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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Schaller, Lena; Kantelhardt, Jochen; Drosler, Matthias; Hoper, Heinrich |
| Abstract: | Increasing carbon dioxide emissions and related climate effects require mitigation strategies, thereby also emissions caused by agriculture are brought into the focus of political debate. In particular organic soil cultivation, inducing significant CO2 emissions is being discussed more and more. This study aims to answer the question of whether changes of organic soil management can serve as cost-efficient mitigation strategies for climate change. To this end we have built an economic model in which farm-individual and plot-specific CO2-abatement costs of selected landuse strategies are calculated by contrasting effects on the agricultural income with the related reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions. With respect to microeconomic data we use a dataset collected in six German regions while data on emission-factors originates from co-operations with natural-scientific research groups. Results show that CO2-abatement costs vary due to different levels of land-use reorganisation. Reasonable emission reductions are mainly achieved when agricultural intensity is clearly decreased. Agricultural income forgone varies significantly due to production conditions and mitigation strategies. However, even when economic costs are high they may be balanced by high emission reductions and may not result in high abatement costs. Nevertheless, CO2-reductions benefits appear to be social and costs private. Agro-environmental programmes must be implemented to compensate resulting income losses. |
| Keywords: | CO2 abatement cost, climate change mitigation strategies, microeconomic consequences, organic soil management, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:120393&r=env |
| By: | tsur, yacov; Zemel, Amos |
| Abstract: | Uncertainty enters the dynamic tradeoffs of environmental and natural resource management in a variety of ways and forms. In this chapter we review the various sources of uncertainty, the methodologies developed to account for them and implications regarding management of environmental and natural resources. |
| Keywords: | resource management, environmental policy, uncertainty, catastrophic events, irreversibility., Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:huaedp:120017&r=env |
| By: | Narayanan, K.; Sahu, Santosh Kumar |
| Abstract: | The problem of mitigating climate change has continued to dominate public debates in terms of its origin, sources, potential impacts and possibly adaptation strategies. In this paper, the contributions of energy to the climate change debate are explored. The analysis based on the secondary information shows that the global use of fossil fuels has increased and dominated world energy consumption and supply. This case is quite similar to Indian case and the emissions in Indian are also increasing. To account for the change in CO2 emission, we have followed index decomposition analysis using data from the PROWESS database of the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy. Two factors are considered to account for the changes in emission intensity of Indian economy, namely, (1) output shift among three sectors of the India economy (Agriculture, Service and Manufacturing) and (2) the structural change based on the aggregate output change with respect to the emissions change for the post globalised period. Based on the estimates we found that the structural change in Indian economy from 1991-2007 plays a major role in reducing emission as compared to the output shifts across the sectors. Based on the findings and international experiences, few policy options for Indian case such as; energy pricing reforms, promoting investment in renewable energy technologies and creating public environmental awareness are suggested. |
| Keywords: | Emission; Energy Consumption; Climate Change; Post-Globalization; Policy Instruments |
| JEL: | C63 Q43 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36366&r=env |
| By: | Nkuiya, Bruno |
| Abstract: | We characterize the equilibrium level of emissions, the equilibrium stock of global pollution and the discounted net social welfare for both the cooperative and non-cooperative equilibria when the countries face the threat of a sudden irreversible jump in the global damages at an unknown date. The goal is to analyze the impact of this type of uncertainty on the equilibrium behavior of the countries. We find that it can have a significant effect on those equilibria. Countries reduce their emissions to mitigate their exposure to this threat. As the level of threat rises, countries adjust their emissions to lower the stock of pollutant. However, although initially this threat has the effect of lowering the discounted net welfare, it can in the long run have a net positive effect on welfare. The emissions trajectory is non-monotonic and discontinuous, but only under the threat. |
| Keywords: | Global pollution, Environmental uncertainty, regime shift, stochastic differential games, Environmental Economics and Policy, C61, C7, D81, Q54, |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ulavwp:117826&r=env |
| By: | Gabriel Chan; Robert Stavins; Robert Stowe; Richard Sweeney |
| Abstract: | The introduction of the U.S. SO2 allowance-trading program to address the threat of acid rain as part of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 is a landmark event in the history of environmental regulation. The program was a great success by almost all measures. This paper, which draws upon a research workshop and a policy roundtable held at Harvard in May 2011, investigates critically the design, enactment, implementation, performance, and implications of this path-breaking application of economic thinking to environmental regulation. Ironically, cap and trade seems especially well suited to addressing the problem of climate change, in that emitted greenhouse gases are evenly distributed throughout the world’s atmosphere. Recent hostility toward cap and trade in debates about U.S. climate legislation may reflect the broader political environment of the climate debate more than the substantive merits of market-based regulation. |
| JEL: | Q52 Q53 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17845&r=env |
| By: | Pal, Barundeb; Pohit, Sanjib; Roy, Joyashree |
| Abstract: | This paper analyse the impact of growth in sectoral output and employment on green house gas emissions (GHG) in India. To analyse this we have used environmentally extended social accounting matrix (ESAM) based approach for India. The ESAM shows inter relationship between the economic activities as well as their impact on environment. The environmental impacts are captured through emission of GHGs, depletion of natural resources like land, coal and crude oil. India was an early leader in social accounting matrix (SAM) based analysis but this is the first ESAM for India. In this study we have constructed 35 sectors ESAM for India for the year 2006-07 with detail description of energy sectors. The pollution trade-off multiplier obtained from this ESAM helps us to analyse total (direct, and indirect-induced) impact of growth in sectoral output and employment on GHG emission in India. Here we have assumed public investment and foreign trade as exogenous variables. So the result shows that due to interdendency between the production sectors total increase in GHG emission is higher than their direct effects. Sometimes researchers rely on the direct relationship between the economic activity and GHG emissions but their indirect impact must be incorporated to see economy wide impact on GHG emission. The result of this study shows that the direct effect of paddy sector on GHG emission is substantially lower than their indirect-induced effect. The direct effect of paddy sector on GHG emission is around 6tons/Rs. lakh of output but its total effect on GHG emission is around 32 tons /Rs. lakh of output. Also this study shows that growth in service sector in India will not be the jobless growth and its total impact on GHG emission is not significant. |
| Keywords: | SAM; India; Environment;Climate Change |
| JEL: | C6 Q5 |
| Date: | 2011–08–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36540&r=env |
| By: | Blackman, Allen (Resources for the Future); Uribe, Eduardo; van Hoof, Bart; Lyon, Thomas P. |
| Abstract: | According to proponents, voluntary agreements (VAs) negotiated with polluters sidestep weak institutions and other barriers to conventional environmental regulation in developing countries. Yet little is known about their effectiveness. We examine VAs in Colombia, a global leader in the use of these policies. We find that the main motive for using VAs has been to build capacity needed for broader environmental regulatory reform. Their additional effect on environmental performance has been questionable. These findings suggest that in developing countries, VAs may be best suited to capacity building, not environmental management per se. |
| Keywords: | voluntary environmental agreement, pollution, Colombia |
| JEL: | Q01 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–02–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-12-06&r=env |
| By: | Halkos, George; Tzeremes, Nickolaos |
| Abstract: | This paper by applying Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) ranks for the first time Economics journals in the field of Agricultural, Environmental and Natural Resource. Specifically, by using one composite input and one composite output the paper ranks 32 journals. In addition for the first time three different quality ranking reports have been incorporated to the DEA modelling problem in order to classify the journals into four categories (‘A’ to ‘D’). The results reveal that the journals with the highest rankings in the field are Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Land Economics, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Journal of Agricultural Economics, Energy Journal, Resource and Energy Economics, Environment and Planning A, Ecological Economics and European Review of Agricultural Economics. |
