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on Resource Economics |
| By: | Benini, Giacomo (Dept. of Business and Management Science, Norwegian School of Economics); Enstad, Erik (Dept. of Business and Management Science, Norwegian School of Economics); Mersha, Amare Alemaye (Dept. of Economics, University of Milan); Rossini, Luca (Dept. of Economics, University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | This study provides the first global, plant-level assessment of both technical and environmental efficiency in steel production using a novel micro-dataset covering 147 steel mills across 50 countries from 2019 to 2023. Applying a Stochastic Directional Distance Function, we estimate each plant’s distance to the production frontier and compute the shadow price of CO2e emissions. Our results reveal a robust negative correlation between inefficiency and marginal abatement cost: technically efficient electric arc furnace (EAF) mini-mills — particularly prevalent in North America — display low inefficiency scores (∼0.2) and face high marginal abatement costs (up to 13.4 USD/ton). Conversely, integrated plants in developing countries often operate inefficiently (scores up to ∼0.8) but can abate emissions at very low cost (∼0.4 USD/ton), with Europe positioned between these two extremes. Estimated shadow prices are consistently lower than prevailing carbon market rates, highlighting a systemic under-valuation of emissions in the absence of regulatory pressure. This underpricing, in turn, reflects the highly uneven technological and economic conditions across steel plants worldwide, reinforcing the need for climate policies that account for both efficiency levels and plant configurations, and that tailor interventions to the specific costs and capacities of decarbonization. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Efficiency; Shadow Price of Emissions; Steel Industry; Stochastic Directional Distance Function; Technical Efficiency |
| JEL: | Q50 |
| Date: | 2025–08–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhhfms:2025_023 |
| By: | Federico Colozza (UNIPV - Università degli Studi di Pavia [Italia] = University of Pavia [Italy] = Université de Pavie [Italie], ROMA TRE - Università degli Studi Roma Tre = Roma Tre University); Carlo Pietrobelli (UNU-MERIT - UNU-MERIT - United Nations University - Maastricht University, ROMA TRE - Università degli Studi Roma Tre = Roma Tre University); Antonio Vezzani (ROMA TRE - Università degli Studi Roma Tre = Roma Tre University, ESC [Rennes] - ESC Rennes School of Business) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate the relationship between participation in global value chains and the environment from a spatial perspective. By drawing on an original dataset on global value chain participation, emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides, and green patents for European regions, we present novel evidence about the relationship between global value chains, green technologies and air pollution at the regional level. Our findings suggest that although participation in global value chains may lead to lower polluting emissions, this effect largely depends on the capacity of regions to exploit the green knowledge deriving from participation and on the specific form of participation. When European regions are integrated with backward linkages (i.e., importing inputs to produce exports) they record lower levels of air pollution; conversely, participation through forward linkages (i.e., exporting inputs for other places' exports) leads to an increase in air pollution. Backward participation also come out to support the development of green technologies that mediate the effects of global value chains on the environment posited by the "Pollution Haven" hypothesis. Overall, the relationship between global value chains participation and air pollution will depend on the type of participation and on the capacity of territories to profit it for the development of green technologies. |
| Keywords: | Global value chains, Green technologies, Emissions, EU regions, Pollution haven hypothesis |
| Date: | 2024–02–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05136372 |
| By: | Adrien Delahais (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris); Vincent Viguié (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris) |
| Abstract: | Climate change is expected to cause increasingly severe economic and social disruptions, making adaptation a key pillar of climate policy. Assessing the economic costs of climate impacts is essential to inform adaptation strategies, especially when these costs are used to calibrate the scale of adaptation investments and to weigh adaptation needs against other policy priorities. Yet, estimates of these costs vary widely across studies. Here we compare the estimated economic cost of climate change for France across two lines of evidence: international macroeconomic studies and national policy documents. We find that recent macroeconomic literature, especially econometric studies, produces much higher cost estimates than those that can be inferred from aggregating national policy assessments. This discrepancy can be attributed to methodological lag, limited sectoral coverage, lack of monetization, and the omission of cross-border effects. Besides, we also show that while the national institutional literature is extensive, many broad impact categories lack comprehensive quantification, and even fewer are monetized. |
| Keywords: | Climate change impacts, Economic cost of climate change, Climate adaptation, National climate change risk assessment, France |
| Date: | 2025–06–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:ciredw:hal-05136840 |
| By: | François Destandau (SAGE - Sociétés, acteurs, gouvernement en Europe - ENGEES - École Nationale du Génie de l'Eau et de l'Environnement de Strasbourg - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, ENGEES - École Nationale du Génie de l'Eau et de l'Environnement de Strasbourg) |
| Abstract: | The question of spatially differentiated pollution policies first appeared in the economic literature in the early 1970s. For the past 50 years, economists have considered how best to introduce location-specific pollution policies such as Pigovian taxes or tradable permits, and on the basis of which site-specific attributes (polluter characteristics, pollution diffusion, environmental objective, etc.). This article reviews the questions raised and the theoretical results obtained. The central question is when to take account of the local characteristics and when to apply a uniform policy. Through this question, the authors seek to improve environmental policies to fight pollution more effectively. |
| Keywords: | Spatialized Regulation, Pollution, Tradable Permits, Pigovian Taxation, Spatialized Regulation Pollution Tradable Permits Pigovian Taxation |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05156444 |
| By: | Lafond, François; Ren, Xiyu (Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford); Marotta, Fulvia (Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford) |
| Abstract: | In the UK, aggregate emissions intensity has declined by about a factor of two over the last three decades. Prior research attributes most of this decline to reductions within industries rather than shifts in the composition of economic activity. This paper investigates whether such within industry progress primarily reflects industry-specific factors or common forces operating across industries. Using a newly constructed panel of UK industry-level GHG emissions and gross value added for 1990–2022, we estimate a block-level dynamic factor model that decomposes changes in emissions intensity into global, block-level, and idiosyncratic components. We find that industry-specific factors account for the majority of variation in emissions intensity changes, though common shocks, either global or at the level of groups of industries, play a smaller but non-negligible role. We further show how patterns of co-movement partly reflect the way that emissions are recorded at the activity level and allocated to industries, a feature with implications for interpreting industry-level decarbonization dynamics. |
| Keywords: | Emissions intensity, Sectoral heterogeneity, Dynamic factor models, Climate policy, Environmental macroeconomics, Directed technical change |
| JEL: | Q54 O33 C38 E32 C32 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:amz:wpaper:2025-15 |