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on Resource Economics |
| By: | Irem Erten (University of Warwick - Warwick Business School); Steven Ongena (University of Zurich - Department Finance; Swiss Finance Institute; KU Leuven; NTNU Business School; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of the environmental footprint and the biodiversity risk exposure of firms on their cost of bank credit. We document that at loan origination banks charge higher rates to firms with more environmental damage, especially when weakly capitalized and when the firms operate in "greener" states with low denial and during periods with more negative environmental news. Biodiversity risk is also priced, and more so when public interest intensifies. Following the Trump withdrawal from Paris, banks reduce environmental risk pricing in "browner" states. In sum, environmental risk pricing in bank lending is also driven by local beliefs and attitudes. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, biodiversity risk, bank credit, personal beliefs |
| JEL: | G12 G18 G21 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp2440 |
| By: | Konstantin Sommer (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We study the implications of the Chinese waste import ban of 2018 on intra- European plastic waste trade. Specifically, we ask if it led to a “waste haven†effect, which would imply that countries with high disposal and recycling costs started to export more plastic waste to countries with lower costs. We study this question in a gravity difference-in-differences setting with detailed data on the costs of waste processing. We find strong evidence that countries with higher costs of disposal indeed started to export more waste towards lower cost countries as a result of this ban. We do not find consistent evidence that more waste was exported to countries with lower recycling costs. Our results raise distributional questions about the allocation of waste externalities in integrated markets and have implications for current debates on the legislation of international waste shipments. |
| Keywords: | Trade, Environment, Waste, Circular Economy, Europe |
| JEL: | F18 Q53 Q27 |
| Date: | 2024–08–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20240053 |
| By: | Spiller, Beia (Resources for the Future); Wilwerding, Rachel; Russo, Suzanne (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Major investments in electric vehicle (EV) charging station networks will be required to support widespread adoption of EVs. Increasing EV adoption can help improve air quality and, in turn, health outcomes, particularly for communities overburdened by transportation pollution. The creation of a widespread public EV charging station network presents new economic and business opportunities. Thus, an opportunity exists for society to leverage expenditures associated with the electric transition, particularly federal infrastructure investments through programs like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), to improve equity outcomes for communities and households that have been overburdened by transportation pollution due to compounding inequities and structural racism across society. We provide a framework (developed through a literature review and interviews with community-based and non-governmental organizations, EV charging station companies, utilities, and leading researchers) for understanding how charging station investments in urban areas could help reduce existing inequities or may inadvertently exacerbate inequities if a careful approach is not taken. |
| Date: | 2024–08–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-24-14 |
| By: | Özlem Dursun-de Neef (Monash Business School - Department of Banking and Finance); Steven Ongena (University of Zurich - Department Finance; Swiss Finance Institute; KU Leuven; NTNU Business School; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)) |
| Abstract: | Abnormally warm temperatures are associated with an increase in people’s beliefs about climate change. Using branch-level deposit data from the United States, we find that depositors move their money away from fossil-fuel-financing banks when they experience warmer-than-usual temperatures. The reallocation of deposits is mainly due to prosocial motives rather than financial preferences. Our results shed light on people’s responses to the impacts of global warming by studying the relationship between households’ beliefs about climate change and their social preferences in their choice of bank for deposits. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, Global warming, Fossil fuel financing, Bank deposits |
| JEL: | G21 G28 Q54 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp2446 |