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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Linn, Joshua (Resources for the Future); Mastrangelo, Erin; Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | The Clean Air Act has assumed the central role in U.S. climate policy, directing the Environmental Protection Agency to develop regulations governing the emissions of greenhouse gases from existing coal-fired power plants. The cost and environmental effectiveness of policy options depend on abatement costs, the magnitude of emissions reduction opportunities, and the sensitivity of plant utilization. This paper examines the operation of electricity-generating units over 25 years to estimate the marginal costs and potential magnitude of emissions reductions that could result from improvements in their operating efficiency. We find that a 10 percent increase in coal prices causes a 0.3 to 0.9 percent heat rate reduction, broadly consistent with engineering assessments of abatement costs and opportunities. We also find that coal prices have a significant effect on utilization, but that will vary depending on the policy design. The results are used to compare cost-effectiveness of alternative policies. |
| Keywords: | efficiency, regulation, greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, coal, performance standards |
| JEL: | L94 Q54 |
| Date: | 2012–01–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-11-43-rev&r=env |
| By: | Jaraite, Jurate (CERE, Centre for Environmental and Resource Economics); Kažukauskas, Andrius (CERE, Centre for Environmental and Resource Economics); Lundgren, Tommy (CERE, Centre for Environmental and Resource Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new evidence on the determinants of environmental expenditure and investment. Also, by employing the Heckman selection models, we study how environmental expenditure and investment by Swedish industrial firms responded to the national and international policies directed to mitigate air pollution during the period 1999 through 2008. We find that firms that use carbon intensive fuels such as oil and gas are more likely to spend to and invest in the environment. Larger, more profitable and more energy intensive firms are more likely to incur environmental expenditure/investment. Overall, an important finding of our econometric analysis is that environmental regulation both on the national and international levels are highly relevant motivations for environmental expenditure and investment. |
| Keywords: | environmental expenditure and investment; environmental policy; EU ETS; panel data |
| JEL: | C23 Q52 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–02–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2012_007&r=env |
| By: | Thierry Brechet; Guy Meunier |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze the effects of an environmental policy on the diffusion of a clean technology in an economy where firms compete on the output market. We show that the share of adopting firms is non-monotonic with the stringency of the environmental policy, and that the adoption of the clean technology may well increase the pollution level. We also compare the effects of an emission tax and tradable pollution permits on welfare, technology adoption, and pollution level. We show that, depending on the stringency of the policy, either the tax or the permits can yield a higher degree of technology adoption and pollution. Actually, technology adoption and environmental quality may be conflicting in discriminating among the instruments. |
| Keywords: | innovation, technology adoption, environmental regulation |
| JEL: | H23 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–02–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eus:wpaper:ec0112&r=env |
| By: | Thierry Brechet; Guy Meunier |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze the effects of an environmental policy on the diffusion of a clean technology in an economy where firms compete on the output market. We show that the share of adopting firms is non-monotonic with the stringency of the environmental policy, and that the adoption of the clean technology may well increase the pollution level. We also compare the effects of an emission tax and tradable pollution permits on welfare, technology adoption, and pollution level. We show that, depending on the stringency of the policy, either the tax or the permits can yield a higher degree of technology adoption and pollution. Actually, technology adoption and environmental quality may be conflicting in discriminating among the instruments. |
| Keywords: | innovation, technology adoption, environmental regulation |
| JEL: | H23 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–02–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eus:ce3swp:0112&r=env |
| By: | Chan, Gabriel (Harvard University); Stavins, Robert (Harvard University); Stowe, Robert (Harvard University); Sweeney, Richard (Harvard University) |
| 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 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp12-003&r=env |
| By: | Teichmann, Dorothee |