| Keywords: | Journals Rankings; Agricultural Economics; Environmental Economics; Natural Resource Economics; Data Envelopment Analysis |
| JEL: | Q00 C14 C02 A10 A11 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36233&r=env |
| By: | Romuald, Kinda Somlanare |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at analysing the effect of democratic institutions on environmental quality (carbon dioxide per capita, sulfure dioxide per capita) and at identifying potential channel transmissions. We use panel data from 1960 to 2008 in 122 developing and developed countries and modern econometric methods. The results are as follows: Firstly, we show that democratic institutions have opposite effects on environment quality: a positive direct effect on environment quality and a negative indirect effect through investments and income inequality. Indeed, democratic institutions attract investments that hurt environment quality. Moreover, as democratic institutions reduce income inequality, they also damage environment. Secondly, we find that the direct negative effect of democratic institutions is higher for local pollutant (SO2) than for global pollutant (CO2). Thirdly, the nature of democratic institutions (presidential, parliamentary) is not conducive to environmental quality. Fourtly, results suggest that the direct positive effect of democratic institutions on environment quality is higher in developed countries than in developing countries. Thus, the democratic process in the first group of countries has increased their awareness for the environment protection. |
| Keywords: | Democratic institutions, Air pollution, Panel data, Income inequality, Investments, Environmental Economics and Policy, O43, Q53, C23, D31, E22, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:120396&r=env |
| By: | Keswani Mehra, Meeta; Mukherjee, Saptarshi; Dutta, Monica |
| Abstract: | Global warming caused by accumulation of emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is a public bad, addressing which requires collective action by all the countries of the world. Under the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), most countries have negotiated the Kyoto Protocol for GHG emissions control to stabilize climate change. Several issues about the Protocol remain unresolved -- first, most of the significant countries are required to take a decision on whether or not to sign such a protocol, which has large-scale implications for their energy and industrial sectors and economic well-being; second, climate change mitigation is a public good entailing that all the countries would stand to gain due to mitigation action taken by a sub-group of one or more countries; and third, there exists no supra-national authority to enforce such a protocol for the individual sovereign nations. Thus, commitment to cooperate on an international agreement on climate change control remains tenuous. Formally, such a cooperative model is likely to be unstable. The paper discusses the pros and cons of the already proposed international cooperative mechanisms toward climate change mitigation and highlights the problem of information revelation, particularly related to the abatement issues. In this context, it attempts to outline a structure of a self-enforcing burden sharing mechanism for climate change mitigation in an incomplete information framework. The mechanism is an adoption of the well-known Vickrey-Clarke-Groves mechanism, widely used in mechanism design theory. |
| Keywords: | Climate change negotiations; cooperative games; stable coalitions; self-enforcing mechanism |
| JEL: | D2 D71 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–01–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36286&r=env |
| By: | Bernard, Jean-Thomas; Gavin, Michael; Khalaf, Lynda; Voia, Marcel |
| Abstract: | We consider an empirical estimation of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) for carbon dioxide and sulphur, with a focus on confidence set estimation of the tipping point. Various econometric â parametric and nonparametric â methods are considered, reflecting the implications of persistence, endogeneity, the necessity of breaking down our panel regionally, and the small number of countries within each panel. In particular, we propose an inference method that corrects for potential weak-identification of the tipping point. Weak identification may occur if the true EKC is linear while a quadratic income term is nevertheless imposed into the estimated equation. Relevant literature to date confirms that non-linearity of the EKC is indeed not granted, which provides the motivation for our work. Viewed collectively, our results confirm an inverted U-shaped EKC in the OECD countries but generally not elsewhere, although a local-pollutant analysis suggest favorable exceptions beyond the OECD. Our measures of uncertainty confirm that it is difficult to identify economically plausible tipping points. Policy-relevant estimates of the tipping point can nevertheless be recovered from a local-pollutant long-run or non-parametric perspective. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Kuznets Curve, Fieller method, Delta method, CO2 and SO2 emissions, Confidence set, Tipping point, Climate policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, C52, Q51, Q52, Q56, |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ulavwp:119109&r=env |
| By: | Kolikow, Steven; Kragt, Marit.E.; Mugera, Amin.W. |
| Abstract: | Farmers need to undertake adaptive action to protect their livelihoods from the impacts of climate change. There is an emerging discourse about existing limits (absolute obstacles) and barriers (mutable obstacles) to climate change adaptation. Given the complex, multifaceted nature of climate change, interdisciplinary research is the most effective way to improve understanding of these obstacles. However, the success of multi-disciplinary projects tends to be hindered by a lack of common definition of limits and barriers. There exists no agreed framework that integrates the different understandings of limits and barriers to agricultural adaptation. In this study, we develop an interdisciplinary framework of limits and barriers to climate change adaptation in Western Australian broad-acre farming. The framework incorporates biophysical, technological, and socio-economic factors. We show how farmers' personal characteristics and the socio-institutional context within which farmers act contribute to limits and barriers. The study revealed significant differences on how various research disciplines understand limits and barriers to adaptation. The framework developed will guide future integrative projects around the epistemological challenges that are typically encountered in multi-disciplinary research. We discuss the greatest knowledge gaps that limit our understanding of limit and barriers, and suggest areas where policy efforts should be focused to help farmers adapt to climate change. |
| Keywords: | Adaptation, Agriculture, Australia, Broad-acre Farming, Conceptual Modelling, Climate Change, Epistemology, Interdisciplinary Research, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Q12, Q54, |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwauwp:120467&r=env |
| By: | Saltari, Enrico; Travaglini, Giuseppe |
| Abstract: | In this paper we present a continuous time model with reversible abatement capital in order to analyze the effects of environmental policies on the value of the firm and investment decisions. We show that the effects depend on what sort of future policy are implemented. We focus on investment effects of changes in corrective taxes to control the use of polluting inputs, and subsidies to promote abatement investment. We show that (1) while taxes have a depressive effect on capital accumulation, subsidies boost investment; (2) the impact of these policies on the value of the firm is ambiguous. This latter result has important empirical implications insofar as investment are based on the average value of the firm rather than the (unobservable) marginal value. |
| Keywords: | Pollution uncertainty; externality; capital reversibility; environmental policy |
| JEL: | L51 E22 H23 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35072&r=env |
| By: | Christoph Böhringer, Brita Bye, Taran Fæhn, and Knut Einar Rosendahl (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | In the absence of effective world-wide cooperation to curb global warming, import tariffs on embodied carbon have been proposed as a potential supplement to unilateral emissions pricing. We consider alternative designs for such tariffs, and analyze their effects on global welfare within a multi-region, multi-sector computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of global trade and energy. Our analysis suggests that the most cost-efficient policy could be region-specific tariffs on all products, based on direct plus electricity emissions. In the end, however, the potential cost savings through carbon tariffs must be weighed against the administrative costs as well as legal issues and political considerations. |
| Keywords: | carbon leakage; embodied carbon; border tariffs |
| JEL: | Q43 Q54 H2 D61 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:682&r=env |
| By: | Wilfried Ehrenfeld |
| Abstract: | Climate change, including its possible causes and consequences, is one of the most controversial and intensely discussed topics of our time. However, European businesses nowadays are less affected by the direct effects of climate change than by its indirect consequences. One central issue that arises in this context is the change in demands imposed by the enterprises’ operational environment. This article contributes to environmental innovation literature by providing a comprehensive framework which allows an analysis of the drivers, determinants and outcomes of climate innovations implemented by companies. In this context, the prime issue is how the perception of climate change affects corporate innovation processes. Firstly, the new demands imposed on the company by its stakeholders are considered. Secondly, the innovative reactions to these impulses are captured. Finally, the functions and relevance of certain internal and external determinants in the innovative process are highlighted. |
