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on Environmental Economics |
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Issue of 2016‒06‒09
eighty-two papers chosen by Francisco S. Ramos Universidade Federal de Pernambuco |
| By: | Bukvić, Rajko; Zakharov, Vladimir; Kartavykh, Marina |
| Abstract: | Russian Abstract. В статье раскрыты эколого-экономические механизмы регулирования выбросов парниковых газов. Раскрыты в историческом аспекте усилия мирового сообщества в отношения проблемы глобального потепления климата. В заключении приведены сценарии развития событий относительно эмиссии парниковых газов для России. English Abstract. In article ekologo-economic mechanisms of regulation of emissions of greenhouse gases are opened. Are opened in historical aspect of effort of the world community in the relations of a problem of global warming of climate. Scenarios of succession of events concerning emission of greenhouse gases for Russia are provided in the conclusion. |
| Keywords: | Киотский протокол, парниковые газы, природопользование. Kyoto Protocol, greenhouse gases, environmental management. |
| JEL: | H23 K32 L51 Q53 Q56 |
| Date: | 2015–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71603&r=env |
| By: | Pham Thai Hung (National Economics University, 207 Giai Phong, Hai Ba Trung Dist, Hanoi, Vietnam); Bui Anh Tuan (National Economics University, 207 Giai Phong, Hai Ba Trung Dist, Hanoi, Vietnam); Nguyen The Chinh (National Economics University, 207 Giai Phong, Hai Ba Trung Dist, Hanoi, Vietnam) |
| Abstract: | This study assesses the impact of trade liberalization on the environment in Vietnam. In particular it looks at the link between the amount of pollution produced by the country’s manufacturing industries and the degree to which this is affected by trade liberalization policies. The study was carried out by Pham Thai Hung, Bui Anh Tuan and Nguyen The Chinh, from Vietnam’s National Economics University. It finds that trade liberalization in the country exacerbates industrial pollution at both the firm and industry level. This trade-off is worrying as Vietnam has recently become a WTO member and further trade liberalization commitments are now in the pipeline. In light of their findings, the researchers recommend that the environmental impact of any future trade reforms should be carefully considered and that steps should be taken to mitigate any potential negative effects such reforms might have.They suggest that polluting industries should be given priority in any clean-up programme. They highlight key steps which can be taken to help reduce pollution, including the strict enforcement of environmental regulations support to promoting information technology application and technology advancement in the manufacturing sector. |
| Keywords: | Trade, impact, vietnam, pollution |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:pbrief:pb2016042&r=env |
| By: | Mishra, Vimal; Shah, Reepal; Garg, Amit |
| Abstract: | Climate variability and climate change pose an enormous pressure on population, infrastructure, livelihood, and socio-economic conditions. Evidences of climate change are already visible on many sectors such as agriculture, water resources, infrastructure, ecology, and biodiversity. While the problem of climate change is at global scales, its detrimental impacts are often visible at local scales, which highlight the need of climate change impacts assessment and policy making at a local administrative levels. Using the observed and projected data for the future, climate change assessment was performed for the state of Madhya Pradesh. Results indicate that a majority of the state of MP experienced a significant decline in the monsoon season precipitation during the period of 1951-2013. Air temperature increased significantly in the post-monsoon (October- December) season. Results also indicated that the frequency of severe, extreme, and exceptional droughts has increased in Madhya Pradesh. Droughts in the recent years were severe and wide-spread. The number of hot days has increased significantly in the state. However, changes in hot nights, cool days, and cool nights were not found statistically significant during the period of 1951-2013. The number of heat waves became more frequent during the recent years in Madhya Pradesh. Projected changes under the future climate were estimated using the high resolution downscaled and bias corrected projections based on the five best models. The five best models were selected out of 40 CMIP5 models and 9 CORDEX South Asia models after a careful evaluation against the observed precipitation and air temperature. Results showed that for the majority of the state RCP 4.5 is the most representative while a few areas in the northern regions have experienced changes in air temperature that follow RCP 6.0 and 8.5. About 30% of the state is projected to experience more than 2ºC warming by 2050 under the RCP 8.5 scenario. The monsoon season precipitation is projected to increase in most of the RCPs by 5-15% under the projected future climate. However, the monsoon season precipitation is projected to decline in the Near (2016-2045) term climate under the RCP 4.5 scenario. Extreme precipitation events are projected to become more frequent in most of the regions of the state under the projected future climate. Frequency of severe, extreme, exceptional droughts is projected to increase under the RCP 4.5 scenario. Moreover, increased warming under the projected future climate may lead to more frequent, severe, and wide-spread droughts during the monsoons season. Almost in all the RCPs, the frequency of hot days, hot nights, and heat waves is projected to increase in Madhya Pradesh. Most of the district of the state are projected to experience 1-1.2 ºC increase in mean annual air temperature in Near term while 2-2.5 ºC warming in the Mid (2046-2075) term climate. A significant increase in the number of hot days, hot nights, droughts, and extreme precipitation is likely under the future climate, which may pose enormous pressure on agriculture, water resources, infrastructure, tourism, and energy sectors. To effectively manage the detrimental impacts of climate change, local level policies will be required with a careful analysis of the natural resources and impacts of climate change on various sectors. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:14543&r=env |
| By: | Hansen, LeRoy; Ribaudo, Marc |
| Abstract: | An estimated 50 percent of the nitrogen reaching the Gulf of Mexico is a byproduct of field crop production. Nitrogen entering the Gulf via the Mississippi River generates large algae blooms. At night, the algae absorb oxygen leaving oxygen concentrations levels unsuited to most aquatic life thus creating a ‘dead zone’ about the size of Massachusetts—though seasonal and annual variations in nitrogen inflows vary its size. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs have been credited with controlling, but not reducing, nitrogen inflows. That is, while corn production, the primary source of field nitrogen losses, has increased over the last two decades, nitrogen inflows to the Gulf have remained fairly constant. Much of the credit for controlling nitrogen loadings is given to the on-field nitrogen conservation practices funded through the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), USDA’s largest conservation program. Two land retirement programs, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), also reduce nitrogen inflows, primarily through nitrogen removal. Can land retirement programs be a cost-effective means of reducing nitrogen inflows? The objective of this research was to estimate the cost-effectiveness of reducing nitrogen loadings by restoring wetlands and to compare our results with prior estimates of the cost-effectiveness of encouraging the adoption of on-field nitrogen conservation practices. We used WRP contracts and other data to estimate a wetland cost function for each wetland region within our study area. With the cost functions and reasonable assumptions, we generated county-level estimates of the expected costs of restoring and preserving new wetlands. With adjusted R-squares of greater than 0.72, the functions are likely to have generated reasonable estimates. We generated estimates of the expected quantity of nitrogen a new wetland might remove by running 20-year simulations of a geographic information system (GIS) model, developed by Crompton et al., and data that include a variety of ecological and weather variables. Removal rates were generated for (hypothetical) new wetlands across the 100,671 grid points within our 183 million-acre study area. We then generate nitrogen-removal cost estimates at each GIS point by dividing the annualized wetland cost estimates by the estimated annual quantity of nitrogen a wetland is expected to remove. Results indicate that nitrogen removal costs range from $0.03 to $6.71 per pound. Half of these wetlands could remove nitrogen at less than $0.37 per pound. As one would expect, the most expensive areas to restore and preserve wetlands are in the areas with some of the highest corn yields hence highest-valued lands. But wetlands’ nitrogen removal rates (in pounds per wetland acre) in parts of these areas are also very high. As a result, some of the wetlands with relatively low nitrogen removal costs (in dollars per pound) lie in parts of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Wetlands cannot be restored at all GIS points. There are no GIS data that identify exactly where wetlands have been converted. Applying some conservative assumptions, we calculated the probability that a wetland might be restored within a GIS grid point and the associated quantity of nitrogen the wetlands might remove. Our calculation of the probability that a wetland might be restored is based on the likelihood that a converted wetland lies in the area and the probability that the converted wetland might be restorable. The National Wetland Inventory data indicate that there are currently approximately 10 million wetland acres in our study area. Based on data from the USDA Economic Research Service, we calculated that there were about 34 million wetland acres in our study area in the 1780s. Together, these suggest that there are about 24 million prior-converted wetland acres in our study area—about one out of every 7.5 acres was a wetland. Because of land development, mixed land ownerships, and similar factors, it is not likely that all converted wetlands can readily be restored. Additionally, it is not likely that all landowners are willing to participate in a Federal wetland conservation program (unless program payments are much greater than the market value of the land-use change). To incorporate both of these constraints, we assume that only 5, 10, and 20 percent (or 1.2, 2.4, and 4.8 million) of the prior-existing wetland acres might be restored. These represent 0.65, 1.3, and 2.3 percent of the total acres in the study area. Each GIS point represents 247 acres so that the expected number of prior existing wetland acres in each GIS unit area is 1.5 (e.g., 1.5=247*0.0065), 3.0, and 6.0. The assumptions and estimates laid out above allow us to calculate the probable number of wetland acres that can be restored at each level of nitrogen removal cost. Additionally, we can calculate the total quantity of nitrogen that would be removed below each level of cost. Given that 5 percent of the prior existing wetlands might be restored (1.2 million acres), more than 25 percent (or 0.3 million acres) have nitrogen removal costs below $0.17 per pound and 50 percent (or 0.6 million) have removal costs of less than $0.38 per pound. Restoring wetlands with nitrogen removal costs of less than $0.17 ($0.38) would reduce agricultural nitrogen inflows to the Gulf by 4,530 (8,900) tons per year--about 3 (6) percent of the average quantity of agricultural nitrogen entering the Gulf. If we assume that 10 (20) percent of the prior-existing wetland acreage might be restored, then, applying the same calculations, agricultural nitrogen inflow to the Gulf can be reduced by 9,060 (18,120) tons at less than $0.17 per pound and 17,000 (34,000) tons at less than $0.34 per pound. In earlier work, Petrolia and Gowda (2006) compared the cost-effectiveness of land-use changes and on-field conservation practices to reduce agricultural nitrogen losses. Their result indicates that, within their study area, a 20-percent reduction in nitrogen losses through adoption of on-field practices, the plugging of tile drainage systems, and moving cropland to hay and pasture, the average per-pound cost of nitrogen abatement cost is about $0.78. It appears that wetland restoration can be a cost-effect what of reducing agricultural nitrogen losses. One should be careful about drawing hard conclusions. For example, the Petrolia and Gowda (2006) analysis focused on a small region. Had we focused on the same region, we may have found wetland restoration to be less cost-effect |
| Keywords: | Nitrogen conservation, denitrification, wetland restoration, wetland ecosystem services, cost-effective nitrogen removal, improving water quality, dead zone, Gulf of Mexico, targeting conservation, GIS data analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q28, Q48, Q52, Q57, Q58, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235665&r=env |
| By: | Levente Timar (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | I use simulations from the Land Use in Rural New Zealand model to consider mitigation for different classes of sheep-beef farms under climate policy. Farmers in the model can respond to carbon prices by abandoning or afforesting marginal land. In assessing carbon credits against liabilities, I consider only the income a farmer would be able to get with certainty without taking a carbon price risk. Farmers in intensive farm classes tend to bear the costs of emissions because their opportunity cost of exiting pastoral agriculture is high. The dominant land-use response in more extensive systems is land abandonment or afforestation, depending on location. Less profitable farm classes generally face higher average liabilities in relation to profits, both before and after the land-use response. Results indicate that farmers in North Island hill country may benefit most from afforestation opportunities. In this farm class, income from rewards could offset over half of farmers’ emission liabilities. |