| Abstract: | L’investissement dans des infrastructures locales sobres en carbone est considéré comme une composante importante de la lutte contre le changement climatique. Les mécanismes de règlementation climatique (comme la compensation carbone) font supporter aux développeurs de projet les risques liés à la réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES): les risques opérationnels, technologiques ou liés au monitoring environnemental et aux mécanismes régulateurs. Nous montrons que l’efficacité environnementale et économique des projets dépend en grande partie des modalités de partage de ces risques entre les différents acteurs impliqués dans le projet. Sur un échantillon de projets de torchage des gaz d’enfouissement financés par le Mécanisme pour un Développement Propre, il est montré que la délégation de la fourniture de la technologie crée des risques supplémentaires. La délégation de l’élaboration de la documentation du projet selon les règles formelles de l’UNFCCC et la séparation de l’opération de la décharge et du projet MDP semblent être maîtrisables par la mise en place de mesures de partage de risques. |
| Abstract: | Investment in low carbon infrastructure is considered an important component of the fight against climate change. The mechanisms of climate regulation (such as carbon offsets) transfer to project developers the risks associated with reducing emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, i.e. operational and technological risk, or risks associated with the environmental monitoring and the regulatory mechanism itself. The success of projects depends importantly on the risk sharing arrangements between the private and public partners. It is shown that the delegation of tasks between the partners can create risks that affect the environmental effectiveness and economic efficiency of the project. For a sample of landfill gas flaring projects financed under the Clean Development Mechanism, it is shown that the outsourcing of the provision of technology creates additional risks. The outsourcing of the development of the official project documentation required by the UNFCCC and the separation of the operation of the landfill and the CDM project development appear to be manageable by risk sharing arrangements. |
| Keywords: | partenariats privé-public; infrastructure locale; gestion des déchets; Mécanisme pour un Développement Propre; changement climatique; théorie des contrats; Public-private partnerships; local infrastructure; waste management; Clean Development Mechanism; climate change; contract theory; |
| JEL: | L24 L33 Q54 Q53 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:dauphi:urn:hdl:123456789/8201&r=env |
| By: | Lundgren, Tommy (CERE, Centre for Environmental and Resource Economics); Marklund, Per-Olov (CERE, Centre for Environmental and Resource Economics) |
| Abstract: | In this study we investigate how firm level environmental performance (EP) affect firm level economic performance measured as profit efficiency (PE) in a stochastic profit frontier setting. Analyzing firms in Swedish manufacturing 1990-2004, results show that EP induced by environmental policy is not a determinant of PE, while voluntary or non-policy induced EP seem to have a significant (+) effect on firm PE in most sectors. The evidence generally supports the idea that good EP is also good for business, as long as EP is not brought on by policy measures, in this case a CO2 tax. |
| Keywords: | CO2 tax; environmental performance index; profit efficiency; stochastic frontier analysis |
| JEL: | D20 H23 |
| Date: | 2012–02–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2012_008&r=env |
| By: | Hervé-Mignucci, Morgan |
| Abstract: | Cette thèse porte sur l’impact du système communautaire d’échange de quotas d’émission (SCEQE) sur les décisions d’investissement dans le secteur électrique européen. Après une description du SCEQE et autres développements majeurs, nous discutons des principaux moyens qu’ont les acteurs de conformité pour faire face à la contrainte du SCEQE : réductions d’émissions, acquisition d’actifs carbone et autres types de réactions. Nous présentons les résultats d’une revue empirique des investissements par les producteurs d’électricité européens les plus contraints par le SCEQE. Les décisions d’investissement ont été davantage motivées par des considérations stratégiques et économiques que par l’introduction d’un prix du CO2. Nous discutons des impacts de ces investissements sur la conformité carbone des producteurs d’électricité européens : tonnes de CO2 potentiellement fixées par les investissements, changements de périmètres de conformité, mais également les fuites de carbone et recours aux mécanismes de projets. Enfin, nous explorons l’impact de scénarios de prix pour les quotas sur les portefeuilles d’investissement en capacité de production électrique. Nous montrons que : le SCEQE a un rôle modeste mais central dans la réallocation des portefeuilles d’investissement ; toute indication sur la tendance de prix de long terme du carbone est très utile ; certains éléments du SCEQE n’ont qu’un effet faible sur les investissements ; les anticipations de prix du carbone influencent les décisions liées aux portefeuilles d’investissement ; si le SCEQE joue un rôle central, c’est la combinaison de politiques de réduction des émissions et autres politiques qui compte le plus. |
