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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Ochieng, Justus; Kirimi, Lilian; Mathenge, Mary |
| Abstract: | Agriculture is the mainstay of the Kenyan economy with an estimated GDP share of 26 percent in 2012, and thus remains an important contributor to employment and food security of rural populations. Climate variability and change have adversely affected this sector. This situation is expected to worsen in the future if the latest findings of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are anything to go by. We estimate the effect of climate variability and change on crop revenue and on maize and tea revenue separately using household panel data collected between 2000 and 2010 in rural Kenya. Effect of climate variability and change is estimated using a fixed effects estimator. Findings show that climate variability and change affect agricultural production but differs across different crops. Temperature has negative effect on crop and maize revenues but positive one on tea while rainfall has negative effect on tea incomes. Long-term effects of climate change on crop production are larger than short-term effects, requiring farmers to adapt effectively and build their resilience. We find that tea relies on stable temperatures and consistent rainfall patterns and any excess would negatively affect the production. Climate change will adversely affect agriculture in 2020, 2030 and 2040 with greater effects in tea sector if nothing is done. Therefore, rethinking about the likely harmful effects of rising temperature and increasing rainfall uncertainty should be a priority in Kenya. It is important to invest in adaptation measures at national, county and farm level as well as implementing policies that prevent destruction of the natural environment in order to address the challenges posed by climate variability and change. |
| Keywords: | agricultural incomes, food security, fixed effects model, adaptation, panel data, Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics, C31, Q24, Q12, Q54, |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:egtewp:229711&r=env |
| By: | Luca Mulazzani Author-Email: luca.mulazzani@unibo.it (University of Bologna. Via Fanin 50, 40127, BolognaAuthor-Name: Roberta Trevisi; Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari. Via Ceglie 9, 70010, Valenzano (BA)); Rosa Manrique (University of Bologna. Via Fanin 50, 40127, Bologna); Giulio Malorgio Author-Email:giulio.malorgio@unibo.it (University of Bologna. Via Fanin 50, 40127, Bologna) |
| Abstract: | The new Common Fishery Policy recognizes that an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management needs to be implemented, and that sustainable development of fisheries areas includes the possibility of diversification of the income of fishers through the development of complementary activities. This study presents a theoretical framework for the analysis of the relationships between human activities and ecosystem services in coastal and marine environments. In a more specific way, we want to focus on the environmental changes caused by human activities and how these environmental changes, in turn, affect the outcome and the behavior of fishers. A Bayesian network approach is used to build a generic model starting from a traditional ecosystem services cascade framework. Literature on ecosystem services is increasingly interested on the definition and quantification of their social value. In this work, we focus on the private benefit generated by the use of ecosystem services, and we model fishers’ behaviors on the base of the potential benefits provided by alternative economic activities making use of ecosystem services. Preliminary results according to our alpha-level generic model show how changes in driver variables (e.g. tourism level and fish stock state) may influence the decision of fishers to take advantage of alternative economic activities (e.g. tourism services) instead of depending only on fisheries. |
| JEL: | C11 Q22 Q26 Q57 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irf:wpaper:007&r=env |
| By: | Nelly Exbrayat (Université de Lyon, Lyon F- 69007, France; CNRS, GATE L-SE, Ecully, F- 69130, France; Université J. Monnet, Saint-Etienne, F- 42000, France); Stéphane Riou (Université de Lyon, Lyon F- 69007, France; CNRS, GATE L-SE, Ecully, F- 69130, France; Université J. Monnet, Saint-Etienne, F- 42000, France); Skerdilajda Zanaj (CREA, University of Luxembourg, Avenue de la Faïencerie, 162A, L-1511, Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the ability of a fully harmonized carbon tax to curb carbon emissions in a globalized economy characterized by an uneven spatial distribution of heterogeneous firms. The level of the carbon tax matters for the direction of the relocation and its impact on global emissions. When the carbon tax is low enough, emissions are reduced as firms relocate to the smaller country to pay lower taxes by reducing their output. If the carbon tax is too high, then firms react by relocating to the larger country to maintain their export activity, so that the most environmentally friendly spatial configurations can be removed. |
| Keywords: | global carbon tax, heterogeneous firms, international trade, firm location |
| JEL: | F12 F15 F18 Q28 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:1604&r=env |
| By: | Kyte, Rachel |
| Abstract: | We stand at the confluence of three of the greatest challenges that humanity faces in the 21st century: achieving global food and nutrition security; climate change; and agriculture’s environmental footprint. A business-as-usual approach to agriculture will not effectively address these challenges and feed and nourish the world’s growing population while protecting the planet. Only an integrated holistic approach that preserves vital natural resources such as water, land, forests and fisheries will enable us to achieve our development goals. At the heart of this solution is ‘climate-smart agriculture’, which seeks to address challenges head-on by pursuing a triple win: sustainably increasing productivity; enhancing resilience and farmers’ capacity to adapt; and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon storage. Climatesmart agriculture is at the heart of a paradigm shift in the food system and how we manage the fragile ecosystems that sustain rural livelihoods. It combines sustainable intensification – producing good quality food with fewer inputs – with a landscapes approach, so that progress on farms does not come at the expense of forests, streams, and biodiversity, the loss of which will have impacts on farmers’ productivity and resilience down the line. Diverse farming systems also provide more diverse and nutritious diets. This will have to be accompanied by a reduction in food waste and significant changes in the nitrogen cycle. Capitalising on the potential of climate-smart agriculture requires broad, strategic partnerships and significant investment in research – particularly the global public goods that CGIAR and its partners may uniquely provide – to generate the scientific, political, financial and technological innovations needed to transform agriculture for the benefit of poor people and the planet. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfcp14:225572&r=env |
| By: | DE CLERCQ, L.; WILLEGHEMS, G.; MICHELS, E.; MEERS, E.; BUYSSE, J. |
