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on Environmental Economics |
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Issue of 2020‒11‒30
sixty-one papers chosen by Francisco S. Ramos Universidade Federal de Pernambuco |
| By: | Domenico Buccella; Luciano Fanti; Luca Gori |
| Abstract: | This research analyses the firms’ strategic choice of adopting an abatement technology in an environment with pollution externalities when the government levies an emission tax (to incentivise firms undertaking emission-reducing actions). A set of different Nash equilibria – ranging from dirty to green production – arises in both quantity-setting (Cournot) and price-setting (Bertrand) duopolies depending on the societal awareness towards environmental quality and the relative importance of technological progress in abatement adopted by firms. A synthesis of the main results is the following: if the awareness of the society towards a clean environment is relatively low (resp. high) and the index measuring the relative cost of abatement is relatively high (resp. low), the strategic interaction between two independent, competing and selfish (profit maximising) firms playing the abatement game leads to not to abate [NA] (resp. to abate [A]) as the Pareto efficient outcome: no conflict exists between self-interest and mutual benefit to do not undertake (resp. to undertake) emission-reducing actions. Multiple Nash equilibria or a "green" prisoner’s dilemma may also emerge in pure strategies. When the choice of adopting a green technology is a deadlock (anti-prisoner’s dilemma), the society is better off as social welfare under A is always larger than under NA because pollution and environmental damage are higher in the latter scenario. These findings suggest that living in a sustainable environment challenges and the improvement of public education systems to achieve an eco-responsible attitude and the development of clean technologies through ad hoc R&D. |
| Keywords: | Green production, Abatement, Emissions tax, Cournot and Bertrand duopolies |
| JEL: | H23 L1 M5 Q58 |
| Date: | 2020–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pie:dsedps:2020/261&r=all |
| By: | Damien Dussaux; Francesco Vona (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques); Antoine Dechezleprêtre |
| Abstract: | Concerns about carbon offshoring, namely the relocation of dirty tasks abroad, undermine the efficiency of domestic carbon mitigation policies and might prevent governments from adopting more ambitious climate policies. This paper is the first to analyse the extent and determinants of carbon offshoring at the firm level. We combine information on carbon emissions, imports, imported emissions and environmental policy stringency based on a unique dataset of 5,000 French manufacturing firms observed from 1997 to 2014. We estimate the impact of imported emissions on firm’s domestic emissions and emission intensity using a shift-share instrumental variable strategy. We do not find compelling evidence of an impact of carbon offshoring on total emissions, but show that emission efficiency improves in companies offshoring emissions abroad, suggesting that offshored emissions are compensated by an increase in production scale. The effect is economically meaningful with a 10% increase in carbon offshoring causing a 4% decline in emission intensity. However, this effect is twice as small as that of domestic energy prices and, importantly, does not appear to be driven by a pollution haven motive. |
| Keywords: | Carbon offshoring; CO2 emissions; Emissions intensity; Import competition; Energy prices |
| JEL: | F18 F14 Q56 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/7j6trda2ip9uja53ghj5qo32rg&r=all |
| By: | Graham Bradley (Griffith University); Zakaria Babutsidze (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques); Andreas Chai; Joseph Reser |
| Abstract: | As the actions of individuals contribute substantially to climate change, identifying factors that underpin environmentally-relevant behaviors represents an important step towards modifying behavior and mitigating climate change impacts. This paper introduces a sequential model in which antecedent psychological and sociodemographic variables predict climate change risk perceptions, which lead to enhanced levels of response efficacy and psychological adaptation in relation to climate change, and ultimately to environmentally-relevant behaviors. The model is tested and refined using data from large national surveys of Australian and French residents. As hypothesized, in both samples, risk perception (indirectly), response efficacy (both indirectly and directly), and psychological adaptation (directly) predicted behavior. However, these effects were stronger in the Australian than in the French sample, and other unexpectedly strong direct effects were also observed. In particular, subscribing to a “green” self-identity directly predicted all endogenous variables, especially in the French sample. The study provides valuable insights into the processes underlying environmentally-relevant behaviors, while serving as a reminder that effects on behavior may be nation-specific. Strategies are recommended for promoting pro-environmental behavior through the enhancement of a green identity, response efficacy, and psychological adaptation. |
