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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Bergmann, E. Ariel; Colombo, Sergio; Hanley, Nick |
| Abstract: | Investments in renewable energy, such as new wind farms and hydro schemes, are being promoted as a new means of diversifying rural employment in Scotland*. However, such investments are associated with a range of environmental impacts which might be detrimental to other economic activities, such as those based on nature tourism. When designing policy instruments for more sustainable energy futures, therefore, the main goal is to generate the lowest possible adverse socio-economic and environmental impacts ensuring a certain degree of economic efficiency. We use a Choice Experiment to quantify peoples’ preferences over these multiple impacts of renewable energy in Scotland. We find that landscape, wildlife and air pollution impacts are all significant for both urban and rural respondents. Only rural respondents, however, value job creation. We also show the differences in the welfare gain associated with alternative renewable energy investments between rural and urban households. |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes007:7964&r=env |
| By: | Geoffrey Heal (Graduate School of Business, Columbia University); Nori Tarui (Department of Economics, University of Hawaii at Manoa) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies countries’ incentives to develop advanced pollution abatement technology when technology may spillover across countries and pollution abatement is a global public good. We are motivated in part by the problem of global warming: a solution to this involves providing a global public good, and will surely require the development and implementation of new technologies. We show that at the Nash equilibrium of a simultaneous-move game with R&D investment and emission abatement, whether the free rider effect prevails and under-investment and excess emissions occur depends on the degree of technology spillovers and the effect of R&D on the marginal abatement costs. There are cases in which, contrary to conventional wisdom, Nash equilibrium investments in emissions reductions exceed the first-best case. |
| Keywords: | International environmental agreement; pollution abatement costs; endogenous technological change. |
| JEL: | Q50 H87 D70 |
| Date: | 2008–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hai:wpaper:200803&r=env |
| By: | Mary Evans (Department of Economics and Center for Business and Economic Research, University of Tennessee); Lirong Liu (Department of Economics and International Business, Sam Houston State University); Sarah L. Stafford (Department of Economics, College of William and Mary) |
| Abstract: | Several rationales recently proposed to explain the willingness of firms to voluntarily conduct environmental audits suggest the potential for environmental audits to impact compliance outcomes in the long run. Using a unique facility-level dataset from Michigan, we examine both the determinants of environmental auditing and the effects of environmental auditing on long term compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Our empirical methodology accounts for the potential endogeneity of the audit outcome and censoring of the future compliance measure. We find that larger facilities and those subject to more stringent regulations are more likely to audit. We also find that facilities with poor compliance records are less likely to audit. However, we find no significant long-run impact of auditing on RCRA compliance among these Michigan facilities. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Auditing, Environmental Compliance, Voluntary Environmental Initiatives, Self-Policing |
| JEL: | K32 K42 Q52 Q58 |
| Date: | 2008–09–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwm:wpaper:78&r=env |
| By: | Alexeeva-Talebi, Victoria; Löschel, Andreas; Mennel, Tim |
| Abstract: | In the absence of an international agreement on climate policy, unilateral carbon abatement creates two problems: It tends to have a detrimental effect on domestic competitiveness, and it leads to an increase in carbon emissions abroad (leakage). This paper analyses two policies that have recently been proposed to mitigate these problems: Border tax adjustments (BTA) and integrated emission trading (IET). The former policy levies a quantity-based, the latter an emission based duty on imports from non-abating countries. In a stylised two-country model we demonstrate that the policies address both problems. However, BTA protects domestic competitiveness more effectively, while IET achieves a greater reduction in foreign emissions. A computational general equilibrium analysis of the unilateral abatement policy adopted by the European Union confirms our theoretical insights for the sectors covered by the offsetting measures. However, the implications for the competitiveness of noncovered sectors are negative. These two effects constitute the central trade-off in the implementation of both policies. |
| Keywords: | Border Tax Adjustments, Climate Policy, Competitiveness, Emission Trading |
| JEL: | D58 F18 H23 Q48 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:7384&r=env |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Transport sector policies already contribute to moderating greenhouse gas emissions from road vehicles and are increasingly designed to contribute to overall societal targets to mitigate climate change. The Round Table investigated the effectiveness and costs of various mitigation options. The question of how to decide on the distribution of abatement efforts across sectors of the economy was also discussed. Within the broad topic of addressing greenhouse gas emissions from transport, the Round Table focused on emissions of CO2 from road transport and in particular from light-duty passenger vehicles. Policies that reduce fuel consumption below non-intervention levels are in place in most countries, many adopted for reasons other than reducing CO2 emissions. In the US, both fuel taxes and fuel economy regulations have been in force for some decades. European governments have adopted high fuel taxes but are now considering introducing fuel economy regulations. A first core question for the Round Table was whether such a combination of instruments is justified. A second question was whether current policies, and the level of taxes and standards, are in line with societal climate change mitigation goals and, more generally, how such goals ought to be defined. |