| Abstract: | This PhD thesis focuses on the impact of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) on investment decisions in the European power sector. We provide the policy background on the EU ETS and contemporary policy and economic developments. We discuss the main types of compliance buyers’ responses to the EU ETS constraint: emissions reductions, acquisitions of additional compliance assets, and other responses. We present the results of an empirical survey of the most carbon constrained European utilities. We show that strategic and economic considerations prevailed over the introduction of the carbon price. We discuss the impact of those investments on European utilities’ EU ETS profile by looking at the potentially locked-in emissions, changes in the compliance perimeter and some specific developments relative to carbon leakage and Kyoto offsets. We offer a review of the investment decision-making approaches. Exploring the impact of carbon price scenarios on generation investment portfolios, we are able to identify that: the EU ETS has a moderate but central reallocation role in power generation investment portfolios; insights into the long-term carbon price trend are particularly helpful to unlock investment; some much discussed policy provisions only have a relatively small impact on investment portfolios; carbon price expectations impact decisions relative to power generation investment portfolios; while the EU ETS has a central role, the climate and non-climate policy mix matters most. |
| Keywords: | carbon price; investment portfolios; power sector; European Union Emissions Trading Scheme; conformité carbone; portefeuilles d’investissement; industries électriques; système communautaire d’échange de quotas d’émission; |
| JEL: | Q53 G11 L94 Q48 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:dauphi:urn:hdl:123456789/8200&r=env |
| By: | Shirai, Daichi; Takeda, Shiro; Ochiai, Katsuaki |
| Abstract: | Although many CGE models have already been developed for analyzing the climate policy in Japan, most of them only investigate national level impacts. However, impacts of emissions regulations are likely to vary considerably by region because there are large regional differences in household expenditure pattern and industry structure. To investigate regional impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions regulations in Japan, we construct a new multi-regional CGE model with 9 regions in Japan and estimate regional GHG emissions. We analyze impacts of 10% reduction of GHG on regional GDP, welfare and production. Our simulation shows that regions with the higher share of energy-intensive industries and thermal power generation incur the larger loss in GDP. |
| Keywords: | 応用一般均衡分析 地域間産業連関表 日本の温暖化対策 地域経済 |
| JEL: | R13 D58 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–12–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35273&r=env |
| By: | Qin Bao (Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China); Ling Tang (Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China); Zhongxiang Zhang (East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA); Han Qiao (College of Economics, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China); Shouyang Wang (Institute of Systems Science, Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China) |
| Abstract: | Carbon-based border tax adjustments (BTAs) have recently been proposed by some OECD countries to level the carbon playing field and target major emerging economies. This paper applies a multi-sector dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to estimate the impacts of the BTAs implemented by US and EU on ChinaÕs sectoral carbon emissions. The results indicate that BTAs will cut down export prices and transmit the effects to the whole economy, reducing sectoral output-demands from both supply side and demand side. On the supply side, sectors might substitute away from exporting toward domestic market, increasing sectoral supply; while on the demand side, the domestic income may be strikingly cut down due to the decrease in export price, decreasing sectoral demand. Furthermore, such shrinkage of demand may similarly reduce energy prices, which leads to energy substitution effect and somewhat stimulates carbon emissions. Depending on the relative strength of the output-demand effect and energy substitution effect, sectoral carbon emissions and energy demands will vary across sectors, with increasing, decreasing or moving in a different direction. These results suggest that an incentive mechanism to encourage the widespread use of environment-friendly fuels and technologies will be more effective. |
| JEL: | D58 F18 Q43 Q48 Q52 Q54 Q5 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:ccepwp:1202&r=env |
| By: | CARL KOCK (Instituto de Empresa) |
| Abstract: | This study examines whether former politicians on corporate boards may be helpful for the implementation of green strategies. Following a resource-based view of the firm, we argue that directors with a political background can provide firms with resources and capabilities that are valuable for meeting communication and implementation challenges of creating an effective and substantive environmental management strategy. We also consider the possibility that appointments of politicians to the board are purely symbolic acts intended to enhance the public´s image, without any change in the environmental performance of the firm. We develop testable hypotheses for each of these ideas. |