| Abstract: | Historically concentrated livestock production and, consequently, manure production and management in Belgium have resulted in severe environmental impacts. One major impact, nitrate leaching from soil to surface water, is being tackled through the European Nitrates Directive by imposing strict fertilization standards. However, another significant impact of manure management is the emission of greenhouse gasses (GHG - CO2, CH4, NH3 and N2O) into the air, thereby contributing to global warming. Calls have been made to reduce the high manure pressure and related environmental effects in Belgium by relocating and more evenly spreading livestock production. This paper explores the spatial spreading of CO2-equivalent emissions from livestock production in Belgium and attempt to answer the following question: ‘Can spatial reallocation of livestock production in Belgium reduce the impact of GHG emissions?’. This question is translated into several research objectives: 1) conduct an economic (cost minimization) and environmental (GHG minimization) optimization for 3 manure management scenarios, 2) determine the main differences between both approaches, and 3) determine the marginal spatial impact on CO2 emissions of a decrease in manure pressure (i.e., increased spreading of pig production). To conduct the analysis, a model was developed that builds on the spatial mathematical programming multi-agent manure allocation model developed by Van der Straeten et al. (2010). Three options for manure management are inserted: transport of raw manure from nutrient excess to nutrient deficit areas, biological treatment of manure (manure processing) and manure separation. The model optimizes, at municipal level, either the cost-efficiency, either the environmental effect of the manure market in Belgium based on Belgian fertilization standards. While cost-efficiency is calculated based on transport distances and cost of manure separation and processing, GHG emissions, and hence, carbon footprint, are determined based on a life cycle analysis type calculation. The results of the model simulations show that, while the economic optimum is reached by maximizing the transport of raw manure until fertilization standards are fulfilled and subsequently separating and processing the excess manure, the environmental optimum, from a carbon footprint point of view, is reached by separating all manure as this option has the lowest CO2 emissions, mainly due to the limited manure storage time. Moreover, the analyses indicate that rearrangement of the spatial spreading of livestock production in Belgium will not substantially decrease CO2 emissions. As manure storage is the main contributor to the carbon footprint, solutions should rather lie in changing these storage systems. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa150:212684&r=env |
| By: | Alain Ayong Le Kama (EconomiX, Université Paris Ouest-Nanterre la Défense); Aude Pommeret (SEE, City University of Hong Kong and IREGE Université de Savoie) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we focus on a long-term dynamic analysis of the optimal adaptation/mitigation mix in the presence of a pollution threshold above which adaptation is no longer efficient. We account for accumulation in abatement capital, greenhouse gases, and adaptation capital in order to better capture the arbitrage between abatement and adaptation investments. Pollution damages arise from the emissions due to the country consumption but also from the emissions of the rest of the world (ROW). A pollution threshold is then introduced, above which adaptation is no longer efficient. We obtain that if this threshold is lower than the steady-state level of pollution, there is no way for the modeled economy to avoid it. In particular, such a situation will appear if the ROW?s emissions are high. Next step is then to introduce another type of investment allowing for lower ROW pollution ie. emissions reduction abroad through CDM for instance. We obtain that CDM may be a means to avoid a pollution threshold above which adaptation becomes of no use. |
| Keywords: | climate change, mitigation, adaptation, CDM, pollution threshold |
| JEL: | Q5 Q52 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2016.01&r=env |
| By: | Channing Arndt; Paul Chinowsky; Charles Fant; Yohannes Gebretsadik; James E. Neumann; Sergey Paltsev; C. Adam Schlosser; Kenneth Strzepek; Finn Tarp; James Thurlow |
| Abstract: | We consider the interplay of climate change impacts, global mitigation policies, and the interests of developing countries to 2050. Focusing on Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, we employ a structural approach to biophysical and economic modeling that incorporates climate uncertainty and allows for rigorous comparison of climate, biophysical, and economic outcomes across global mitigation regimes. We find that effective global mitigation policies generate two sources of benefit. First, less distorted climate outcomes result in typically more favourable economic outcomes. Second, successful global mitigation policies reduce global fossil fuel producer prices, relative to unconstrained emissions, providing a substantial terms of trade boost to structural fuel importers. Combined, these gains are on the order of or greater than estimates of mitigation costs. These results highlight the interests of most developing countries in effective global mitigation policies, even in the relatively near term, with the likelihood of much larger benefits post 2050. |
| Keywords: | : climate change, global mitigation, developing countries, growth and development, climate uncertainty |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2015-116&r=env |
| By: | Sebastian Rausch (ETH Zurich, Switzerland); Giacomo Schwarz (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how the general equilibrium incidence of an environmental tax depends on the effect of different incomes and preferences of heterogeneous households on aggregate outcomes. We develop a Harberger-type model with general forms of preferences and substitution between capital, labor, and pollution in production that captures the impact of household heterogeneity and interactions with production characteristics on the general equilibrium. We theoretically show that failing to incorporate household heterogeneity can qualitatively aect incidence. We quantitatively illustrate that this aggregation bias can be important for assessing the incidence of a carbon tax, mainly by aecting the returns to factors of production. Our findings are robust to a number of extensions including alternative revenue recycling schemes, preexisting taxes, non-separable utility in pollution, labor-leisure choice, and multiple commodities. |
| JEL: | H23 Q52 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eth:wpswif:16-230&r=env |
| By: | Alistair Hunt; Julia Ferguson; Fintan Hurley; Alison Searl |
| Abstract: | Outdoor air pollution is a major determinant of health worldwide. The greatest public health effects are from increased mortality in adults. However, both PM and O3 also cause a wide range of other, less serious, health outcomes; and there are effects on mortality and morbidity of other pollutants also, e.g. nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2). These adverse health effects have economic consequences; OECD (2014) suggests that the social costs of the health impact of outdoor air pollution in OECD countries, China and India was approximately USD 1.7 trillion and USD 1.9 trillion, respectively, in 2010. However, the study highlights that though the social costs of premature mortality account for the majority of these totals, the social costs of morbidity remain poorly estimated. The objective of this paper is to inform the development of improved estimates of the social costs of human morbidity impacts resulting from outdoor air pollution in two components; namely to develop a core set of pollutant-health end-points to be covered when estimating the costs of morbidity, and to review current estimates of the cost of morbidity from air pollution. |
| Keywords: | health impact assessment, air quality regulation, non-market valuation |
| JEL: | I18 Q53 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–01–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaaa:99-en&r=env |
| By: | Marie, Kimberly; Solis, Daniel; Thomas, Michael; Alvarez, Sergio |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this research is to present a framework to analyze if there is any statistical correlation between climate variability and commodity prices in Northern Florida, and whether real causality effect exists. This assessment is significant because it aids to strengthen North Floridian farmers’ awareness as well as preparing them for possible fluctuations in their commodities’ by analyzing the correlation between the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and commodity prices. Because the study will be based on the assumption that a correlation between ENSO and commodity prices exists in Northern Florida; both linear and logarithm models, as well as econometric equations will be used to measure the hypothesis. These models fulfils a crucial role in evaluating the policy implications of climate change and how its effects can be mitigated. |
| Keywords: | Climate, Causality, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea16:229596&r=env |
| By: | Rafael Moser; Davide Forcella; Lauro Emilio Gonzales Farias |