| Keywords: | Climate change policy, sheep-beef farming, farm classes, mitigation, cost distribution |
| JEL: | Q52 Q54 Q58 R14 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:16_09&r=env |
| By: | - |
| Abstract: | The world is living a change of era. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals represent the international community’s response to the economic, distributive and environmental imbalances built up under the prevailing development pattern. This document, presented by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to its member States at its thirty-sixth session, provides an analytical complement to the 2030 Agenda from a structuralist perspective and from the point of view of the Latin American and Caribbean countries. The proposals made here stem from the need to achieve progressive structural change in order to incorporate more knowledge into production, ensure social inclusion and combat the negative impacts of climate change. The reflections and proposals for advancing towards a new development pattern are geared to achieving equality and environmental sustainability. In these proposals, the creation of global and regional public goods and the corresponding domestic policies form the core for expanding the structuralist tradition towards a global Keynesianism and a development strategy centred around an environmental big push. |
| Keywords: | AGENDA 2030 PARA EL DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE, DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE, CONDICIONES ECONOMICAS, COMERCIO INTERNACIONAL, MEDIO AMBIENTE, CRISIS ECONOMICA, PRODUCTIVIDAD, POBREZA, DISTRIBUCION DEL INGRESO, IGUALDAD DE GENERO, DESARROLLO ECONOMICO, DESARROLLO SOCIAL, IGUALDAD, MODELOS DE DESARROLLO, 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMIC CRISIS, PRODUCTIVITY, POVERTY, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, GENDER EQUALITY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT MODELS |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:c39025:40117&r=env |
| By: | Kim Kaleva Kaivanto; Peng Zhang |
| Abstract: | Air transport Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions estimates differ greatly, depending on the calculation method employed. Among the IPCC, ICAO, DEFRA, and BrighterPlanet calculation methods, the largest estimate may be up to 4.5 times larger than the smallest. Such heterogeneity – and ambiguity over the true estimate – confuses the consumer, undermining the credibility of emissions estimates in general. Consequently, GHG emissions estimates do not currently appear on the front page of flight search-engine results. Even where there are differences between alternative flights’ emissions, this information is unavailable to consumers at the point of choice. When external considerations rule out alternative travel-modes, the relative ranking of flight options’ GHG emissions is sufficient to inform consumers’ decision making. Whereas widespread agreement on a gold standard remains elusive, the present study shows that the principal GHG emissions calculation methods produce consistent rankings within specific route-structure classes. Hence, for many consumers, the question of which calculation method to employ is largely irrelevant. But unless GHG emissions information is displayed at the point of decision, it cannot enter into consumers’ decision making. A credible and ambiguity-free alternative would thus be to display GHG ranking information on the front page of flight search-engine results. |
| Keywords: | greenhouse gas emissions, carbon footprint computation, scheduled passenger air transport, informed choice, decision making, behavior, policy |
| JEL: | Q54 K32 D62 D03 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:115969274&r=env |
| By: | Alessandro Tavoni; Doruk Ä°riÅŸ |
| Abstract: | We live in a world characterized by discontinuities, where thresholds for abrupt and irreversible change are omnipresent, both in economic and ecological dynamics. Such thresholds, often referred to as tipping points, trigger nonlinear responses on the part of individuals or ecosystems. Climate change is a prominent example of the pervasiveness of tipping points, since they appear both in the strategic decision to embark in costly mitigation (Heal and Kunreuther, 2012) and in the Earth’s climate system (Lenton et al., 2008). In this chapter we will focus on the first class of tipping points, and refer to them as “behavioral tipping points†, to distinguish them from the ecological ones. As it will become apparent, though, the two are closely linked, since planetary boundaries define “the safe operating space for humanity with respect to the Earth system and are associated with the planet’s biophysical subsystems or processes†(Rockström et al., 2009). Hence, to discuss strategies one has to account for the underlying physical processes and how they are perceived (Tavoni and Levin, 2014). Whether a country or a subnational actor (a city, an NGO or a firm) decides to invest in a clean technology, or more broadly in actions aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, depends on its expectations with regards to the actions of others. This is particularly salient in the context of a public good such as climate change mitigation, where the worst-case scenario is for an actor to take costly action while the others refuse to do so, the so-called “sucker’s payoff†. Arguably, this has been the case for the European Union in climate negotiations up to COP 20 in Lima, with unilateral commitments by the EU routinely unmatched by other large economies. COP 21 in Paris was perhaps the first Conference of the Parties to mark a greater willingness to show leadership by other large powers, such as the United States and China. A possible interpretation, in keeping with the above arguments, is that enough action at various scales had accumulated in the years leading to the Paris summit that even less committed countries showed an increased willingness to act. These emerging trends are potentially game-changing, provided that enough actors lead the way by taking action early on. Once a tipping point for sufficient investments in low carbon technologies has been reached, and constituencies with stakes in the nascent markets have formed, standard economic forces will sustain the transition to a carbon-neutral economy. We will review some of the recent literature that provides clues about when such reinforcing dynamics take place. In doing so, we will come across related concepts, such as diffusion and feedback. Importantly, given the wide scientific uncertainties surrounding the location of the thresholds, we will discuss the role of expectations and argue that reference points are crucial for supporting cooperation. Intuitively, under uncertainty asymmetries about views on the expected losses from climate change are as important as differences in objective (but elusive) vulnerabilities. |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp238&r=env |
| By: | Arora, Gaurav; Feng, Hongli; Hennessy, David A.; Anderson, Christopher J. |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the regional-level agricultural impacts of climate change in the Northern Great Plains. We first estimate a non-linear yield-weather relationship for all major commodities in the area: corn, soybeans, spring wheat and alfalfa. We separately identify benevolent and harmful temperature thresholds for each commodity, and control for severe-to-extreme dry/wet conditions in our yield models. Analyzing all major commodities in a region extends the existing literature beyond just one crop, most typically corn yields. Alfalfa is particularly interesting since it is a legume-crop that is substitutable with grasses as animal feed and rotated with other row-crops for nitrogen-fixation of soils. Our model includes trend-weather and soil-weather interaction terms that extend the existing yield-weather models in the literature. Results suggest that temporal adaptations have not mitigated the negative impacts of weather stressors in the past, and that the spatial soil profile only weakly influences weather impacts on crop yields. We estimate yield-weather elasticities and find that historical weather patterns in the region have benefited corn and soybeans (spring wheat) the most (least). We expand our analysis to formally evaluate the role of short-run weather fluctuations in determining land-use decisions. We utilize decomposed crop yield estimates due to trend and weather in order to model crop acreage shares. Our preliminary results suggest that short-run weather fluctuations are an important factor for decisions on soybeans and spring wheat shares, however only yield trends drive corn shares. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, Grassland conversion, Statistical yield model, weather and soil interaction, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Q1, Q5, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235895&r=env |
| By: | Hodde, Whitney; Sesmero, Juan; Gramig, Benjamin; Vyn, Tony; Doering, Otto |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the economics of conservation tillage (chisel till and no till) and examines how climate change will likely affect it. We use data from long-term experimental plots in Indiana to estimate how corn and soybean yields respond to weather patterns under alternative tillage practices. Yield functions are coupled with random draws of weather variables to construct distributions describing the probability that conservation tillage will result in higher profits than more intensive tillage, under current and future climatic regimes. Results suggest that, in our study area, projected climate change will make conservation tillage more attractive. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236090&r=env |
| By: | Bukvić, Rajko |
| Abstract: | English Abstract. This article considers the problem of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, observed as one of the main anthropogenic causes of the increasing carbon concentration in the atmosphere, and consequently the global climate change. Until the Industrial Revolution, the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere amounted to 300 gigatonnes of carbon. The fight against atmosphere pollution goes in three directions: administrative regulations, a system of economic mechanisms and market relations building. In the second half of the XX century many schemes for involving the market mechanism in solving these problems were proposed. These efforts especially increased in the last decade of XX century and finally the Kyoto Protocol 1997 supported many flexible mechanisms (trade of quotas – cap and trade, joint implementation projects and clean development mechanisms), as a solution to these problems, which was explained in 2001 in Marrakesh. In spite of all these efforts, during the first period of its implementation (2008–2012) the emissions of carbon increased. This issue has been especially pronounced in Russia, one of the main global emitters. The paper explores the mechanisms and projects in Russia, and its importance for reducing the GHG emissions and fulfilling the commitments of Kyoto Protocol and other international documents. Today, the world “carbon” market is moving to the development of national, regional and sub-regional regulation systems while keeping its international level (system UNFCCC). The Doha Conference held in 2012 precised the conditions upon which the convention parties would define its climate policies in the next years. The leading tendency (transition to regional, sub-regional and national regulation systems) was maintained, as well as the “Kyoto” system, which in the new stage would play a transitional role on the road to a new expected global agreement. Russian Abstract. Статья рассматривает проблему сокращения выбросов парниковых газов (ПГ), считающихся одной из главных антропогенных причин роста концентрации углерода в атмосфере, и впоследствии глобальных климатических перемен. С времени Индустриальной революции эмиссия ПГ в атмосферу достигла 300 гигатонн углерода. Борьба с атмосферным загрязнением пока шла тремя путями: административное регулирование, система экономических механизмов и формирование рыночных отношений. Во второй половине 20 века для решения проблем были предложены многие схемы создания рыночного механизма, считающегося более подходящим во многих отношениях. Эти усилия особенно увеличились в последнем десятилетии 20 века, и наконец Киотский протокол в 1997 году поддержал несколько так называемых гибких механизмов: торговля квотами (квотирование и торговля), проекты совместного осуществления и механизмы чистого развития, которые были разработаны в 2001 году в Марракеше. Но, несмотря на все эти усилия, в течение первого периода их применения (2008–2012), выбросы углерода в атмосферу возросли. Эти вопросы являются особенно важным в России, одном из крупнейших эмиттеров ПГ. Статья рассматривает также механизмы и проекты в России, и их важность для сокращения ПГ выбросов и выполнение обязательств из Киотского протокола и других международных документов. В настоящее время мировой «углеродный» рынок идёт к развитию национальных, региональных и субрегиональных систем регулирования, но при сохранении международного сегмента (системы РКИК ООН). Конференция в Дохе в 2012 году дополнила и уточнила те условия, в которых Стороны Конвенции, будут выстраивать свою климатическую политику в следующие годы. Ведущая тенденция (перенос акцентов на региональные, субрегиональные и национальные системы регулирования) сохранилась, но сохранилась и «киотская» система, которая на новом этапе будет играть роль переходной на пути к новому ожидающемуся глобальному соглашению.) |
| Keywords: | greenhouse gases (GHG), anthropogenic impact, the Kyoto Protocol, carbon markets, flexible mechanisms, Russian actions (парниковые газы, антропогенные влияния, Киотский протокол, рынки углерода, гибкие механизмы, активности России) |