| Keywords: | climate change, evolutionary economics, innovation, research framework |
| JEL: | O31 Q54 O33 O38 Q55 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iwh:dispap:1-12&r=env |
| By: | Marletto, Gerardo |
| Abstract: | This paper draws on institutional and evolutionary economics and contributes to an approach to environmental policy which diverges from mainstream prescriptions. The 'socio-technical system' is the core concept: this is a complex made of co-evolving institutions, technologies, markets and actors that fulfils an overall societal need (such as housing, production, mobility, etc.). A systemic and dynamic analysis of those structural changes which are needed to create more sustainable socio-technical systems is provided; actors – and their ability to influence politics and policy – are explicitly taken into consideration. Unsustainable socio-technical systems feature a relevant resistance to change, because they are embedded in the very structure of our society and because of the conservative action of dominant stakeholders; this is why no environmental policy will be effective unless it aims at 'unlocking' our societies from their dominance. But also a constructive side of environmental policy is needed in order to establish new and more sustainable socio-technical systems; consistently, environmental policy is viewed as a combination of actions that can trigger, make viable and align those institutional, technological and economic changes which are needed to reach sustainability. Again, actors (for change) are at the heart of this vision of environmental policy: as subject, because the creation of new and sustainable socio-technical systems is made possible by (coalitions of) actors for change; as object, because environmental policy – to be effective – must actively support the empowerment, legitimation and social networking of such coalitions. A ‘chicken and egg’ problem remains: who comes first? Actors for change advocating policies for sustainability or policies for sustainability supporting actors for change? |
| Keywords: | Environmental policy; Economic dynamics; Institutional economics; Evolutionary economics; Socio-technical systems |
| JEL: | B52 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36441&r=env |
| By: | Russu, Paolo |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how the introduction of user fees and defensive expenditures change the complex dynamics of a discrete-time model, which represents the interaction between visitors and environmental quality in a Open-Access Protected-Area (OAPA). To investigate this issue more deeply, we begin by studying in great detail the OAPA model and then we introduce the user fee () and the defensive expenditures () specifically directed towards at the protection of the environmental resource. We observed that some values of can generate a chaotic regime from a stable dynamic of the OAPA model. Finally, to eliminate the chaotic regime, we design a controller by OGY method, assuming the user fee as a controller parameter. |
| Keywords: | sustainable tourism; controlling chaos; |
| JEL: | L83 Q01 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36598&r=env |
| By: | Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future); Fraas, Arthur G. (Resources for the Future); Richardson, Nathan (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | EPA is in the process of regulating U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using its powers under the Clean Air Act. The likely next phase of this regulatory program is performance standards under Section 111 of the act for coal plants and petroleum refineries, which the agency has committed to finalize by the end of 2012. Section 111 appears to allow use of flexible, market-based regulatory tools. In this paper, we discuss one such tool, tradable standards. Tradable standards appear to be a legally and politically viable choice for the agency, and evidence suggests they are substantially more cost-effective than traditional performance standards. The paper discusses implementation issues with tradable standards, including categorization, banking, and phased implementation, as well as broader issues with the Section 111 rulemaking process as it relates to state-level GHG regulatory efforts. |
| Keywords: | averaging, flexibility, regulatory design, market-based regulation |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–02–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-12-05&r=env |
| By: | Lerman, Zvi; Wolfgramm, Bettina |
| Abstract: | Tajikistan, with 93% of its surface area taken up by mountains and 65% of its labor force employed in agriculture, is judged to be highly vulnerable to risks, including climate change risks and food insecurity risks. The article examines a set of land use policies and practices that can be used to mitigate the vulnerability of Tajikistanâs large rural population, primarily by increasing family incomes. Empirical evidence from Tajikistan and other CIS countries suggests that families with more land and higher commercialization earn higher incomes and achieve higher well-being. The recommended policy measures that are likely to increase rural family incomes accordingly advocate expansion of smallholder farms, improvement of livestock productivity, increase of farm commercialization through improvement of farm services, and greater diversification of both income sources and the product mix. The analysis relies for supporting evidence on official statistics and recent farm surveys. Examples from local initiatives promoting sustainable land management practices and demonstrating the implementation of the proposed policy measures are presented |
| Keywords: | Vulnerability to risks, rural incomes, agriculture, land use policies, Tajikistan, climate change risks, sustainable land management, transition countries. Tajikistan, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:huaedp:119834&r=env |
| By: | Gerardo Marletto (University of Sassari) |
| Abstract: | This paper draws on institutional and evolutionary economics and contributes to an approach to environmental policy which diverges from mainstream prescriptions. The 'socio-technical system' is the core concept: this is a complex made of co-evolving institutions, technologies, markets and actors that fulfils an overall societal need (such as housing, production, mobility, etc.). A systemic and dynamic analysis of those structural changes which are needed to create more sustainable socio-technical systems is provided; actors – and their ability to influence politics and policy – are explicitly taken into consideration. Unsustainable socio-technical systems feature a relevant resistance to change, because they are embedded in the very structure of our society and because of the conservative action of dominant stakeholders; this is why no environmental policy will be effective unless it aims at 'unlocking' our societies from their dominance. But also a constructive side of environmental policy is needed in order to establish new and more sustainable socio-technical systems; consistently, environmental policy is viewed as a combination of actions that can trigger, make viable and align those institutional, technological and economic changes which are needed to reach sustainability. Again, actors (for change) are at the heart of this vision of environmental policy: as subject, because the creation of new and sustainable socio-technical systems is made possible by (coalitions of) actors for change; as object, because environmental policy – to be effective – must actively support the empowerment, legitimation and social networking of such coalitions. A 'chicken and egg' problem remains: who comes first? Actors for change advocating policies for sustainability or policies for sustainability supporting actors for change? |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rcr:wpaper:01_12&r=env |
| By: | Georg Zachmann |
| Abstract: | A drastic change in the way we produce and consume energy is necessary to contain the risk of global environmental catastrophe. For its part, the EU has set agreed to a greenhouse gas reduction target of 80-95 percent by 2050, compared to 1990. However, with the current fuel mix, even the most ambitious improvements on incumbent technologies are unlikely to be sufficient for reaching the reduction targets. Meeting the targets requires low-carbon transition. However, the process of transition will likely be littered with market failures. Hundreds of more-or-less proven low-carbon technologies are competing for market share in the low-carbon system. In order to bring about the transition to a low-carbon energy and transport system at the lowest cost, policymakers should rely as much as possible on private action to choose, develop, and deploy low-carbon technologies. For those market failures that might only be overcome with technology-specific measures, governments should set up a transparent and predictable mechanism for selecting technologies. This Policy Contribution largely draws on research conducted for The great transformation: decarbonising Europeâ??s energy and transport systems. The research leading to these results has received funding from the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH). The views expressed in this publication are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FCH. |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bre:polcon:692&r=env |
| By: | Kaminski, Jonathan; Kan, Iddo; Fleischer, Aliza |
