of less than 10 µm (PM10), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). The ex-post analysis uses real field data from air quality monitoring stations for periods before and after BRT implementation. Results show that BRT constitutes an effective environmental policy, reducing emissions of CO, NOX, PM2.5 and PM10. |
| Keywords: | Bus Rapid Transit, Differences-in-Differences, Environmental Policy Evaluation, Public Transport, Urban Air Pollution JEL classification: Q51, Q58, R41, R48 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201519&r=all |
| By: | Iñaki Arto (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Kurt Kratena (WIFO); Antonio F. Amores (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Umed Temurshoev (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Gerhard Streicher (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | This document explores the potential for the use of a market-based instrument to contribute to reducing the emissions of particulate matter of less than 10 micrometres from household heating appliances in the framework of the review of the Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution. The study is focused on the assessment of the economic and environmental impacts of possible scrappage policies for promoting the accelerated replacement of existing heating appliances with cleaner ones. Under these policy programmes, households replacing an old appliance with a cleaner one would receive a subsidy from the government. This subsidy would compensate households for the residual value of the scrapped appliance and the opportunity costs of the early investment in a new one. Two different scenarios are analysed: The scrappage and replacement of all the different types of conventional appliances that do not incorporate any emission control technology ('non-controlled'), and the scrappage and replacement of only 'non-controlled' firewood- and hard-coal-fired manual single house boilers. It is assumed that the scrappage programme is in force between 2018 and 2020. For each scenario, the study focuses on the effects of different levels of replacement of the 'non-controlled' appliances and the size of subsidies relative to the investment costs. |
| Keywords: | Market-based Instruments, Emissions reduction, Particles Emissions, Scrappage, Economic Impact |
| JEL: | Q52 C54 D58 D62 H23 H41 I18 D1 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc85940&r=all |
| By: | Roberta De Santis (ISTAT); Cecilia Jona Lasinio (ISTAT) |
| Abstract: | In a globalized framework, environmental regulations can have a decisive role in influencing countries’ comparative advantages. The conventional perception about environmental protection is that it imposes additional costs on firms, which may reduce their global competitiveness with negative effects on growth and employment. However, some economists, in particular Porter and Van der Linde (1995), argue that pollution is often associated with a waste of resources and that more stringent environmental policies can stimulate innovations that may over-compensate for the costs of complying with these policies. This is known as the Porter hypothesis and suggests the existence of a “double dividend”, for both economic and environmental aspects, related to environmental regulation. In this paper, we adopt a macroeconomic approach to investigate the impact of different environmental instruments on the economy as a whole. We investigate the environmental policy impacts on a sample of European economies in 1995-2008. Our findings suggest that the “narrow” Porter Hypothesis cannot be rejected and that the choice of the policy instruments is not neutral. In particular, market based environmental stringency measures look as the most effective to stimulate innovations and productivity. |
| Keywords: | environmental regulation, productivity, innovation, Porter hypothesis. |
| JEL: | D24 Q50 Q55 O47 O31 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lui:lleewp:15122&r=all |
| By: | Thomas Jobert (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France; GREDEG CNRS); Fatih Karanfil (University of Paris Ouest, France; EconomiX - CNRS); Anna Tykhonenko (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France; GREDEG CNRS) |
| Abstract: | Despite the growing body of work devoted to the impacts of development and international trade flows on the environment, the current state of empirical research is still controversial. In this line of analysis, the empirical studies using panel data face two simultaneous challenges. One is associated with the potential presence of unobserved cross-country heterogeneity in the panel, and the other with the use of aggregate data on international trade. In this paper, we apply both the dynamic fixed effects and empirical iterative Bayes estimators to a global panel of annual data on 55 countries spanning the period 1970-2013, to show that when country heterogeneity is accurately accounted for in the estimation, it is possible to obtain significant impacts of trade variables on the environment, even with aggregate data. Based on the estimation results and further information on the stringency of environmental regulations in both developed and developing countries involved in the analysis, we identify different country groups having similar features with respect to the trade-environment relationship. Future multilateral actions and agreements on climate change should account for differences in countries' trade structures and development levels that determine their capabilities to mitigate and adapt to climate change. |
| Keywords: | FDI; trade openness, CO2 emissions, regulatory stringency, Bayesian shrinkage estimator |
| JEL: | C33 F18 Q56 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2015-31&r=all |