| Keywords: | transport, climate change, transport costs |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaaa:2008/9-en&r=env |
| By: | Lally, Breda; Riordan, Brendan; van Rensburg, Tom |
| Abstract: | Two policy instruments, input taxes and regulations, can be used to deal with nitrate pollution. However, in practice command and control (CAC) measures such as input regulations and management practices, as outlined in Action Programmes under the EU Nitrates Directive, rather than economic instruments, are commonly used to deal with nitrate pollution from agricultural sources. Action Programmes are to meant to ensure that the applications of nitrogen to farmland are within limits calculated to avoid a level of nitrate emissions to water supplies that would put them above the concentration limit of 50mg/litre specified in the Directive. The premise of the Action Programmes is that farmers should take all reasonable steps to prevent or minimise the application to land of fertilisers in excess of crop requirements. To this end the Irish Action Programme specifies that the amount of livestock manure applied in any year to land on a holding, together with that deposited to land by livestock, cannot exceed an amount containing 170 kg nitrogen per hectare (ha) and also sets limits on the application of inorganic (manufactured) nitrogen. However, the objective of the Nitrates Directive, at least in terms of organic and inorganic nitrogen application rates, could theoretically be achieved by imposing a tax on nitrogen inputs. This paper tests the hypotheses that the objectives of the Nitrates Directive, in terms of organic and inorganic N application rates, would be more effectively and more equitably achieved by regulation, than by a tax. The results of the analysis indicate that this is the case. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes007:7981&r=env |
| By: | Hans Gersbach (CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research at ETH Zurich, Switzerland); Ralph Winkler (CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research at ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | We propose a blueprint for an international emission permit market such as the EU trading scheme. Each country decides on the amount of permits it wants to offer. A fraction of these permits is grandfathered, the remainder is auctioned. Revenues from the auction are collected in a global fund and reimbursed to member countries in fixed proportions. We show that international permit markets with refunding lead to outcomes in which all countries tighten the issuance of permits and are better off compared to standard international permit markets. If the share of grandfathered permits is sufficiently small, we obtain approximately socially optimal emission reductions. |
| Keywords: | climate change mitigation, global refunding scheme, international permit markets, international agreements, tradeable permits |
| JEL: | H23 Q54 H41 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eth:wpswif:08-07&r=env |
| By: | Bryan K. Mignone |
| Abstract: | Of the many regulatory responses to climate change, cap-and-trade is the only one currently endorsed by large segments of the scientific, economic and political establishments. Under this type of system, regulators set the overall path of carbon dioxide (CO2) reductions, allocate or auction the appropriate number of emissions allowances to regulated entities and – through trading – allow the market to converge upon the least expensive set of abatement opportunities. As a result, the trading price of allowances is not set by the regulator as it would be under a tax system, but instead evolves over time to reflect the underlying supply and demand for allowances. In this paper, I develop a simple theory that relates the initial clearing price of CO2 allowances to the marginal cost premium of carbon-free technology, the maximum rate of energy capital replacement and the market interest rate. This theory suggests that the initial clearing price may be lower than the canonical range of CO2 prices found in static technology assessments. Consequently, these results have broad implications for the design of a comprehensive regulatory solution to the climate problem, providing, for example, some intuition about the proper value of a possible CO2 price trigger in a future cap-and-trade system. |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:acb:camaaa:2008-31&r=env |
| By: | Bühler, Georg; Jochem, Patrick |
| Abstract: | In the European Union (EU) and in Germany the transport sector is the only sector with increasing CO2 emissions (in the EU by about 32 % and in Germany by about 1 % since 1990). Especially in road freight and air transport a further strong increase is forecasted. In the transport sector this might be impeded by avoiding transport (accepting a lower economic growth), shifting modes or in optimizing logistics. Especially the second is mentioned to be an adequate solution to meet the increasing demand for transportation and reducing CO2 emissions simulatneously. It is often stated, that combined transport (mainly truck-train-truck) might be a very CO2 efficient mode. In this article a Logit-Model (based on a survey of 500 German forwarders) is used to determine mode shift potentials of hauliers. The main factors of influence depending on the service provision of the transport modes are frequency of combined transport services, speed, and costs. For an estimation of the corresponding impact on the mode shift and thus potentials of CO2 emission reductions two policy instruments are empirically tested: a further increase of the performance-based heavy vehicle fee (LSVA-Maut) and a hypothetical speeding up of the average speed in freight rail transport to 80 km per hour. Although the modal shift is rather high in the last policy simulation, the impact on CO2 emissions is still small. |
| Keywords: | Freight Transports, CO2 Emissions, Mode Shift, Combined Transport |
| JEL: | C53 Q54 R48 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:7389&r=env |
| By: | Stef Proost |