| Keywords: | Corporate governance |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emp:wpaper:de8-135-i&r=env |
| By: | Carmen Camacho (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne); Agustín Pérez-Barahona (INRA) |
| Abstract: | We build a model to study optimal land use, encompassing land use activities, pollution and climate change. This benchmark set-up allows us to identify the spatial drivers behind the interaction between land use and the environment. Pollution generates local and global damages since it flows across locations following a Gaussian Plume. In constrast to the previous literature on spatial dynamics, we prove that the social optimum problem is well-posed, i.e., the solution exists and is unique. We close the paper with a numerical analysis which illustrates the richness of our model, and its global dynamics. We study the different drivers of spatial heterogeneity. In particular, abatement technology stands out as a fundamental ingredient to achieve steady state solutions, which are compatible with the emergence of spatial patterns. |
| Keywords: | Land use, spatial dynamcis, pollution. |
| JEL: | C6 Q15 Q53 R1 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:12012&r=env |
| By: | Muller, Adrian (Socioeconomic Institute, and Centre for Ethics, University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | Organic agriculture, as an adaptation strategy to climate change and variability, is a concrete and promising option for rural communities and has additional potential as a mitigation strategy. This article is a short review of this topic. Adaptation and mitigation based on organic agriculture can build on wellestablished practice because organic agriculture is a sustainable livelihood strategy with decades of use in several climate zones and under a wide range of specific local conditions. The financial requirements of organic agriculture as an adaptation or mitigation strategy are low. Further research is needed on yields in organic agriculture and its mitigation and sequestration potential. Other critical points are information provision and institutional structures such as market access.<p> |
| Keywords: | adaptation; climate change; climate variability; mitigation; organic agriculture; rural development; sustainable livelihoods; vulnerability |
| JEL: | O13 Q18 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2012–02–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0526&r=env |
| By: | Hang XIONG |
| Abstract: | China's actual fiscal decentralization is one-sided: while public expenditures are largely decentralized, fiscal revenues are recentralized after 1994. One critical consequence of the actual system is the creation of significant fiscal imbalances at sub-national level. This paper investigates empirically effects of fiscal imbalances on environmental performance of Chinese provinces. First, environmental efficiency scores of Chinese provinces are calculated with SFA for the period from 2005 to 2010. Then, these scores are regressed against two fiscal imbalance indicators in a second stage model. Finally, conditional EE scores are calculated. This paper finds that effects of fiscal imbalances on EE are nonlinear and conditional on economic development level. Fiscal imbalances are more detrimental to environment in less developed provinces. These results suggest that the one-sided fiscal decentralization in China may have regressive environmental effects and contribute to regional disparity in terms of sustainable development. |
| Keywords: | Chinese provinces, Decentralization; Environmental efficiency; SFA |
| JEL: | R51 H70 Q56 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1328&r=env |
| By: | Linus Mattauch (Department of Economics of Climate Change, TU Berlin); Felix Creutzig; Ottmar Edenhofer |
| Abstract: | A major obstacle for the transformation to a low-carbon economy is the risk of a carbon lock-in: fossil fuel-based ('dirty') technologies dominate the market although their carbon-free ('clean') alternatives are dynamically more efficient. We study the interaction of learning-by-doing spillovers and the substitution elasticity between the clean and the dirty sector in an intertemporal general equilibrium model. We find that the substitution possibilities between the two sectors have an ambivalent effect: although a high substitution elasticity requires less aggressive mitigation policies than a low one, it creates a greater lock-in in the absence of regulation. The optimal policy response consists of a permanent carbon tax as well as a learning subsidy for clean technologies. A single policy instrument can also avoid high welfare losses, but a more stringent mitigation target can only be achieved at painful costs. We demonstrate that the policy implication of [Acemoglu et al. 2012] is limited in scope. Our numerical results also highlight that infrastructure provision is crucial to facilitate the low-carbon transformation. |
| Keywords: | structural change, low-carbon economy, carbon lock-in, mitigation policies, learning-by-doing |
| JEL: | O30 O38 Q54 Q55 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecc:wpaper:3&r=env |