| JEL: | H23 K32 L51 Q53 Q56 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71616&r=env |
| By: | cui, jingbo; ji, yongjie |
| Abstract: | This paper seeks to examine the role of multi-plant’s network to determine their affiliated plants’ emissions in response to tightened environmental regulations. Polluting plants, which are located across the nation and are exposed to regional environmental pressures, form a network through their affiliated parent company. We investigate whether or not these multi-plant firms, to avoid local environmental compliance, shift pollution emissions from their affiliated plants in regulated counties to those in unregulated ones, thereby leading to emissions leakage. We compile a unique detailed plant-level dataset that pertains to the U.S. manufacturing industry over the period 1990-2008. Taking advantage of the spatial and temporal variations of designated nonattaintment status at county level, we seek to identify the effects of multi-plant firms’ network on annual changes in emissions of affiliated plants residing in regulated areas as compared with those in unregulated areas. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236058&r=env |
| By: | Giuffria, Jonathon M.; Bosch, Darrell J.; Taylor, Dan B.; Alamdari, Nasrin |
| Abstract: | The Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) set by the EPA in 2010 mandates that the Chesapeake Bay watershed partner states (New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and District of Columbia) must significantly reduce their respective nutrient loadings (NL) draining into the Bay by 2025, where NL are defined as Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) loadings. A key component of this reduction will be from non-point source pollution, defined as pollution that cannot be readily traced to a single source. Urban environments, due to large amounts of impervious surface, have been identified as a key non-point source contributor of NL into surrounding watersheds. Surges of NL, or NL “spikes”, into local water systems are more damaging than mean NL alone. Virginia’s Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP), which details how Virginia will meet the Bay TMDL’s NL goals, outlined the need to reduce urban NL. Mean NL and NL variability are expected to increase under climate change (CC). While there are many studies that outline cost-effective ways in which NL may be abated from urban environments, there are comparatively fewer studies that develop predictive frameworks for abating NL under CC. Thus, there is a lack of information regarding water quality policy and how effective it will be in controlling urban NL in the future. Policy makers and their advisors need to begin planning how to address this change. The urbanizing Difficult Run watershed in Fairfax County Virginia was chosen as a test-bed watershed for examining how CC may affect water quality policy in urban environments. There are multiple databases readily available for Difficult Run, and it is similar to many other urban sub-watersheds in Chesapeake Bay watershed. As often prescribed by the Chesapeake Bay Commission, EPA, Chesapeake Bay Program, and Virginia’s WIP, this study will utilize Best Management Practices (BMPs) to reduce NL stemming from the watershed. The NL focus is on Nitrogen. For the purpose of this study, urban BMPs are defined as a type of water pollution control that reduces nutrient export via a stormwater runoff control mechanism. Examples of relevant BMPs include, but are not limited to, bioretention practices, installing green roofs, cultivating urban forest management, restoring urban streams, and reducing shoreline erosion. This study uses mathematical programming to compare how the costs of achieving a given NL reduction will differ under differing climates. More specifically, the first objective is to compare the costs of achieving a given level of reduction in mean NL in the watershed based on historical conditions to those predicted under CC. The second objective is to evaluate effects of changes in variability of nutrient loadings under CC on the costs of achieving NL reductions. The first mathematical programming model is a cost minimization, linear programming model which minimizes the total cost of BMP placement subject to a user-defined reduction in mean NL. Constraints are placed on the number of BMPs that can be allocated to the watershed based on watershed characteristics. For example, the amount of stream buffers that can be installed is constrained by available stream frontage in the watershed. The second model is based on Qiu, Prato, and McCamley’s Safety-First model, which pulls its core construction from the Target Minimization of the Absolute Total Deviation (MOTAD) construction. The model contains two key parameters that can be adjusted by the user, the NL Target, and the probability of exceeding the Target. NL for the watershed were simulated using EPA’s Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) 5.1. Using historical data collected by three USGS water monitoring stations stationed in the watershed, NL were calibrated and validated to match historical NL for years 1971-1998. CC nutrient loading data were then simulated for years 2041-2068 where SWMM used input data generated from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) regional climate model (RCM) MM5I_cssm, which was modeled by Andrew Ross and Raymond Najjar of the Department of Meteorology at Penn State. Land constraints for the mathematical programming model were derived using a Geographic Information System (GIS). The data were compiled from sources including, but not limited to, Fairfax County Open GIS data base, USGS, ESRI, Virginia LIDAR, National Land Cover Database, and U.S. Soil Survey. Through analyzing these raster and vector data sets, geospatial information was derived regarding average slope percent, percent impervious surface, water table separation, and hydric soil grouping among others. The geospatial information was transferred into the mathematical programming models to limit the specific acreage for BMPs. Results Preliminary cost minimization results for N loading reduction show heavy favoritism for urban stream restoration, a commonly recommended and effective BMP. However, when taking into consideration the limited stream feet available for restoration due to Chesapeake Bay Protection Area land classifications, Low Impact Development (LID) practices become the principal BMPs chosen. Examples of LID include bioretention, bioswale, and permeable pavement. Percent N loading reductions were parametrically varied from zero to twenty-five percent in order to give policy makers additional information about the way in which costs behave for N loading abatement. From zero to roughly eighteen percent N loadings reduced, the costs rise in a linear fashion. From eighteen percent onward, the costs increase at an increasing rate forming a convex cost frontier. This behavior fits with most economic prediction where the marginal cost of pollution abatement is expected to increase at an increasing rate. Work is currently underway to evaluate the effects of climate change on costs of reducing mean NL and to evaluate costs of reducing NL under risk using the safety-first model. Preliminary results indicate that CC increases the variability of NL implying that costs of meeting water quality goals will be higher under CC when risk is considered. Discussion Potential Designing water quality policy that incorporates structural and land use change can no longer be based on historic conditions alone. CC is expected to alter many of the environmental variables which water quality and economic modelers utilize to construct policy recommendations. The public desires to improve water quality, yet resources to achieve goals are limited. Therefore, it is important that policy models incorporate the effects of CC, so water quality programs can be efficiently adapted to match these changing conditions. References: Qiu, Zeyuan, Tony Prato, and Francis McCamley. “Evaluating Environmental Risks Using Safety-First Constraints.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 83(2)(May 2001): 402-413. Storm Water Management Model Reference Model Volume 1 – Hydrology (2015). Office of Research and Development: Water Supply and Water Resources Division. National Risk Management Laboratory. Environmental Protection Agency. Cincinnati, OH. |
| Keywords: | climate change, cost, mathematical programming, non-point source pollution, urban watershed, Environmental Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, Q52, Q54, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235685&r=env |
| By: | Andrea Bigano (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) and Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC)); Aleksander Sniegocki (Warsaw Institute for Economic Studies (WISE)); Jacopo Zotti (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) and University of Trieste) |
| Abstract: | Economic activities affect the environment through a multiplicity of channels. Besides generating GHG emissions that induce climatic changes, every modern economy is connected to the environment throughout a continuous flow of materials. To generate economic wealth, a modern economy demands natural resources, and produces a continuous flow of waste. The scarcity of natural resources and the negative externalities arising along the life cycle of the resources from the extraction of the resources to their transformation, the use of the final products and eventually the final disposal of the latter seem natural motivations for the current policy push towards a more dematerialized and a more circular economy. The EU in particular appears to be approaching a new frontier of the environmental policy. The main contribution of this paper is a qualitative assessment of this strategy. To this aim, we first investigate the theoretical and political rationale for the EU to foster dematerialization, and on this basis, we provide an economic assessment of the effective feasibility of the initiative. From a theoretical economics point of view, the paper provides an overview of the main externalities arising from materials’ extraction, use and disposal. In a policy perspective, the paper reviews the state of affairs of the major world countries (USA, Japan and China in particular) on this issue, and contextualizes the EU action in a global perspective. This paper investigates whether in this policy field the EU can globally play a decisive role by itself or its role may be limited to providing a good example for other countries to follow, as in the case of the reduction of GHG emissions. In the second part of the paper we discuss some of the most promising policies put forward by the DYNAMIX project. On the basis of the qualitative policy assessment performed in DYNAMIX, we illustrate why these measures might be worth serious consideration. A discussion regarding the political economy of the policies under scrutiny complements the analysis of their effectiveness and efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Dematerialization, Absolute Decoupling, Resource Efficiency, Policy Mixes, Qualitative Assessment |
| JEL: | H23 O44 Q01 Q32 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.39&r=env |
| By: | Ben Ayara, Amine; Cho, Seong-Hoon; Clark, Christopher; Lambert, Dayton; Armsworth, Paul |
| Abstract: | Establishing new or expanding forest areas through afforestation, reforestation, and mitigation of deforestation can be an effective policy tool for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the positive perspective, incentive payment approaches intended to encourage forest-based carbon sequestration are deemed to suffer inefficiency primarily due to asymmetric information between landowners and government agencies seeking to purchase environmental benefits. Failing to at least partially resolve this asymmetry may lead to some landowners receiving payments far exceeding their costs, and thus may result in deviation from optimal provision of ecosystem services. The objective of our research is to determine optimal provision of forest-based carbon storage, focusing particularly on how the optimal provision changes over space and time. This analysis occurs through the estimation of site-specific opportunity costs of supplying carbon storage that are used to derive cumulative carbon supply curves and to identify optimal spatial targeting of incentive payments. The empirical results for the 18-county case study show that optimal provision of forest-based carbon storage are 309,000, 435,171, and 356,171 metric tons per year for the periods of 1992-2001, 2001-2006, and 2006-2011, respectively, at the annual costs of about $5.8 million, $8.7 million, and $7.9 million, respectively. We found that the optimal provision of forest-based carbon storage differs across space and time because of the spatial and temporal heterogeneities in the marginal cost of carbon storage and the maximum potential gain of carbon storage. These findings have significant meanings in the literature since few studies, if any, explicitly consider both the temporal and spatial dynamics of the cost efficiency to come up with optimal budget outlays and corresponding carbon storage levels, payment amounts, and would-be participants. Our finding can be used in ways similar to the decision-making guide for Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) enrollment. |
| Keywords: | Carbon sequestration, Forest, Spatial heterogeneity, Temporal heterogeneity, Economic efficiency, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236005&r=env |