| Abstract: | Among economists and policy makers more general, the fuel efficiency standard for cars and the fuel tax have been the subject of extensive debate. The major benefits of stricter fuel efficiency standards and higher fuel taxes are the reduction of Greenhouse gas emissions and the reduced oil dependence. The major costs are the increased production cost, the reduced comfort and the negative impact on mileage related externalities (congestion, accidents) due to the rebound effect. In this contribution we use a wider framework than Harrington (2008), Plotkin (2008) and Raux (2008) to discuss the CO2 1 emission reduction in transport. In section 2 we analyze, for the EU, the effects on welfare and CO2 emissions of pricing all transport activities according to their full social costs. In section 3, we go beyond the transport sector and compare the options to reduce emissions in the transport sector with the possibilities and costs to reduce emissions in other sectors of the economy. In section 4 we take a world view and analyze the impact of two types of international climate negotiations on the emission reduction strategy in the transport sector. |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaaa:2008/3-en&r=env |
| By: | Apfelbeck, Josef; Huigen, Marco; Krimly, Tatjana |
| Abstract: | Many scientific publications discussing the effects of climate change on the agricultural system express these in terms of changing crop production at coarse spatial and temporal scales. But in agro-economy, where crop production is the result of the interaction between bio-physical and management components, the temporal drivers operate at much smaller resolutions. Climate change affects the agricultural system via the interrelated, bio-physical layers of air, water, soil and crops. Furthermore, it influences the farm-system manager in their choice of their crops. In our paper the main question is how to deal systematically with the different time extents and time resolutions when studying agricultural management impacts due to climatic change. Agent based modeling offers an elegant way to tackle such challenges, where agents represent simplified farm managers. The agricultural management model is dynamically connected to a regional agro-economic model, a ground water model, a crop growth model and a soil model. Hence, we endogonize climatic change and make its effects a (risk)-factor in the agents considerations along different temporal scales. This paper reports on the fundamental issues regarding use of different temporal modeling scales with several clear practical examples. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2008–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes007:7984&r=env |
| By: | White, Ben; Raguragavan, Jananee; Chambers, Robert C. |
| Abstract: | A land retirement policy whereby land is taken out of agriculture and converted to natural vegetation or forestry has the potential to reduce environmental damage related to dryland salinity in Western Australia. This paper uses some recent results in the theory of directional distance functions (Chambers and Fare, 2004) to analyse alternative policy designs for a land retirement scheme. The results indicate that a fixed price scheme is inefficient compared with a first-best solution, but performs adequately. A scheme requiring a fixed proportion of area retired by all producers is inefficient. A separating solution, based on mechanism design, gives a small but siginificant increase in welfare compared to a fixed price scheme. |
| Keywords: | Agri-environmental policy, distance functions, efficiency, mechanism design, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q12, |
| Date: | 2008–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes007:7963&r=env |
| By: | Butler, Allan J.; Turner, Martin M. |
| Abstract: | This paper draws on the results of a multi-disciplinary research project funded by Defra1 which has focussed on identifying and developing practical approaches by which the dairy sector can reduce inputs and diffuse pollution, whilst maintaining biodiversity, product quality, high animal health and welfare standards and market competitiveness. The pressures on UK dairying for change towards greater economic and environmental sustainability derive from the need to remain profitable in the face of low farm-gate prices, competition from the global market in the context of a wide range of environmental and animal welfare constraints that have increased considerably in number and stringency during recent years. The challenge is to identify and develop practices that, through the use of integrated systems, incorporate environmental objectives into profitable, modern farming. The research has explored the complex interaction ‘surfaces’ of multiple sustainability criteria in systems simulations using an interactive framework of modelling (N, P, methane and production economics) and objective scoring matrices (biodiversity, landscape features, product quality and animal health). As part of the SIMSDAIRY model2, the EDMM (Economic Dairy Management Model) is an empirically-based model which simulates the revenue and costs attributed to dairy farming in the UK. At its core are a series of econometric relationships that replicate the underlying production and cost structures of dairy farm management. The results are presented and discussed in the context of recent market and policy developments in the milk supply sector. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2008–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes007:7978&r=env |
| By: | Winston Harrington |
| Abstract: | This paper will trace the development of modern regulation of emissions, both local and global, from motor vehicles. To illuminate the principal themes of this story the focus will be on the experiences of the United States and Europe. Among those themes, three stand out, questions that sooner or later must be considered in the development of any environmental policy. First, the theme of federalism. In every country, governments are constituted at various levels of aggregation, from local to national. Which level of government is the most suitable for attacking a given public problem. If different levels of government can fairly claim to have a role in addressing the problem, how will the various responsibilities be assigned and coordinated? In order to develop an effective and efficient public policy, the governments must have both the right incentives and the capacity to do so. Finding the right level of government to address an environmental problem is a tradeoff between two competing considerations. The government’s