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on Resource Economics |
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Issue of 2022‒04‒04
four papers chosen by |
| By: | Ara Jo (Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH), ETH Zürich, Zürichbergstrasse 18, 8032 Zürich, Switzerland); Alena Miftakhova (Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH), ETH Zürich, Zürichbergstrasse 18, 8032 Zürich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | The degree of substitutability between clean and dirty energy plays a central role in leading economic analyses of optimal environmental policy. Despite the importance, a constant and exogenous elasticity of substitution has been a dominant theoretical approach. We challenge this assumption by developing a dynamic general equilibrium model with an endogenous elasticity of substitution that interacts with the relative share of clean inputs in the economy. We find strong dynamic feedback effects arising from endogenous substitution capacity that amplifies the impact of directed technical change and accelerates the transition to a green economy |
| Keywords: | Elasticity of substitution, directed technical change, climate change |
| JEL: | Q40 Q55 Q54 O33 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eth:wpswif:22-369&r= |
| By: | Nina Boogen (Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH), ETH Zürich, Zürichbergstrasse 18, 8032 Zürich and Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)Switzerland); Massimo Filippini (Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH), ETH Zürich, Zürichbergstrasse 18, 8032 Zürich and Università della Svizzera italiana, 6904 Lugano, Switzerland); Adan L. Martinez-Cruz (Department of Forest Economics, and Centre for Environmental and Resource Economics (CERE), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Skogsmarksgränd 17 , 90183 Umeå, Sweden) |
| Abstract: | Previous efforts exploring options to increase residential sector’s energy efficiency have overlooked that highlighting co-benefits associated with energy efficiency may represent a promising strategy to draw attention from decision makers. For instance, in addition to savings in energy costs, buildings equipped with energy saving and comfort ventilation (ESV) system provide co-benefits such as improved indoor air quality (IAQ), thermal comfort, and noise reduction. These co-benefits are attributes of an experience goods as their value is difficult to appraise unless they have been experienced. This paper estimates the value of these co-benefits by inquiring willingness to accept (WTA) compensation to hold off on using ESV from Swiss owners of Minergie houses, which are equipped with ESV. Average monthly WTA is CHF 181 —value dominated by IAQ. WTA protocols may deliver overestimated values. Thus this paper estimates willingness to pay (WTP) on a sample of owners of conventional houses —i.e. respondents that have not experienced an ESV. Average monthly WTP is CHF 163 —value dominated by presence of allergies at home, an approximation to relevance of IAQ among respondents that have not experienced ESV. A back-of-the-envelope cost-benefit analysis informed with our estimates suggests that monthly benefits from ESV can be as much as twice the costs. |
| Keywords: | Co-benefits of energy efficiency; residential investment decisions; willingness to accept; willingness to pay; Swiss home owners |
| JEL: | D12 Q40 R21 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eth:wpswif:22-368&r= |
| By: | Daniel Clarke (OECD); Florian Flachenecker (OECD); Emmanuelle Guidetti (OECD); Pierre-Alain Pionnier (OECD) |
| Abstract: | By moving goods and people over large distances, air transport facilitates international trade and tourism and thus contributes to economic growth and job creation. At the same time, it also comes with environmental challenges, largely related to air emissions and their impact on global warming. Air transport has been disproportionately negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with associated reductions in air emissions. However, recent projections show that, in the absence of accelerated technological developments and more ambitious policy measures, aviation-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will grow again at a rapid pace after the pandemic. This paper describes a new OECD database providing near-real-time and global information on aviation-related CO2 emissions, with allocations across countries following either the territory or the residence principle. This database provides a public good for both statistical measurement and environmental policy analysis. On the statistical front, it will facilitate the compilation of global Air Emission Accounts according to the System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA), bring granular and timely information on a significant source of CO2 emissions, and allow tracking their evolution during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The comparison with official statistics that are available with a significant delay and at lower frequency demonstrates the accuracy of the OECD estimates. On the environmental policy front, it is expected that the OECD database will help monitor the impact of technological developments and policy measures to curb aviation-related CO2 emissions in the future. |
| Keywords: | air transport, big data, climate change, CO2 emissions, covid-19, environmental-economic accounting, seea, UNFCCC inventories |
| JEL: | L93 Q53 Q56 |
| Date: | 2022–03–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stdaaa:2022/04-en&r= |
| By: | Halse, Askill H. (Institute of Transport Economics); Hauge, Karen E. (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Isaksen, Elisabeth T. (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Johansen, Bjørn G. (Institute of Transport Economics); Rauum, Oddbjørn (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | We study how the adoption of battery electric vehicles – a key technology for decarbonizing transportation – responds to two local privileges: road toll exemption and bus lane access. Combining rich Norwegian microdata with a quasi-experimental research design where we exploit household-level variations in incentives on work commutes, we find sizable and positive effects on electric vehicle ownership. The increase in electric vehicles from having road tolls and bus lanes on work commutes is offset by a similar decline in conventional vehicles. Road tolls also reduce brown driving, but lower CO2 emissions are largely explained by the existence of fewer conventional vehicles. |
| Keywords: | electric vehicles; local incentives; road tolls; bus lanes |
| JEL: | H23 Q55 Q58 R41 R48 |
| Date: | 2022–03–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:osloec:2022_001&r= |