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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Ma, Chunbo; Burton, Michael |
| Abstract: | Green electricity products are increasingly made available to consumers in many countries in an effort to address a number of environmental and social concerns. Most of the existing literature on this green electricity market focuses on consumer’s characteristics and product attributes that could affect participation. However, the contribution of this environmental consumerism to the overall environmental good does not depend on participation alone. The real impact made relies on market penetration for green consumers (the proportion of green consumers) combined with the level of green consumption intensity – the commitment levels, or proportion of consumption that is green. We design an online interface that closely mimics the real market environment for electricity consumers in Western Australia and use a three-level nested logit model to analyze consumers’ choice of green electricity products as well as their commitment levels. Our main conclusions are that the choice of green products is strongly influenced by beliefs in the nature of climate change, and trust in the government and utilities in delivering the product. When green products are selected, the vast majority select the minimum commitment possible, and this is insensitive to the premium being charged on green power, suggesting that we are largely observing a ‘warm glow’ for carbon mitigation |
| Keywords: | Green Power, Nested Logit, Warm Glow, Green Electricity, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–04–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwauwp:148411&r=env |
| By: | Yiyong Cai; Warwick J. McKibbin |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the failure of countries to coordinate climate policies as an equilibrium outcome of a game where countries optimize in the face of both unprecedented economic and environmental uncertainty. Because issues associated with climate change are historically unprecedented and thus policymakers do not have a prior distribution over possible outcomes, the usual theoretical framework based on governments maximizing expected utility may not be suitable for analyzing climate policy choice. Under an alternative plausible assumption that policymakers act strategically but choose the policy that incurs the highest possible gain in the worst-case scenario, this paper shows how coordination can be inferior to unilateralism in both carbon mitigation and economic loss minimization. In order to make progress in reaching a global agreement in this situation, additional restrictions that help to reduce uncertainty can lead to a coordinated outcome that benefits the environment and minimizes economic cost. |
| Keywords: | climate change, policy game, coordination, robust control |
| JEL: | C71 C72 Q52 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2013-13&r=env |
| By: | Barile, Lory |
| Abstract: | Possible ways to enhance environmental sustainability involve encouraging people to change their life-style towards more eco-conscious behaviour using information campaigns and price-based instruments. This introduces the questions of 1) how Governments should efficiently incentivise people to behave environmentally friendly (e.g. nudging vs mandatory policies); and, 2) how people react to different policy measures according to their underlying motivations. The purpose of this analysis is to shed light on these particular aspects of policy design and to analyze the conditions under which ethical considerations – i.e. environmental morale – matter in environmental contexts. |
| Keywords: | intrinsic motivation; extrinsic motivation; environmental morale; crowding-in; crowding-out; recycling |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eid:wpaper:32984&r=env |
| By: | Shkarlet, Serhiy; Petrakov, Iaroslav |
| Abstract: | Recent development trends of environmental taxation in Ukraine in context of the 2011 Tax Reform are analysed. Institutional, fiscal and security challenges for green taxes evolution during economic downturn and recession are summarized. Further modernization outlook for environment-oriented fiscal instruments in Ukraine considering European experience is suggested. |
| Keywords: | environmental taxes, fiscal instruments, trends, challenges |
| JEL: | H23 O13 O44 P28 P48 Q53 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2013–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:45168&r=env |
| By: | Fosgerau, Mogens; Jensen, Thomas C. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses a tax reform, explicitly conceived by policy makers to be climate-friendly, that partly replaces a high vehicle registration tax by road user charging and allows for differentiation of the remaining registration tax by fuel efficiency. A microeconomic framework is proposed to analyse such a reform. For the case of Denmark, the analysis shows that the reform is likely to yield a significant and robust welfare gain. However, it seems not unlikely that CO2 emissions from passenger cars may increase as a result of the reform. |
| Keywords: | Congestion; Road user charging; Tax reform; CO2; Welfare economics; Registration tax |
| JEL: | H2 R41 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:42264&r=env |
| By: | Breen, Benjamin; Hynes, Stephen |