| Abstract: | This paper reports a cross-case study of the interface between rural microfinance and climate change in Brazil. We use a simple theoretical framework to analyse climate change opportunities and threats of Brazil’s largest rural microfinance institutions, Agroamigo and Cresol, along three main metadimensions: economic, financial and additional services. Our analysis focuses on vulnerability and adaptation to climate change and, to a lesser extent, mitigation. As proxy for climate change effects on clients and institutions, we use the recent droughts and floods affecting some of the areas of operation of these MFIs. We argue that the absence of a combination of climate change strategies in MFIs operating in weather hazard prone regions may result in greater and additional credit risks for their portfolios and a missing opportunity for these players to support their clients better respond to climate change impacts. The case studies under scrutiny corroborate our hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change Adaptation; Climate Change Vulnerability; Agricultural Microfinance; Rural Microfinance; Green Microfinance; Climatic Risk; Credit Risk; Brazil; Agroamigo; Cresol |
| JEL: | O13 Q14 Q54 G21 |
| Date: | 2016–01–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/225672&r=env |
| By: | Matteo Maggiori; Stefano Giglio; Johannes Stroebel; Andreas Weber |
| Abstract: | The optimal investment to mitigate climate change crucially depends on the discount rate used to evaluate the investment's uncertain future benefits. The appropriate discount rate is a function of the horizon over which these benefits accrue and the riskiness of the investment. In this paper, we estimate the term structure of discount rates for an important risky asset class, real estate, up to the very long horizons relevant for investments in climate change abatement. We show that this term structure is steeply downward-sloping, reaching 2.6% at horizons beyond 100 years. We explore the implications of these new data within both a general asset pricing framework that decomposes risks and returns by horizon and a structural model calibrated to match a variety of asset classes. Our analysis demonstrates that applying average rates of return that are observed for traded assets to investments in climate change abatement is misleading. We also show that the discount rates for investments in climate change abatement that reduce aggregate risk, as in disaster-risk models, are bounded above by our estimated term structure for risky housing, and should be below 2.6% for long-run benefits. This upper bound rules out many discount rates suggested in the literature and used by policymakers. Our framework also distinguishes between the various mechanisms the environmental literature has proposed for generating downward-sloping discount rates. |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qsh:wpaper:323746&r=env |
| By: | Holmes II, Glyen; Lorenzo, Alfredo; Solis, Daniel; Thomas, Michael |
| Abstract: | Agricultural production is a risky endeavor. Farmers face uncertain yield (revenues) due to climate conditions, pest infestations and other stochastic production factors. Crop insurance offers farmers economic stability under these environments. This study focuses on the impact of climate variability on row crop production in North Florida. The climate in Southeast US is influenced by El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Recent scientific advances have improved the ability to predict climate fluctuations and provide opportunities to improve the management of climate-associated risks for agriculture. The study case includes farmers growing four crops corn, cotton, peanuts, and soybeans in Jackson County, Florida. We use enterprise budgets along with historical yield harvest data related to ENSO to create whole farm budgets under climate variability. Our study shows that climate variability significantly affects selecting the right crop insurance mixture for farmers. |
| Keywords: | Climate Variability, Crop Insurance, Optimization Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea16:229603&r=env |
| By: | Yeongjun Yeo (College of Engineering, Seoul National University); Dongnyok Shim (College of Engineering, Seoul National University); Jeong-Dong Lee (College of Engineering, Seoul National University); Jorn Altmann (College of Engineering, Seoul National University) |
| Abstract: | The main objective of this paper is to identify and analyze the key drivers behind changes of CO2 emissions in the residential sectors of the emerging economies, China and India. This paper also aims to draw policy implications in terms of finding challenges and opportunities to reduce residential CO2 emissions in both countries. For the analysis, we investigate to what extent changes in residential emissions are due to changes in energy emissions coefficients, energy consumption structure, energy intensity, households’ income, and population size. We decompose the changes in residential CO2 emissions in China and India into these five contributing factors from 1990 to 2011 by applying the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method. According to our results, the increase in per capita income level is the biggest contributor to the increase of residential CO2 emissions, while the energy intensity effect had the largest effect on CO2 emissions reduction in the residential sectors in both countries. This implies that investments for energy savings, technological improvements, and energy efficiency policies were effective in mitigating CO2 emissions. It is also found that the change in CO2 emission coefficients for fuels, which is the ratio of CO2 emissions arising from consumption of fuels to the consumption level slowed down the increase of residential emissions. In addition, results demonstrate that changes in the population and energy consumption structure drove the increase in CO2 emissions. |
| Keywords: | CO2 Emissions, Emerging Economy, Residential Sector, Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) Method. |
| JEL: | C02 C15 C43 C65 O32 O33 Q01 Q48 Q55 Q56 R11 R22 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:snv:dp2009:2015128&r=env |
| By: | Noor, Yudi Guntara |
| Abstract: | The world’s population of 7.2 billion is projected to increase and reach 9.6 billion by 2050. FAO-predicted demand for food, fuel and fibre will thus increase 60% by the year 2050. Demand for beef and milk will increase significantly, and create global concern over the level of feed required to meet the projected levels of demand. Indonesia is the fourth largest populated country in the world with almost 240 million people in 2010 and a predicted population of about 320 million in 2050. The high population, together with economic growth and increased public demand for high quality protein sources such as beef and milk will result in a significant increase in demand for these food products. Increasing livestock and dairy production to secure food availability to feed the population is a high national priority. Need for food, feed and fuel, along with factors including climate change and massive land clearance for housing and industries, have encouraged Indonesia to improve the competitiveness and efficiency of its livestock and dairy production systems. Recent public awareness of ethical and environmental issues in animal production means these matters require greater attention to avoid public distrust in these industries. As feed and feeding contribute to more than 70% of the cost of livestock or dairy production, utilising alternative cheaper feeds which do not compete with food is a commercial necessity. Fortunately, there are by-products of agro-industries in Indonesia that can be used as alternative feeds: for example, cassava meal, rice straw, copra meal and palm oil byproducts such as palm kernel cake and palm fronds. The nutritive value of these by-products can be improved by physical or biological treatment. Among these, palm oil by-products have the highest potential as feed alternatives because Indonesia is one of the largest palm oil producing countries in the world. Consequently, integrating livestock, dairy and palm oil plantation systems is seen as a preferable way forward to deliver better efficiency and zero-waste agricultural systems and add more value for the local communities. Also grazing management under palm oil plantations may improve the cost-efficiency of cattle breeding systems. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfcp14:225574&r=env |
| By: | Hamidov, Ahmad; Helming, Katharina; Balla, Dagmar |