| By: | Hou, Lingling; Hoag, Dana; Keske, Catherine |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the shadow price of CO2 from burning crop residue in the Chinese agricultural sector and explores the policy implications for decision makers. Using a parametric translog directional distance function, we evaluate the technical efficiency and shadow prices of CO2 reduction for 7 major maize provinces in China from 1996-2013. Our results show that crop yield, cost of total inputs, and percentage of burnt crop residue account for 30%, 10% and 20% of the inefficiency, respectively. The shadow price of CO2 from burning crop residue is estimated to range from 0-1.368 yuan/ha (or US$210.5/t) with an average of 0.496yuan/kg (or US$76/t). Further analysis indicates that the average efficiency will increase by 9% if conservation practices are adopted by assuming 10% decrease in yield and 50% decrease in burnt crop residue under conservation practices compared to conventional practices. The shadow prices in these two cases imply that the whole society will benefit if the government spends less than 201 yuan/ha to promote adoption of conservation practices. This government offset would compensate farmers for yield reductions in favor of implementing conservation practices that would substantially reduce CO2 emissions. |
| Keywords: | shadow prices, greenhouse gases, conservation tillage, distance function, China, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235742&r=env |
| By: | Cseh, Arpad |
| Abstract: | The global and long-term nature of climate change conflicts with the reality of self-interested and short-term oriented nations. International negotiations have failed to reach an agreement that achieves effective mitigation, as this dual conflict has not been resolved. This paper proposes an alternative approach to international cooperation, one designed with the conflicting self-interests and short-termism in mind. Key elements of the proposed framework are: establishing a new international treaty and fund; determining a benchmark emission path for each country as well as a carbon price; paying countries annually through the fund for reducing emissions below their benchmark levels as opposed to penalizing them for higher emissions; financing the fund’s annual payments by raising capital from private investors; and repaying the private capital in the long-term using contributions from participating countries. The benefits of this approach include that reaching an international agreement becomes more realistic, self-interest and short-termism are transformed from obstacles into drivers of climate change mitigation and additional financing is created to support the necessary investments. Cutting emissions, currently a burden to be shared among countries in a zero sum game, turns into an opportunity. |
| Keywords: | Carbon payment; UN climate negotiations; Climate change; Global warming; Carbon price; Private investor financing |
| JEL: | Q00 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–05–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71428&r=env |
| By: | Wei Jin (School of Economics, UNSW Business School, The University of New South Wales and School of Public Policy and Management, Zhejiang University); ZhongXiang Zhang (College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University) |
| Abstract: | Whether China continues its business-as-usual investment-driven, environment-polluting growth pattern or adopts an investment and innovation-driven, environmentally sustainable development holds important implications for both national and global environmental governance. Building on a Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans growth model that features endogenous technological change induced by R&D and knowledge stock accumulation, this paper presents an exposition, both analytically and numerically, of the mechanism underlining China’s economic transition from an investment-driven, pollution-intensive to an investment and innovation-driven, environmentally sustainable growth path. We show that if R&D technological innovation is incorporated into China’s growth mechanism, then at some tipping point in time when marginal welfare gain of R&D for knowledge accumulation becomes equalized with that of investment for physical asset deployment, China’s economy will launch capital investment and R&D simultaneously and make a transition to a sustainable growth path along which consumption, capital investment, and R&D have a balanced share of 5: 4: 1, consumption, capital stock, and knowledge stock all grow at a rate of 4.9%, and environmental quality improves at a rate of 2.5%. In contrast, if R&D technological innovation is not harnessed as a new growth engine, then China’s economy will follow its business-as-usual investment-driven growth path along which standalone accumulation of dirty physical capital stock will lead to an more than 200-fold increase in environmental pollution. |
| Keywords: | Endogenous Technological Change, Sustainable Development, Economic Growth Model, China’s Economic Transition |
| JEL: | Q55 Q58 Q43 Q48 O13 O31 O33 O44 F18 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.24&r=env |
| By: | Meyer, Kevin; Keiser, David A. |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the first estimates of the effects of climate change on agriculture while explicitly modeling tile drainage. We show in a simple conceptual model that the value of precipitation should differ between drained and non-drained land, implying that pooling these lands could bias estimates of the effects of climate change on land values. We test this hypothesis by estimating a Structural Ricardian model for U.S. counties east of the 100th meridian. Consistent with our theoretical model, our estimates show that the value of precipitation is higher on non-drained lands. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, adaptation, agriculture, climate impacts, tile drainage, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Q10, Q15, Q51, Q54, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235932&r=env |
| By: | Osei, Edward; Jafri, Syed |
| Abstract: | While climate change science is highly debatable, it is insightful to evaluate the potential implications of projected changes in climate patterns on agricultural production and farm incomes. This paper used the generally accepted climate model projections currently available to determine the implications of these projections on farm production levels and incomes in Texas. The results shown here suggest a moderate decline in farm production, on average across the entire State of Texas. Impacts on individual counties or regions may be more or less marked depending on the projected changes in weather patterns. Additional results will highlight regional differences and will also look at the impacts of other climate change scenarios on farm production and income. |
| Keywords: | climate change, production, farm income, RCP45, Texas, APEX, FEM, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, Production Economics, Q18, Q54, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236053&r=env |
| By: | Meng, Ting; Carew, Richard C.; Florkowski, Wojciech J.; Klepacka, Anna M. |
| Abstract: | Warmer temperatures and variable rainfall are likely to affect Saskatchewan’s production of canola and spring wheat. This study employs moments-based approaches (full- and partial-moments) to estimate the impact of precipitation and temperature changes on canola and spring wheat yield distributions. Environment Canada weather data and Statistics Canada crop yield, planted area, and summer fallow area are employed for 20 crop districts over the 1987-2010 period. Our results show that the average crop yields are positively associated with the growing season degree days (GDD), and pre-growing season precipitation, while negatively affected by extremely high temperatures. Furthermore, the climate measures have asymmetric effects on the higher moments of crop yield distribution. |
| Keywords: | Climate effect, full-moment function, partial-moment function, variance, Pesaran’s test, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q54, Q16, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235251&r=env |
| By: | Wang, Yanbing; Delgado, Michael; Xu, Jin |
| Abstract: | We investigate the long-term financial incentives of corporate environmental responsibility by examining whether an environmentally responsible firm benefits from a lower cost of equity capital, focusing on a particular channel: sustainable and responsible investing (SRI). Using treatment effect models, we test whether investments from SRI mutual funds with environmental screening criteria impact firm cost of equity capital. We find that accounting for interaction between firm and non-shareholder stakeholders, and potential agency costs associated with certain environmentally responsible activities of the firm, SRI investing may facilitate the alignment of firm environmental and financial goals. |
| Keywords: | sustainable and responsible investing, SRI, voluntary environmental responsibility, cost of equity capital, Environmental Economics and Policy, Financial Economics, Q50, Q58, G23, G30, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235994&r=env |
| By: | Olaf Corry; David Reiner |
| Abstract: | Emergent or unproven technologies occupy a central role in post-Paris debates about climate change goals and their feasibility. New technologies have often faced major political and social challenges and the way they are communicated is changing as technical experts and scientists play a greater role in communicating directly online. We review the scope and key characteristics of communications on carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technologies presenting data from a comprehensive survey of websites compiled to assess the state of global CCS communications. Our key empirical finding is that existing communications are techno-centric in their framing, overlooking economic, political and institutional aspects of CCS as a societal arrangement. We also find an overrepresentation of traditionally less trusted actors from business and government (resulting in a pro-CCS bias), rather than by independent academic researchers or NGOs. We offer some recommendations for how CCS and similarly emergent climate technologies might be better communicated in the age of the Internet, not just in terms of their technical features but also in terms of their societal impacts and the role they might play in a wider social and political context. |
| Keywords: | Emergent technologies, carbon capture and storage (CCS), climate change, public communications, epistemic community |
| JEL: | M38 Q40 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–02–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1610&r=env |
| By: | Andrew Prag; Thomas Lyon; Aimée Russillo |
| Abstract: | This report explores potential effects of the recent rapid growth in Environmental Labelling Information Schemes (ELIS) around the world, with a focus on the implications of ELIS multiplication for environmental effectiveness and international trade. As empirical work on the environmental effects of ELIS multiplication is just beginning to appear, insights from the theoretical literature on label competition are presented. Modelling suggests that competition between labels may reduce environmental performance relative to a single label with strict environmental goals, though stylised modelling may not accurately reflect the complex real-world interactions of schemes. The analysis is complemented with an overview of empirical studies on environmental effects, including evidence that label competition has led to market-driven convergence of standards in some sectors, such as forest certification. However, it is important that convergence leads to more holistic and streamlined ELIS rather than acting as a weakening influence on the stringency and quality of standards or how schemes are implemented, to maximise environmental effectiveness. Multiplication of ELIS could have implications for the ways that labelling schemes interact with international trade, particularly in terms of market access and international competitiveness. Although difficult to demonstrate empirically, the conditions that could lead to such effects are described conceptually in the report, noting particularities of certain types of schemes such as quantitative footprints. The report also documents a range of ways that government and non-government bodies have responded to ELIS multiplication, such as mutual recognition of schemes and creation of “focal” schemes or standards that can lead to market convergence. Such responses could also alter trade effects of ELIS under certain conditions, for example if a particular voluntary scheme becomes sufficiently dominant in a country to be perceived as a “de facto” market entry requirement by suppliers in other countries. L’objet du présent document est d’étudier les retombées potentielles de la multiplication des dispositifs d’éco-étiquetage et d’information environnementale (DEIE) observée depuis peu dans le monde, en particulier du point de vue de l’efficacité environnementale et du commerce international. Comme il y a peu d’études empiriques sur la multiplication des DEIE, les résultats des travaux de modélisation théoriques concernant la mise en concurrence des dispositifs sont présentés. D’après les exercices de modélisation théorique, la concurrence entre labels peut réduire la performance environnementale par rapport à un label unique visant des objectifs strictement environnementaux. Cependant, le caractère simplifié des modèles employés et la complexité du paysage dans lequel évoluent les DEIE limitent certainement l’intérêt de la modélisation pour la définition de l’action à mener. L’analyse est complétée par une revue d’études empiriques sur l’efficacité environnementale des DEIE. La concurrence entre labels semble entraîner sur la durée une uniformisation et une convergence des normes tirée par le marché, par exemple, dans le secteur de la certification forestière. Pour que les bienfaits écologiques soient optimaux, il importe que la convergence ne mène pas à l’abaissement du niveau d’exigence et de la qualité des normes utilisées. La multiplication des DEIE pourrait influer sur leur lien avec le commerce international, en particulier en ce qui concerne l’accès au marché et la compétitivité internationale. Bien que ces effets soient difficiles à démontrer à partir de données empiriques, le rapport décrit les conditions en principe susceptibles de conduire à ces effets. Les particularités de certains types de dispositif dans ce regard sont notés, comme par exemple les labels « enceintes ». Le rapport s’intéresse également aux actions prise par les acteurs gouvernementaux et non gouvernementaux pour rendre le marché des DEIE cohérent et prévisible. Ces actions comprennent, par exemple, des accords de reconnaissance mutuelle ou la création de normes ou labels de « référence ». Ces actions peuvent également mener une influence sur le commerce international, par exemple si un dispositif d’application facultative gagne un part de marché qui semble constituer un critère de facto d’entrée sur le marché. |