| Abstract: | EU policy geared towards the sustainable development of European coastal areas has incorporated Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) as one of its primary mechanisms to achieve its goal. However, critical shortcomings in the ICZM paradigm have emerged. In particular, incoherence in the European Commission’s ICZM principles with respect to local and strategic objectives remains an issue. Additionally, a lack of scientific certainty about environmental processes when determining the environmental pros and cons of alternative coastal-management decisions undermines environmentally protective decisions that may otherwise hinder local regional development. With these issues in mind, a Biodiversity Portfolio Analysis (BPA) is applied to Iarras Aithneach, a peninsula on the west coast of Ireland, to test its suitability as tool for ICZM. In addition, the paper uses the BPA methodology to explore the contrast between scientific/strategic and local attitudes towards the management of a coastal area of environmental importance. Pronounced differences between the two are found and the implications for both BPA and ICZM are discussed. The spatial and participatory nature of the BPA process and the explicit treatment of risk the framework exhibits suggest there is scope for it to become a useful tool for ICZM. It also has the potential to act as a routine way of quantifying the “attitude gap” between the scientific community and the local community when managing a unique coastal area. |
| Keywords: | Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), Biodiversity Portfolio Analysis (BPA), Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:semrui:148829&r=env |
| By: | Hynes, Stephen; Norton, Daniel; Hanley, Nick |
| Abstract: | Values for non-market goods can be expected to be sensitive to variations in the cultural contexts of beneficiaries. However, little progress has been made to date in adapting benefit transfer procedures for cultural variations. Using information from a study that ranked 62 societies with respect to nine attributes of their cultures, we develop an index that is then used to re-weight multiple coastal ecosystem service value estimates. We examine whether these culturally-adjusted Benefit Transfer (BT) estimates are statistically different than simply transferring the income-adjusted mean transfer estimates for each coastal ecosystem service from international study sites to the policy site. We find that once differences in income levels have been accounted for, the differences in cultural dimensions between study and policy sites actually have little impact on the magnitude of our transfer estimates. This is not a surprising result given that the majority of the study site estimates are derived from countries that share many ethnic, linguistic and other cultural similarities to the policy site. However, benefit adjustments based on cultural factors could have a much higher impacts in settings different to that investigated here. |
| Keywords: | Non-market goods, Benefit Transfer, coastal ecosystem service, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:semrui:148828&r=env |
| By: | Buckley, Cathal; Hynes, Stephen; Mechan, Sarah |
| Abstract: | In the European Union, mitigation measures to abate diffuse pollution from agricultural land are implemented under the direction of the EU Nitrates and Water Framework Directives. As these measures are implemented in national policies, a review process will look at the efficacy of the measures with a view to recommending further measures as necessary. This study examines the willingness of farmers to adopt riparian buffer zones on agricultural land. A total of 247 farmers in 12 catchments in the Republic of Ireland were asked their opinion in relation to a proposal to install a 10 metre deep riparian buffer zone under a five year scheme and the analysis was based on principal components analysis, contingent valuation methodology and a Generalized Tobit Interval model. Results from this analysis indicated that famers’ willingness to supply a riparian buffer zone depended on a mix of economic, attitudinal and farm structural factors. A total of 53% of the sample indicated a negative preference for provision. Principle constraints to adoption include interference with production, nuisance effects and loss of production in small field systems. Of those willing to engage with supply, the mean willingness to accept based cost of provision for a 10 metre riparian buffer zone was estimated to be €1513 ha-1 per annum equivalent to €1.51 per linear metre of riparian area. |
| Keywords: | Riparian buffer zone, farmers, ecosystem service, willingness to accept, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:semrui:148830&r=env |
| By: | Marta Olazabal; Unai Pascual |