| Abstract: | Agriculture is the backbone of Central Asia’s (CA) economy providing economic and social stability in the region. Sustainable use of agricultural land is therefore of critical importance to economic growth, human well-being and social equity, and ecosystem services. However, severe land degradation through salinization, erosion and desertification is evident and respective impacts on human health and ecosystem services are suspected. This paper aims to analyze current research on agricultural land use in CA through applying the Land Use Functions framework. In particular, it examines the type and relative shares of environmental, economic and social aspects of agricultural land use addressed in existing scientific literature. This study analyzed scientific publications dealing with agricultural land use in five CA countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. A systematic database search of international peer-reviewed articles was conducted using the ISI Web of Science. We selected the English-language articles that were published between 2008 and 2013. After the analysis of paper titles, abstracts and keywords, we found 362 articles relevant to agricultural land use in CA. The analysis indicated that publications concentrating on environmental and economic dimensions of land use functions were primary focus of land use scientists. By contrast, social aspects of land use functions, such as employment, human health and recreational services, and landscape aesthetics received far less importance by international scholars. Interestingly, large portion of articles focused on issues of agricultural land use in Uzbekistan. This is due to the fact that the country extensively benefited from large international research projects in the last decade. By applying the Land Use Functions framework, we identified international research focus and knowledge gaps that future scientists can contribute to the sustainability of agricultural land use in CA. |
| Keywords: | Land use functions, sustainable development, research gaps, agriculture, Central Asia, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iamc14:212555&r=env |
| By: | Evangelos V. Dioikitopoulos (Department of Management, King's College London); Sugata Ghosh (Department of Economics amd Finanace, Brunel University London); Eugenia Vella (Department of Economics, University of Sheffield) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the relationship among technological progress, environment and growth by combining endogenous efficiency of public abatement with endogenous discounting. Our model can feature two different balanced growth paths corresponding to different levels of environmental quality, which remains constant in the long-run although the economy grows. The multiple equilibria point to a non-monotonic relationship among technological progress, growth and the environment, as observed in the data. A Ramsey planner can implement the good equilibrium; however, under a positive technology shock, the economy achieves higher long-run growth at the cost of lower environmental quality (even if agents value the environment highly). This finding could help us explain why some advanced economies may not succeed in cleaning the environment effectively. |
| Keywords: | Time preference; growth; environmental quality; Fiscal policy; technological progress |
| JEL: | D90 E21 E62 H31 O44 Q28 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shf:wpaper:2016002&r=env |
| By: | Thomas Eichner; Rüdiger Pethig |
| Keywords: | climate coalition, fossil fuel, deposits, extraction, deposit policy |
| JEL: | Q31 Q38 Q55 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sie:siegen:177-15&r=env |
| By: | Xiaoyang Li; Yue M. Zhou |
| Abstract: | We combine international trade data from the U.S. Census Bureau with Toxics Release Inventory data from the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the relationship between U.S. firms’ imports from low-wage countries (LWCs) and toxic emissions by their domestic plants. We find that plants release less toxic emissions on American soil when their parent firm imports more from LWCs. According to our estimates, when a plant’s parent firm increases its share of imports from LWCs by 10 percentage points, the plant’s toxic emissions on American soil decrease by about 4%. These effects are stronger for plants facing greater institutional pressures on environmental performance, such as plants located in dirtier U.S. counties. In addition, goods imported by U.S. firms from LWCs are in more pollution-intensive industries than goods imported from the rest of the world. Taken together, our results provide the first large-sample empirical evidence that U.S. firms offshore both production and pollution to the developing world. |
| Keywords: | environment, offshore, institutions |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:16-09&r=env |
| By: | O'Donoghue, Cathal; Lopez, Jeremey; O’Neill, Stephen; Ryan, Mary |
| Abstract: | The hedonic price model assumes that land prices contain information in relation to the value that consumers put on characteristics of the land. Variations in prices may then be used to measure the productive value of those characteristics. There is a small literature on hedonic price models of agricultural land, including a study by Kostov (2009). Kostov deals with the impact of land characteristics on price in Northern Ireland and puts the emphasis on solving problems related to spatial dependency which can lead to biased results they are ignored. Latruffe and Le Mouel (2007) studied the capitalization of farm subsidies into higher land prices, while Myles et al. (2008) assess the influence of direct payments on the rental value of the land by. Urbanization can also have an impact on land prices because of an increased expected value of the land due to land use changes as discussed by Cavailhès and Wareski (2003). The aim of this paper is to understand what drives the farm land market in terms of price making and value of the land and to what extent. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of certain groups of factors on the agricultural land market, namely: Policy Capitalisation Local Markets Environmental and Agronomic Drivers of Land Productivity Land Use In order to estimate a hedonic price model with the four agronomic, market, land use and policy elements, we require a dataset that contains both land values and relevant explanatory variables. In order to capture market capitalization, it requires information on policy changes over time, while capturing local market and agronomic characteriststics requires georeferenced information. The Teagasc National Farm Survey, which is the Irish component of the EU Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) is a detailed farm datasetthat has been conducted annually since 1972. Given the selection bias associated actual sales or purchases, we have chosen to use selfassessed land prices from the NFS as our dependent variable. 3 Models are estimated of increasing complexity Land use Land use plus policy plus environment Land use plus policy plus environment plus local land market |
| Keywords: | Hedonic Price Index, Agricultural Land, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa150:212639&r=env |
| By: | Kamijo, Tetsuya; Huang, Guangwei |
| Abstract: | Previous studies of public involvement in environmental impact assessment were mainly analyzed qualitatively, but quantitative text analysis is developing and being applied to social research. The study examined public involvement by applying quantitative text analysis to the minutes from the meetings of a bridge project in Cambodia. Results of the analysis showed that the discussion about the environmental impacts and alternatives analysis was limited. The study concluded that good and understandable meeting materials, facilitation of discussions, and meetings at an early stage could be key components to improve public involvement, and that good public involvement could rest upon environmental and social awareness of project proponents. Finally the quantitative text analysis showed a valid analysis tool for public involvement. Further research is required to analyze public involvement using quantitative text analysis, focusing on high- or low-interest items to local people, alternatives analysis, and comparisons to other projects. |
| Keywords: | public involvement , environmental impact assessment , quantitative text analysis , minutes from the meetings |