| Keywords: | Climate change; Pro-environmental behavior; Risk perception; Response efficacy; Psychological adaptation; Green self-identity |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/61ih2qtadc8g1894enmudd2f09&r=all |
| By: | K.S. Kavi Kumar (Professor, Madras School of Economics); Anubhab Pattanayak (Assistant Professor, Madras School of Economics); Brinda Viswanathan (Professor, Madras School of Economics); Ashish Chaturvedi (Director-Climate Change, GIZ, New Delhi, India) |
| Abstract: | This paper summarizes the research and policy issues relating to climate change impacts, adaptation research and loss and damage assessments for rural India with focus on agriculture and water sectors. The climate change impact assessments have recently been proliferated by statistical models which primarily assess the role of weather as opposed to climate, thereby biasing the extent of impacts. Though the interface between climate change adaptation research and policy has evolved from a broad geographic understanding to the field level challenges of implementation, there is considerable overlap between developmental activities and adaptation activities. Further, it is expected that the climate change impacts will exceed adaptation limits manifesting in loss and damage due to frequent and/or severe climate extreme events. The loss and damage debate also highlights the challenges that development brings in reducing irreversible and unavoidable losses and damages on one hand and increasing losses and damages attributable to intolerability on the other hand. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Climate Risk, Adaptation, Loss and Damages,Climate Policy, Rural India |
| JEL: | Q15 Q54 Q56 Q57 Q58 R52 R58 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mad:wpaper:2019-182&r=all |
| By: | Per Arild Garnåsjordet (Statistics Norway); Margrete Steinnes; Zofie Cimburova; Megan Nowell; David N. Barton; Iulie Aslaksen (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | The article enhances the knowledge base for assessment of urban ecosystem services, within UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EEA), which is based on spatial extent accounts (area of ecosystems) and biophysical condition accounts (ecological state of ecosystems). Case studies from the Oslo region are explored, combining land use/land cover maps from Statistics Norway with satellite data. The approach suggests that especially in an urban context, extent and condition accounts are not separate approaches as suggested by SEEA EEA but should be integrated for ecosystem accounting. Moreover, the basic spatial unit should not be fixed, as suggested by SEEA EEA, but should reflect that modelling of different ecosystem services, as basis for trade-offs in urban planning, requires different spatial units to capture urban green elements. |
| Keywords: | Experimental ecosystem accounting; ecosystem services; urban ecosystems; spatial analysis; land use maps; land cover maps |
| JEL: | Q34 Q56 Q57 Q58 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:941&r=all |
| By: | Schmidt, Lukas (Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI)) |
| Abstract: | The latest reform of European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS) enables overlapping policies, such as national coal phase-outs, to affect total emissions. For evaluating overlapping policies, this paper applies a detailed partial equilibrium model of the EU ETS. Under perfect foresight, overlapping policies decrease total emissions if implemented early on. Though, endogenous cancellation within the EU ETS mitigates the waterbed effect hardly by more than 50%. In contrast, overlapping policies mostly do not affect total emissions significantly or even increase them via the new green paradox effect if implemented late and firms anticipate their long-term impact. If overlapping policies focus on low-cost abatement options, they become more effective in mitigating the waterbed effect, with an effectiveness of up to 60%. The effectiveness of overlapping policies decreases if firms are myopic. Myopia also increases the danger of the new green paradox effect for early implemented overlapping policies. However, the absolute increase in total emissions via the new green paradox remains below a third of today's yearly emissions if overlapping policies permanently reduce allowance demand by 10%. |
| Keywords: | Intertemporal Emission Trading; Overlapping Policies; EU ETS; New Green Paradox; Marginal Abatement Costs; Myopia |
| JEL: | C61 H23 Q48 Q58 |
| Date: | 2020–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:ewikln:2020_007&r=all |
| By: | Bertram, Christine; Ahtiainen, Heini; Meyerhoff, Jürgen; Pakalniete, Kristine; Pouta, Eija; Rehdanz, Katrin |