| Abstract: | This article proposes a proactive approach for analyzing agricultural adaptation to climate change based on a structural land-use model wherein farmers maximize profit by allocating their land between crop-technology bundles. The profitability of the bundles is a function of four technological attributes via which climate variablesâ effect is channeled: yield potential; input requirements; yields' sensitivity to input use; and farm-level management costs. Proactive adaptation measures are derived by identifying the technological attributes via which climate variables reduce overall agricultural profitability, despite adaptation by land reallocation among bundles. By applying the model to Israel, we find that long-term losses stem from yield potential reductions driven by forecasted increases in temperature, implying that adaptation efforts should target more heat-tolerant crop varieties and technologies. |
| Keywords: | adaptation, agricultural land use, climate change, crop-technology bundles, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:huaedp:120076&r=env |
| By: | Lemoine, Derek M. (Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley); Traeger, Christian P. (University of California, Berkeley. Dept of agricultural and resource economics) |
| Abstract: | We model optimal policy when the probability of a tipping point, the welfare change due to a tipping point, and knowledge about a tipping point's trigger all depend on the policy path. Analytic results demonstrate how optimal policy depends on the ability to affect both the probability of a tipping point and also welfare in a post-threshold world. Simulations with a numerical climate- economy model show that possible tipping points in the climate system increase the optimal near-term carbon tax by up to 45% in base case speciffcations. The resulting policy paths lower peak warming by up to 0.5 C compared to a model without possible tipping points. Different types of tipping points have qualitatively different effects on policy, demonstrating the importance of explicitly modeling tipping points' effects on system dynamics. Aversion to ambiguity in the threshold's distribution can amplify or dampen the effect of tipping points on optimal policy, but in our numerical model, ambiguity aversionincreases the optimal carbon tax. |
| Keywords: | tipping point, threshold, regime shift, ambiguity, climate, uncertainty, integrated assessment, dynamic programming, social cost of carbon, carbon tax |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:are:cudare:1111r&r=env |
| By: | Arrocha, Fernando; Villena, Mauricio G. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the relationship between rural poverty and forestland management in the context of charcoal production under slash and burn. An optimal control model determines how a representative household makes decisions on the allocation of labor and forest areas to exploit, which in turn affects the renewable resource base available to the community. The proposed optimal control model for charcoal production is built upon the agricultural model of slash and burn of Pascual and Barbier (2007). This theoretical model is calibrated with data from the community of Chunkanán, Campeche, Mexico. The simulation and comparison of the traditional forestry slash and burn management with the Forest Management Program for the Exploitation of Timber Resources (FMPETR), put forward by the regulatory authority as a policy of use and conservation of forest resources, showed that the former, and not the latter, is sustainable from an ecological point of view and efficient from an economic point of view, implying that households allocate an optimal amount of labor and forest biomass. This result suggests that the FMPETR is a suboptimal policy, showing that there is room for improvement in terms of the design and implementation of policies aimed at providing economic and social incentives leading to the sustainable management of natural resources. |
| Keywords: | Forest Management, Rural Poverty, Charcoal Production, Rural Households |
| JEL: | Q23 O13 |
| Date: | 2011–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36361&r=env |
| By: | Schiederig, Tim; Tietze, Frank; Herstatt, Cornelius |
| Abstract: | The importance of green innovation management is growing in practice and academia likewise. To our knowledge, a recent and comprehensive literature review is lacking. In this paper we contribute to a clarification of the concept green innovation and provide an overview of the existing body of literature in the field of green innovations identifying the most active scholars, institutions and relevant publications. We find that the three different notions of green, eco/ecological and environmental innovation are used largely synonymously while the notion of sustainable innovation broadens the concept and includes a social dimension. We find further that the most active scholars are situated in Europe (i.e. Netherlands, Italy and Germany) and identified three innovation management journals leading the field. -- |
| Keywords: | Innovation management,green innovations,eco innovations,environmental innovations,sustainable innovations,literature review |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuhtim:63&r=env |
| By: | William Brock; Gustav Engstrom; Anastasios Xepapadeas |
| Abstract: | A simpli��ed energy balance climate model is considered with the global mean temperature as the state variable, and an endogenous ice line. The movements of the ice line towards the Poles are associated with damage reservoirs where initial damages are high and then eventually vanish as the ice caps vanish and the damage reservoir is exhausted. We couple this climate model with a simple economic growth model and we show that the endogenous ice line induces a nonlinearity. This nonlinearity when combined with two sources of damages - the conventional damages due to temperature increase and the reservoir damages - generates multiple steady states and Skiba points. It is shown that the policy ramp implied by this model calls for high mitigation now. Simulation results suggest that the policy ramp could be U-shaped instead of the monotonically increasing with low starting mitigation gradualist policy ramp. |
| Keywords: | Energy Balance Climate Models, Damage Reservoir, Ice Line, Permafrost, Heat Di¤usion, Policy Ramp, Skiba Points |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aue:wpaper:1204&r=env |
| By: | Leila Baghdadi (LIM-MES Polytechnic School of Tunisia, University of Carthage Tunisia); Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso (Georg-August University of Göttingen and Universitat Jaume I); Celestino Suárez-Burguet (Universitat Jaume I, Department of International Economics); Habib Zitouna (LIM-MES Polytechnic School of Tunisia, University of Carthage Tunisia) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the impact of free trade agreements (FTAs) on carbon dioxide emissions convergence for a cross-section of 182 countries over the period 1980 to 2008, paying particular attention to Mediterranean and European Union countries. In order to overcome the endogeneity problem of the FTA variable, a propensity score matching approach is first used to match country pairs. Next the convergence properties of relative CO2 emissions are examined for the whole panel and for the matched sample using difference-in-difference techniques. The main results indicate that CO2 emissions of the pairs of countries that belong to an FTA tend to converge, and do so at a higher rate for more advanced integration agreements. In particular, we find that emissions converge more rapidly for NAFTA and EU-27 countries than for Euro-Med countries. |
| Keywords: | Pollution haven hypothesis, convergence, CO2 emissions, Euro-med Agreements, difference-in-difference. |
| JEL: | F18 O13 L60 Q43 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2012/03&r=env |
| By: | Tur Cardona, Juan; Wailes, Eric J.; Dixon, Bruce L.; Danforth, Diana M. |
| Abstract: | Multifunctional agriculture is particularly fundamental to some working lands conservation policies and programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), Conservation Security Program (CSP) and Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP). Farmers can also be engaged in providing recreational and agri-tourism services such as hunting, fishing, bird-watching, farm tours, petting zoos and hospitality services. Using the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) we analyze factors associated with participation in conservation, recreation and agri-tourism activities as a function of farm structure, farm financial measures, production practices, and socio-demographic characteristics of the farm operator. To estimate the functional relationships we estimate a binary logistic model where the dependent variable takes a value equal to one if the farm operator reports in the ARMS survey participation in conservation programs, recreation or agritourism. Results show that the level of farm operator education and cultural practices that use conservation technical assistance are significant at the 0.01 and 0.10 levels, respectively, in explaining participation. Farm financial characteristics were not significant. Location (state where operator is located) is also not significant. |
| Keywords: | multifunctional agriculture, agri-environmental policy, rice, logistic model, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Q18, Q26, Q28, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uarksp:119750&r=env |
| By: | Ghafele, Roya; Gibert, Benjamin |