| Date: | 2016–01–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jic:wpaper:111&r=env |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | Sustainable energy access planning, unlike traditional energy planning, gives primary importance to the energy demand of both poor and nonpoor households, the need to make cleaner energy services more affordable to the poor, the costs of both supply-side and demand-side access options, and the sustainability of technology and resource options. As such, this type of energy planning contributes to low carbon development and achievement of Sustainable Energy for All objectives. This report presents a framework for sustainable energy access planning that planners and policy makers can use to design cost-effective clean energy supply systems that both poor and nonpoor can sustainably access to meet at least the minimum amount of energy for their basic needs. The report discusses the multidimensional assessments involved in this type of planning, as well as their interlinkages and implementation issues. |
| Keywords: | sustainable energy access, clean energy, energy for all, energy poverty, energy planning, energy costs, Nepal |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt157062-2&r=env |
| By: | William M. Shobe (University of Virginia) |
| Abstract: | Dominion Virginia Power's 2015 Integrated Resource Plan filed with the State Corporation Commission presents cost estimates for complying with the proposed federal regulations, known as the Clean Power Plan (CPP), that force reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants. The IRP incorrectly attributes to the CPP costs that would occur with or without the CPP. This and other modeling choices result in substantially overstated estimates of compliance costs. |
| Keywords: | Dominion Power; energy; clean power plan; Virginia; climate change |
| JEL: | Q4 Q5 |
| Date: | 2015–01–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vac:report:rpt15-02&r=env |
| By: | Szoke, Helen |
| Abstract: | The world already produces enough food to feed the world, yet over 800 million people are hungry. Further to this paradox, increasingly we are aware of the potential negative impacts that expanding agriculture can have. Valuable ecosystems and carbon sinks may be lost or threatened, while vulnerable people – particularly women, children and Indigenous peoples – can be forced off their land as we see increasing levels of competition for arable land. Curbing waste in the food system is critical to more sustainable natural resource use and reducing agriculture’s contribution to climate change. Addressing food waste can also bring social benefits at the family level, supporting smallholder farmers to retain more of their crop, and household consumers to spend less on food purchases. The dynamics of food waste also differ between communities. In smallholder agriculture, up to 40% of food produced can spoil, rot or be diseased before it reaches the plate. Reasons for such losses can include a lack of post-harvest storage facilities or locally appropriate options for pest management. This can have dire impacts for communities with limited access to water or land, and for those facing the stress of adapting to a rapidly changing climate. Yet in long-chain agriculture, food is similarly wasted – up to 20% of Australian household food purchases may be being discarded – contributing heavily to Australia’s already weighty carbon footprint. This paper explores some of the ways in which Oxfam Australia approaches curbing waste in the food system, drawing on our analysis of trends in global agriculture, as well as our work on the ground in smallholder agriculture and public education. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfcp14:225579&r=env |
| By: | Ovadiya, Mirey |
| Abstract: | Having in place flexible benefit mechanisms which can provide timely and appropriate levels and types of benefits following disasters and climate change related events is critical. Doing so ensures that social protection benefits are responsive to changing needs that people who were not covered by a social protection program beforehand do not fall into poverty. |
| Keywords: | Bankruptcy and Resolution of Financial Distress,Technology Industry,Debt Markets,E-Finance and E-Security,E-Business |
| Date: | 2014–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:hdnspu:91806&r=env |
| By: | Alex Van Steenbergen |
| Abstract: | This paper seeks to analyze the long term effects on traffic, environmental quality and public finance of the planned reform of fuel excise duties in Belgium. In the framework of a large scale tax reform, the Belgian federal government will implement an equalization of diesel and petrol excise rates over the 2016-2018 period. |
| JEL: | H21 H23 Q53 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–12–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpb:wpaper:1509&r=env |
| By: | Davide Forcella; Rafael Moser; Lauro Emilio Gonzales Farias |
| Abstract: | In this paper we discuss the climate change (CC) vulnerability for rural microfinance. In particular, we seek to assess how the geographical allocation of services influences the vulnerability of microfinance institutions and clients to climate change impacts. As case study we analyse the biggest rural microfinance programme in Brazil: AgroAmigo, that operates in a particularly drought vulnerable area, i.e. the Northeastern region. Accordingly, we implement a correlation analysis between Agroamigo’s geographical credit allocation and local climate change vulnerabilities. The paper shows that the geographical distribution of services increases the climate change vulnerability of the microfinance institution’s (MFI) portfolio, whilst not necessarily offsetting CC vulnerability of clients because fewer credit amounts per person is allocated to the most vulnerable regions. Such results call for a better understanding of the climate change risk and the introduction of tailored strategies for microfinance programmes that could, at once, provide more adapted services to the most vulnerable population while aid manage and/or mitigate potential climatic risks of MFI’s portfolio, in particular those operating in hazard prone areas. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change Adaptation; Climate Change Vulnerability; Geographical Credits Allocation; Agricultural Microfinance; Rural Microfinance; Green Microfinance; Climatic Risk; Credit Risk; Brazil; Agroamigo |
| JEL: | O13 Q14 Q54 G21 |
| Date: | 2016–01–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/225715&r=env |
| By: | Richard S.J. Tol (UK Department of Economics, University of Sussex,UK Institute for Environmental Studies and Department of Spatial Economic, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands CESifo, Munich, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Greenhouse gas emission reduction is a global public good. The main problem is underprovision, and the inequitable distribution of the impacts of excessive climate change. Geoengineering is a private good with externalities. Individual countries, and indeed medium-sized organizations and companies, can geoengineer unilaterally and impose their preferred climate on others. In this paper, I use the FUND model to illustrate the implications, comparing and contrasting efficient, optimal, and equitable solutions to emission reduction and geoengineering. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, geoengineering, efficiency, equity |
| JEL: | Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susewp:8316&r=env |
| By: | Costella,Cecilia Valentina; Ivaschenko,Oleksiy |
| Abstract: | The Pacific island countries (PICs) are some of the most exposed to frequent natural disasters and climate shocks, and their vulnerability is increasing due to mounting effects of climate change as well as demographic and economic forces. Natural disasters hit the poorest hardest and have long-term consequences for human development. Social protection programs and systems have an important role in helping poor and vulnerable populations cope with the impacts of shocks as well as build long-term resilience. This paper discusses the potential role of social protection for disaster and climate risk reduction and management in PICs. It presents evidence and lessons from other regions, providing examples of tools and entry points for the development of climate, and disaster, responsive social protection interventions and context-specific recommendations for PICs. |