| Abstract: | In this study, we augment the traditional travel cost approach with contingent behavior data for coastal recreation. The objective is to analyze the welfare implications of future changes in the conditions of the Baltic Sea due to climate change and eutrophication. Adding to the literature, we assess the symmetricity of welfare effects caused by improvements and deteriorations in environmental conditions for a set of quality attributes. Responses are derived from identical online surveys in Finland, Germany and Latvia. We estimate recreational benefits using linear and non-linear negative binomial random-effects models. The calculated annual consumer surpluses are considerably influenced by the magnitude of the environmental changes in the three countries. We also observe asymmetries in the effects of environmental improvements and deteriorations on the expected number of visits. In particular, the results indicate that deteriorations lead to larger or more significant impacts than improvements in the case of blue-green algal blooms and algae onshore for Finland, water clarity for Germany, and water clarity and blue-green algal blooms for Latvia. For the remaining attributes, the effects are ambiguous. |
| Keywords: | Baltic Sea,Asymmetric preferences,Eutrophication,Valuation,Recreational benefits,Contingent behavior,Climate change,Water quality |
| JEL: | Q26 Q51 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:225991&r=all |
| By: | Domenico Buccella; Luciano Fanti; Luca Gori |
| Abstract: | Is it profitable to include an environmental ("green") incentive in a managerial contract when a dirty technology causes pollution externality, and the government levies an emissions tax? This research considers a non-cooperative Cournot duopoly game in which owners choose whether to delegate output and the abatement choices to their managers to address the above question. When the societal (or public) evaluation of the environmental damage is sufficiently low, two symmetric equilibria emerge (both firms are either "green" or "polluting"); when the public environmental concern becomes larger, the "green" delegation is the unique Nash equilibrium, which is Pareto inefficient (resp. efficient) for intermediate (resp. high) values of the government’s weight towards the environment. Differently, in a managerial duopoly where owners delegate only sales or sales and abatement, sales delegation arises in equilibrium; however, firms face a Prisoner’s Dilemma because "green" delegation yields higher profits. |
| Keywords: | Green managerial delegation, Abatement, Emissions tax, Cournot duopoly |
| JEL: | H23 L1 M5 Q58 |
| Date: | 2020–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pie:dsedps:2020/262&r=all |
| By: | Muehlegger, Erich PhD; Rapson, David PhD |
| Abstract: | California has adopted aggressive vehicle electrification goals as a means of reducing urban air pollution, carbon emissions, and overall petroleum consumption. The state has several programs to encourage electric vehicle adoption, including the Enhanced Fleet Modernization Program, which was initially piloted in two California air districts and recently expanded to other regions. The program offers subsidies to low- and middle-income residents to scrap their old higher-polluting vehicle and purchase lower-polluting hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicles, with more generous incentives for residents in disadvantaged zip codes. The extent to which this and other incentive programs help to achieve environmental policy goals depends on the emissions reduced by electric vehicles, and the emissions of the vehicle that would have been purchased had the consumer not chosen an electric vehicle. A household that purchases an electric vehicle will generate a larger environmental benefit if it would have otherwise purchased a gas guzzler rather than a gas sipper. The choice of replacement vehicle also has important implications for projecting future fuel tax revenues. If EVs replace gas sippers, fuel tax revenues will decline more slowly. If they replace gas guzzlers, fuel tax revenues will decline more quickly. To answer these questions, researchers at UC Davis compared the average fuel economy of vehicles purchased in disadvantaged zip codes inside and outside of air districts participating in the Enhanced Fleet Modernization Program, before and after the program began. This quasiexperimental design gives a reasonable estimate of what would have happened without the subsidy. |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| Date: | 2020–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt1hr93046&r=all |
| By: | Nicolas Taconet (CIRED, ENPC) |
