|
on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Carlos Chávez (Departamento de Economía, Universidad de Concepción); Mauricio Villena (Escuela de Negocios, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez); Johan Stranlund |
| Abstract: | We analyze the cost of enforcing a system of firm specific emissions standards vis a vis a transferable emissions permit system in the context of complete and incomplete information. We also examine the optimality of a transferable emissions permit system when abatement costs and enforcement costs are considered. We show that under incomplete information, regulation based on each firm-specific emissions standards cannot be less costly than a transferable emissions permit system. In addition, we found that the distribution of emissions that minimize aggregate program costs differ from the distribution of emissions generated by a competitive transferable emissions permit system. |
| Keywords: | Environmental policy, cost-effectiveness, enforcement costs, incomplete information. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cnc:wpaper:01-2009&r=env |
| By: | Naude, Wim.; Alcorta, Ludovico. |
| Keywords: | Development, Industrial Policy, Environmental Sustainability |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wa2010-01&r=env |
| By: | Marin, Giovanni; Mazzanti, Massimiliano |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new empirical evidence on Environmental Kuznets Curves (EKC) for CO2 and air pollutants at sector level. A panel dataset based on the Italian NAMEA (National Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts) over 1990-2006 is analysed, focusing on both emissions efficiency (EKC model) and total emissions (IPAT model). Results show that, looking at sector evidence, both decoupling and also eventually re-coupling trends could emerge along the path of economic development. The overall performance on greenhouse gases, here CO2, is not compliant with Kyoto targets. SOx and NOx show decreasing patterns, though the shape is affected by some outlier sectors with regard to joint emission-productivity dynamics. Services tend to present stronger delinking patterns across emissions than manufacturing. Trade expansion validates the pollution haven in some cases, but also show negative signs when only EU15 trade is considered: this may due to technology spillovers and a positive ‘race to the top’ rather than the bottom among EU15 trade partners. General R&D expenditure show weak correlation with emissions efficiency. EKC and IPAT derived models provide similar conclusions overall. Finally, we used SUR estimators (Seemingly Unrelated Regressions) for EKC models on manufacturing to have more efficient panel estimates (constrained model) and to test for slope heterogeneity (unconstrained model): the empirical evidence for CO2 and SOx emissions suggests that of manufacturing the slope varies across sectors. Further research should be directed towards deeper investigation of trade relationship at sector level and increased research into and efforts to produce specific sectoral data on ‘environmental innovations’. |
| Keywords: | NAMEA, trade openness, labour productivity, STIRPAT, SURE |
| JEL: | Q55 C23 Q56 O40 |
| Date: | 2009–10–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:20076&r=env |
| By: | Nancy Birdsall; Jan von der Goltz |
| Abstract: | In the run-up to the December 2009 Copenhagen climate conference, the authors surveyed members of the international development community with a special interest in climate change on three sets of detailed questions: (1) what action different country groups should take to limit climate change; (2) how much non-market funding there should be for emissions reductions and adaptation in developing countries, and how it should be allocated; and (3) which institutions should be involved in delivering climate assistance, and how the system should be governed. About 500 respondents from 88 countries completed the survey between November 19–24, 2009. About a third of the respondents grew up in developing countries, although some of them now live in developed countries. A broad majority of respondents from both developing and developed countries held very similar views on the responsibilities of the two different country groups, including on issues that have been very controversial in the negotiations. Most favored binding commitments now by developed countries, and commitments by 2020 by ‘advanced developing countries’ (Brazil, China, India, South Africa and others), limited use of offsets by developed countries, strict monitoring of compliance with commitments, and the use of trade measures (e.g. carbon-related tariffs) only in very narrow circumstances. Respondents from developing countries favored larger international transfers than those from developed countries, but the two groups share core ideas on how transfers should be allocated. Among institutional options for managing climate programs, a plurality of respondents from developed (48 percent) and developing (56 percent) countries preferred a UN-managed world climate fund, while many from both groups also embraced the UN Adaptation Fund’s approach, which is to accredit national institutions within countries which are eligible to manage implementation of projects that the Fund finances. Among approaches to governance, the most support went to the Climate Investment Fund model—of equal representation of developing and developed countries on the board. |