| Abstract: | The intellectual property (IP) system plays an important role in the development and diffusion of technologies by determining the institutional context in which transactions occur. This article reviews the recent EPO report ‘Patents and Clean Energy Technologies: Bridging the Gap between Evidence and Policy’ and offers further insights into the interplay between patents, innovation in climate change mitigating technologies and access to technology. Empirical evidence and analysis of patent trends forms the basis for understanding the spectrum of policy choices available to combat climate change. In an effort to bridge the gap between policy and evidence, the EPO report provides ample statistical analysis of existing patenting trends, fleshes out the current patent landscape and assesses licensing trends in emerging technologies relating to climate change. This review evaluates these statistical insights and discusses the implications for both the developed and developing world. It aims to deepen understanding of how intellectual property influences the development of markets for green technologies. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change Mitigating Technologies; Patent Statistics; European Patent Office; Technology Transfer |
| JEL: | O30 O34 L41 |
| Date: | 2011–10–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36217&r=env |
| By: | Bielsa, Jorge; Cazcarro, Ignacio; Sancho, Yolanda |
| Abstract: | A distinction is commonly drawn in Hydrology between ‘green’ and ‘blue water’ in accounting for total water availability in semi-arid regions. The criterion underlying this classification is important for successful water management, because it reveals how much natural water is and/or could be used by households, industry and, especially, agriculture. The relative share of green and blue water is generally treated as a constant. In recent years, a growing hydro-geological literature has focused on a phenomenon that significantly affects the stability of the green/blue water ratio. This is the increase in land cover density and its impact on runoff in regions with a Mediterranean climate, such as the Ebro Basin in Spain. We seek to carry this knowledge over into the parameters of disciplines concerned with the economic valuation of water and territorial resources, and translate it into the language used by water management professionals in the expectation that this contribution will improve the way we assess and account for real water availability. The heart of the matter is that the increasing density of forest cover produces both positive and negative environmental and economic impacts, presenting new economic and environmental problems that must be examined and assessed in a hydrological-economic context. We will show that these positive and negative effects are sufficiently important to merit attention, whether they are measured in physical or economic terms. Finally, we make an initial proposal for the economic valuation of some of the effects produced by these hydrological changes. |
| Keywords: | blue water; green water; hydro-economic framework; water resources accounting |
| JEL: | Q23 Q24 Q01 Q25 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36445&r=env |
| By: | Alfredo Marvão Pereira (Department of Economics, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA and Center for Advanced Studies in Economics and Econometrics CASEE, Portugal); José Manuel Belbute (Department of Economics, University of Évora, Portugal Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics CEFAGE, Portugal) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to analyze the degree of persistence of final energy demand in Portugal. Our results suggest the presence of a strong level of persistence for aggregate final energy demand. Final demand for gas is the most persistent component of energy demand, while the final demand for coal is the least persistent. In turn, final demand for petroleum and biomass tend to have levels of persistence similar to aggregate final demand. The case of final demand for electricity is inconclusive. These results have the important implication for the design of environmental policies. First, the fact that final energy demand is highly persistent is good news in that environmental policies in Portugal can be implemented in a favorable setting in which their effects will tend to be long lasting. Second, the high persistence of gas and the fact that biomass and petroleum have levels of persistence that are similar suggests that fuel switching policies will be relatively easy to implement in these cases. The case of coal is somewhat different in that switching away from coal may not be easy. In turn, the case of electricity is somewhat ambiguous. While the fact that it is also highly persistent suggests that shocks to its final demand will produce long lasting effects, it is not clear, however, how they compare to the effects on the other final demand components and therefore we can make no statements about fuel switching. |
| Keywords: | Persistence, final energy demand, fuel switching, environmental policy, Portugal. |
| JEL: | C14 C22 O13 Q41 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2011_20&r=env |
| By: | Kjetil Telle (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | Relying on a small natural field experiment with random assignment of treatments, I estimate effects of three core elements of most monitoring and enforcement practices: self-reporting, audit frequency and specific deterrence. I find evidence of evasive reporting of violations in self-audits, as more violations are detected in on-site audits than in self-audits. Announcing the increased audit frequency has no effect on compliance, but an audit raises the firm’s subsequent compliance substantially. |
| Keywords: | environmental regulation; enforcement; EPA; natural field experiment; random assignment |
| JEL: | K42 C93 Q58 D21 H41 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:680&r=env |
| By: | Antoci, Angelo; Borghesi, Simone; Russu, Paolo |
| Abstract: | The paper proposes a new financial mechanism that could be implemented to protect the environment of a tourist region. For this purpose, we investigate the potential consequences of two financial activities, issued by the local government (\emph{G}) of a region\emph{\ R}, which work like contracts between \emph{G} and, respectively, visitors of\emph{\ R }and firms operating in\emph{\ R}. According to these contracts, agents who decide to visit \emph{R }(firms that decide to adopt an environmental friendly technology) have to buy an option that entitle them to get a partial or total reimbursement if environmental quality in \emph{R} turns out to be sufficiently low (high), namely, below (above) a given predetermined threshold level. Using a two-population evolutionary game model, we analyze the dynamics emerging from the model and prove that under such fund rising mechanism the virtuous equilibrium (in which all firms adopt the pollution-free technology and all agents choose to visit the region) is always locally attractive. Furthermore, we show that the attraction basin of the poverty trap equilibrium (in which no firm adopts the clean technology and no tourist comes the region) can be decreased by raising the reimbursement offered by the local government to the visitors. Finally, using numerical simulations, it can be shown that the dynamics of the model may give rise to another attractive stationary state in correspondence of the environmental quality threshold determined by the government, as well as to a limit cycle that oscillates around the threshold. |
| Keywords: | environmental protection; financial instruments; technological innovation; evolutionary dynamics |
| JEL: | Q56 C73 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36597&r=env |
| By: | Salvatore Di Falco (Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics); Marcella Veronesi (The Professorship of Environmental Policy and Economics (PEPE), Institute for Environmental Decisions, ETH Zurich) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the impact of climate change adaptation on farm households’ downside risk exposure (e.g., risk of crop failure) in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia. The analysis relies on a moment-based specification of the stochastic production function. We estimate a simultaneous equations model with endogenous switching to account for the heterogeneity in the decision to adapt or not, and for unobservable characteristics of farmers and their farm. We find that (i) climate change adaptation reduces downside risk exposure; farm households that implemented climate change adaptation strategies get benefits in terms of a decrease in the risk of crop failure; (ii) farm households that did not adapt would benefit the most in terms of reduction in downside risk exposure from adaptation; and (iii) there are significant differences in downside risk exposure between farm households that did and those that did not adapt to climate change. The analysis also shows that the quasi-option value, that is the value of waiting to gather more information, plays a significant role in farm households’ decision on whether to adapt to climate change. Farmers that are better informed may value less the option to wait to adapt, and so are more likely to adapt than other farmers. |
| Keywords: | adaptation, climate change, endogenous switching, Ethiopia, risk exposure, stochastic production function, skewness |
| JEL: | D80 Q18 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ied:wpsied:11-15&r=env |
| By: | González-Val, Rafael; Pueyo, Fernando |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we develop a new theoretical model that explains the forest transition not at a local, but at a worldwide level, in a trade liberalisation scenario. Our model has economic geography foundations: transport costs affect the distribution of firms between countries. We also introduce a renewable natural resource used as an input by manufacturing firms. The results reproduce forest transition behaviour but at a global scale: a decrease in transport costs has a negative effect on the worldwide stock of the natural resource in the short-term, but in the long-term this initial effect is reversed as a consequence of industrial reorganisation between countries because of the change in transport costs. |
| Keywords: | Forest transition; renewable resources; industrial location; geography; trade |
| JEL: | Q23 F18 R12 Q20 |
| Date: | 2012–01–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36271&r=env |