| Abstract: | Studies of the Social Cost of Carbon assume climate change is a stock externality for which damages stem from warming level. However, economic and natural systems are also sensitive to the rate at which warming occurs. In this paper, I study the optimal carbon tax when such a feature is accounted for. Damages caused by warming rates do not aect optimal long-term warming, but they delay the use of the same carbon budget. They also make carbon price less sensitive to discounting assumptions. Numerically, when controlling for the welfare loss from climate change, the more damages stem from warming rates rather than warming levels, the higher the initial carbon price. This suggests that mitigation strategies that overlook this issue might lead to too rapidly increasing temperature pathways. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, Social Cost of Carbon, Carbon price, , |
| JEL: | Q54 H23 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2020.22&r=all |
| By: | Goenka, Aditya; Liu, Lin; Nguyen, Manh-Hung |
| Abstract: | Preliminary evidence indicates that pollution increases severity and likelihood of Covid-19 infections as is the for many other infectious diseases. This paper models the interaction of pollution and preventive actions on transmission of infectious diseases in a neoclassical growth framework where households do not take into account how their actions affects disease transmission and production activity results in pollution which increases likelihood of infections. Household can take private actions for abatement of pollution as for controlling disease transmission. Disease dynamics follow SIS dynamics. We study the difference in health and economic outcomes between the decentralized economy, where households do not internalize the externalities, and the socially optimal outcomes, and characterize the taxes and subsidies that will decentralize the socially optimal outcomes. Thus, we examine the question whether there are sufficient incentives to reduce pollution, both at the private and public levels, once its effects on disease transmission is taken into account. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19, pollution, environmental policy, infectious disease, Green Recovery,; dynamic Pigovian taxes. |
| Date: | 2020–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:124929&r=all |
| By: | Olivier E. Malay (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES) and Hoover Chair of Economic and Social Ethics) |
| Abstract: | Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a widely recognized framework to guide sustainable development policies and actions. This papers aims to analyze the potential of SDGs to improve government and business coordination by aligning their sustainability reporting practices. To do so, we assess the consistency between the sustainability indicators at the national level (Belgian) and of businesses (pharmaceutical and retail sectors). We aim to answer the following questions: Do they measure the same SDGs issues? Do they develop similar quantitative targets on similar issues? And how can data from one level be used by the other in order to better coordinate their respective actions? Firstly, we show that indicators are developed for each SDG at the national level but fall behind at the business level on several issues, especially regarding goals 9, 10 and 11. Secondly, it appears that there is a general disconnect between both levels' quantitative targets. Thirdly, we show that business measures are poorly focused on issues which are critical at the national level, i.e. facing unfavourable evolutions. Finally, a focus on GHG emissions shows that Belgian GHG targets at the national level are not compatible with reaching the climate objective of 1.5°, while some business targets (scope 1 & 2) seem consistent with this goal, despite measurement uncertainties. These results show room for improvement of indicators in order to ease the coordination of actors and also for public intervention to align businesses on the achievement of SDGs. |
| Keywords: | Sustainability indicators; Micro macro articulation; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); Beyond GDP indicators; Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); Pharmaceuticals; Retail |
| JEL: | E0 M41 N10 N40 Q56 |
| Date: | 2020–10–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2020031&r=all |
| By: | Lan , Le; Iftekhar, MD Sayed; Fogarty, James; Schilizzi, Steven |
| Abstract: | Globally, the agriculture sector is the largest user of groundwater, and reducing groundwater extraction by the agriculture sector is an active policy objective in many jurisdictions to manage a declining groundwater resource. Determination of the cost to agriculture in terms of lost gross margin due to implementing exogenously determined water extraction restrictions has been an active research area. In this paper, we contribute to the literature on groundwater management by developing a hydro-economic farm level optimization model that allows us to internalize the environmental externalities associated with groundwater extraction and compare with various levels of uniform proportional reduction in groundwater extraction. Our case studies are three sub-areas within Western Australia’s most important groundwater system: the Gnangara Groundwater System. We find that when environmental externalities are considered, the reduction level of water extraction varied between 26% and 38% across the three sub-areas. Following the reduction, the total farm gross margin falls by 21% and the environmental damage falls by 98% relative to the current level of water extraction limits. We also find that to reach the same level of reduction in environmental damage, the uniform cut has to be between 40% and 50% and this results in a fall in farm gross margin by 29% to 39%. We present this contrasting result as evidence against using a policy of uniform proportional cuts to agriculture sector groundwater allocations |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2020–11–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwauwp:307434&r=all |