| Abstract: | Cities are widely defined as complex systems formed by coupled social, ecological and economical systems. The complexity of urban dynamics goes far beyond its boundaries due to the strong influence of larger scales and the deep dependence of cities on outside resources. Such crucial cross-scale effects can fuel maladaptive behaviour, conducting cities to rigid and unsustainable traps. Urban energy systems have all the ingredients of complexity, dependence and vulnerability to global environmental change. Presumably, transformability, like adaptability, depends on perceptions, values and culture of each society. Here it is hypothesized that often social behaviours related to the scepticism, close-minded attitudes, traditional economic models, lack of trust in institutions and in self-capacities are those which limit the potential of transformation in cities (favouring lock-in status). The type of energy and the way it is supplied depends largely on utilities, urban planning and design, economic incentives, regulations, investment opportunities etc. These determinants, together with household factors depending on lifestyle, rent, etc. affect the level of consumption and choices. Altogether, these determinants play a decisive role in decision making processes at individual and institutional level and therefore can limit the transformation potential. We use a case study in Bilbao (Basque Country) to illustrate barriers and hidden opportunities of a local energy transition through an analysis of its cognitive dimension. <br /> <br /> This is done by applying a semi-quantitative methodology (Q method) which aids to investigate the stakeholders’ perceived capacity of change. This results in four distinct discourses with direct implications in the potential of transformation of the city of Bilbao.<br /> |
| Keywords: | urban sustainability, transitions, low carbon, Q method, Bilbao |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcc:wpaper:2013-11&r=env |
| By: | Charles E. McLure, Jr. (Hoover Institution, Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines subsidies for the consumption of fossil fuels provided by developing countries and oil-exporting countries. (In what follows all unqualified references to fuel subsidies are to subsidies for the consumption of fossil fuels, including electricity that is generated by combusting fossil fuel. Thus neither production subsidies nor subsidies for other types of energy, such as hydro, solar, wind, and nuclear, are considered.6 In this context, “consumption” does not mean only household consumption; it includes consumption by business and governments.) The next section describes the negative effects of fuel subsidies mentioned above in greater detail. Although emphasis in this paper, as in most of the literature and in policy discussions, is on eliminating fuel subsidies, it should be emphasized that reforming fuel subsidies does not necessarily mean eliminating them quickly. There may be cases in which temporary, limited, and well-targeted fuel subsidies are appropriate. No effort has been made to identify these cases, which would require case-by-case analysis of the situation in particular countries. Progress has been made in recent years in reducing or eliminating subsidies to the consumption of fossil fuels, but much remains to be done.7 Section III discusses briefly how fuel subsidies are defined, describes the price-gap methodology commonly used in cross-country comparisons of consumption subsidies, indicates some shortcomings in that methodology, and notes that the level of subsidies is quite sensitive to international fuel prices, moving in concert with them. Section IV presents estimates of fossil fuel consumption subsidies for the 37 countries on which the International Energy Agency has complete data. The section then briefly describes some of the implications of eliminating subsidies, focusing on potential budget impacts in countries that, as a fraction of GDP, run significant budget deficits and spend significant amounts on fuel subsidies. Fuel consumption subsidies are often defended as alleviating poverty, and some subsidies may further this objective. But, because fuel subsidies are often poorly targeted, the distributional impact of many subsidies is regressive, or at best proportionate to income. Regressivity is especially likely in most of the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and some of those in Asia, where only a small minority of the population – fewer than 10 percent in many countries – uses modern fuels and may not even have access to them. It is often the middle class who benefit the most from fuel subsidies – and who defend them most adamantly.8 Section V discusses the distributional impact of eliminating subsidies, which varies from country to country, as well as by the type of fuel subsidized. Although fuel subsidies are costly and are not well-targeted to relieve poverty, eliminating subsidies may impose onerous burdens on the poor. It may thus be necessary, for humanitarian as well as political reasons, to accompany subsidy reform with measures to alleviate the burden on the poor. Section VI examines measures that can be used to protect the poor when fuel consumption subsidies are reformed. Lack of space and expertise precludes discussion of the important issues involved in implementing fuel subsidy reform, including means of increasing support for reform by addressing distributional concerns.9 The use of biomass (firewood, charcoal, straw, agricultural residue, or dung) or coal for cooking and heating has several serious disadvantages: inter alia, emissions of GHGs are greater than with fossil fuels other than coal, dangerous indoor air pollution leads to impaired health, especially for women and small children, use of biomass often requires devotion of many hours to gathering fuel, again commonly by women and children, and, where dung is used for fuel, it causes deterioration of soil fertility. In recent years substantial attention has been devoted to assuring access to clean energy for all.10 An alternative argument for subsidizing the use of fossil fuels, albeit one that probably does not explain the prevalence of subsidies, is thus to induce poor households to shift from biomass and coal (solid or “traditional fuels”) to modern (non-solid) fuels (kerosene, gas, and electricity). Section VII discusses the use of fuel subsidies to encourage consumers to switch from traditional fuels to modern fuels. A short concluding section draws some tentative conclusions, based on the analysis presented earlier. There is clearly a strong case for reforming subsidies to the consumption of fossil fuels, as reform would improve environmental, economic, and budgetary, performance in countries now providing fuel subsidies. Care must be taken, however, to avoid or offset adverse effects on the real income of the poor. |