| By: | Janda, Karel (University of California, Berkeley, Charles University, Prague, University of Economics, Prague and CERGE-EI); Kristoufek, Ladislav (Charles University, Prague and Institute of Information Theory and Automation, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic); Zilberman, David (University of California, Berkeley. Dept of agricultural and resource economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview of the environmental, economical, and policy considerations related to biofuels. While the biofuel production and consumption exhibited significant increase over the first decade of the new millennium, this and further increases in biofuel production are driven primarily by government policies. Currently available first generation biofuels are with a few exceptions not economically viable in the absence of fiscal incentives or high oil prices. Also the environmental impacts of biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels are quite ambiguous. The review of the most recent economic models dealing with biofuels and their economic impacts provides a distinction between structural and reduced form models. The review ofreduced models is structured toward the time series analysis approach to thedependencies between prices of feedstock, biofuels, and fossil fuels. |
| Keywords: | biofuels, ethanol, biodiesel |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:are:cudare:1119&r=env |
| By: | Francesco Nicolli; Francesco Vona; Lionel Nesta |
| Abstract: | This paper carries out a comprehensive analysis of renewable energy innovations considering four mechanisms suggested by innovation models: 1. policy-inducement; 2. market structure; 3. demand and social cohesion- mainly proxied by income inequality; 4. characteristics of country knowledge base. For OECD countries and years 1970-2005, we build a unique dataset containing time-varying information on quality-adjusted patent production in renewable energy, the latter being a function of environmental policies, green R&D, entry barriers, knowledge stock, knowledge diversity and income inequality. We develop count data models using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to account for endogeneity of policy support. Our synthetic policy index positively affects innovations especially in countries with deregulated energy markets and low entry barriers. The effect of entry barriers and inequality is negative and of similar magnitude as that of policy. Product market liberalization positively affects green patent generation, especially so when ambitious policies are adopted, when the initial level of public R&D expenditures and when the initial share of distributed energy generation is high. Our results are robust to alternative specifications, to the inclusion of technology-specific effects and to the use of quality-adjusted patents as dependent variables. In the latter case, the estimated effect of lowering entry barriers and of knowledge diversity almost double on citation count relatively to patent count. |
| Keywords: | renewable energy technology; patent; environmental policies; product market regulation; inequality |
| JEL: | Q55 Q58 Q42 Q48 O34 |
| Date: | 2012–02–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udf:wpaper:201204&r=env |
| By: | Francesco Vona (Observatoire Français des Conjonctures Économiques); Francesco Nicolli (University of Ferrara); Lionel Nesta (Observatoire Français des Conjonctures Économiques) |
| Abstract: | This paper carries out a comprehensive analysis of renewable energy innovations considering four mechanisms suggested by innovation models: 1. policy-inducement; 2. market structure; 3. demand and social cohesion- mainly proxied by income inequality; 4. characteristics of country knowledge base. For OECD countries and years 1970-2005, we build a unique dataset containing time-varying information on quality-adjusted patent production in renewable energy, the latter being a function of environmental policies, green R&D, entry barriers, knowledge stock, knowledge diversity and income inequality. We develop count data models using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to account for endogeneity of policy support. Our synthetic policy index positively affects innovations especially in countries with deregulated energy markets and low entry barriers. The effect of entry barriers and inequality is negative and of similar magnitude as that of policy. Product market liberalization positively affects green patent generation, especially so when ambitious policies are adopted, when the initial level of public R&D expenditures and when the initial share of distributed energy generation is high. Our results are robust to alternative specifications, to the inclusion of technology-specific effects and to the use of quality-adjusted patents as dependent variables. In the latter case, the estimated effect of lowering entry barriers and of knowledge diversity almost double on citation count relatively to patent count. |
| Keywords: | renewable energy technology, patent, environmental policies, product market regulation, inequality |
| JEL: | Q55 Q58 Q42 Q48 O34 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fce:doctra:1205&r=env |
| By: | Gonzalez, Patrick |
| Abstract: | I model the participation of firms in a voluntary agreement as a costly certification process whereby a firm informs the Regulator of its pollution intensity. Without this knowledge, the Regulator imposes the same tax on all firms in a heterogeneous industry, unduly hurting the clean ones with the lowest intensity. Certification allows clean firms to get a tax rebate. It also entails an informational externality as the dispersion of types decreases within the pool of non-participating firms, following an unraveling process. Because participation is a firmâs private decision, there is such a thing as a bad voluntary agreement. |
| Keywords: | Certification, voluntary agreements, Pigovian taxes, pollution, Environmental Economics and Policy, L51, Q53, Q58, |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ulavwp:117827&r=env |
| By: | Gonzalez, Patrick |
| Abstract: | Ce texte presente une esquisse des elements quie devrait inclure une analyse couts-benefices de la pertinence de developper la filiere de l'extraction du gaz de shale au Quebec. This article offers a sketch of the components that should include a costs-benefits analysis of developing or not a shale gas industry in Quebec. |
| Keywords: | Gaz de schiste, analyse couts-benefices, Quebec, shale gas, costs-benefits analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q30, Q34, D61, |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ulavwp:120264&r=env |
| By: | Maria A. Cunha-e-Sa; Sofia F. Franco |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effectiveness of urban containment policies to protect forestland from residential conversion and to increase the provision of forest public goods in the presence of irreversible investments and policy uncertainty. We develop a model of a single landowner that allows for switching between competing land uses (forestry and residential use) at some point in the future. Our results show that urban containment policies can protect (even if temporarily) forestland from being developed but must be supplemented with policies that influence the length and number of harvesting cycles if the goal is to increase nontimber benefits. The threat of a development prohibition creates incentives for preemptive timber harvesting and land conversion. In particular, threatened regulation creates an incentive to shorten rotation cycles to avoid costly land-use restrictions. However, it has an ambiguous effect on forestland conversion as the number of rotation cycles can also be adjusted to maximize the expected returns to land. Finally, in the presence of irreversibility, forestland conversion decisions should be done using real option theory rather than net present value analysis. JEL codes:Q23, R11, R14 |
| Keywords: | urban development, forest externalities, rotation cycles, urban conversion, UGB, Greenbelt |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp563&r=env |
| By: | Boussemart, Jean-Philippe; Leleu, Herve; Ojo, Oluwaseun |
| Abstract: | In the context of the agreement of about 50% reduction in pesticide uses according to the accords du âGrenelle de lâenvironnementâ in France, the central part of this study involves the assessment of agricultural intensification (AI) and agricultural extensification (AE) processes in crop activities.This is done with reference to pesticide uses per ha thereby helping to proffer a solution to the lingering questions of farmers as regards the use of inputs in an intensified manner or otherwise. With respect to this, a sample of 600 farms in the Meuse department was observed over a 12-year period. The analysis was essentially to assess cost efficiency dominance between the two technologies AE and AI using non parametric cost-functions which involves different characterizations of the reference set. This therefore helps to define the relative intensive and extensive technologies in terms of pesticide uses per ha, our empirical application therefore shows that AE process is a better option than AI not only for the society but also for the producers who could significantly reduce their operating costs. |
| Keywords: | agricultural intensification (AI), agricultural extensification (AE), pesticide reduction, environmental performance, non parametric cost-functions, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:120402&r=env |
| By: | Robinson, Elizabeth J.Z.; Albers, Heidi J.; Kirama, Stephen L. |