jurisdiction must be large enough to “internalize the externalities,” as an economist would say. That is, if either the environmental evil or the policy remedy has effects that extend beyond its borders, then the policy-maker’s incentives will very likely be inappropriate. For example, policies to control emissions of stationary-source air pollutants may not be stringent enough if most of the effects of pollution are experienced in neighboring jurisdictions. At the same time, the level of government must be appropriate to the problem. Smaller, more local units of government are more likely to know the preferences of their citizens, yet less likely to have the expertise and experience to deal effectively with particular problems. The second pervasive theme here is the choice of policy instrument: the specific mechanisms used to achieve the environmental objective. It is common to pose two polar types: direct regulation and economic incentives (EI). Rather than commands or requirements, EI instruments provide penalties or rewards to encourage behavior that will improve environmental quality. Another way of putting the difference is this: With direct regulation, there is a bright line that determines whether behavior will be tolerated. With EI, the relationship between performance and consequences is continuous and gradual. There is no bright line, just steadily increasing rewards for better performance. |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaaa:2008/2-en&r=env |
| By: | Bailey, Alison; Quinton, John; Silgram, Martyn; Stevens, Carly; Jackson, Bob |
| Abstract: | The European Union Water Framework Directive requires governments to set water quality objectives based on good ecological status. This includes specific requirements to control diffuse pollution. Diffuse phosphorous (P) pollution plays a pivotal role in influencing water quality with losses of P associated with soil particles often linked to soil erosion. The Mitigation Options for Phosphorus and Sediment (MOPS) project, using three case study sites, is investigating the cost effectiveness of specific control measures in terms of mitigating sediment and P loss from combinable crops. The analysis is conducted at the farm level using a simple spreadsheet model. Further development of the model will allow the results to be extrapolated to generic regional farm typologies. Results from the initial farm level analysis suggest that some mitigation options may not be cost effective in reducing diffuse pollution, however, that other options may be very cost effective. |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes007:7966&r=env |
| By: | Cristina Tébar Less; Joy A. Kim |
| Abstract: | This document provides a checklist on environmental issues for negotiators of regional trade agreements (RTAs) in order to provide guidance to countries wishing to include environmental provisions in RTAs. The checklist draws on countries’ experience of negotiating and implementing environmental provisions of RTAs, which other countries may find useful when considering their own approaches to environmental issues in RTAs. The checklist is intended to provide a reference to assist discussion of environmental issues, when the inclusion of environmental provisions is considered appropriate, before, during and after negotiation of trade agreements. It is by no means prescriptive. As the number and variety of RTAs continues to increase, the checklist should be viewed as a ‘living document’ that could be modified and updated as countries gain new experience. |
| Date: | 2008–09–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:traaaa:2008/2-en&r=env |
| By: | Brännlund, Runar (Department of Economics, Umeå University); Lundgren, Tommy (Department of Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence of a “Porter effect” using firm level data on output and inputs from Swedish industry between 1990 and 2004. By utilizing a factor demand modeling approach, and specifying a profit function which has a technology component dependent upon firm specific effective tax on CO2, we are able to separate out the effect of regulatory pressure on technological progress. The results indicate that there is evidence of a reversed “Porter effect” in most industrial sectors, specifically energy intensive industries. |
| Keywords: | CO2 tax; factor demands; induced technological change; Porter argument |
| JEL: | D20 H23 Q52 Q55 |
| Date: | 2008–10–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:0750&r=env |
| By: | Tol, Richard S. J. (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)); Narita, Daiju (Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Kiel, Germany); Anthoff, David (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)) |
| Abstract: | Climate change may intensify tropical cyclone activities and amplify their negative economic effects. We simulate the direct economic impact of tropical cyclones enhanced by climate change with the integrated assessment model FUND 3.4. The results show that in the base case, the direct economic damage of tropical cyclones ascribed to the effect of climate change amounts to $19 billion globally (almost the same level as the baseline (current) global damage of tropical cyclones) in the year 2100, while the ratio to world GDP is 0.006%. The US and China account for much of the absolute damage, whereas small island states incur the largest damage if evaluated as the share to GDP. The results also show that they are sensitive to the choice of baseline and of the wind-speed elasticity of storm damage. |
| Keywords: | climate change; tropical storms; economic impact |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp259&r=env |
| By: | Kantelhardt, Jochen; Eckstein, Karin |
| Abstract: | Agricultural land use does not only concern farmers, but also has a large number of social and environmental effects. Consequently, it is to be assumed that farmers have to use financial resources as well as labour in order to provide these services. Using the nonparametric method of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), we calculated the economic as well as the ecological efficiencies of farms and examined whether farms are able to succeed in combining ecological and economic efficiency. In addition to this analysis, we studied the driving factors of the respective efficiencies. The study was carried out in four typical production regions in Bavaria which vary in their proportions of grassland as well as their yield potential; thus, the study regions reflect a gradient of agricultural land use which is typical for Southern Germany. In all regions, a farm survey was conducted covering a total of 122 farmers. |