| By: | Rickels, Wilfried; Merk, Christine; Reith, Fabian; Keller, David P.; Oschlies, Andreas |
| Abstract: | Intentionally removing carbon from the atmosphere with negative emission technologies (NETs) will be important to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century and to limit global warming to 2 °C or even 1.5 °C (IPCC 2018). Model scenarios that consider NETs as part of mitigation pathways are still largely restricted to afforestation and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), while the '[f]easibility and sustainability of [NETs] use could be enhanced by a portfolio of options deployed at substantial, but lesser scales, rather than a single option at very large scale' (IPCC 2018, p 19). Here, we show the results from an anonymous expert survey, including 32 Earth-System-Model (ESM) experts and 18 Integrated-Assessment-Model (IAM) experts, about the role of NETs in future climate policies and about how well the various technologies are represented in current models. We find that they strongly support the view that technology portfolios are required to achieve negative emissions, however, the responses show that the number and range of NETs that can be assessed in IAMs is small and that IAMs and ESMs are rather applied to analyze technologies separately than in combination. IAM experts in particular consider BECCS as part of a future NETs portfolio; but at the same time, all experts judge the constraints BECCS would face regarding future overall feasibility and more particularly regarding resource competition to be the highest. Regarding the assessment of constraints the ESM experts are much more skeptical than the IAM experts; they also think that the BECCS carbon removal pathways are less sufficiently represented in ESMs compared to what the IAM experts thinks about the representation in their models. Despite the perceived need for NETs portfolios, the range of NETs which can be assessed in IAMs is rather small and ocean NETs have, so far, mostly been overlooked by the IAM experts. |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:225999&r=all |
| By: | Paul Malliet (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques); Frédéric Reynés (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques); Gissela Landa (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques); Meriem Hamdi‑cherif; Aurélien Saussay (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques) |
| Abstract: | In response to the COVID-19 health crisis, the French government has imposed drastic lockdown measures for a period of 55 days. This paper provides a quantitative assessment of the economic and environmental impacts of these measures in the short and long term. We use a Computable General Equilibrium model designed to assess environmental and energy policies impacts at the macroeconomic and sectoral levels. We find that the lockdown has led to a significant decrease in economic output of 5% of GDP, but a positive environmental impact with a 6.6% reduction in CO2 emissions in 2020. Both decreases are temporary: economic and environmental indicators return to their baseline trajectory after a few years. CO2 emissions even end up significantly higher after the COVID-19 crisis when we account for persistently low oil prices. We then investigate whether implementing carbon pricing can still yield positive macroeconomic dividends in the post-COVID recovery. We find that implementing ambitious carbon pricing speeds up economic recovery while significantly reducing CO2 emissions. By maintaining high fossil fuel prices, carbon taxation reduces the imports of fossil energy and stimulates energy efficiency investments while the full redistribution of tax proceeds does not hamper the recovery. |
| Keywords: | Carbon tax; CO2 emissions; Macroeconomic modeling; Neo-Keynesian CGE model; Post-COVID economy |
| JEL: | E12 E17 E27 E37 E47 D57 D58 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/6neh4df2kq9orrjiscv6839f6n&r=all |