| Keywords: | trade and environment, information policy approaches, product environmental footprints, Ecolabels, environmental reporting, Eco-labels, rapports environnementaux, politique d’approches informationnelles, empreintes environnementales des produits |
| JEL: | F18 L15 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaaa:106-en&r=env |
| By: | Tyagi, Ashish; Shortle, James S. |
| Abstract: | Water allocation in river basins across the world has been historically determined through various institutional arrangements, which are generally hierarchical in nature. But institutions are generally not explicitly recognized in the literature on resources and environmental economics as they do not yield easily to modeling in the conventional framework. This paper proposes a model to assess the potential of efficiency gains possible from institutional change under hierarchical water institutions. We hypothesize two types of institutional change from status-quo; efficient water markets yielding Pareto optimal outcomes, and more interestingly, regional and intra-sectoral water trading under imperfect markets. Using Banks and Duggan (2006) model of collective decision making to model non-cooperative bargaining, we present here the general framework. The innovative model also allows for incorporating the impact of climate change, population growth, economic growth and technological change on future supply and demand, which help study the benefits of plausible institutional changes in otherwise relatively stagnant water allocation institutions. Application of the proposed hierarchical model to Upper Rio Grande basin calculates the efficiency gains possible from non-cooperative bargaining and compares it with the outcome under cooperation. The analysis can guide policy making by highlighting the gains that institutional reforms can achieve. |
| Keywords: | Water Economics, Institutions, Non-cooperative bargaining theory, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235571&r=env |
| By: | Christopher Wada (University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, University of Hawaii at Manoa); Kimberly Burnett (University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, University of Hawaii at Manoa); Jason Gurdak (San Francisco State University) |
| Abstract: | The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is quickly becoming one of the most critical global environmental challenges of the twenty first century. However, WEF systems are inherently complex; they typically are dynamic and span multiple land or agro-ecosystems at a regional or global scale. Addressing this challenge requires a systems approach to optimal and sustainable resource management across multiple dimensions. To that end, using Pajaro Valley (California) as a case study, our research aims to (1) highlight synergies and tradeoffs in food and water production, (2) build a dynamic framework capable of examining intertemporal resource relationships, and (3) detail the steps required to develop incentive-compatible financing of the resulting management plans when benefits are not distributed uniformly across users. Using a stylized model, we find that in the long run, inland growers benefit from the halting of seawater intrusion (SWI) due to overpumping of groundwater. We also calculate that the water provided by the proposed College Lake Multi-Objective Management Program—a plan designed to halt SWI and support sustainable water and agricultural development in the region—will generate net revenue of $40-58 million per year, compared to an annualized cost of less than $3 million. An equal cost-sharing plan would be desirable if the benefit of the project exceeded $1,268 per year for each well owner. Since this may not necessarily be the case for smaller well owners, one possible alternative is to allocate costs in proportion to expected benefits for each user. |
| Keywords: | water-energy-food nexus, sustainable agriculture, groundwater management, saltwater intrusion, cost-benefit analysis, Pajaro Valley |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hae:wpaper:2016-6&r=env |
| By: | Abdulrahman, Abdulallah S; Johnston, Robert J |
| Abstract: | Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) addressing adaptation to climate-related risks may be subject to response biases associated with variations in risk exposure across sampled populations. Systematic adjustments for such biases are hindered by the absence of rigorous, standardized selection-correction models for multinomial DCEs, together with a lack of information on non-respondents. This paper illustrates a systematic approach to accommodate risk-related non-response bias in DCEs, where variations in risk exposure may be linked to observable landscape characteristics. The approach adapts reduced form response-propensity models to correct for survey non-response, capitalizing on the fact that indicators of risk exposure may be linked to the geocoded locations of respondents and non-respondents. An application to coastal flood adaptation in Connecticut, USA illustrates implications for welfare estimation. Results demonstrate that the proposed approach can reveal otherwise invisible, systematic effects of survey response patterns on estimated WTP. |
| Keywords: | Response bias, Response propensity, Coastal adaptation, Flood risk, Sea level rise., Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235465&r=env |
| By: | Weber, Jeremy G.; Key, Nigel; O'Donoghue, Erik |
| Abstract: | Farmers dramatically increased their use of federal crop insurance in the 2000s. From 2000 to 2013, premium subsidies increased seven-fold and acres enrolled increased by 77 percent. Although designed for non-environmental goals, subsidized insurance may affect the use of land, fertilizer, and agrochemicals and therefore environmental externalities from agriculture. Using a novel panel data, we examine farmer responses to changes in coverage with an empirical approach that exploits program limits on coverage that were more binding for some farmers than for others. Estimates indicate that expanded coverage had little effect on the share of farmland harvested, crop specialization, productivity, or fertilizer and chemical use. More broadly, we construct and describe a new nation-wide, farm-level panel data set with nearly 32,500 farms observed at least twice over the 2000-2013 period, a resource that should enrich U.S. agro-environmental research. |
| Keywords: | Crop insurance, agriculture, environmental externalities, fertilizer |
| JEL: | Q12 Q15 Q18 |
| Date: | 2016–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71293&r=env |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (East Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (East Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | Disaster risk now presents one of the most serious threats to inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic development. In the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the incidence of natural disasters—particularly water-related disasters—are on the rise, resulting in an increased exposure to and vulnerability of the population to disasters. Coupled with anticipated increases in the frequency and intensity of weather-related events due to climate change, the PRC’s population is at heightened risk. This review focuses on waterrelated disasters, including identification of underlying causes, current management and policies to reduce risk, and opportunities for strengthening integrated disaster risk management in the PRC. |
| Keywords: | natural disasters, climate change risks, extreme weather events, water-related disasters, flooding, risk management, idrm, water resources development, water resources management, risk reduction, drought, extreme storms, environmental degradation, water-related hazards |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt157747&r=env |
| By: | Motallebi, Marzieh; Ali, Tasdighi; Hoag, Dana; Arabi, Mazdak |
| Abstract: | Water quality trading (WQT) has been suggested as a cost effective approach to achieve water quality goals for many watersheds (EPA, 2007), including the Jordan Lake watershed in North Carolina. Although, theory supports the concept, its implementation has experienced a numbers of failures in the United States. A broad spectrum of physical, social, economic, and intuitional factors have diverted success. One of the institutional hindrances is the WQT baseline. WQT baseline is a reference point that must be met by credit sellers and buyers before being allowed to buy or sell credits. Favorable (unfavorable) weather compared to the baseline can result in gains (losses) attributed to conservation technology. We construct a WQT market applied to the new Jordan Lake Watershed program in North Carolina to examine the role of weather on baseline period as related to total nitrogen (TN) loads in Jordan Lake. Results of our models show that the baseline weather condition has a profound impact on the water quality credits supply. The purpose of this study is to alert policy makers to this issue and to suggest ways to better match the baseline incentives with emission reduction goals when taking weather variability and trends into account. |
| Keywords: | Water Quality Trading, Baseline, Riparian Buffers, Weather, Jordan Lake, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235688&r=env |
| By: | Baker, Justin; Latta, Greg; Jones, Jason; Beach, Robert; Ohrel, Sara; Creason, Jared |
| Keywords: | Biopower, GHG Mitigation, Food Security, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236139&r=env |
| By: | Makriyannis, Christos; Johnston, Robert |
| Abstract: | Discrete choice experiments often include attributes subject to outcome uncertainty (OU), defined as uncertainty regarding actual attribute levels that will occur. Most choice experiments that incorporate OU do so using scenarios that allow for only two possible outcomes distinguished by a single probability. Because few environmental phenomena are characterized by two possible outcomes, characterizing scenarios in this way requires analysts to reframe actual conditions, discretizing the underlying continuous probability density function into two intervals. The implications of this reframing for welfare estimation are almost universally unknown. This article evaluates the convergent validity of welfare estimates from a more complex and accurate treatment of OU, compared to the traditional two-outcome approach. Methods and results are illustrated using an application to coastal flood adaptation in Connecticut, USA. Results show that a higher-resolution, multiple outcome treatment of OU provides additional information on risk preferences and willingness to pay (WTP), but also suggest that multiple outcome treatments increase task complexity. These tradeoffs highlight challenges facing the valuation of outcomes subject to OU. |
| Keywords: | Discrete choice experiments, outcome uncertainty, choice scenario, generalized multinomial logit model, climate change adaptation, Environmental Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235532&r=env |
| By: | Plastina, Alejandro; Liu, Fangge |
| Abstract: | Row crop farming in the Midwest has been increasingly singled out as a major non-point source of nitrate pollution in waterways, putting pressure on farmers to adopt conservation practices. One of the promising conservation practices is cover crop, which is known to promote many aspects of soil and water sustainability. However, adoption of cover crops is very low in the Midwest. Farmers’ perceptions that cover crops are costly was found to be the major barrier to their adoption, as well as lack of familiarity with novel approaches. As the first stage of a larger project funded by the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, this study aims to improve the understanding of the changes cover crop brings to farm operations through focus group discussions with experienced cover crop farmers, and to provide partial budgets for cover crops under alternative scenarios. |
| Keywords: | Cover Crops, Partial Budgets, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235857&r=env |
| By: | ji, yongjie; keiser, david |
| Abstract: | Bene t estimates of water pollution control policies rely heavily on water quality in- dices. Since the 1970s, these measures of water quality have been used extensively in stated preference surveys to estimate willingness to pay for water quality that is suitable for recre- ational use. However, there is little empirical evidence of how well these indices correspond to observed recreational behavior. This paper utilizes a unique micro-dataset of individual household recreational use and water quality in a revealed preference framework to explore how well several major water quality indices explain water-based recreational use. |
| Keywords: | Water Recreation, Water Quality Indices, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q51, Q53, Q57, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235886&r=env |
| By: | Tang, Liqun; Zhou, jiehong; Yu, Xiaohua |
| Abstract: | Climate extremes, characterized by droughts and floods, have become one of the major constraints to sustainable improvement of rice productivity. Variety choice, considered as one of the main adaptation measures, could help farmers reduce yield loss resulting from these extremes. Based on a three-year panel survey of 1,080 Chinese rice farms in major rice producing provinces, we study the effect of adopting weather tolerant variety rice as a main adaptation measure against climate extremes. Taking into account the endogeneity of adoption behavior, we employ an endogenous switching regression to separately estimate the treatment effects of adoption for adopters and non-adopters. We find that farmers who adopted the new variety increased yield by 537 kg/ha (about 7%), compared with the counterfactual case of no-adoption. In contrast, the farmers who did not adopt, would increase rice yield by 272 kg/ha (about 4 %) if they adopted, much smaller than the adopters. However, adoption of new variety demands more knowledge, better education, more intensive management, and higher seed costs. As a policy implication, expansion of public extension services could help relax these restrictions. |