| Keywords: | agricultural land use, data envelopment analysis, ecological efficiency, economic efficiency, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes007:7973&r=env |
| By: | Charles Raux |
| Abstract: | In developed countries, transport generates approximately 25 to 30 per cent of emissions of CO2, the main greenhouse gas (GHG) and these emissions are increasing sharply. There are two explanations for the increase in emissions from transport: the first is dependency on the internal combustion engine for transport with no wide-scale economically viable alternative available in the medium term; the second is the sharp increase in vehicle-kilometres travelled, which seems to be an inherent feature of economic development. One might well ask, given announcements that oil reserves will run out rapidly, whether we should not simply wait until reserves dry up to obtain a reduction in transport-related emissions. This said, rising oil prices are gradually making it more viable to exploit unconventional reserves, leaving aside innovations in technology which are reportedly opening up prospects for new fossil fuels (including fuels derived from coal, which is in plentiful supply world-wide). Hence, there is every reason to believe that the use of fossil fuels could continue on a large scale in the future. Foresight studies show that if our aim is to achieve ambitious GHG emission control targets for transport within the next few decades, the policies we implement will have to be more determined: among other things, they should aim at reducing total consumption that is to say vehicle kilometres travelled, not just unitary vehicle consumption (cf. ENERDATA and LEPII, 2005 for France, for instance). Among the measures identified, carbon taxes and vehicle taxes are the most cost-effective (OECD, 2007; Parry et al., 2007). However, the “fuel tax protests” of September 2000 in several European countries show that public opinion is very resistant to fuel tax increases (Lyons and Chatterjee, 2002). This resistance can also be explained by concerns about fairness, since many households depend on the car for day-to-day living and for getting to work. As well as this, fuel tax increases would require the international harmonization of fuel taxation in different countries, which seeing what has happened in the European Union appears to be extremely difficult. |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaaa:2008/1-en&r=env |
| By: | Daniel M. Kammen; Alexander E. Farrell; Richard J. Plevin; Andrew D. Jones; Mark A. Delucchi; Gregory F. Nemet |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we review some of the basic energy balance and climate change impact issues associated with biofuels. For both the basic energy and greenhouse gas balances of producing and using a range of fuels, and for the increasingly debated and important issues of non-greenhouse gas impacts such as a land, fertilizer and water use, we conclude that an improved framework for the analysis and evaluation of biofuels is needed. These new methodologies and data sets are needed on both physical and socioeconomic aspects of life-cycle of biofuels. We detail some of components that could be used to build this methodology and highlight key areas for future research. We look history and potential impacts of building the resource base for biofuel research, as well as at some of the land-use and socioeconomic impacts of different feedstock-to-fuel pathways. |
| Date: | 2007–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaaa:2007/2-en&r=env |
| By: | Stéphane Hallegatte; Nicola Patmore; Olivier Mestre; Patrice Dumas; J. Corfee-Morlot; Celine Herweijer; Robert Muir Wood |
| Abstract: | This study illustrates a methodology to assess economic impacts of climate change at city scale, focusing on sea level rise and storm surge. It is based on a statistical analysis of past storm surges in the studied city, matched to a geographical-information analysis of the population and asset exposure in the city, for various sea levels and storm surge characteristics. An assessment of direct losses in case of storm surge (i.e. of the damages to buildings and building content) can then be computed and the corresponding indirect losses – in the form of production and job losses, reconstruction duration, amongst other loses – deduced, allowing a risk analysis of the effectiveness of coastal flood protections, including risk changes due to climate change and sea level rise. This methodology is applied in the city of Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, which is potentially vulnerable to the effects of variability in sea level, as a low lying city.... |
| Keywords: | sustainable development, government policy, CIS, climate change, global warming, natural disasters |
| JEL: | E20 O18 Q01 Q54 Q58 R10 |
| Date: | 2008–10–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaaa:3-en&r=env |
| By: | Colombo, Sergio; Hanley, Nick |
| Abstract: | The aim of BT techniques is to provide decision makers with a monetary valuation of environmental goods and service in a cost-effective and timely manner, since original valuation studies are both expensive and time-consuming. Demands for environmental valuation estimates are rising in the policy community in both Europe and the US. In the UK, widespread use of benefits transfer has already occurred within policy making and regulatory bodies, for instance in the setting of water quality targets for private water companies and in the design of agrienvironmental policy. An important question is how big the errors are resulting from this practice, and how sensitive transfer errors are to how the benefits transfer is conducted. In this study we employ a choice experiment study focusing on the value of landscape attributes in four upland farming regions of England to investigate the sensitivity of transfer error to procedures. This is done using an experimental design with the same set of attributes and levels applied in four different regions of England. The main findings to emerge are that transfer errors depend on the choice of study site at which original valuations are sought, on whether a single site or pooled model is used, and on whether a mean value or benefit function transfer is used. Large variations in transfer errors are found to be related to these choices. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes007:7967&r=env |