| Abstract: | Although Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) provide an increasingly popular policy tool for protecting marine stocks and biodiversity, they pose high costs for small-scale fisherfolk who have few alternative livelihood options in poor countries. MPAs often address this burden on local households by providing some benefits to compensate locals and/or induce compliance with restrictions. We argue that MPAs in poor countries can only contribute to sustainability if management induces changes in resource-dependent households’ incentives to fish. With Tanzania’s Mnazi Bay Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park (MBREMP) and its internal villages as an example, we use an economic decision modeling framework as a lens to examine incentives, reaction to incentives, and implications for sustainable MPA management created by park managers’ use of enforcement (“sticks”) and livelihood projects (“carrots”). We emphasize practical implementation issues faced by MBREMP managers and implications for fostering marine ecosystem sustainability in a poor country setting. |
| Keywords: | marine protected areas, sustainable marine reserves, Tanzania, practical enforcement, marine-dependent livelihoods |
| Date: | 2012–02–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-12-03-efd&r=env |
| By: | Dang, Anh |
| Abstract: | I investigate the origins of social trust within Vietnam. Combining a unique contemporary survey of households with historic data on climate variation, I show that individuals who were heavily threatened by negative climate fluctuation exhibit more trust in neighbors and other people in close group. The evidence indicates that the effects of climate variation on social trust transmitted through strengthening the cooperation among village peasants in coping with risk and uncertainty. The results also indicate that households with higher proportion of agricultural incomes tend to rely more on village members in the case of emergency. However, the increased village relationship does not erode family ties. |
| Keywords: | Climate variation; social trust; Vietnam |
| JEL: | O13 Z13 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36285&r=env |
| By: | Lopez-Feldman, Alejandro; Taylor, J. Edward; Yúnez-Naude, Antonio |
| Abstract: | The relationship between poverty and natural resources is complex and the empirical evidence to date, mostly from studies of forest activities and poverty, is inconclusive. The main purpose of this paper is to empirically identify the effects of household characteristics and of inequality at the village level on natural resource extraction and dependence. To do so we use data from the Mexico National Rural Household Survey (ENHRUM). Our results show that in rural Mexico natural resource extraction is predominantly an activity carried out by poor households. The same is true for dependence. We also show that there are important differences across Mexico in terms of both participation and dependence on resource income. These differences are most evident when one compares the south and north of the country. We also show that when relatively rich households participate in resource extraction their natural resource income is considerably higher than that of the poor. |
| Keywords: | resource dependence; Mexico; poverty; inequality; natural resources |
| JEL: | Q56 Q0 O12 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36473&r=env |
| By: | Ines Kapphan (Agri-food & Agri-environmental Economics Group (AFEE), Institute for Environmental Decisions IED, ETH Zurich); Pierluigi Calanca (Forschungsanstalt Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon ART, Zurich); Annelie Holzkaemper (Forschungsanstalt Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon ART, Zurich) |
| Abstract: | The insurance industry has so far relied on historical data to develop and price weather insurance contracts. In light of climate change, we examine the effects of this practice in terms of the hedging effectiveness and profitability of insurance contracts. We use simulated crop and weather data for today’s and future climatic conditions to derive optimal weather insurance contracts. We assess the hedging effectiveness and profits of adjusted contracts that are designed with data that accounts for the changing distribution of weather and yields due to climate change. We find that, with climate change, the benefits from hedging with adjusted contracts almost triple and expected profits increase by about 240%. Furthermore, we investigate the effect on risk reduction (for the insured) and profits (for the insurer) from hedging future weather risks with non-adjusted contracts, which are based on historical weather and yield data. When offering non-adjusted insurance contracts, we find that insurers either face substantial losses, or generate profits that are significantly smaller than profits from offering adjusted insurance products. Non-adjusted insurance contracts that create profits in excess of the profits from adjusted contracts cause at the same time negative hedging benefits for the insured. We observe that non-adjusted contracts exist that create simultaneously positive profits and hedging benefits, however at a much larger uncertainty compared to the corresponding adjusted contracts. |
| Keywords: | weather insurance design, climate change, non-stationarity, hedging effectiveness |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ied:wpsied:11-17&r=env |
| By: | De Silva, Dakshina; Pownall, Rachel A. J. |
| Abstract: | Sustainable development entails meeting our present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. This requires us to treat economic, social and environmental aspects in an integrated way, but little is known about the nature of individual preferences towards the trade-offs involved in this effort. For the first time, we study individual preferences towards the environment, social wellbeing, and financial wellbeing using a survey of over 1400 households in the Netherlands. Using nonparametric, parametric, and matching methods, we find that gender and education are important factors for sustainability rather than income levels. Moreover results indicate that educated females put the greatest value on going green whilst being socially minded. |
| Keywords: | Sustainability; financial wellbeing; heterogenous preferences |
| JEL: | I31 Q01 G10 |
| Date: | 2012–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36465&r=env |
| By: | Shahiduzzaman, Md; Alam, Khorshed |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an empirical estimation of energy efficiency and other proximate factors that explain energy intensity in Australia for the period 1978-2009. The analysis is performed by decomposing the changes in energy intensity by means of energy efficiency, fuel mix and structural changes both at sectoral and sub-sectoral levels of the economy. Results show that the driving forces behind the decrease in energy intensity in Australia are efficiency effect and sectoral composition effect, where the former is found to be more prominent than the latter. Moreover, the favourable impact of the composition effect has been consistently slowed down in the recent past. A perfect positive association characterizes the relationship between energy intensity and carbon intensity in Australia. Given the trends in decomposition factors, it is necessary to boost energy efficiency further to reduce Australia’s overall contribution to energy intensity and carbon emissions in the future. |
| Keywords: | Energy intensity; Energy efficiency; Index decomposition analysis |
| JEL: | O56 Q43 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36250&r=env |
| By: | Abildtrup, Jens; Garcia, Serge; Stenger, Anne |
| Abstract: | Forest land use is often associated with the protection of water resources from contamination and the reduced cost of drinking water supply. This study attempted to measure the value of the forest on the quality of water resources from a contingent market, namely drinking water supply, by estimating variations in drinking water costs as a function of variations in land uses. Spatial correlations were taken into account because of the use of different geographical scales (i.e., water service area and land uses) and the potential existence of organizational and technological spillovers between water services. We found a significant negative effect of forest land use on water costs. We found no evidence of spatial spillovers concerning the management regime but did find that organizational choices (i.e., grouping of municipalities within a water service) and factors related to the scarcity of resources in neighboring water services have an impact on water costs. |
| Keywords: | Water quality, land uses, forest, water supply service, spatial spillovers, Demand and Price Analysis, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, C21, Q23, Q25, R14, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:120385&r=env |
| By: | Maria A. Cunha-e-Sa; Sofia F. Franco; Renato Rosa |
| Abstract: | This paper has developed a model of a single forest owner operating with perfect foresight in a dynamic open-city environment that allows for switching between alternative competing land uses (forest and urban use) at some point in the future. The model also incorporates external values of an even-aged standing forest in addition to the value of timber when it is harvested. Timber is exploited based on a multiple rotation model a la Faustmann with clear-cut harvesting. In contrast to previous models, our alternative land use to forest land is endogenous. Within this framework, we study the problem of the private owner as well as that of the social planner, when choosing the time to harvest, the time to convert land and the intensity of development. We also examine the extent to which the two-way linkage between urban development and forest management practices (timber production and provision of forest amenities) contributes to economic efficiency and improvements in non-market forest benefits. Finally, we consider policy options available to a regulator seeking to achieve improvements in efficiency including anti-sprawl policies (impact fees and density controls) and forest policies such a yield tax. Numerical simulations illustrate our analytical results. JEL codes: |
| Keywords: | Deforestation, Urban Development, Forest Management Practices, Anti-Sprawl Policies, Yield Taxes |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp559&r=env |