| Keywords: | carbon; climate change; copenhagen; negotiations |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:195&r=env |
| By: | Miguel Angel Quiroga (Departamento de Economía, Universidad de Concepción); Martin Persson (Department of Energy and Environment Chalmers University of Technology Sweden); Thomas Sterner (Department of Economics, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | We study whether lax environmental regulations induce comparative advantages, causing the least-regulated countries to specialize in polluting industries. We seek to improve three areas in the empirical literature based on the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek’s factor content of trade, more specifically in Tobey’s (1990) approach: the measurement of environmental endowments, the possible endogeneity due to an omitted variable that has not been considered, and the influence of the industrial level of aggregation. For the econometrical analysis, we use a cross-section of 71 countries to examine the net exports in the most polluting industries in the year 2000. As a result, we find that industrial aggregation matters and we find some evidence in favor of the pollution-haven effect. |
| Keywords: | trade, comparative advantage, pollution haven, environmental endowment,environmental regulation, Porter hypothesis, factor content, aggregation bias, nonhomothetic preferences. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cnc:wpaper:03-2009&r=env |
| By: | Sylvie Geisendorf (Department of Economics, University of Kassel) |
| Abstract: | Climate-economic models are mainly intertemporal cost-benefit analyses, trying to balance the damages from climate change against mitigation costs and derive an optimal climate policy. In recent years, the huge importance of uncertainty about climate behaviour impinging such models has been emphasized and it has been argued that one-shot intertemporal optimization is an unrealistic venture. However, only few authors tried to explicitly model the impact of uncertainty on agents’ beliefs and resulting behaviour. Janssen´s (1996) “battle of perspectives” multi-agent climate-economy model is a notable exception. Based on a macro-economic climate-economy model, he implemented adaptive agents, holding different perspectives on the dynamics of climate change and necessary preventive action. The present paper aims to make a case for this model which has gone largely unnoticed by climate economics. It argues for more multi-agent based research in climate economics to analyse the importance of human beliefs. Finally, the paper will update the “battle of perspectives” with current data to investigate the significance of uncertain data for economic climate change models. |
| Keywords: | climate change, climate-economy models, multi-agent modelling, mitigation, perceptions,bounded rationality, learning |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kas:poabec:2009-8&r=env |
| By: | Brian Blankespoor; Susmita Dasgupta; Benoit Laplante; David Wheeler |
| Abstract: | Without international assistance, developing countries will adapt to climate change as best they can. Part of the cost will be absorbed by households and part by the public sector. Adaptation costs will themselves be affected by socioeconomic development, which will also be affected by climate change. Without a better understanding of these interactions, it will be difficult for climate negotiators and donor institutions to determine the appropriate levels and modes of adaptation assistance. This paper contributes by assessing the economics of adaptation to extreme weather events. We address several questions that are relevant for the international discussion: How will climate change alter the incidence of these events, and how will their impact be distributed geographically? How will future socioeconomic development, notably an increased focus on education and empowerment for women and girls, affect the vulnerability of affected communities? And, of primary interest to negotiators and donors, how much would it cost to neutralize the threat of additional losses in this context? |
| Keywords: | women; girls; extreme weather; education; economic development; climate change |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:199&r=env |
| By: | Lopez, Ramon E. |
| Abstract: | Three new structural factors underlie the latest great world crisis: (1) the incorporation of highly populated countries into the growth process; (2) The increasing scarcity of the environment and certain natural resources; (3) the dramatic concentration of wealth and income in the advanced economies over the last two decades. These structural changes have significantly tightened the links between world growth and commodity demand, made the world commodity supply increasingly inelastic, and rendered economic growth more dependent on lax monetary and financial policies, respectively. All this may make the world economy highly vulnerable to crises and may make the recovery from the current crisis more difficult. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umdrwp:56408&r=env |
