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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Horbach, Jens; Rammer, Christian; Rennings, Klaus |
| Abstract: | Empirical analyses of the determinants of environmental innovations were rarely able to distinguish between different areas of environmental impacts. The paper tries to close this gap by employing a new and unique dataset based on the German Community Innovation Survey conducted in 2009. The main purpose of the paper is to test whether different types of eco-innovations (according to their environmental impacts) are driven by different factors. Besides a complex set of different supply, firm specific and demand factors, the literature on the determinants of environmental innovations accentuates the important role of regulation, cost savings and customer benefits. We find that current and expected government regulation is particularly important for pushing firms to reduce air (e.g. CO₂, SO₂ or NOₓ) as well as water or noise emissions, avoid hazardous substances and increase recyclability of products. Cost savings are an important motivation for reducing energy and material use, pointing to the role of energy and raw materials prices as well as taxation as drivers for eco-innovation. Customer requirements are another important source for eco-innovations, particularly with regard to products with improved environmental performance and process innovations that increase material efficiency, reduce energy consumption and waste and the use of dangerous substances. Firms confirm a high importance of expected future regulations for all environmental product innovations. -- |
| Keywords: | Environmental Innovation,Environmental Impacts,Discrete Choice Models,Regulation,Cost Savings,Demand Pull,Environmental Policy |
| JEL: | Q55 O33 O38 C25 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:11027&r=env |
| By: | Caragea, Nicoleta; Alexandru, Ciprian Antoniade |
| Abstract: | Biodiversity is in decline globally and major ecosystems are placed under increasing pressure. Global poverty persists; the Millennium Development Goals would need major efforts to be achieved. This paper will explore the perspective for a new energy sector economy in relation to climate change and the sustainable development objectives. All renewable energy technologies are not appropriate to all applications or locations, however. This paper identifies some of the key environmental and economic benefits associated with renewable technologies. It is also analyzed in a comparative manner the current situation of energy from renewable sources in Romania and the EU Member States. |
| Keywords: | renewable energy; global warming; hydrogen economy; energy production |
| JEL: | C10 Q01 Q20 |
| Date: | 2010–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:30306&r=env |
| By: | Alfredo Marvão Pereira (Department of Economics, The College of William and Mary); Rui M. Pereira (Department of Economics, University of the Algarve) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the capacity for environmental reform to reduce CO2 emissions, stimulate economic performance, and promote fiscal sustainability. Simulation results suggest that reforms based on CO2 taxation stimulate GDP when tax revenues are used to promote private or public investment and employment when used to finance reductions in personal income taxation or firms' social security contributions. More generally, reforms allow for reductions in the costs of climate policy, a weaker realization of the second dividend. In addition, several reforms lead to reductions in public debt, the realization of a third dividend. When political constraints on reducing public spending are considered, however, this third dividend only materializes when revenues finance public investment or reductions in the firms' social security contributions. Overall, our results suggest that low growth and high public debt need not be regarded as hindrances for environmental fiscal reform but can actually be seen as catalysts. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Tax, Environmental Fiscal Reform, Economic Growth, Budgetary Consolidation,Dynamic General Equilibrium, Endogenous Growth |
| JEL: | D58 H54 H63 Q48 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwm:wpaper:114&r=env |
| By: | Chuku, Agbai |
| Abstract: | This study utilizes standard- and nested-EKC models to investigate the income-environment relation for Nigeria, between 1960 and 2008. The results from the standard-EKC model provides weak evidence of an inverted-U shaped relationship with turning point (T.P) around $280.84, while the nested model presents strong evidence of an N-shaped relationship between income and emissions in Nigeria, with a T.P around $237.23. Tests for structural breaks caused by the 1973 oil price shocks and 1986 Structural Adjustment are not rejected, implying that these factors have not significantly affected the income-environment relationship in Nigeria. Further, results from the rolling interdecadal analysis shows that the observed relationship is stable and insensitive to the sample interval chosen. Overall, our findings imply that economic development is compatible with environmental improvements in Nigeria. However, tighter and concentrated environmental policy regimes will be required to ensure that the relationship is maintained around the first two-strands of the N-shape |
| Keywords: | Environmental Kuznets curve; development; CO2 emissions; nested-EKC model; Nigeria |
| JEL: | O20 Q01 |
| Date: | 2011–01–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:30195&r=env |
| By: | Rogge, Karoline S.; Schleich, Joachim; Haussmann, Philipp; Roser, Annette; Reitze, Felix |
| Abstract: | Based on a research framework which combines environmental economics and innovation studies, we explore the relevance of the regulatory framework for innovation activities in the German paper industry, with a focus on climate poli-cies. Innovation activities considered include research and development, adop-tion and organizational change. Empirically, we mainly rely on the survey data of paper producers and technology providers. Findings suggest that innovation activities are mainly governed by market factors and (as yet) are hardly affected by the European Emission Trading System and other climate policies. Also, the impact of these policies on innovation activities is lower for technology providers than for paper producers. However, the majority of companies expect the ef-fects of the regulatory climate policy framework on innovation to increase by 2020. -- |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisisi:s12011&r=env |