| By: | Deressa, Temesgen; Hassan, R. M.; Alemu, Tekie; Yesuf, Mahmud; Ringler, Claudia |
| Abstract: | "This study identifies the major methods used by farmers to adapt to climate change in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia, the factors that affect their choice of method, and the barriers to adaptation. The methods identified include use of different crop varieties, tree planting, soil conservation, early and late planting, and irrigation. Results from the discrete choice model employed indicate that the level of education, gender, age, and wealth of the head of household; access to extension and credit; information on climate, social capital, agroecological settings, and temperature all influence farmers' choices. The main barriers include lack of information on adaptation methods and financial constraints. Moreover, the analysis reveals that age of the household head, wealth, information on climate change, social capital, and agroecological settings have significant effects on farmers' perceptions of climate change." from authors' abstract |
| Keywords: | Adaptation, Perception on climate change, Agriculture, Climate change, Nile Basin of Ethiopia, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:798&r=env |
| By: | Bonifazi, Alessandro; Rega, Carlo; Torre, Carmelo Maria |
| Abstract: | Cities stand up as a major concern for environmental governance and democracy, and an ideal target for theoretical investigations and practical innovations alike. Our work is concerned with reconstructing the links between democracy and the environment, by targeting urban governance and tapping into the institutional practices of Urban Planning and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). SEA is a major policy tool, and its interplay with planning unravels key issues in both urban governance and environmental democracy, including coping with fundamental risks, voicing non-human agents, managing commons, addressing environmental justice. The observations we present in this paper rest on two parallel approaches. First, we carried out a content review of 12 SEA reports concerning urban plans in Italy. Second, we were involved in two case studies concerning urban planning and SEA in the towns of Monopoli and Magenta. We point to some key reflections with the aim of opening up the discussion. Participation often languishes in institutional arenas, yet it thrives in other forms that affect decision-making. Negotiation around individual planning processes should be framed in the general governance arrangements that are constantly reshaped through interactions among fluid trans-organizational networks. Legally binding measures have an ambivalent relation with environmental governance strategies, and they are handled with difficulty by deliberative planning approaches. In mainstreaming new policy tools (such as SEA), procedural aspects are usually stressed, whereas a focus on process and desired outcomes could foster, respectively, capacity building and salience. |
| Keywords: | Governance; Evaluation of Plans |
| JEL: | Z13 Q01 Q51 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11055&r=env |
| By: | Robert Kaufmann (Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Rm 457 Boston, MA 02215, USA.); Pavlos Karadeloglou (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.); Filippo di Mauro (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.) |
| Abstract: | At present, oil markets appear to be behaving in a fashion similar to that in the late 1970s and early 1980s when oil prices rose sharply over an extended period. Furthermore, like at that time, analysts are split on whether such increases will persist or reverse, and if so by how much. The present paper argues that the similarities between the two episodes are not as strong as they might appear at first sight, and that the likelihood of sharp reversals in prices is not particularly great. There are a number of reasons in support of the view that it is unlikely that the first two decades of this century will mimic the last two decades of the previous century. First, oil demand is likely to grow significantly in line with strong economic growth in non-OECD countries. Second, on the supply side, OPEC is likely to enhance its control over markets over the next two decades, as supply increases in newly opened areas will only partially offset declining rates of production in other geologically mature non-OPEC oil regions. Moreover, while concerns about climate change will spur global efforts to reduce carbon emissions, these efforts are not expected to reduce oil demand. Finally, although there is much talk about alternative fuels, few of these are economically viable at the prices currently envisioned, and given the structural impediments, there is a reduced likelihood that the market will be able to generate sufficient quantities of these alternative fuels over the forecast horizon. The above factors imply that oil prices are likely to continue to exceed the USD 70 to USD 90 range over the long term. JEL Classification: Q41, Q42, Q43 |
| Keywords: | Oil prices, Oil supply, Oil demand, Alternative fuels, Climate Change Policy |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbops:20080098&r=env |
| By: | von Braun, Joachim; Fan, Shenggen; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth; Rosegrant, Mark W.; Pratt, Alejandro Nin |
| Keywords: | Developing countries, CGIAR, Food prices, Poverty reduction, Hunger, Agricultural research, food security, Environment, Agricultural innovation, Agricultural development, Climate change, Agricultural biodiversity, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:issbrf:53&r=env |
| By: | Pilon, André Francisco |