| Keywords: | Safety Nets and Transfers,Banks&Banking Reform,Rural Poverty Reduction,Hazard Risk Management,Natural Disasters |
| Date: | 2015–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:hdnspu:100084&r=env |
| By: | Ernest Aigner; Lucia Baratech Sanchez; Desiree Alicia Bernhardt; Benjamin Curnow; Christian Hödl; Heidi Leonhardt; Anran Luo |
| Abstract: | In a highly globalised world where all production and consumption activities are internationally intertwined and the environmental consequences of those actions are hard to identify, rethinking the role of work in our societies according to sustainability principles is a complex but highly necessary task. Salaried work has become one of the crucial indicators to analyse any country in the world. By looking at the proportion of the population that is employed, the working conditions they have, and how productive they are when performing their tasks, it is possible to produce an image of a country’s society to assist in the understanding of the levels of well-being of its citizens. Work and labour markets not only largely structure the way the economy and society function, they also heavily influence an individual’s life satisfaction and happiness; virtually the entire life of a person is designed around their work. Given the relevance work has at all levels, diving into the concept of sustainable work is a crucial project due to the urgency of environmental matters. The biggest role humanity faces is how to transform our societies so that they are sustainable from a social, ecological and economic perspective. For the sustainable society vision, work would need to be drastically altered in order to adapt it to the multi-dimensional sustainability requirements. This research aims to contribute to this enterprise by identifying the conditions that define the sustainability of work and then present an overview of seven European countries from this perspective. The present document introduces our conceptualisation of work and explains its main components. These are designed around the idea of the sustainable society and are composed of individuals’ needs, equity and planetary boundaries. The final section concludes and introduces the different country-case studies. |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feu:wfewop:y:2016:m:1:d:0:i:112&r=env |
| By: | Romets, Dmytro; Decker, Thomas; Menrad, Klaus |
| Abstract: | Since 2009 Ukrainian Government has been planning to increase the share of renewable energies (RE) in the country´s energy mix and to promote the natural gas substitution by the use of biomass and biogas production. Notwithstanding their many environmental, economic and social advantages, after several years of policy making none of them have been implemented on large scale. The aim of this paper is to create insight into the underlying factors of this troublesome trajectory of biogas technologies in Ukrainian agribusiness sector and to shed new light on biogas investment decisions by large agricultural companies. We investigate the investment decisions of large-scale farms, with the objective to identify the main determinants of their choices. Our findings reveal that large-scale farms show related investment thresholds. Their investment decision regarding biogas is mainly driven by the projects´ capital costs and payback period. But the other important issue is the potential of energy cost reduction through natural gas substitution and a perceived need of waste recycling. Nevertheless, there are systemic problems that hamper investments in biogas in Ukraine, such as lack of capital, geopolitical uncertainty and investor´s perceived risk. The analysis provides several lessons to take into account when developing policies for the acceleration of the biogas production in the agricultural sector of Ukraine. |
| Keywords: | Renewable energy investments, organisations´ decision-making, biogas technologies, Agribusiness, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015–09–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaml15:212883&r=env |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Southeast Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Southeast Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | This report was produced under the technical assistance project Promoting Renewable Energy, Clean Fuels, and Energy Efficiency in the Greater Mekong Subregion (TA 7679). It reports on energy efficiency targets and developments in five countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS): Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The GMS countries envisage substantial energy efficiency savings over the next 15 to 20 years, with overall energy efficiency savings amounting to almost 60 million tons of oil equivalent annually by 2030. Most GMS governments have established plans for reaching these targets and have implemented policy, regulatory, and program measures to lower energy intensity and achieve energy efficiency. GMS countries project that their energy needs will double or triple over the next 15 years and greater energy efficiency offers a win–win public–private sector partnership for reducing unsustainable reliance on high-carbon (coal and oil) fuels. |
| Keywords: | energy efficiency developments in the gms, energy efficiency, energy savings, greater mekong subregion, gms, asian development bank, cambodia, lao pdr, myanmar, thailand, viet nam, 3rd asean energy outlook, eria, targets and projected energy savings, energy efficiency policy frameworks in the gms, energy elasticity, energy intensity, food-energy-water nexus, energy efficiency performance targets, energy efficiency program, energy efficiency initiatives, cambodia ministry of mines and energy, lao pdr ministry of energy and mines, myanmar ministry of energy, thailand department of alternative energy development and efficiency, electricity regulatory authority of viet nam lahmeyer internationa gmbh, climate change, energy demand forecast, energy efficiency by industry, business as usual vs energy efficiency |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt146840-2&r=env |
| By: | Cipryk, Rachel; Ovadiya, Mirey |
| Abstract: | Early integration of disaster risk management/climate change adaptation criteria into social protection programs’ monitoring and evaluation plans, systems, and budgetsallows for more effective capture of necessary information, including proxy indicators to measure the reduction of risk exposure. Organizations such as the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP) have documented international experience in developing monitoring and evaluation systems that measure disaster risk management and climate change adaptation. Monitoring and evaluation systems have also been used after disasters to provide rapid real-time feedback on the appropriateness and coverage of the response, so that adjustments can be made. |
| Keywords: | Natural Disasters,Hazard Risk Management,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Disaster Management,Poverty and Social Impact Analysis |
| Date: | 2014–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:hdnspu:91807&r=env |
| By: | Costella, Cecilia; Ovadiya, Mirey |
| Abstract: | Disaster and climate related events exacerbate chronic and transitory poverty because poor and near-poor people have fewer coping and recovery mechanisms. In vulnerable countries, the increase in frequency and severity of such events will lead to a growing need for effective social protection policies and programs. |
| Keywords: | Hazard Risk Management,Natural Disasters,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Disaster Management,Services&Transfers to Poor |
| Date: | 2014–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:hdnspu:91777&r=env |
| By: | Nuppenau, Ernst-August |