| By: | Samyuktha Ashokkumar (MA Environmental Economics(student), Madras School of Economics); Zareena Begum Irfan (Associate Professor, Madras School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Mangroves are one of the world’s most productive ecosystems which are at present in it’s threatened state. They provide a wide range of goods and services some of which have a direct value but more often provides many indirect benefits that seem to be hidden. The indiscriminate and exploitative nature towards extracting it’s resources have led to severe loss in area throughout the world. In India, Mangroves were exploited indiscriminately during the 1960s.Traditionally considered as wastelands and dump yards, its importance were understood only over time. Hence, active conservation and regeneration activities were undertaken since the beginning of 1980s, yet the present area cover is only a modest remaining of the past. Such activities are undertaken by both the government in terms of legislative measures and active local community involvement. In addition, threats from Global Climate Change pose additional concerns for it’s regeneration and restoration. The paper throws light on the status of mangrove cover in India, the benefits, threats and the existing policy framework .Existing legal and non-legal measures pose their own shortcomings and drawbacks in terms of lack of effective implementation of many such policies, lax of local communities towards continuous restoration activities, improper resources allocations between the two and thus lays the path for some measures that could in turn be adopted as lessons learnt from international case study examples |
| Keywords: | Mangroves, Conservation, Ecosystem services, Climate change and Policy |
| JEL: | Q22 Q25 Q26 Q50 Q57 Q58 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mad:wpaper:2018-174&r=all |
| By: | Heimann, Tobias |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates how bioeconomy activities, stated in the concepts of the European Union, Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, and the German government, potentially affect the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of the bioeconomy is to substitute the use of fossil resources by renewable resources, while the SDGs set targets for a holistic sustainable global development. A literature-based influence analysis on empirical studies is employed to derive three bioeconomy scenarios (business as usual, bioeconomy, and sustainable bioeconomy) and to quantify their effects on the individual SDG targets. It is shown that the bioeconomy scenario has positive as well as negative effects on the SDG targets. While targets for cleaner industrial production are strongly supported, socioeconomic targets are subject to mixed effects and environmental targets significantly hurt. This paper outlines which SDGs need special attention when implementing a bioeconomy according to the above-mentioned concepts. The results add to the debate on SDG trade‐offs and on the substitutability of SDG targets. Without regulations, policies, and investments ensuring sustainability, or in case the substitutability of SDG targets is not allowed, the bioeconomy concepts have the potential to jeopardize the achievement of several SDGs. In contrast, the sustainable bioeconomy scenario assumes strong sustainability measures that reveal the extensive potential of the bioeconomy to support the achievement of the SDGs. |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:225998&r=all |
| By: | Julia Bronnmann (Department of Sociology, Environmental and Business Economics, University of Southern Denmark); Veronika Liebelt (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany and Leipzig University Department of Economics, Grimmaische Str. 12, 04109 Leipzig, Germany); Fabian Marder (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany and Leipzig University Department of Economics, Grimmaische Str. 12, 04109 Leipzig, Germany); Jasper Meya (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany and Leipzig University Department of Economics, Grimmaische Str. 12, 04109 Leipzig, Germany); Martin Quaas (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany and Leipzig University Department of Economics, Grimmaische Str. 12, 04109 Leipzig, Germany) |
| Abstract: | The wide range of benefits for humans and biodiversity conservation provided by urban green spaces (UGS) are receiving substantial attention in relation to urban planning and management. However, little is known about to which extent people value the naturalness and biodiversity of urban green spaces. We study how citizens value the naturalness of and the walking distance to their closest UGS in 22 major German cities. For this purpose, we develop a unique measurement scale for the naturalness of UGS, which is embedded in an online survey and in a discrete choice experiment. Results of Mixed Logit estimates and willingness to pay values indicate clear preferences regarding the naturalness of urban green space. For our national representative sample, we elicit a mean marginal WTP for the naturalness of UGS of € 2.31 per month with a standard error of € 0.12. Moreover, the results show that WTP varies between cities. These figures underline the importance of biodiversity in urban areas and can inform urban planning. Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge the support of iDiv funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG– FZT 118, 202548816). |