| Abstract: | Quality of life, natural and man-made environments, physical, social and mental well-being are currently undermined by all sorts of hazards and injuries; political, economical, social and cultural disarray normalise atrocious behaviours and violence throughout the world. Considering the multiple problems of difficult settlement or solution in our times, current environmental, social, cultural, educational, political and economic policies and practices are examined in view of new paradigms of growth, power, wealth, work and freedom. A multidimensional ecosystemic approach and planning model for the diagnosis and prognosis of quality of life integrate into a dynamic configuration four dimensions of being-in-the- world (intimate, interactive, social and biophysical), as they induce the events (deficits and assets), cope with consequences (desired or undesired) and reorganise for change, enhancing connexions and sealing ruptures. Development and evaluation of teaching programmes, research projects and public policies benefit from a deep understanding of the events, providing a critical comprehensive four-dimensional framework and planning model for effective and responsible action. |
| Keywords: | education; culture; public policies; environment; ecosystems |
| JEL: | Q56 O21 Q58 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:10816&r=env |
| By: | Ahrens, Martin Heinz; Kantelhardt, Jochen |
| Abstract: | Land use concepts for ecologically particularly sensitive agricultural landscapes are often focussed on the attainment of specific environmental objectives in specific areas, neglecting both socio-economic effects, in particular income effects, and the farmers' income-driven production responses outside these areas. The paper illustrates, on the basis of an empirical study on the land use in the southern German region Bayerisches Donauried, (1) that the farmers' objectives and production responses need to be integrated in land use concepts for agricultural landscapes because of their potentially counterproductive effects on the attainment of environmental objectives, and (2) how multi-criteria analysis (MCA) can be used to transform a primarily ecology-oriented land use concept for an ecologically very sensitive agricultural landscape into a more comprehensive one that makes due allowance for the farmers’ responses and society's socio-economic objectives. The authors show that such integration of socioeconomic objectives can contribute to the maintenance of incomes and employment without overly harming the attainment of ecological goals. As far as the MCA is concerned, two methods are applied: The linear-additive model, and the outranking model ELECTRE. The models serve to evaluate four different land use options. Nine criteria are used, derived from the relevant landscape functions. Weights are based on written interviews with major decision-makers, and stakeholders of the region. The major assumptions underlying the models are discussed. The authors interpret the results of each model on the basis of sensitivity analyses, and compare them. Finally, the paper discusses policy implications resulting from the implementation of land use concepts for agricultural landscapes, in particular the question of a “regionalisation” of agri-environmental policy, and raises some administrative and practical issues that come up if policy makers apply MCA more widely in the design of such concepts. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2008–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes007:7986&r=env |
| By: | Sirieix, L.; Salançon, A.; Rodriguez, C. |
| Abstract: | This survey studies the way in which French consumers perceive fruits and vegetables, be they local, domestic or imported, resulting from conventional field or greenhouse agricultural methods, in terms of a health and hedonic, then a sustainability, point of view. The method employed, focus groups with individual questionnaires and the use of real-to-life scenarios, allows to get findings concerning the knowledge of the various cultivation methods, attitudes concerning these various methods, the role of information, to expose three representational profiles and, the results of the producer scenario, distributor scenario and consumer scenario study. On a general level, this study brings to light the negative image associated with greenhouse growers but consumer perception varies according to the representational profiles (Traditionalists, Spendthrifts and Responsible). ...French Abstract : Cette étude s'intéresse à la façon dont les consommateurs français perçoivent les fruits et légumes, locaux, nationaux ou importés, issus de l'agriculture conventionnelle ou de production sous serre, du point de vue de la santé, des aspects hédoniques et de la durabilité. Des focus groups complétés par des questionnaires individuels et par une étude de scénarios ont permis de mettre en évidence les niveaux de connaissance et les attitudes concernant les différentes méthodes de production, le rôle de l'information, de présenter trois profils de représentation et les réponses des consommateurs face aux scénarios producteur, distributeur et consommateur. De façon générale, cette étude montre que l'image associée à la production sous serre est négative, mais les perceptions varient selon les profils de représentations (Traditionalistes, Economes, Responsables). |
| Keywords: | SUSTAINABILITY; CONSUMER; FOOD CONSUMPTION; SCENARIOS METHOD; FOCUS GROUPS; AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION METHODS; DURABILITE; CONSOMMATEUR; CONSOMMATION ALIMENTAIRE; METHODE DES SCENARIOS; METHODES DE PRODUCTION AGRICOLES |
| JEL: | D1 D8 M31 Q01 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umr:wpaper:200807&r=env |
| By: | Campbell, Danny |
| Abstract: | This paper reports the findings from a discrete choice experiment study designed to estimate the economic benefits associated with rural landscape improvements in Ireland. Using a mixed logit model, the panel nature of the dataset is exploited to retrieve willingness to pay values for every individual in the sample. This departs from customary approaches in which the willingness to pay estimates are normally expressed as measures of central tendency of an a priori distribution. In a different vein from analysis conducted in previous discrete choice experiment studies, this paper uses random effects models for panel data to identify the determinants of the individual-specific willingness to pay estimates. In comparison with the standard methods used to incorporate individual-specific variables into the analysis of discrete choice experiments, the analytical approach outlined in this paper is shown to add considerably more validity and explanatory power to welfare estimates |
| Keywords: | Agri-environment, discrete choice experiments, mixed logit, panel data, random effects, willingness to pay, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, C33, C35, Q24, Q51, |