| Keywords: | Climate extremes, rice, weather tolerant variety, yield, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235226&r=env |
| By: | Kadohognon Sylvain Ouattara (ESCA Ecole de Management, Casablanca, et CREM-UMR CNRS 6211) |
| Abstract: | Ce papier analyse la taxation des émissions de pollution dans une industrie où une entreprise semi-publique est en concurrence avec une entreprise privée (nationale ou étrangère). Nous sup-posons que les propriétaires des firmes engagent un gestionnaire à qui ils délèguent les décisions de production et d'abattement de la pollution. Nous montrons que la délégation a pour effet d'augmenter la taxe environnementale et le dommage environnemental. De plus, le niveau de taxe environnementale taxé par lEtat en présence d'une firme privée étrangère est supérieur à celui taxé en présence d'une firme privée domestique. |
| Keywords: | duopole mixte, taxe environnementale, incitations managériales, privatisation partielle |
| JEL: | L13 L33 Q58 D21 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tut:cremwp:2016-10&r=env |
| By: | Daigneault, Adam; Greenhalgh, Suzie; Samarasinghe, Oshadhi |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235761&r=env |
| By: | Dhoubhadel, Sunil P.; Taheripour, Farzad; Stockton, Mathew C. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235271&r=env |
| By: | Anonymous |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236233&r=env |
| By: | Cohen, Alex; Keiser, David |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the failure of command-and-control pollution policies in the presence of overlapping regulations. We study the case of recent bans on phosphate in household dishwasher detergent. We show that the effectiveness of the bans in reducing effluent depends critically on existing pollution regulations at receiving wastewater treatment facilities. Some facilities face limits on how much phosphorus they can emit. As cost minimizers, limit facilities face no incentive to deviate from this standard. Using novel datasets on wastewater treatment facilities, we show that bans have weak effects on phosphorous effluent, especially in the most polluted waterways. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Regulation, Policy Interactions, Water Quality, Phosphorous, Environmental Economics and Policy, Public Economics, Q50, Q53, Q58, H11, H23, D23, |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235533&r=env |
| By: | Canesio D. Predo (College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna 4031, Philippines) |
| Abstract: | This study aimed to document the actual experience of the community and households in Ormoc, Leyte and selected municipalities along Cabalian Bay in Southern Leyte to flooding brought about by extreme climatic events and their perception, preparedness, and planned adaptation for the potential threat posed by climate change-induced sea level rise. Primary data collected through survey, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions, and secondary data were used in the study. Interviewed were 141 respondents from Ormoc (60), Hinundayan (62), and St Bernard (19). The respondents were selected using simple random sampling from the list of affected households. |
| Keywords: | adaptation, climate change, storm, flood, Philippines |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:tpaper:tp201604t3&r=env |
| By: | Shr, Yau-Huo; Zipp, Katherine |
| Keywords: | Hedonic price model, Nonmarket valuation, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q51, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235961&r=env |
| By: | Zhang, Yiyuan |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the efficiency and environmental impact of market organization in the context of the Texas electricity market. Taking advantage of its transition from a bilaterally trading scheme to a centralized pool, I show that low-cost generators displaced high-cost generators in production. The change in generation pattern supports improved information aggregation about congestion externalities under the centralized market. In the nine months following the transition, the generation cost was reduced by $65 million. The increased carbon dioxide emission, however, substantially offsets the efficiency gain. |
| Keywords: | Market Design, Electricity Markets, Congestion Externality, Carbon Emissions, Environmental Economics and Policy, Industrial Organization, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, L51, L94, Q41, Q51, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235715&r=env |
| By: | Anthony J Venables |
| Abstract: | Developing economies have found it hard to use natural resource wealth to improve their economic performance. Utilising resource endowments is a multi-stage economic and political problem that requires private investment to discover and extract the resource, fiscal regimes to capture revenue, judicious spending and investment decisions, and policies to manage volatility and mitigate adverse impacts on the rest of the economy. Experience is mixed, with some successes (such as Botswana and Malaysia) and more failures. This paper reviews the challenges that are faced in successfully managing resource wealth, the evidence on country performance, and the reasons for disappointing results. |
| Keywords: | Natural resources, non-renewable, depletion, resource curse, Dutch disease, revenue management, diversification, genuine saving |
| JEL: | Q3 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:169&r=env |
| By: | He-Lambert, Lixia; English, Burton C.; Lambert, Dayton M.; Clark, Christopher D.; Papanicolaou, Thanos |
| Abstract: | This paper summarizes the modeling framework used to determine the economic value of water for row crops using a partial equilibrium agricultural sector model designed for Tennessee and the Tennessee River Basin (TNAP). The objective of the paper is to outline a framework for determining water use by Tennessee’s agricultural sector, the relative value of water used by agriculture, and potential technology options for adapting to water scarcity with TNAP. The focus is on the major row crops produced in the region, specifically corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton. Estimates of water availability are generated with predictive water balance models. Metrics for water use and demand are developed from three sources of data: a) primary and secondary farm-level data, b) regional economic-sectoral data, and c) cost-of-production data for crops commonly produced in the region. Shadow prices of water will be estimated by adjusting water quantities available for agricultural activities with the marginal productivity value of farm and non-farm activities. |
| Keywords: | agricultural water use, economic model, row crop production, Crop Production/Industries, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235675&r=env |
| By: | Delzeit, Ruth; Klepper, Gernot; Söder, Mareike |
| Abstract: | The contribution of biofuels to save greenhouse gas emissions has been challenged over the last years. A still unresolved question is how to quantify emissions from indirect land use change (iLUC). In this paper we review approaches to quantify iLUC-emissions. We conclude that economic simulation models have fewer drawbacks compared to two other approaches. We find that economic simulation models contain a high level of uncertainty with respect to key model parameters. Further, we conclude that it is inappropriate to calculate crop-specific iLUC-emissions and to include them into binding regulation. We argue that modelling results, particularly crop-specific ones, should not be used for policy decisions. |
| Keywords: | CGE Modeling,indirect land use change,biofuels,greenhouse gas emissions |
| JEL: | C61 Q16 Q42 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:2035&r=env |
| By: | Cai, Yongyang; Golub, Alla A.; Hertel, Thomas W.; Judd, Kenneth L. |
| Abstract: | Since the 1950s, increased agricultural productivity has allowed food supply growth to outpace demand on a global scale, resulting in a downward trend in world prices. Investments into agricultural research and development (R&D) have been the foundation for this achievement, but there is a long lag in agricultural productivity response to the investments. The optimal path of R&D spending depends on future population, income and climate change, all of which are highly uncertain. This study offers a dynamic framework for analyzing optimal agricultural R&D spending in the 21st century factoring in uncertainties in these drivers, as well as lagged pay offs on investments into improvements of agricultural productivity. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural R&D policy, Total Factor Productivity, Robust decision making under uncertainty, Agricultural and Food Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235981&r=env |
| By: | Wang, Haoluan; Qiu, Feng |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the agricultural land abandonment and agricultural land expansion in the case of the Edmonton-Calgary Corridor, Canada. Using remote sensing data from 2000 to 2012, we include environmental and socio-economic factors to explore the drivers of land use conversions between agriculture and natural land. This research also adopts spatial techniques to allow for spatial effects from neighboring areas’ land-use activities. Key results from this study include: (1) higher land suitability for agriculture is negatively associated with agricultural land abandonment; (2) road density contributes to land use conversions between agriculture and natural land; and (3) land-use activities and decisions have strong spatial effects on neighboring regions, and the incorporation of spatial interactions can result in less biased results. In addition, an investigation of bidirectional land transitions helps in better understanding the associated gains and losses of agriculture and natural land. |
| Keywords: | agricultural land abandonment, agricultural land expansion, spatial effect, spatial regression model, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235468&r=env |
| By: | Yu, Chin-Hsien; Mu, Jianhong; Ding, Jinxiu |
| Abstract: | Climate change and variability leads to more frequent and more intensive extreme weather events, such as severe storms and droughts. Due to the special geographic location, Taiwan suffers from serious typhoons frequently, which further threaten the social stability and public security. Using detailed daily-county level data, we examine the impact of typhoons on crime rates in Taiwan and find that with respect to weak-intensity strike, medium-intensity strike significantly increases the rate of automobile theft and motorcycle theft. With dynamic model regression, we find that medium- or strong- intensity strike will statistically significantly decrease the crime rate of drug by 0.11 incidents per 100,000 persons. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Public Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236269&r=env |
| By: | DENISE IMORI; JOAQUIM JOSÉ MARTINS GUILHOTO |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anp:en2015:186&r=env |
| By: | Williams, Niall; Zhang, Wei |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236034&r=env |
| By: | Shi, Wei; Halstead, John; Huang, Ju-Chin |
| Abstract: | The increasing interest in locally grown produce in the U.S. has resulted in a number of studies examining consumers’ willingness to pay for local specialty food. This paper extends the literature to investigate Massachusetts and New Hampshire survey respondents’ preferences for locally grown and other attributes of a variety of produce types. Choice experiments are used to discern the relative importance of these produce attributes. Our results show that the average premiums for locally grown green beans, cucumbers and snap peas are respectively 30.74 percent, 67.30 percent, and 32.62 percent above the prices of the non-locally grown counterparts among New Hampshire respondents. In comparison, the average premiums for locally grown green beans, cucumbers and snap peas are respectively 57.66 percent, 17.31 percent (insignificant), and 35.45 percent above the prices of the non-locally grown counterparts among Massachusetts respondents. We also find mixed results on the willingness to pay for the organic feature across different produce. Consumers are willing to pay a price premium for organically grown green beans (about 29.02 percent in New Hampshire and 32.63 percent in Massachusetts), but none for snap peas. |
| Keywords: | Local Agriculture, Willingness to Pay, Choice Experiments, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236109&r=env |
| By: | Ehrlich, Oren; Bi, Xiang; Borisova, Tatiana; Larkin, Sherry |
| Abstract: | This study examines the extent to which heterogeneous environmental attitudes influence recreational demand in a river basin and the valuation of recreational benefits. We first employed a latent class analysis to reveal two distinct classes of respondents that differ in their environmental attitudes despite representing similar demographic characteristics. We then estimated a recreational demand model conditional on respondent’s latent class membership after controlling for the probabilistic nature of the membership classification. We found that environmental attitudes directly influence consumer recreational demand and valuation. Ignoring preference heterogeneity leads to overestimation of the recreational benefits. |
| Keywords: | Latent Class Analysis (LCA), Recreational Demand, Travel Cost Method (TCM), Non-market Valuation., Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q51, Q57, |
