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on Resource Economics |
| By: | Matteo Picchio (Marche Polytechnic University); Jan C. van Ours (Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | High temperatures can have a negative effect on workplace safety for a variety of reasons. Discomfort and reduced concentration caused by heat can lead to workers making mistakes and injuring themselves. Discomfort can also be an incentive for workers to report an injury that they would not have reported in the absence of heat. We investigate how temperature affects injuries of professional tennis players in outdoor singles matches. We find that for men injury rates increase with ambient temperatures. For women, there is no effect of high temperatures on injuries. Among male tennis players, there is some heterogeneity in the temperature effects, which seem to be influenced by incentives. Specifically, when a male player is losing at the beginning of a crucial (second) fourth set in (best-of-three) best-of-five matches, the temperature effect is much larger than when he is winning. In best-of-five matches, which are more exhausting, this effect is age-dependent and stronger for older players. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, temperatures, tennis, injuries, health |
| JEL: | J24 J81 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2024–09–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20240057 |
| By: | Gert Bijnen (National Bank of Belgium, Research Department, and KU Leuven, Department of Economics.); Carine Swartenbroekx (National Bank of Belgium, Economics and Research Department) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a first estimate of the potential greenhouse gas mitigation from the intra-sector reallocation of economic activity by the European manufacturing industry away from carbon-inefficient – or "brown zombie" – firms to more carbon-efficient firms. Using techniques from the literature on productivity, we find a potential reduction of 38% based on a limited reallocation of production, without the need for new technologies. Therefore, when designing emission reduction plans, policymakers should not focus solely on improvements and innovation within existing firms but must also encourage the reallocation of economic activity from "brown zombies" to more carbon-efficient enterprises. |
| Keywords: | climate policy, carbon emission reduction, carbon-intensive industries, reallocation, brown zombies |
| JEL: | D22 L23 L52 L60 O14 Q58 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:202409-454 |
| By: | Vladimir Smirnyagin (University of Virginia); Aleh Tsyvinski (Yale University); Xi Wu (University of California - Berkeley) |
| Abstract: | Analyzing the universe of federal environmental regulations in the U.S., we construct a measure of regulations—direct taxes on pollution. Analyzing the universe of firms’ investor disclosures, we construct a measure of material environmental concerns—indirect taxes on pollution. These two empirical measures are new to the environmental regulations literature. Thirdly, we document an important new fact that the cross-sectional distribution of pollution changes is lumpy. We build a dynamic heterogeneous firm model with non-convex adjustment costs that fits the cross-sectional pollution evidence. The model explains half of the pollution decline in U.S. manufacturing over the last two decades due to direct and indirect taxes. We show that the dynamics of direct taxes (environmental regulations) and indirect taxes (environmental concerns), non-convex adjustment costs, and idiosyncratic productivity shocks are key determinants of pollution dynamics in U.S. manufacturing |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:2404 |
| By: | Robson, Sally (Resources for the Future); Russell, Ethan (Resources for the Future); Varela Varela, Ana; Shawhan, Daniel (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Environmental policymakers in the United States are giving increasing attention to reducing the burden on Americans who face both environmental and economic disadvantages. This study considers an important part of the burden: the concentration of airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5) due to emissions from the nation’s power sector. Using a highly detailed simulation model of the US power sector paired with a model of PM2.5 formation and dispersion, the study projects some of the environmental and economic effects of nationwide implementation of different policies to reduce power plants’ contributions to PM2.5 in environmentally overburdened, disadvantaged communities (EO DACs). Effects from reduced ground-level ozone also are addressed. Results are compared with a policy that is not geographically targeted—a national price on power sector carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In addition to the effects on EO DACs, we project the effects for all Americans, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Americans in the lowest income quintile, and Americans in highly environmentally burdened (not necessarily disadvantaged) areas. The national power sector CO2 emissions price is the most cost-effective policy for reducing premature mortality from PM2.5 exposure in EO DACs. The other policies, which are geographically targeted toward reducing burdens in EO DACs, have the unintended consequence of increasing PM2.5 exposure in some of those areas. |
| Date: | 2024–09–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-24-15 |
| By: | Yiwen Chen (Shandong Agricutural University, CN); Nora Paulus (University of Luxembourg); Xi Wan (Nanjing University, CN); Benteng Zou (DEM, Université du Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | Carbon capture and storage (CCS) can be considered as one of the key tools in the fight against climate change, providing a promising method to reduce human-generated CO2 emissions. Despite its potential, the high cost of CCS deployment leads to an uneven adoption across countries. This paper employs a differential game model with heterogeneous countries facing transboundary pollution to determine the optimal timing to initiate CCS projects, and delivers analytical results for the existence of Markov Perfect Equilibria and the numerical illustration. We show that: (1) The trigger threshold for CCS deployment depends not only on a country’s own costs, but also on the costs of other countries and the costs associated with pollution damage. (2) The optimal timing for different countries to initiate their CCS projects occurs when a country’s pollution level reaches a critical threshold. (3) Countries are more inclined to freeride on the pollution abatement efforts of others when the pollution damage costs are symmetric rather than asymmetric. (4) Finally, we provide sufficient conditions under which some countries refrain from engaging in CCS, despite facing the same pollution damage costs as others. |
| Keywords: | Carbon capture and storage, optimal timing, Markovian perfect equilibrium. |
| JEL: | Q53 Q58 C61 C72 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:luc:wpaper:24-07 |