| By: | Ulrich Hoffmann |
| Abstract: | For a large number of developing countries, agriculture remains the single most important sector. Climate change has the potential to damage irreversibly the natural resource base on which agriculture depends, with grave consequences for food security. However, agriculture is the sector that has the potential to transcend from being a problem to becoming an essential part of the solution to climate change provided there is a more holistic vision of food security, agricultural mitigation, climate-change adaptation and agriculture’s pro-poor development contribution. What is required is a rapid and significant shift from conventional, industrial, monoculture-based and high-external-input dependent production towards mosaics of sustainable production systems that also considerably improve the productivity of small-scale farmers. The required transformation is much more profound than simply tweaking the existing industrial agricultural systems. However, the sheer scale at which modified production methods would have to be adopted, the significant governance and market-structure challenges at national and international level and the considerable difficulties involved in measuring, reporting and verifying reductions in GHG emissions pose considerable challenges. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unc:dispap:201&r=env |
| By: | Mary-Françoise RENARD (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International); Hang XIONG |
| Abstract: | This paper studies whether Chinese provinces set strategically their environmental stringency when faced with interprovincial competition for mobile capital. Using Chinese provincial data and spatial panel econometric models, we find that Chinese provinces do engage in this kind of strategic interaction, particularly among those with similar industrial structure. Furthermore, we haven't found evidence of asymmetric responsiveness suggested by the race to the bottom theory. Finally, the one-sided fiscal decentralization is likely to strengthen the strategic behavior. These empirical results call for a skeptical attitude towards China's decentralization of environment policy implementation as well as its fiscal arrangements. |
| Keywords: | China, strategic interaction, pollution, spatial panel |
| JEL: | C2 Q5 H7 R5 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1327&r=env |
| By: | Jean-Daniel Rinaudo (BRGM - Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières - BRGM); Marielle Montginoul (UMR G-EAU - Gestion de l'Eau, Acteurs et Usages - CIRAD : UMR90 - IRD - CEMAGREF-UR IRMO - AgroParisTech); Marta Varanda (ICS - ICS - University of Lisbon); Sofia Bento (ISEG - ISEG - Technical University of Lisbon) |
| Abstract: | Groundwater management policies will need to be revised in many Mediterranean countries, in light of the impact of climate change and the increasing demand for water. In this paper, we analyze stakeholder perceptions of three groundwater policy scenarios which respectively assume a strengthening of state intervention, the introduction of market regulation mechanisms, and the transfer of regulation responsibility to farmers. The method consists of organizing scenario workshops with experts, institutional representatives, and farmers. It is applied in two case studies in France and Portugal. From a methodological viewpoint, the research demonstrates the farmers' ability to contribute to an exploratory assessment of possible future water management scenarios. From a policy viewpoint it clarifies expectations concerning State intervention and self-regulation by farmers. It also provides some insights regarding the acceptability of tradable groundwater permits in two European contexts. |
| Keywords: | Climate change; groundwater management; water markets; self-regulation; France; Portugal; scenario workshops. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00658994&r=env |
| By: | Stéphane Hallegatte; Geoffrey Heal; Marianne Fay; David Treguer |
| Abstract: | Green growth is about making growth resource-efficient, cleaner and more resilient without slowing it. This paper aims at clarifying this in an analytical framework and proposing foundations for green growth. This framework identifies channels through which green policies can potentially contribute to economic growth. Finally, the paper discusses the policies that can be implemented to capture co-benefits and environmental benefits. Since green growth policies pursue a variety of goals, they are best served by a combination of instruments: price-based policies are important but are only one component in a policy tool-box that can also include norms and regulation, public production and direct investment, information creation and dissemination, education and moral suasion, or industrial and innovation policies. |
| JEL: | D90 Q01 Q32 Q4 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17841&r=env |
| By: | L. Lambertini; A. Tampieri |
| Abstract: | We compare a Bertrand with a Cournot duopoly in a setting where production is polluting and exploits natural resources, and firms bear convex production costs. We adopt Dastidar's (1995) approach, yielding a continuum of Bertrand-Nash equilibria ranging above marginal cost pricing also, to show that softening price competition may lead to a lower output production in a Bertrand rather than a Cournot industry. The market structure bringing about the lowest output determines the highest social welfare, given the fact that the negative environmental effects of production more than offset the gain in consumer surplus. |