| Date: | 2016–07–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235853&r=env |
| By: | Ray, Mukesh; Maredia, Mywish; Shupp, Robert |
| Keywords: | International Development, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236113&r=env |
| By: | Cheng, Li; Lupi, Frank |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235746&r=env |
| By: | Marian Stuiver; Katrine Soma; Phoebe Koundouri; Sander van den Burg; Alwin Gerritsen; Thorbjørn Harkamp; Niels Dalsgaard; Fabio Zagonari; Raul Guanche; Jan-Joost Schouten; Saskia Hommes; Amerissa Giannouli; Tore Söderqvist; Lars Rosen; Rita Garção; Jenny Norrman; Christine Röckmann; Mark de Bel; Barbara Zanuttigh; Ole Petersen; Flemming Møhlenberg |
| Abstract: | European seas are encountering an upsurge in competing marine activities and infrastructures. Traditional exploitation such as fisheries, tourism, transportation, and oil production are accompanied by new sustainable economic activities such as offshore windfarms, aquaculture, and tidal and wave energy. One proposed solution to overcome possible competing claims at sea lies in combining these economic activities as part of Multi-Use Platforms at Sea (MUPS). MUPS can be understood as areas at sea, designated for a combination of activities, either completely integrated in a platform or in shared marine space. MUPS can potentially benefit from each other in terms of infrastructure, maintenance, etc. Developing MUPS in the marine environment demands adequate governance. In this article, we investigate four European sites to find out how governance arrangements may facilitate or complicate MUPs. In particular, we apply a framework specifying policy, economic, social, technical, environmental, and legal (PESTEL) factors to explore governance arrangements in four case study sites in different sea basins around Europe (the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, and the Baltic Sea). The article concludes with policy recommendations on a governance regime for facilitating the development of MUPS in the future. |
| Keywords: | multi-use platforms; offshore; governance; PESTEL; energy production; aquaculture |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:66579&r=env |
| By: | Boehm, Rebecca; Wilde, Parke E.; Ver Ploeg, Michele; Costello, Christine; Cash, Sean B. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236065&r=env |
| By: | - |
| Keywords: | ENERGIA DE LA BIOMASA, COMBUSTIBLES, POLITICA ENERGETICA, DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE, PROYECTOS DE DESARROLLO, BIOMASS ENERGY, FUELS, ENERGY POLICY, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col093:40163&r=env |
| By: | Wechsler, Seth; McFadden, Jonathan; Smith, David |
| Abstract: | The first case of glyphosate resistant weeds was documented in 1998, two years after the commercialization of genetically engineered, herbicide tolerant (HT) corn and soybeans. Currently, over 14 resistant weed species affect U.S. crop production areas. This study uses a novel two-stage, structural model to derive cost functions for pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicide use. The parameters of the structural model are estimated using censored nonlinear full information maximum likelihood. Control functions from first-stage regressions account for the endogeneity of farmers’ expected yields and seed choices. The results of the analysis are used to determine the extent to which resistance has eroded the benefits associated with glyphosate applications in HT production systems. Our preliminary results suggest that glyphosate resistance may have decreased weed control by as much as eight percentage points from 2005 to 2010. |
| Keywords: | glyphosate resistance, herbicide tolerance, corn, damage abatement, nonlinear full information maximum likelihood, control functions, Demand and Price Analysis, Production Economics, Q12, Q16, Q57, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235998&r=env |
| By: | Rimsaite, Renata; Fisher-Vanden, Karen A.; Olmstead, Sheila M. |
| Abstract: | With this study we seek to understand the relationship between the sale and one-year lease prices in the U.S. water rights market. Given that the majority of current water rights markets in the U.S. are informal, high in transaction costs, and heterogeneous within and across states, we do not expect for the asset pricing theory to completely explain high variation in prices. Our goal is to understand which part of the pricing can be explained by the arbitrage theory and which part should be attributed to the expectations about the future conditions. Using a unique water rights trading dataset, which consists of water rights sales and one-year leases in six U.S. western states between 1994 and 2007, we follow the Newell et al. (2007) approach applied to New Zealand fisheries, and econometrically analyze the applicability of a present-value asset pricing model to the water rights markets. Our preliminary results show that the asset pricing theory holds in water rights markets, and support our hypothesis that the U.S. water rights market is less efficient than the fishing quota market in New Zealand. We further analyze what policies lead to different water rights pricing mechanisms across and within the studied states. |
| Keywords: | Water rights markets, price efficiency, asset pricing, water institutions, climate change., Environmental Economics and Policy, Q21, Q25, Q28, Q54, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236099&r=env |
| By: | Dimitrova, Anna; Egenhofer, Christian; Behrens, Arno |
| Abstract: | Regional Energy Policy Cooperation has now gained political traction in the EU as a tool to advance the EU’s energy objectives. Cooperation and coordination is meant to facilitate the convergence of markets and policies, so while the creation of one EU Internal Energy Market remains the goal, regional cooperation is the tool with which to achieve that goal. Cooperation could become the stepping-stone towards the completion of the Internal Energy Market within the European 2030 climate and energy framework and beyond. The Energy Union concept recognises the importance of regional integration. For South East Europe, regional energy policy cooperation is seen as a means to address region-specific challenges such as security of supply, energy imports dependence, affordability, but also to build trust. South East Europe’s hitherto untapped or underutilised potential for renewable energy, hydro – also for storage – and the huge potential for energy efficiency improvements offer a great opportunity to solve the region’s challenges. |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:cepswp:11451&r=env |
| By: | Osei, Edward; Li, Huijun |
| Abstract: | Despite the intuitive appeal of precision farming, adoption of precision technology options has been well below expectations. A review of precision farming studies suggests as expected that precision farming becomes more profitable as in-field spatial variability increases. However, no studies have attempted to quantify infield variability at any reasonable scale beyond a few experimental fields. This study contributes to the assessment of precision farming by introducing an approach that can help characterize the relative profitability of precision farming methods as compared to conventional farming. Using readily available geographic information systems databases on crop cover, soil type, and weather, we use a fully-linked biophysical-economic modeling system to assess the viability of precision nitrogen applications on corn in Livingston County, Illinois. Livingston County was selected because of its role as a major corn producing county in Illinois. We find little evidence, in general, for viability of precision nitrogen applications in contrast to uniform application rates, largely because of the lack of significant in-field spatial variability in soil types. However, precision application methods may be viable in specific situations. |
| Keywords: | precision farming, VRT, APEX, FEM, GIS, computer modeling, Production Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236184&r=env |
| By: | Braun, Carola; Rehdanz, Katrin; Schmidt, Ulrich |
| Abstract: | Recent studies in the marketing literature developed a new method for eliciting willingness to pay (WTP) with an open-ended elicitation format: the Range-WTP method. In contrast to the traditional approach of eliciting WTP as a single value (Point-WTP), Range-WTP explicitly allows for preference uncertainty in responses. The aim of this paper is to apply Range- WTP to the domain of contingent valuation and to test for its theoretical validity and robustness in comparison to the Point-WTP. Using data from two novel large-scale surveys on the perception of solar radiation management (SRM), a little-known technique for counteracting climate change, we compare the performance of both methods in the field. In addition to the theoretical validity (i.e. the degree to which WTP values are consistent with theoretical expectations), we analyse the test-retest reliability and stability of our results over time. Our evidence suggests that the Range-WTP method clearly outperforms the Point-WTP method. |
| Keywords: | Surveys,Climate Change,Emotions,Research Validity,Chocolate,Payment,Alternative Energy,Wine |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:141320&r=env |
| By: | Huang, Ling; Zhou, Yishu |
| Keywords: | Carbon Emission Market, RGGI, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236179&r=env |
| By: | Ubilava, David; Orlowski, Jan |
| Abstract: | While the production effect of El Niño and its counterpart – La Niña – is well documented, many of the previous studies apply binary variables (e.g., for El Niño and La Niña events) to analyze the relationship, and, moreover, much of their conclusions rely on in-sample fit and test statistics. In this study, we extend previous literature by examining the effect of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on U.S. corn production in an out-of-sample setting. In so doing, we incorporate weather variables, such as degree days and precipitation in the analysis, to investigate the trade-off between model uncertainty and parameter uncertainty. We find that ENSO likely impacts U.S. corn production though extreme degree days. This is particularly true for Counties in the southern Corn Belt as well as corn-growing Counties in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions. In many instances, however, more accurate forecasts are obtained when the ENSO effect on corn yields is modeled directly. |
| Keywords: | Climate Anomalies, El Niño Southern Oscillation, Forecast Evaluation, U.S. Corn Production, Crop Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236281&r=env |
| By: | Yi, Jing; Richardson, James; Bryant, Henry |
| Abstract: | This paper uses regional county level data to explore the impacts of crop insurance premium subsidies on the demand for corn crop insurance at each coverage level. Although the demand for corn insurance is price-inelastic, the elasticities of demand with respect to per dollar net premium vary significantly among coverage levels, insurance plans, and regions. The elasticities of demand for corn yield insurance (APH) with respect to per dollar net premium are − 0 .230, −0 .158, and −0 .259 at the 80% coverage level in the Corn Belt, Lake States, and Northern Plains, respectively. The corresponding elasticity at the 75% coverage level in the Southern Plains is −0 .654. The elasticities of demand for corn revenue insurance (CRC) with respect to per dollar net premium are −0 .200, −0 .208 at the 80% coverage level in the Corn Belt and Lake States, respectively, and it is −0 .670 at the 75% coverage level in the Southern Plains. The results show that elasticities of demand for corn insurance tend to be larger in riskier regions at relatively higher coverage levels. This study also estimates the possible changes in producers’ crop insurance purchases if federal crop insurance premium subsidies are reduced by 10 percentage points. The expected change in producers’ purchases of corn revenue insurance at the 75% coverage level in the Southern Plains ( −12 .182%) would be three times greater than it is at the 80% coverage level in the Corn Belt ( −4 .167%) with a 10 percentage point decrease in premium subsidy rates. |
| Keywords: | crop insurance, demand, premium subsidies, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Marketing, Risk and Uncertainty, A1, B2, C3, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236249&r=env |
| By: | Fishman, Ram; Kishore, Avinash; Rothler, Yoav; Ward, Patrick |
| Abstract: | The imbalanced application of chemical fertilizers in India is widely blamed for low yields, poor soil health, pollution of water resources, and large public expenditures on subsidies, amounting to about 1 percent of India’s gross domestic product. To address the issue, the government of India is investing in a large-scale, expensive program of individualized soil testing and customized fertilizer recommendations, with the hope that scientific information will lead farmers to optimize the fertilizer mix. We conducted a randomized controlled trial in the Indian state of Bihar in what we believe to be the first evaluation of the effectiveness of the program as currently implemented. We did not find evidence of a statistically significant impact of customized fertilizer recommendations on fertilizer use. The lack of impact can be attributed to several factors, including a lack of understanding, lack of confidence in the information’s reliability, or other factors such as fertilizer costs that inhibit farmers from optimizing fertilizer application ratios even if the information shifts their underlying preferences. We provide evidence that suggests lack of confidence is the main factor inhibiting farmers’ response. |
| Keywords: | soil testing, fertilizers, India, randomized controlled trial, Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanism, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235705&r=env |
| By: | Shi, Xiangdong; Hurley, Terrance |