| By: | David Maddison; Katrin Rehdanz; Daiju Narita |
| Abstract: | According to household production function theory households combine marketed goods and nonmarket environmental goods to produce service flows of direct value to the household. This readily explains why, as an input to household production activities, households might have preferences over the climate. Using techniques more frequently employed to account for differences in the demographic composition of households we use household production function theory to estimate climate equivalence scales using household expenditure data drawn from 51 Japanese cities over the period 2000-2009. Our results indicate that warmer temperatures result in a small but statistically highly significant reduction in the cost of living. Combining these estimates with climate change scenarios associated with the IPCC A2, A1B, and B1 emissions scenarios other things being equal points to a slight reduction in Japanese households’ cost of living |
| Keywords: | Consumer Demand; Household Production Function; Climate; Japan |
| JEL: | D12 D13 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1693&r=env |
| By: | FURUSAWA Taiji; KONISHI Hideo |
| Abstract: | We study international free-riding-proof coalitions to solve trans-boundary environmental problems such as global warming. We show that the free-riding problem is rather serious so that a free-riding-proof coalition can consist of only a small number of countries. In the optimal coalitional structure, therefore, the world would be divided into many small groups. For each group, if countries are symmetric, their individual incentives to join a group are identical across the two regimes of environmental coalitions: the non-transferable utility (NTU) regime and transferable utility (TU) regime. If member countries are asymmetric, however, groups are more stable under the TU regime than under the NTU regime since the former regime enables the member countries to pool their incentives. International cooperation (within each group) on carbon taxes is shown to be equivalent to the NTU regime, while emission permit trading is shown to be equivalent to the TU regime. Therefore, the emission permit trading system can be considered to be superior in the world of asymmetric countries. |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:11043&r=env |
| By: | Charles Mason; Andrew Plantinga |
| Abstract: | Governments contracting with private agents for the provision of an impure public good must contend with agents who would potentially supply the good absent any payments. This additionality problem is centrally important to the use of carbon offsets to mitigate climate change. We analyze optimal contracts for forest carbon, an important offset category. A novel national-scale simulation of the contracts is conducted that uses econometric results derived from micro data. For a 50 million acre increase in forest area, annual government expenditures with optimal contracts are found to be about $4 billion lower compared to costs with a uniform subsidy. |
| JEL: | D8 L15 Q2 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16963&r=env |
| By: | Kawata, Yukichika |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an overview of the current conditions of livestock-related environmental problems in Japan. The former Basic Agriculture Act, which was effective between 1961 and 1999, promoted single cropping, the use of chemicals in agricultural methods, and the use of large-sized machines, which caused problems such as soil impoverishment, replant failure, chemical residue accumulation, ground water pollution, and productivity reduction. Many of these livestock-related environmental problems are closely linked to substances in livestock excreta and excessive nitrogen, which is the prime cause of concern. These problems are related to externality and can be attributed to the overuse of natural resources. In addition, the former law ignored the multiple functions of agriculture, which, in turn, diminished the positive external effects. These problems are related to externality and can be attributed to the underuse of natural resources. This condition has been improved under the Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas Basic Act (New Basic Agriculture Act). Superficially, livestock excreta and excessive nitrogen contribute to the overuse problem, but if we regard them as unused resources, they can also be categorised as factors that contribute to the underuse problem. The new act offers measures to resolve underuse problems, but these measures continue to remain inadequate to arrive at a complete solution. Therefore, in addition to the legal approaches adopted, voluntary countermeasures by agriculture and livestock farmers should also be promoted. |
| Keywords: | externality; livestock-related environmental problems; livestock excreta; multiple functions of agriculture; voluntary countermeasures |
| JEL: | Q53 Q18 |
| Date: | 2011–04–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:30277&r=env |
| By: | Asici, Ahmet Atıl |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to explore the relationship between the economic growth and the pressure on nature from the environmental sustainability perspective. We measure pressure on nature as the sum of energy, mineral, net forest depletions and carbon dioxide damage, all measured in US dollars. The data is taken from the Adjusted Net Savings data of World Bank. Our panel consists of 213 countries and spans the period between 1970 and 2008. To investigate the causal effect of economic growth on nature we employ two strategies; fixed-effects and fixed-effects instrumental-variables (IV) regressions. Cross-country analysis reveals that there is a positive relationship between income and pressure on nature. However, the relationship is not linear across countries; the effect is much stronger in middle-income countries than in low and high-income countries. Our results are robust to the inclusion of various covariates and moreover they do not support the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis which foresees a reduction in environmental degradation once a certain level of development is reached. |