| JEL: | L13 L51 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp812&r=env |
| By: | Ibrahim Ahamada (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics); Djamel Kirat (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the economic impact of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) for carbon on wholesale electricity prices in France and Germany during the Kyoto commitment period (2008-2012). Specifically, we use first identify a structural break occurred on the carbon spot price series on October 2008, which is mainly resulting from the financial and economic crisis. Then, we model the prices of day-ahead electricity contracts. We look at the volatilities around their fundamentals and simultaneously evaluate the correlation between electricity prices in both countries. We find that the price of carbon does not matter for electricity prices in either countries before October 2008. After October 2008, electricity producers in both countries were constrained to include the carbon price in their cost functions. During that period, French electricity producers were more constrained than their German counterparts. Comparing the results with those reported in Kirat and Ahamada (2011) reveals improvements in the response of electricity generation sector to carbon constraints. The impact of carbon constraint increased significantly by 300% and 150% in France and Germany, respectively, between the pilot phase and the second phase of the EU ETS. This is a consequence of the possibility of "banking" for subsequent periods and the reduction of allowance caps introduced in the second phase. We also find evidence of a trade off between gas and coal in electricity generation in Germany. Furthermore, the conditional correlation of electricity prices in both countries is highly significant and greater than during the pilot phase of the EU ETS. |
| Keywords: | Carbon emission trading, multivariate GARCH models, structural breaks, energy prices. |
| JEL: | C32 C51 Q49 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:12007&r=env |
| By: | Barbara Kotschwar (Peterson Institute for International Economics); Theodore H. Moran (Peterson Institute for International Economics); Julia Muir (Peterson Institute for International Economics) |
| Abstract: | China's need for vast amounts of minerals to sustain its high economic growth rate has led Chinese investors to acquire stakes in natural resource companies, extend loans to mining and petroleum investors, and write long-term procurement contracts for oil and minerals in Africa, Latin America, Australia, Canada, and other resource-rich regions. These efforts to procure raw materials might be exacerbating the problems of strong demand; "locking up" natural resource supplies, gaining preferential access to available output, and extending control over the world's extractive industries. But Chinese investment need not have a zero-sum effect if Chinese procurement arrangements expand, diversify, and make more competitive the global supplier system. Previous Peterson Institute research (see Moran 2010) and new research undertaken in this paper, show that the majority of Chinese investments and procurement arrangements serve to help diversify and make more competitive the portion of the world natural resource base located in Latin America. For a more comprehensive analysis, we conduct a structured comparison of four Peruvian mines with foreign ownership: two Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-based, and two Chinese. We examine what conditions or policy measures are most effective in inducing Chinese investors to adopt international industry standards and best-practices, and which are not. We distill from this case study some lessons for other countries in Latin America, Africa, and elsewhere that intend to use Chinese investment to develop their extractive sectors: first, that financial markets bring accountability; second, that the host country regulatory environment makes a significant difference; and third, that foreign investment is a catalyst for change. |
| Keywords: | Chinese foreign direct investment, foreign direct investment (FDI), natural resources, Peru, environmental impact, corporate social responsibility. |
| JEL: | F14 F16 F21 F22 F59 O16 O54 Q31 Q32 Q34 Q38 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iie:wpaper:wp12-3&r=env |
| By: | Vanina Forget (Department of Economics, Ecole Polytechnique - CNRS : UMR7176 - Polytechnique - X, AgroParisTech - ENGREF) |
| Abstract: | This paper sheds new light on the much debated issue of how corporations can do well and do good by focusing on the multidimensional nature of corporate social responsibility and acknowledging model uncertainty. Model averaging, a formal statistical framework which explicitly accounts for specification uncertainty, is introduced in the literature and applied to a unique database matching the economic and environmental and social performance of 461 large European firms. Hereby the composition of profitability-linked corporate social responsibility is unveiled and reveals the importance of good business behavior with customers and suppliers. Strong and novel support is also brought to the coexistence of corporate policies monotonically related to economic performance (human resources) and policies with optimal level (environment), hence reconciling competing theories. Implications for business and further research are discussed. |