| Date: | 2008–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes007:7975&r=env |
| By: | Ole Langniß; Jochen Diekmann; Ulrike Lehr |
| Abstract: | The German Renewable Energy Act (EEG) has been very successful in promoting the deployment of wind power plants and other renewable energy power generating technologies in Germany. The increasing share of EEG-power in the generation portfolio, increasing amounts of fluctuating power generation, and the growing European integration of power markets governed by competition calls for a re-design of the EEG. This article identifies increasingly important problems and describes three different options to amend the EEG without jeopardising the fast deployment of renewable energy technologies. In the "Retailer Model", it becomes the responsibility of the end-use retailers to adapt the EEG power to the actual demand of their respective customers. The "Market Mediator Model" is the primary choice when new market players are regarded as crucial for the better integration of renew-able energy and enhanced competition. The "Optional Bonus Model" relies more on functioning markets. |
| Keywords: | Regulation, Renewable Energy, Promotion, Policy Design, Feed-In Tariff, Minimum Price Standards |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp826&r=env |
| By: | Sarah L. Stafford (Department of Economics, College of William and Mary) |
| Abstract: | I examine how regulatory pressures, financial constraints, student pressures, and stakeholder influences affect the adoption of sustainable practices by institutions of higher education (IHEs). Using data from the Sustainable Endowments Institute, I conduct an ordered probit analysis on 167 IHEs located in the U.S. In addition to analyzing overall sustainability, I examine the factors that drive particular types of sustainability initiatives. The results show that stakeholders such as faculty, alumni, and the surrounding community play the most important and consistent role in promoting sustainable practices of all types. However, I find that the significance of other factors varies considerably across different categories of sustainable practices. For example, while an institution’s endowment is positively related to its adoption of sustainable practices in general, it does not have a significant effect in most of the specific areas analyzed. Surprisingly, student preferences and regulatory pressures play a very limited role for all categories. |
| Keywords: | Sustainability, Higher Education, Regulatory Pressures, Stakeholder Influences |
| JEL: | Q01 L30 I23 |
| Date: | 2008–09–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwm:wpaper:77&r=env |
| By: | Hodgkinson, Ann (University of Wollongong); Percy, Alisa (University of Wollongong) |
| Abstract: | This paper reports on a pilot study involving the redesign of a third year Economics subject according to principles of engagement as they relate to the discursive Generation y student. The study involved a review of the literature, redesign of the subject to a blended learning format and evaluation of the design. The data collected included pre and post NSSE scores, subject grades, student surveys and qualitative feedback from individual students. While the redesign of the subject was constrained by available resources, and the implementation hindered by various systemic factors, it was found that in general the redesign did improve student engagement. In particular, it was found that the success of the scaffolded assessment tasks and the use of in-class activities as a means of revising for exams was significant. One issue that continues to perplex is the students’ mixed attitudes to attending lectures. Perhaps most importantly, the study indicates that by third year where traditional modes of teaching have characterised their curriculum, students have developed surface approaches to learning that cannot be corrected through individual third year courses. |
| Keywords: | student engagement, elearning, generation y |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uow:depec1:wp08-12&r=env |
| By: | IFPRI |
| Keywords: | Food prices, Poverty reduction, Globalization, Food security Developing countries, Agricultural systems, trade, Markets, Natural resources, World food situation, Social protection, science and technology, Nutrition, Capacity strengthening, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:annrep:2008&r=env |
| By: | Camelia Ioana Ucenic (University of Crete - Technical University Cluj Napoca); Laura Bacali (Technical University Cluj Napoca) |
| Abstract: | The eco-businesses are poorly represented in Romania, in comparison with the average of EU. The increase of weight of eco-industries is among the development objectives in medium and long run. Romania has to implement a plan of 28 actions for promotion of eco-technologies and increase their competitiveness. Economic changes had main impact on ecological protection and on the general public as an entire. Almost all eco-food Romanian products are for export because inside the country it is only a small niche of consumers. The customers are that who used to consume this type of products on European markets, others see it as a trend and a third category is occasional consumers who introduce in their diet about 5-10 percent organic products There continue to exist obstacles in the manner of the expansion of this market such as the still low-scale production, a reduced range of products, higher prices (up to 150 % more) than for standard products, low level of consumer information and low promotion level. In spite of all these aspects it is a great potential in the medium and long term. An exploratory research was carried out in order to evaluate the state of Romanian ecological producers. The survey had 18 questions but here will be presented only some of the results. The aim of this exploratory research is to offer information for the set-up of a new eco-business. The Romanian eco-businesses understood the necessity of development and implementation of the latest patterns in order to assure a sustainable development of the business. The entrepreneurs are conscious about the poor state of it in comparison with other European companies. |
| Keywords: | eco-business, eco-market, eco-product, exploratory research, sustainability, survey |
| Date: | 2008–10–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crt:wpaper:0828&r=env |