| Date: | 2013–04–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper1312&r=env |
| By: | Morrissey, Karyn; O’Donoghue, Cathal |
| Abstract: | Recent research in Ireland has estimated both the national and regional economic value of the marine sector. However, economic activity does not exist in a vacuum. Activities in the marine sector not only directly affect the industries in the sector but also influence other sectors through inter-sectoral linkages. This paper uses an Input-Output (IO) methodology to examine the linkages and production effects of the Irish marine sector on the national economy. Disaggregating the Irish IO table for 2007 to include ten additional marine sectors, this paper represents the first effort to quantify the inter-industry linkage effects, production-inducing effects and employment multipliers in the marine sector. This analysis found that a number of marine sectors, notably the maritime transportation sector, have an important economic role within the wider Irish economy. |
| Keywords: | Ocean Economy, Input Output Analysis, Industry Linkages, Multipliers, Ireland, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:semrui:148835&r=env |
| By: | Doherty, Edel; Campbell, Danny; Hynes, Stephen |
| Abstract: | Farmland can confer significant public good benefits to society aside from its role in agricultural production. In this paper we investigate preferences of rural residents for the use of farmland as a recreational resource. In particular we use the choice experiment method to determine preferences for the development of farmland walking trails. Our modelling approach is to use a series of mixed logit models to assess the impact of alternative distributional assumptions for the cost coefficient on the welfare estimates associated with the provision of the trails. Our results reveal that using a mixture of discrete and continuous distributions to represent cost heterogeneity leads to a better model fit and lowest welfare estimates. Our results further reveal that Irish rural residents show positive preferences for the development of farmland walking trails in the Irish countryside. |
| Keywords: | Land use, mixed logit models, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:semrui:148832&r=env |
| By: | Morrissey, Karyn; O’Donoghue, Cathal |
| Abstract: | Economically, Ireland depends heavily upon its shipping sector. However, structural changes arising from the globalisation of shipping fleets and the recent global recession has resulted in a decline in Europe’s shipping sector. Acknowledging the need for direct measures to halt this decline the Irish government introduced a range of policies aimed at developing a maritime transportation cluster in Ireland. Research has indicated that industrial clusters are important for the creation of economic value at the national, regional and sectoral level. Disaggregating the 2007 Input-Output table to include ten additional marine based sectors, this paper examines the potential for developing a maritime transportation cluster given the current characteristics of the sector. The analysis found that given the strength of the maritime transportation linkages with the broader economy, including its intermediate input role in a number of key economic sectors, there is a clear rationale for the development of a cluster for the sector. |
| Keywords: | Shipping, industrial clusters, Ireland, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:semrui:148836&r=env |
| By: | Boeri, Marco; Doherty, Edel; Campbell, Danny; Longo, Alberto |
| Abstract: | This paper develops and compares two alternative approaches to accommodate scale heterogeneity (also referred to as heteroskedasticity) in latent class models. Our modelling approach compares two different representations of heteroskedasticity, respectively associating the heterogeneity in scale factor with respondent's characteristics (i.e. observed scale heterogeneity) or deriving it probabilistically (i.e. unobserved scale heterogeneity). The results reveal a number of benefits associated with this type of approach, particularly when heterosckedasticity can be linked to observed characteristics of the respondent. Our data comes from a discrete choice experiment eliciting recreational users preferences for farmland walking trails in Ireland |
| Keywords: | Heterogeneity, Heteroskedasticity, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:semrui:148833&r=env |
| By: | Morrissey, Karyn; Farrell, Niall; O'Donoghue, Cathal |