| Abstract: | For modelling Bt corn production, we proposed a joint abatement function to capture pest life cycle. Simulation of pest adaptation to popular Bt corn varieties was developed and applied to generate random sample of abatement, where in-field parameters were adopted in favor of practical corn production. On the basis, logistic model was used to fit the sample data. The estimates were compared to those from exponential model for choice of abatement specification. At last, Cobb-Douglas production model was integrated with the pre-estimated abatement function along with farm level data and distribution of corn growers’ choices, where instrument variables estimator and delta method were adopted to solve simultaneity problem induced by farm level data. The estimated marginal net return was positive, suggesting that Bt corn as pesticide is underutilized. However, the value kept decline in recent three years. We attributed the decline of marginal net return to the widespread adoption of new Bt corn varieties with blended refuge, and the insect resistance management would benefit from it. |
| Keywords: | Bt corn, production, abatement, simultaneity problem, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Q16, C23, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235786&r=env |
| By: | Olumuyiwa Adedeji; Jana Gieck-Bricco; Vera V Kehayova |
| Abstract: | The exposure of low-income countries to natural disasters has a significant impact on food production and food security. This paper provides a framework for assessing a country’s vulnerability to food crisis in the event of natural disasters. The paper finds that macroeconomic and structural indicators that are crucial for ensuring the resilience of low-income countries to adverse external shocks are equally important for minimizing the occurrence of food crisis in the event of natural disasters. |
| Date: | 2016–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:16/65&r=env |
| By: | JONATHAN GONÇALVES DA SILVA; JOAQUIM BENTO DE SOUZA FERREIRA FILHO |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anp:en2015:184&r=env |
| By: | Bro, Aniseh S.; Ortega, David; Clay, Daniel |
| Abstract: | Coffee has long been known as a commodity product with a large “footprint” in poor, often mountainous countries in the tropics, and as a leading source of economic growth for many of them. On a global scale it is recognized as the second most traded commodity, after oil (Ponte, 2002). Today, the suitability of the coffee growing regions is compromised due to the impacts of climate change and exacerbated due to the intensification of agricultural practices, which is a result of higher global demand for coffee and increasingly competitive markets. In Latin America, coffee is the main source of income for more than 1 million farmers. Nicaragua alone has 48,000 farmers, 80% of which are small-scale coffee producers (Valkila, 2009). Additionally, Nicaragua is one of the countries in Mesoamerica that will be the hardest hit by the impacts of climate change, and all eyes are drawn to the Matagalpa coffee-growing region where the challenges facing coffee producers are known to be especially daunting (Laderach et al., 2011). How farmers there will respond to a potential 40-60% loss of agro-climatic suitability driven by a predicted 2.2ºC temperature increase and a 130mm decline in precipitation by 2050 (Ovalle-Rivera et al., 2015) is the focus of much consternation and debate among industry, policy and scientific circles (Ovalle-Rivera et al., 2015; Baca et al., 2014; Laderach et al., 2013) In light of the potentially devastating impacts of climate change in Nicaragua’s coffee sector, understanding the incentives of farmers to adopt new production and processing technologies that will help them build adaptive capacity to these impacts is crucial to their future sustainability. Institutions need this knowledge if they wish to allocate their resources efficiently while ensuring rapid uptake of the new technologies (Marshall et al., 1997). The purpose of this study, therefore, is to examine farmers’ preferences for different coffee production strategies and to explore the heterogeneity of these preferences using primary data from Matagalpa, Nicaragua. The results will be used to analyze how the coffee sector in Nicaragua can build adaptive capacity to climate change. We hypothesize that farmers who belong to cooperatives are likely to make significantly different coffee production decisions than those who do not. The empirical methodology of this study is based on experimental choice modeling methods to analyze farmers’ preferences for different coffee production strategies among a series of alternatives. Choice experiments require respondents to state their choice over set of alternatives. These alternatives are described by different attributes and responses are used to infer the value of each attribute. The theoretical background of choice experiments is based on random utility theory, and relies on the assumptions of economic rationality and Lancastrian utility maximization. In other words, by stating a preference, individuals are assumed to have chosen the alternative that will yield the highest utility to them. In our choice experiments, the alternatives that farmers were presented with comprised of varying levels of key attributes that were identified as important characteristics that influence a farmer’s decision to produce and invest in coffee. These attributes are: price of coffee cherry (4 price levels expressed in percentages), access to inputs through subsidies (no input subsidies, subsidies for pesticides only, subsidies for fertilizers only, and subsidies for both fertilizers and pesticides), access to extension services (yes/no), labor requirements (high/low), coffee variety richness (one variety, two varieties), and crop species richness (sole coffee, coffee plus 1 crop, coffee plus 2 crops, coffee plus 3 crops). Farmers had the option of opting out of the choices presented to them and produce in the same way as they usually produce. The data used in this study are derived from 237 household surveys conducted in the department of Matagalpa between June and July 2015. Households were selected using a two stage stratified random selection strategy. The stratification was based on level of vulnerability to climate change. Household and farm specific information was collected through these surveys and used in conjunction with the choice experiment data. These data included: demographic and socio-economic information, coffee production practices, cooperative membership information, and experiences with negative shocks, such as floods, droughts, and other climatic events. Preliminary results from a random parameters model show that coffee producers value subsidized access to fertilizers only and to fertilizers and pesticides together to an equivalent of 8.1% and 25.1% of their total income from coffee, respectively, and that they value access to on-farm extension services to an equivalent of 12.5% of their total income from coffee. These producers, however, would have to receive a premium equivalent to 16% of their total income from coffee in order to accept subsidized pesticides, this is likely a reflection of the recently devastating effect of the leaf rust disease in coffee in Central America, and the inadequate response that farmers received from institutions, in the form of pesticides, to combat the pest. Finally, farmers would have to receive a premium equivalent to 4.2% of their total income from coffee in order to diversify their coffee plantations with other crops (or equivalently, an average of 3,714.72 Nicaraguan Córdobas). The livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of coffee producers around the world are at risk due to the threat of climate change on the suitability of coffee producing regions. This study provides important insights on how coffee producers in Nicaragua value key attributes related to coffee production which enables us to make recommendations on possible policy paths that can help farmers transition to practices that will help them build adaptive capacity to these changes. References Baca, María, Peter Läderach, Jeremy Haggar, Götz Schroth, and Oriana Ovalle. "An integrated framework for assessing vulnerability to climate change and developing adaptation strategies for coffee growing families in Mesoamerica." PloS one 9, no. 2 (2014): e88463. Laderach, Peter, Mark Lundy, Andy Jarvis, Julian Ramirez, Emiliano Perez Portilla, Kathleen Schepp, and Anton Eitzinger. "Predicted impact of climate change on coffee supply chains." In The Economic, Social and Political Elements of Climate Change, pp. 703-723. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2011. Ovalle-Rivera, Oriana, Peter Läderach, Christian Bunn, Michael Obersteiner, and Götz Schroth. "Projected Shifts in Coffea arabica Suitability among Major Global Producing Regions Due to Climate Change." (2015): e0124155. |
| Keywords: | climate change, sustainability, coffee, choice experiments, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235729&r=env |
| By: | Gong Yazhen (School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China) |
| Keywords: | Weather Shocks,Agricultural Production,China |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eep:report:rr20160318&r=env |
| By: | Belasco, Eric |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:scc016:233768&r=env |
| By: | Lim, Siew Hoon; Lin, Zhulu; Borders, Michael; Lin, Tong |
| Abstract: | The expansion of oil industry in the region has led to tremendous increases in the demand for water in western North Dakota where quality water is most scarce. Thus, striking a delicate balance between preserving water resources and expanding oil production at the Bakken is a challenging task. Using a decentralized agent-based model, we posit water depots as “agents” and examine the emergent behavior of water depots under three potential policy scenarios, and these scenarios are then compared to the baseline results to gauge the impacts on water consumption in the North Dakota oil patch. Our results show that restricting industrial use of the Missouri River and Lake Sakakawea waters would reduce a sizable amount of water consumption at the Bakken, but system violations would be prevalent and rendering null the restriction. |
| Keywords: | Water allocation, surface water, groundwater, Bakken shale, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q25, Q57, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235979&r=env |
| By: | Mbarek, Marouene; Rousselière, Damien; Salanié, Julien |
| Keywords: | Contingent valuation, Multiple Imputation, Sample and Non-response biases, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C11, C83, Q22, Q51, Q57, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235690&r=env |
| By: | Outlaw, Joe; Waller, Mark; Richardson, James; Richburg, Nicholas; Russell, Levi; Welch, Mark; Falconer, Larry; Guidry, Kurt; Smith, Nathan |
| Keywords: | aflatoxin, atoxigenics, risk management, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236001&r=env |
| By: | Yang, Shang-Ho; Burdine, Kenneth H.; Hu, Wu-Yueh |
| Abstract: | This study focuses on investigating how the PED (Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea) virus influenced the production efficiency of swine industry in Taiwan. A total 96 valid sample data were collected during March of 2014. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was adopted to evaluate production efficiency before, and after, the PED events. Results show that the PED events in Taiwan had weakened overall technical efficiency (TE) about 8.6%. Large scale farms, older farms, and Central area appeared to be the most heavily impacted. Meanwhile, the reproductive rate of Taiwanese hog farms was found to exhibit a polarization in that some farms were producing at a high efficiency, while others were not. Lastly, the percentage change in production efficiency in the DEA estimation are very close to the percentage changes in inventory on farms reported by government. This may imply that the DEA can be further discussed regarding the capability of estimation. |
| Keywords: | Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED), Technical Efficiency, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, D2, |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235574&r=env |
| By: | Fonner, Robert; Bohara, Alok |
| Keywords: | Wildlife managment, dynamic programming, bioeconomic model, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236215&r=env |
| By: | LINDA MÁRCIA MENDES DELAZERI; DÊNIS ANTÔNIO DA CUNHA |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anp:en2015:195&r=env |
| By: | Sharp, Misti; Manning, Dale; Hoag, Dana |
| Abstract: | Water resources in the arid west and other parts of the world are becomingly increasingly scarce as population growth and water quality impairment puts new demands on this limited resource. With those increasing demands comes an increasing urgency to conserve water and to consume the resource more efficiently throughout the myriad of uses. Indeed, much of the conservation pressure comes down to agriculture, as this sector is allocated as much as 80% of the water available in states like Colorado; water is often over-appropriated and yet population is projected to double by the year 2050. Complicating this resource management problem is a very complex institutional rights structure, which can vary from basin to basin. In this study, we use a dynamic programming approach to examine how agricultural producer technology adoption decisions with uncertain water supplies are influenced by existing water rights systems, including prior appropriation and the ubiquitous “Beneficial Use Doctrine.” We find that imperfect property rights and uncertainty over water availability decrease the incentive to adopt water-saving technology. |
| Keywords: | water, property rights, uncertainty, option value, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235963&r=env |
| By: | Agarwal, Sandip |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235566&r=env |
| By: | Boaitey, Albert; Ellen, Goddard |
| Keywords: | carbon offsets, greenhouse gas emissions, beef cattle, genomics, feed efficiency, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236010&r=env |