| Abstract: | The focus of this paper is on the design of instrument variables (in the mode of payment for ecosystem services: PES) to achieve optimal service provision (ESS) at farming community level. These services shall improve production by reducing costs as public good and divert farmers’ interest from using chemical inputs. In other words, preferring less costly nature compared to inputs purchased from the market is a vision. Apparently this depends on farm types and it must be shown how services can be evaluated to set priorities. We work with shadow prices. ESSs are built around biodiversity BD, its value and we may see disservices. To solve problems we suggest a programming approach. Then farmers providing ESSs are compensated and money has to be raised from farmers benefitting. The approach delineates interest functions and helps to simulate quasimarket coordination under governance elucidated as actively promoting habitats for ESS. Instruments are outlined with regards public management for habitat provision, assuring ESS, which results in spatial organisations. They include land set aside for field margins (wildflowers), explicit outline of nature elements (hedges, etc.) and waivers on input use (reduced pesticides). We present the theoretical background for such farm level analysis in a cultural landscape where managers can address farm and field levels individually. In order to procure needed finance for payment on the one hand and to use this money efficiently on the other hand, farmers should be addressed as users and providers. |
| Keywords: | common property management, spatial management of ESS, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa150:212653&r=env |
| By: | Ronan Cosgrove (Irish Sea Fisheries Board (BIM). Fisheries Division, Crofton Road, Dún Laoghaire, Ireland); Norman Graham (Marine Institute, Fisheries Science Service (FSS), Rinville, Oranmore, Co. Gaiway, Ireland); Richard Curtin (Irish Sea Fisheries Board (BIM). Fisheries Division, Crofton Road, Dún Laoghaire, Ireland); Sara-Jane Moore (Marine Institute, Fisheries Science Service (FSS), Rinville, Oranmore, Co. Gaiway, Ireland); Eoghan Kelly (Marine Institute, Fisheries Science Service (FSS), Rinville, Oranmore, Co. Gaiway, Ireland); Michael Keatinge (Irish Sea Fisheries Board (BIM). Fisheries Division, Crofton Road, Dún Laoghaire, Ireland) |
| Abstract: | The Landing Obligation for demersal species will commence in 2016 in EU waters. The implementation of this regulation may impact fleet profitability by both increasing costs and reducing revenues. This study field tested operational and economic impacts of the LO in two demersal trawl fisheries in the Celtic Sea. Tactical alterations such as changes in fishing grounds assisted in reducing catches of undersize fish in a mixed demersal fishery but may also have led to reductions in catches of marketable fish and profitability. Utilisation of more selective gear greatly reduced catches of juvenile fish and prolonged fishing effort before choking occurred in a Nephrops fishery. Choke species are likely, however, to remain problematic in this fishery in other areas, and when catches of below minimum conservation reference size Nephrops are relatively high. Demonstration of major increases in economic returns under a likely quota uplift scenario in the Nephrops fishery highlights the importance of such measures in maintaining ongoing fleet economic viability in the face of major challenges posed by the LO. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irf:wpaper:002&r=env |
| By: | - (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) United Nations) |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col093:39731&r=env |
| By: | Stuermer, Martin (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas); Schwerhoff, Gregor (Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC)) |
| Abstract: | We add an extractive sector to an endogenous growth model of expanding varieties and directed technological change. Firms increase their economically extractable stocks of non-renewable resources through R&D investment in extraction technology and reduce their stocks through extraction. We show how the geological distribution of the non-renewable resource interacts with technological change. Our model accommodates long-term trends in non-renewable resource markets - namely stable prices and exponentially increasing extraction - for which we present data going back to 1792. The model suggests that over the long term, development of new extraction technologies neutralizes the increasing demand for non-renewable resources in industrializing countries such as China. |
| Keywords: | Non-renewable resources; endogenous growth; extraction technology |
| JEL: | O30 O41 Q30 |
| Date: | 2015–12–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddwp:1506&r=env |
| By: | Edward B. BARBIER (Université du Wyoming) |
| Abstract: | To be relevant to developing countries, green growth must be reconciled with the two key structural features of natural resource use and poverty in these countries. First, primary products account for the majority of their export earnings, and they are unable to diversify from primary production. Second, many economies have a substantial share of their rural population located on less favored agricultural land and in remote areas, thus encouraging “geographic” poverty traps. If green growth is to be a catalyst for economy-wide transformation and poverty alleviation in developing countries, then it must be accompanied by policies aimed directly at overcoming these two structural features. Policies and reforms should foster forward and backward linkages of primary production, enhance its integration with the rest of the economy, and improve opportunities for innovation and knowledge spillovers. Rural poverty, especially the persistent concentration of the rural poor on less favored agricultural lands and in remote areas, needs to be addressed by additional targeted policies and investments, and where necessary, policies to promote rural-urban migration. |
| JEL: | Q15 O13 O44 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fdi:wpaper:2653&r=env |
| By: | Jean-Francois Maystadt; Ma Jiliang Jiliang |
| Abstract: | Based on panel household data collected between 2004 and 2010, we assess the impact of weather shocks on maize yields in the two main producing regions in China, the Northern spring maize zone and the Yellow-Huai Valley summer maize zone. Temperature, drought, wet conditions, and precipitations have detrimental effects on maize yields in the two maize zones. Nonetheless, the magnitude of those effects appears to be low compared to other parts of the world. Adaptation seems to be key in the region where the largest impact is estimated. On the contrary, the lower impact found in the other region, the Yellow-Huai Valley summer maize zone, is low but likely to intensify. |
| Keywords: | Weather shocks, Adaptation, Maize yield, China |
| JEL: | I32 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:104825642&r=env |
| By: | Klara Zwickl; Franziska Disslbacher; Sigrid Stagl |
| Abstract: | Achieving low unemployment in an environment of weak growth is a major policy challenge; a more egalitarian distribution of hours worked could be the key to solving it. Whether worksharing actually increases employment, however, has been debated controversially. In this article we present stylized facts on the distribution of hours worked and discuss the role of work-sharing for a sustainable economy. Building on recent developments in labor market theory we review the determinants of working long hours and its effect on well-being. Finally, we survey work-sharing reforms in the past. While there seems to be a consensus that worksharing in the Great Depression in the U.S. and in the Great Recession in Europe was successful in reducing employment losses, perceptions of the work-sharing reforms implemented between the 1980s and early 2000s are more ambivalent. However, even the most critical evaluations of these reforms provide no credible evidence of negative employment effects; instead, the overall success of the policy seems to depend on the economic and institutional setting, as well as the specific details of its implementation. |
| Keywords: | Work-sharing; Working hours; Labor Supply; Labor Demand; Environmental Sustainability |
| JEL: | D1 D3 E24 J08 J2 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feu:wfewop:y:2016:m:1:d:0:i:111&r=env |
| By: | Hernández, Fausto (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) United Nations) |