| By: | International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA |
| Abstract: | A concise overview of the energy related aspects of sustainable development programmes and declarations, followed by a short summary of events and documents explicitly devoted to energy matters are given. Recent arguments in the debate on sustainability are presented in order to provide the conceptual background for the sustainability assessment of Cuba’s energy system. |
| Keywords: | cuba, energy, sustainability, system, sustainable development, imports, resources, supply, biomass, renewwable, TECHNOLOGIES. technology, infrastructure, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2378&r=env |
| By: | Samir R Gandhi |
| Abstract: | Whether the WTO dispute settlement mechanism offers India an effective remedy against the misuse of NGO Standards or does India needs to adopt an alternate strategy to address such concerns is evaluated. The paper argues that an amendment to the text of the TBT Agreement is perhaps the most effective way regulating the growth of NGO Standards and for removing any ambiguity in or misinterpretation by the dispute settlement mechanism. In addition, India could push for a more ambitious work agenda at the CTE within the ongoing Doha Round negotiations. [ICRIER WP No. 181]. |
| Keywords: | ENVIRONMENTAL standards, non-profit, amendment, industry, manufacturers, privatization, NGO, green consumerism, negotiations, NGO, India, protection, Doha round, negotiations, WTO, Indian, voluntary, trade report, technological innovations, standardization, social issues, global commerce, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2377&r=env |
| By: | Pietro F. Peretto (Duke University); simone Valente (CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research at ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the relative growth performance of open economies in a two-country model where different endowments of labor and a natural resource generate asymmetric trade. A resource-rich economy trades resource-based intermediates for final manufacturing goods produced by a resource-poor economy. Productivity growth in both countries is driven by endogenous innovations. The effects of a sudden increase in the resource endowment depend crucially on the elasticity of substitution between resources and labor in interme- diates' production. Under substitution (complementarity), the resource boom generates higher (lower) resource income, lower (higher) employment in the resource-intensive sector, higher (lower) knowledge creation and faster (slower) growth in the resource-rich economy. The resource-poor economy adjusts to the shock by raising (reducing) the relative wage, and experiences a positive (negative) growth effect that is exclusively due to trade. |
| Keywords: | Endogenous Growth, Endogenous Technological Change, Natural Resources, International Trade. |
| JEL: | E10 F43 L16 O31 O40 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eth:wpswif:10-124&r=env |
| By: | Monteiro, Jose-Antonio |
| Abstract: | The growing popularity of national efforts to promote eco-labeling raises important questions. In particular, developing countries fear that the eco-label can deliberately impose the environmental concern of (high income) importing countries on their production methods. Yet, empirical studies of the adoption of eco-labelling schemes at the cross-country level are scarce due to the lack of data availability. In this paper, the decision to introduce an eco-label is analyzed through a heteroskedastic Bayesian spatial probit, which allows the government’s decision to introduce an eco-label to be influenced by the behaviour of the neighbouring countries. The estimation is performed by extending the joint updating approach proposed by Holmes & Held (2006) to a spatial framework. Empirical evidence highlights the importance of a high stage of development, innovation experience and potential scale effects in the implementation of an eco-label scheme. In addition, results confirm the existence of a strategic interdependence in the eco-label decision. |
| Keywords: | Bayesian Spatial Probit; International Trade; Environmental Policy; Eco-labelling |
| JEL: | F18 C25 C11 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:20268&r=env |
| By: | Saudamini Das |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the storm protection benefits due to mangroves during the super cyclone of 1999 in Orissa. By combining GIS data with census information, the paper examines the mangrove mediated effects on residential property in the Kendrapada district of Orissa. |
| Keywords: | village level data, hurricane, rural households, socio-economic factors, plantation, Averted damages, Mangroves, house, Storm Protection, Wind damages, Property loss, Orissa, cyclone, census, residential property, kendrapada, district, benefits, GIS data |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2381&r=env |