| Keywords: | Adjusted Net Saving; Genuine Saving; Sustainability; Panel data |
| JEL: | Q32 Q56 Q01 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:30238&r=env |
| By: | Julien Chevallier (EconomiX - CNRS : UMR7166 - Université de Paris X - Nanterre) |
| Abstract: | Since the creation of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) in 2005, a burgeoning academic literature has emerged to identify the factors that shape the price of carbon, where one European Union Allowance is equal to one ton of CO2-equivalent emitted in the atmosphere. Thus, there is a need for an updated and thorough literature review on the state-ofthe-art on topic that this paper aims to fulfill. Namely, we consider the main econometric studies that have been recently published in the academic literature, which feature the influence of the following determinants to explain the variation of the price of carbon: institutional decisions; energy prices and weather events; macroeconomic and financial market shocks. The paper concludes with some directions for future research in this area. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Price; Banking Borrowing; Energy Prices; Macroeconomy; Financial Markets; Econometrics |
| Date: | 2011–04–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00586513&r=env |
| By: | Maureen L. Cropper; James K. Hammitt; Lisa A. Robinson |
| Abstract: | The value of mortality risk reduction is an important component of the benefits of environmental policies. In recent years, the number, scope, and quality of valuation studies have increased dramatically. Revealed-preference studies of wage compensation for occupational risks, on which analysts have primarily relied, have benefited from improved data and statistical methods. Stated-preference research has improved methodologically and expanded dramatically. Studies are now available for several health conditions associated with environmental causes and researchers have explored many issues concerning the validity of the estimates. With the growing numbers of both types of studies, several meta-analyses have become available that provide insight into the results of both methods. Challenges remain, including better understanding of the persistently smaller estimates from stated-preference than from wage-differential studies and of how valuation depends on the individual’s age, health status, and characteristics of the illnesses most frequently associated with environmental causes. |
| JEL: | Q50 Q51 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16971&r=env |
| By: | Iain Fraser; Katsuyuki Shibayama |
| Abstract: | In this paper we consider the option value of the environment employing a general equilibrium growth model with a stochastic technology. In our model, as in existing studies, because of irreversibility, the environment has significant real option value. However, unlike the existing literature in which the uncertainty of the value of the environment is given exogenously, the value of the environment is endogenously determined. In our model, the elasticity of substitution eta between the environment and consumption plays a crucial role. We show that the option value, and hence, the optimal decision are both affected by eta not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. |
| Keywords: | real option values; environment; general equilibrium; elasticity of substitution |
| JEL: | G13 Q31 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ukc:ukcedp:1107&r=env |
| By: | Sébastien MARCHAND (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International); Gaoussou DIARRA (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates empirically the relationships between the corruption climate and the demand for good governance by focusing on firms' behaviors in developing countries. The concept of demand for good governance is conceived in terms of a firm's willingness to comply with regulatory norms measured through the firm's perception of the level of public accountability as well as the firm's behavior in terms of corruption practices. While there is a growing theoretical literature on the importance of externality mechanisms of corruption phenomena, little empirical evidences has been highlighted. This paper contributes to fill this gap by using firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey. We show that when corruption is found to be a very important constraint for a firm's business, its willingness to comply decreases and the probability of the firm's corrupting officials increases. These results support arguments according to which the demand for good governance is likely to be influenced by the perception of the existence of pervasive corruption. Moreover, the results are conditioned on countries' institutional features and the type of regulation. Some evidence is also found for firms' environmental overcompliance. |
| Keywords: | Corruption; Compliance; Regulation; Firms |
| JEL: | A13 A12 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1258&r=env |
| By: | Zenthöfer, A.F. (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper compares Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago which have a very similar climate, history, institutional framework, ethnic composition, size, etc., but are different in the natural resources they possess. Trinidad and Tobago has achieved a higher per capita GDP based on its petrodollars, but Mauritius has achieved a more robust and stable growth path and a diversified economy based on an export-oriented economic strategy. Trinidad and Tobago is highly dependent on the world market prices for oil and gas and engages in a smaller variety of economic activities, giving it a worse perspective for its future economic development. It appears that this curse is mainly working through Dutch disease effects. |
| Keywords: | Resource Curse;Dutch Disease;Natural Experiment;Mauritius;Trinidad and Tobago. |
| JEL: | N56 N57 Q32 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2011028&r=env |