| Keywords: | corporate social responsibility; firm performance; model averaging;model uncertainty; multidimensionality. |
| Date: | 2012–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00672037&r=env |
| By: | Stoeven, Max T.; Quaas, Martin F. |
| Abstract: | Renewable resources can provide society with (i) resource rent, (ii) consumer surplus and (iii) worker surplus in resource harvesting. In a dynamic analysis we show that privatization increases the present values of consumer surplus and worker surplus if harvesting costs do not depend on the resource stock. If they do, consumers and workers tend to lose from privatization and indeed prefer open-access if the discount rate is sufficiently high. Applying the analysis to the North-east Arctic Cod fishery, we find that socially efficient privatization would increase the present value of resource rent by 1.1 billion USD, while the present value of consumer surplus would decrease by 0.4 billion USD. These diverging interests may explain why rent dissipation often persists even if use rights could be defined and enforced. -- |
| Keywords: | resource rent,consumer surplus,worker surplus,distribution,political economy |
| JEL: | D33 D72 Q21 Q28 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cauewp:201202&r=env |
| By: | Pavel Ciaian; Sergio Gomez y Paloma |
| Abstract: | The present paper provides a meta-analysis of agricultural landscape valuation studies and through the estimated benefit transfer function it projects the value of EU landscape. The analyses are based on information from more than thirty European and non-European studies which use a stated preference approach to uncover society's willingness to pay (WTP) for agricultural landscape. Our calculations show that, the WTP in the EU varies between 134 and 201 €/ha with an average value of 149 €/ha in 2009. Furthermore the calculations indicate that the total value of EU landscape in 2009 is estimated to be in the range of €24.5 – 36.6 billion per year, with an average of €27.1 billion, representing around 8 percent of the total value of EU agricultural production and roughly half of the CAP expenditures. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural landscape, valuation, willingness to pay, meta-analysis, benefit transfer. |
| JEL: | H23 H31 Q12 Q51 Q57 |
| Date: | 2011–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2011_20&r=env |
| By: | Marletto, Gerardo; Mameli, Francesca |
| Abstract: | The assessment of policies for sustainable urban mobility features two basic characteristics: incommensurability and strong uncertainty. This is why multiple dimensions of evaluation and a structured room for collective deliberation and learning should be considered. A participative procedure is used to select a core set of performance indicators of policies for sustainable urban mobility. Citizen participation and stakeholder involvement are obtained through a national sample survey and a deliberative multi-criteria analysis, respectively. This procedure is applied to the Italian case. Citizens are more oriented towards reducing private transport costs, air pollution and traffic accidents; stakeholders are more in favour of improving car-free accessibility and reducing the consumption of land and public space generated by urban mobility. The resulting core sets of indicators are highly sensitive to the threshold chosen for the selection. Using a lower cut-off threshold, four performance indicators are shared between the two sets: ‘CO2 from transport’, ‘Quantity and quality of public transport’, ‘PMx, COVNM, NOx, CO from transport’, ‘Death and injuries from traffic accident’; using a higher cut-off threshold the two sets feature no intersection. Further testing at a local scale is needed in order to explicitly consider context-specific objectives, indicators and data; stronger interactions among experts, citizens and stakeholders are needed in order to avoid the generation of equivocal results. |
| Keywords: | Participation; Urban mobility; Sustainability indicators; National survey |
| JEL: | Q51 R41 |
| Date: | 2012–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36433&r=env |
| By: | Patricia Crifo (Department of Economics, Ecole Polytechnique - CNRS : UMR7176 - Polytechnique - X, UP10 - Université Paris 10, Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense - Université Paris X - Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense - Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique); Vanina Forget (Department of Economics, Ecole Polytechnique - CNRS : UMR7176 - Polytechnique - X) |