| Abstract: | El rol del Estado en la economía incluye una serie de funciones que implican la definición y el diseño de la política pública. Desde la segunda mitad del siglo XX, la adscripción de responsabilidades en la toma de decisiones del Estado con respecto a la política ambiental, en general y, a la política referente al cambio climático, en específico, ha cobrado una mayor relevancia. El objetivo del presente estudio es analizar, desde la perspectiva del “federalismo ambiental”, condiciones relacionadas con el éxito de una política ambiental. En primer lugar, el estudio presenta distintas consideraciones para decidir si se debería utilizar una política ambiental uniforme para toda la nación o una diferenciada por regiones. En segundo lugar, examina si el objetivo de la misma debería regionalizarse o no, dependiendo de las diferencias económicas, sociales y ambientales existentes dentro de cada país. En tercer lugar, observa las circunstancias para que el diseño federal de política ambiental resulte en un incremento en el bienestar de la población. En cuarto lugar, analiza las condiciones para que el gobierno federal pueda intervenir en la solución de problemas que se puedan presentar. En quinto lugar, busca comprender cómo elaborar el diseño de un esquema cooperativo entre los distintos estados, de manera que la política ambiental sea armónica en la situación en la que ésta se descentralice. Finalmente, identifica cuál o cuáles son los niveles de gobierno que deberían hacerse cargo de los costos del diseño y la implementación de una política ambiental. |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:39661&r=env |
| By: | Rabi Mohtar |
| Abstract: | The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus has emerged over the last few years as an innovative and holistic platform for resource management and allocation. Unlike many other disciplines that make their way to the policy circle through academic debates, the nexus emerged from the global and policy business community as a platform to guide sustainability efforts. It is, with no doubt, that the nexus will find its way to the implementation of the sustainability development goals (SDGs), approved by the UN general assembly in September 2015. The nexus is also finding its way to the academic community, where a lot of scientific questions are awaiting answers: what are the data needs? What are appropriate modelling strategies? How will we scale (upscaling and downscaling)? And what is the appropriate scale for approaching the nexus? These are but a few of the technical challenges. With that in mind, critical questions need answers regarding the governance of the nexus, including ownership and appropriate governance structures. The global community is in urgent need of good, successful examples of how the nexus has helped reach water, energy and food security goals. |
| Keywords: | Water, energy, food, nexus, development, governance, agriculture, climate, innovation, efficiency, policy choices, supply chain, private public partnership |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:ppaper:pb-16/03&r=env |
| By: | Gava, Oriana; Bartolini, Fabio; Brunori, Gianluca |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa150:212676&r=env |
| By: | Alice Issanchou |
| Abstract: | Agriculture is facing an expected increase in food production demand, caused by an increased global population of 9 billion people by the middle of this century. At national scale, competitiveness and economic growth issues are at stake. To insure this increase in production, there are two solutions: extend the proportion of agricultural lands at the expense of natural ecosystems; and increase agricultural productivity. Through a review of agronomic and economic articles, we show the importance of considering soil quality in the productivity and sustainability of farms. However, farming practices preserving soil quality are not widely adopted, particularly in France. An economic analysis of these issues provide an understanding of farmers' decision making process, and indicate what the optimal strategies can be to cope with these challenges. We propose an optimal control model that illustrates the links between farming practices and soil quality when soil quality is considered as an endogenous production factor. The interest and originality of this article is to associate different disciplines to investigate the role of soil quality in the sustainability and profitability of farms. |
| Keywords: | soil quality, sustainability, competitiveness, endogenous production factor |
| JEL: | Q10 Q24 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:201601&r=env |
| By: | Rodríguez, Adrián G.; Meza, Laura E. (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) United Nations) |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col043:39621&r=env |
| By: | Fanelli, José María (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) United Nations); Jiménez, Juan Pablo (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) United Nations); López, Isabel (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) United Nations) |
| Abstract: | El objetivo principal de este trabajo es analizar las reformas fiscales ambientales (RFA) desde una doble perspectiva: la de América Latina y el Caribe y la del desarrollo sostenible. Para estudiar la RFA se parte del enfoque pionero desarrollado en los países europeos, centrado en las externalidades asociadas con el cambio climático, en las medidas tributarias necesarias para solucionarlas y en la búsqueda de un "doble dividendo" que permitiría no sólo disminuir el daño ambiental sino, también, utilizar la recaudación adicional con objetivos como la reducción de la carga tributaria. El desarrollo sostenible, a su vez, entra en el análisis debido a que el ingreso por habitante de las economías de la región es menor al de las economías que fueron pioneras en aplicar la RFA y que aportaron la mayor cantidad de evidencia sobre ella. Este hecho tuvo como consecuencia que algunos aspectos de la RFA que son centrales para una economía en desarrollo no hayan sido suficientemente investigados y el trabajo se propone elaborar sobre este punto. |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:39782&r=env |
| By: | Ovadiya, Mirey |
| Abstract: | The adverse impacts of natural disasters and climate change constitute a major risk to the poor and near-poor. Poor men and women face disproportionately higher risks from these events because of their limited ability to cope with shocks. Therefore, they require more support from social protection programs in order to protect their livelihoods. The increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters make it imperative that governments be prepared to respond. |
| Keywords: | Hazard Risk Management,Safety Nets and Transfers,Natural Disasters,Disaster Management,Population Policies |
| Date: | 2014–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:hdnspu:91778&r=env |
| By: | Rodríguez, Adrián G.; López, Tania T.; Meza, Laura E.; Loboguerrero, Ana M. (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) United Nations) |
| Abstract: | El documento tiene como objetivo analizar los avances realizados por países de América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) en el fortalecimiento de la institucionalidad vinculada a la agricultura, el cambio climático y la seguridad alimentaria. El documento destaca iniciativas innovadoras, en ámbitos como la formulación de políticas, el desarrollo de marcos legales, el fomento de la investigación y la innovación, el desarrollo de mecanismos de financiamiento, y la gestión de riesgos climáticos, entre otros. La revisión está enfocada en las políticas nacionales. |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:39534&r=env |
| By: | Hinh T. Dinh; Russel Dinh |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the economic impact of natural resources on low-income countries and the policy options available to them as recommended by academia and international organizations. We find that traditional policy prescriptions are unrealistic and miss a number of issues that include what to do when resources are depleted, job creation for growth and prosperity, and heterogeneity in country conditions. The paper proposes to reconcile these problems by advocating a strategy based on new structural economics, with a special focus on economic growth and job creation using the proceeds of natural resources. This approach combines “learning by doing” with targeted public investment in order to develop infrastructure and human capital. For many low-income countries, development of simple, labor-intensive light manufacturing is the recommended path. This recommendation is elaborated in a case study of South Sudan, a poor, resource-rich country in Africa. |
| Keywords: | Managing natural resources, Revenues, Low-income countries, Dutch disease, industrialization, Economy, Growth, South sudan, Policies, Development |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:rpaper:pp-16/01&r=env |