| By: | Abildtrup, Jens; Garcia, Serge; Olsen, Soren Boye; Stenger, Anne |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:120386&r=env |
| By: | Tietze, Frank; Schiederig, Tim; Herstatt, Cornelius |
| Abstract: | Within this paper we explore transition paths firms can take to become product service system (PSS) innovators. Applying the dynamic capability approach we study how three firms have developed PSS innovations in the mobility sector (Car2Go by Daimler AG, Connect by Hertz by The Hertz Corporation, Better Place). We explore the different paths the firms have taken originating from different capability sets. Based on semi-structured qualitative interviews with project managers of successful PSS innovations we propose a framework that incorporates three major transition paths. We derive propositions for necessary capability sets for different firm types, the sequence of necessary capability sets along the innovation process and discuss different types of environmental gains realized through PSS. -- |
| Keywords: | Innovation management,product service system,transition path,sustainability |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuhtim:62&r=env |
| By: | Lerman, zvi |
| Abstract: | Tajikistan is classified by the World Bank as one of the CIS countries that are most vulnerable to climate change risks. This paper provides a closer look at a set of variables that determine Tajikistanâs vulnerability to risk in general and to climate change risk in particular. After presenting some background information on Tajikistan (Chapter 1), we provide a conceptual introduction to vulnerability and discuss some quantitative approaches to vulnerability assessment that have been recently applied in the literature (Chapters 2-4). We then use official statistical data for Tajikistan to assess quantitatively a range of basic variables that are recognized in the literature as determinants or drivers of vulnerability (Chapter 5). These variables include measures of income and poverty, debt and financial insecurity, agricultural land and livestock endowments, as well as population density and irrigation as measures of stress on land and water resources. Farm commercialization and diversification strategies are considered as factors that increase family incomes and reduce risk, thus mitigating vulnerability. The statistical analysis provides a quantitative picture of the components of Tajikistanâs vulnerability and their changes over time. In the end we briefly consider food insecurity and its implications for Tajikistanâs vulnerability (Chapter 6). The concluding chapter presents a summary list of variables that can be used to assess the dimensions of vulnerability and resilience for Tajikistan. 1 |
| Keywords: | Tajikistan, climate change, vulnerability, land management, Food insecurity, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Land Economics/Use, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:huaedp:120259&r=env |
| By: | António Xavier (University of Algarve, Sciences and Technology Faculty, CEFAGE-UE); Maria de Belém Martins (University of Algarve, Sciences and Technology Faculty, CEFAGE-UE) |
| Abstract: | In the Mediterranean forests there is a diversity of agro-forest farms, with different management objectives and socioeconomic characteristics, which need to be accounted in forest management models. Therefore, the following paper presents a proposal of indicators to characterize socioeconomically the farms located within these forests in order to define typologies. Different information sources were analysed and social and economical key indicators defined. The typology created is based on four key indicators which result in 54 typologies. The indicators were applied to the Forest Intervention Zone (FIZ) Arade-Alte/S. B.Messines, using the official statistics complemented with a survey. Results show that the dominant farm type is the Small Scale-Singular producer- Forest- Family labour farm. The resulting simulations of different profit scenarios using a forest management model for the FIZ revealed the applicability of the methodology proposed to the objective. |
| Keywords: | Socioeconomic indicators; Farms’ typologies, Algarve; Forest management model. |
| JEL: | Q10 Q15 Q19 Q01 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2011_19&r=env |
| By: | Chevallier, Julien |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes jointly the time series of European Union Allowances (EUAs) and Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) in a Markov regime-switching environment. The purpose consists in capturing the interactions between the two time series - which have been highlighted in previous literature - with respect to the underlying business cycle. Given the recent period of economic growth and financial crisis, regime switching models appear indeed interesting to shed new light on the data. The main result of the paper features a switch from a low-growth period to a high-growth period in July 2009, in a context of timid economic recovery. Besides, the Markov regime-switching model reveals that significant interactions exist between EUAs (during expansions and recessions) and CERs (mostly during expansions). Colletively, these results could be of use to regulatory authorities, academics and financial agents (investment bankers, analysts, asset managers). |
| Keywords: | EUA; CER; Markov regime-switching; |
| JEL: | Q4 C1 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:dauphi:urn:hdl:123456789/7938&r=env |
| By: | Alvaro Escribano; J. Luis Guasch |
| Abstract: | Developing countries are increasingly concerned about improving country competitiveness and productivity, as they face the increasing pressures of globalization and attempt to improve economic growth and reduce poverty. Among such countries, Investment Climate surveys (ICs) at the firm level, have become the standard way for the World Bank to identify key obstacles to country competitiveness, in order to prioritize policy reforms for enhancing competitiveness. Given the surveys objectives and the nature and limitations of the data collected, this paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using different total factor productivity (TFP) measures. The main objective is to develop a methodology to generate robust investment climate impacts (elasticities) on TFP under alternative measures. The paper applies it to the data collected for ICs in four developing countries: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Observations on logarithms of the production function variables are pooled across three countries (Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua). Endogeneity of the production function inputs and of the investment climate variables is addressed by using observable firm level information, a variant of the control function approach, considering IC variables as proxy and also by aggregating certain investment climate variables by industry and region. It is shown that by using this methodology it is possible to get robust IC “elasticities” on TFP for more than ten different TFP measures. The robust IC elasticity estimates for the five countries show how relevant the investment climate variables are to explain the average productivity of each country. IC variables in several categories (red tape, corruption and crime, infrastructure and, quality and innovation) account for over 30 percent of average productivity. The policy implications are clear: investment climate matters and the relative impact of the various investment climate variables helps indentifying where reform efforts should be directed in each country. It is argued that this robust methodology can be used as a benchmark to assess cross-country productivity effects in other IC surveys. This is important since similar firm-level IC surveys on several sectors (manufacturing, services, etc.) are now available at the World Bank for more than 65 developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Total factor productivity measures, Investment climate, Observable fixed effects, Robust investment climate elasticities, Input-output elasticities |
| JEL: | C23 C18 L25 L11 F14 C51 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:werepe:we1201&r=env |
| By: | Benjamin Coriat |
| Abstract: | Drawing on the works of Ostrom, the paper seeks to establish the bases on which the "traditional" commons (TC) and the "knowledge" commons (KC) can be compared and differentiated. Three criteria are proposed: the nature of the goods or systems of resources, the property regimes and the modes of governance. On this basis, the two large families of commons (traditional/informational) are distinguished as follows: - Nature of the goods. While TC are composed of tangible and rival goods, KC are composed of non-rival goods; - Property regimes. The essential difference (between TC and KC) lies in the fact that in TC, the basic right given the to "authorized users" is designed to guarantee the long-term reproduction of the resource, whereas in KC, beside the right to withdraw resources from the CPR, another and complementary right is defined ; namely a right of addition. In KC, the authorized users are allowed and encouraged to contribute new information or knowledge to the pool. It is often for this very reason that the pool has been created. - Mode of governance. Whereas TC are oriented towards the reproduction of the shared resources, KC are oriented towards their continual enrichment (databases, open source software, wikis, etc.). Finally, if TC are above all organizations aiming at the orderly exploitation and long-term conservation of resources, many KCs and the most prominent one (FLOSS, wikis, ..) are conceived primarily as tools for the growth and enrichment of the pool of resources through cooperative procedures aiming at promoting modes of production of innovation based on information sharing. |
| Keywords: | IPRs, Property regimes, Commons, Public Domain, Public goods |
| Date: | 2011–07–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2011/16&r=env |