| Abstract: | The growth of socially responsible investment on public financial markets has drawn considerable academic attention over the last decade. Discarding from previous literature, this paper sets up to analyze the Private Equity channel, which is shown to have the potentiality to foster sustainable practices in unlisted companies. The fast integration of the Environmental, Social and Governance issues by mainstream Private Equity investors is unveiled and appears to have benefited from the maturation of socially responsible investment on public financial markets and the impetus of large conventional actors. Hypothesis on the characteristics and drivers of this movement are proposed and tested on a unique database covering the French Private Equity industry in 2011. Empirical findings support that Private Equity responsiblen investing is characterized by shareholder activism and strategically driven by a need for new value creation sources, increased risk management and differentiation. In particular, results show that independent funds, which need to attract investors, are more likely than captive funds to develop responsible practices. Evolution of the movement and future research paths are proposed. |
| Keywords: | Corporate Finance; Corporate Social Responsibility; France; Multi-factorial Analysis; Private Equity; Shareholder Activism; Socially Responsible Investment; Strategy. |
| Date: | 2012–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00672034&r=env |
| By: | Fenske, James |
| Abstract: | The conventional view is that an increase in the value of a natural resource will lead private property to emerge. Many Igbo groups in Nigeria, however, curtailed private rights over palm trees in response to the palm produce trade of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I present a simple game between a property owner and a potential thief in which an increase in the price of a natural resource makes it possible to introduce regulated communal tenure. This makes the property owner better off, leaving the thief as well off as under private property. I use this model along with colonial court records to explain the political economy of property disputes in interwar Igboland. |
| Keywords: | Property rights; trade; commons; Nigeria; Igbo |
| JEL: | N57 O10 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36759&r=env |
| By: | Jairo Núñez; Andrés Bateman; Carlos Castañeda; Sandra Cortés |
| Abstract: | "El presente estudio se propone realizar un análisis de la población en condición de morosidad en la ciudad de Medellín, tratando de establecer las diferencias y similitudes que existen entre esta población y la población que presenta pagos oportunos. Después de caracterizar la población que se encuentra en condición de morosidad, se procede a construir la Cadena de Causalidad que determina esta condición y la cual brinda una base conceptual sólida con la cual se podrán evaluar las alternativas que EPM pone a disposición de los usuarios y que busca mitigar la situación de morosidad en los hogares. Este análisis permitirá establecer los beneficios y las fallas de las alternativas de EPM con el fin de establecer nuevos esquemas que busquen mejorar el acceso a los servicios públicos en un contexto político, social y económico sostenible y retributivo para todos los actores, identificando cuáles de estas propuestas pueden ser implementadas por las EPM como prestador del servicio y cuáles corresponden a políticas públicas que deben ser establecidas por el Gobierno Nacional, Departamental, Municipal, los reguladores, o los prestadores de los servicios públicos, etc. Para lograr los objetivos propuestos, este estudio consta de cuatro capítulos además de esta introducción. En el primer capítulo se realiza un diagnóstico de la situación de morosidad en la ciudad de Medellín con el fin de identificar las variables o comportamientos más relevantes de esta problemática. A partir de la identificación de las variables relevantes, en el segundo capítulo se construye la Cadena de Causalidad del problema de la morosidad la cual constituye el marco de referencia central para el análisis propuesto en este estudio. Una vez construida la Cadena de Causalidad, el tercer capítulo se ocupa del análisis de las alternativas implementadas por EPM buscando identificar los eslabones de la Cadena que ataca cada alternativa, pero también aquellos que está dejando de atender. Por último, en el capítulo cuatro se retoman todos los elementos anteriores con el fin de proponer una estrategia general contra la morosidad". |
| Date: | 2011–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000124:009320&r=env |
| By: | Kenji Fujiwara (School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University); Ngo Van Long (Department of Economics, McGill University) |
| Abstract: | Constructing a dynamic game model of trade of an exhaustible resource, this paper compares feedback Nash and Stackelberg equilibria. We consider two dierent leadership scenarios: leadership by the importing country, and leadership by the exporting country. We numerically show that as compared to the Nash equilibrium, both countries are better o if the importing country is a leader, but that the follower becomes worse o if the exporting country is a leader. Consequently, the world welfare is highest under the importing country's leadership and lowest under the exporting country's leadership. |
| Keywords: | dynamic game, feedback Nash equilibrium, feedback Stackelberg equilibrium |
| JEL: | C73 L72 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:82&r=env |