| Abstract: | Much economic policy focuses on increasing or maintaining employment at a national level. However, within the EU, the move to a single market and the increased rate of globalisation has led to a recognition that not all regions would benefit from trade liberalisation. This has led to an increased focus on sub-national policies which require local development strategies. Based on their ability to recreate a complete population distribution across numerous attributes and the need for alternative frameworks to traditional macro-level modelling, spatial microsimulation methodologies have become accepted tools in the evaluation of economic and social policy. Using a spatial microsimulation model this paper seeks to estimate the spatial distribution of marine sector workers and the contribution of their income to the local economy. The spatially references outputs on employment and income generated by the microsimulation model may be used to assess the impact of the sector on the local economy in Ireland. Policy conclusions are then drawn. |
| Keywords: | economic policy, local development strategies, spatial microsimulation model, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:semrui:148747&r=env |
| By: | Doherty, Edel; Campbell, Danny; Hynes, Stephen; van Rensburg, Thomas |
| Abstract: | Discrete choice experiment data aimed at eliciting the demand for recreational walking trails on farmland in Ireland is used to explore whether some respondents reach their choices solely on the basis of the alternative’s label. To investigate this type of processing strategy, this paper exploits a discrete mixtures approach that also encompasses continuous distributions to reflect the heterogeneity in preferences for the attributes. We find evidence that a proportion of respondents adopt this processing strategy and that the strategies employed by rural and urban respondents are somewhat different. Results further highlight that model fit and measures of welfare are sensitive to assumptions related to processing strategies among respondents. |
| Keywords: | Discrete choice, discrete mixtures approach, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:semrui:148831&r=env |
| By: | Anna Kowalska-Pyzalska; Katarzyna Maciejowska; Katarzyna Sznajd-Weron; Rafal Weron |
| Abstract: | Using an agent-based modeling approach we show how personal attributes, like conformity or indifference, impact the opinions of individual electricity consumers regarding switching to innovative dynamic tariff programs. We also examine the influence of advertising, discomfort of usage and the expectations of financial savings on opinion dynamics. Our main finding is that currently the adoption of dynamic electricity tariffs is virtually impossible due to the high level of indifference in today's societies. However, if in the future the indifference level is reduced, e.g., through educational programs that would make the customers more engaged in the topic, factors like tariff pricing schemes and intensity of advertising will became the focal point. |
| Keywords: | Dynamic pricing; Time-of-use tariff; Demand response; Diffusion of innovations; Agent-based model; Spinson |
| JEL: | C63 O33 Q48 Q55 |
| Date: | 2013–05–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wuu:wpaper:hsc1305&r=env |
| By: | Nicolas Dupas (Caisses des Dépôts et Consignations - Caisse des dépôts et consignations); Frédéric Marty (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR7321 - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis [UNS]); Arnaud Voisin (Caisses des Dépôts et Consignations - Caisse des dépôts et consignations) |
| Abstract: | Notre contribution fournit de premiers résultats quant à l'insertion de critères environnementaux dans la commande publique et plus particulièrement dans le cadre des contrats de partenariat. Si la littérature académique dans le domaine des sciences économiques met en doute l'efficacité de l'utilisation du levier de la commande publique pour le déploiement de politiques publiques de nature horizontale, nous considérons que les partenariats public-privé peuvent constituer un outil pertinent pour porter des objectifs environnementaux dans la mesure où ses caractéristiques intrinsèques (longe durée, maîtrise d'ouvrage privée, transfert d'une mission globale, évaluation de la performance centrée sur les effets, partage des risques et des responsabilités, recours à la procédure de dialogue compétitif) lui permettent de dépasser quelques une des limites des marchés publics et s'adaptent particulièrement bien aux problématiques environnementales. Pour illustrer ces points nous focalisons notre étude sur des contrats portant sur la construction et l'exploitation d'actifs immobiliers (immeubles de bureaux, bâtiments scolaires et universitaires mais aussi infrastructures sportives) et sur des contrats de performance énergétique, centrés sur les missions de rénovation et d'exploitation. Nous mobilisons à cette fin d'un échantillon de contrat français pour lesquels nous disposons des pondérations retenues pour les critères de sélection des offres. Nous dérivons des faits stylisés et des hypothèses qui seront développés et testés dans de futures recherches portant notamment sur l'effet des notations appliquées pour chacun des critères et sur l'effet de signal sur les opérateurs privés produit par l'annonce de pondérations s'écartant des attentes de ces derniers, fondées sur l'expérience de contrats comparables. |
| Keywords: | partenariat public-privé, effets externes de la commande publique, développement durable, critères de sélection des offres |
| Date: | 2013–05–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00822710&r=env |