| Keywords: | Biodiversity, discrete choice experiments, non-market valuation, urban green space, willingness-to-pay |
| JEL: | C81 H41 Q51 Q57 R21 R58 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sdk:wpaper:sebe5&r=all |
| By: | - |
| Abstract: | En este documento se propone un conjunto de acciones regionales para asegurar el abastecimiento energético de los países del SICA en calidad, cantidad y diversidad de fuentes, la provisión de servicios modernos de energía asequibles para toda la población y el uso racional y eficiente de la energía en las cadenas productivas para garantizar el desarrollo sostenible, considerando la equidad social, el crecimiento económico, la compatibilidad con el ambiente y la gobernabilidad. |
| Keywords: | RECURSOS ENERGETICOS, MEDIO AMBIENTE, OBJETIVOS DE DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE, POLITICA ENERGETICA, ENERGIA SOSTENIBLE, SEGURIDAD ENERGETICA, CONSUMO DE ENERGIA, FUENTES DE ENERGIA RENOVABLES, RENDIMIENTO ENERGETICO, DESARROLLO ECONOMICO, DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE, COOPERACION REGIONAL, ESTADISTICAS DE ENERGIA, ENERGY RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS, ENERGY POLICY, SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, ENERGY SECURITY, ENERGY CONSUMPTION, RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, REGIONAL COOPERATION, ENERGY STATISTICS |
| Date: | 2020–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col094:46374&r=all |
| By: | Anubhab Pattanayak (Assistant Professor, Madras School of Economics); K.S.Kavikumar (Professor, Madras School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | In the context of agriculture both crop modelling as well as statistical modelling approaches are used to assess climate change impacts. Studies comparing both approaches across developed as well as developing countries have argued that there is little or no difference in their estimates, resulting in further proliferation of statistical approaches. This paper presents a methodological review of the statistical approaches that broadly use crosssectional and panel datasets to quantitatively assess the climate change impacts on agriculture. Arguing that adaptation is modelled differently in different models, the paper provides an estimate of the extent to which impacts could be moderated through long-term adaptation in the context of Indian agriculture. In addition, the paper provides a brief review of the vast parallel literature that exclusively uses time-series data for assessment of the impacts of climate/weather trends. |
| Keywords: | Climate change impacts; Indian agriculture; Statistical models; Adaptation |
| JEL: | Q54 Q10 C10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mad:wpaper:2019-183&r=all |
| By: | Luo, Anran; Zuberi, Mehwish; Liu, Jiayu; Perrone, Miranda; Schnepf, Simone; Leipold, Sina |
| Abstract: | Many consider the recent development of a ‘circular economy’ (CE) between the EU and China a milestone towards global efforts to address pressing environmental problems of extraction, resource use and waste management. The implications of EU-China’s efforts to coordinate on CE for the development of international environmental politics, however, has received little attention so far. This article studies the discourse of a ‘circular economy’ between the EU and China based on 72 interviews with key stakeholders, 40 documents related to EU-China CE, and participant observation at key international events. Our results reveal three dominant market optimist narratives of ‘Common CE Market’, ‘CE Technology Exchange’, and ‘Regulatory Harmonization’ in the EU-China CE discourse and three marginal market skeptical narratives of ‘System and Development Disparity’, ‘Competition’, and ‘Distrust’. The dominant narratives 1) align with eco-modernist and global trade discourses, 2) are facilitated by a fragile discourse coalition, and 3) postpone causal conflicts shown by the marginal narratives that threaten EU-China CE cooperation. Our analysis suggests that the dominant politically agnostic CE narratives facilitate short term EU-China political cooperation. They will, however, unlikely lead to a ‘paradigm shift’ some CE advocates envision because they are contingent upon the subordination of environmental to economic priorities in incumbent trade discourses. This study expands scholarship on CE development beyond national and regional comparisons to international relations. More importantly, it evaluates the prospects and possible implications of EU-China CE cooperation for international environmental politics. |
| Date: | 2020–11–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:s8v7e&r=all |
| By: | Marco Quatrosi (University of Ferrara; SEEDS, Italy) |
| Keywords: | emissions, energy consumption, CO2, energy mix, energy transition, emission factors, time series |
| JEL: | Q43 Q53 Q58 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:1520&r=all |
| By: | Karine Constant (ERUDITE - Equipe de Recherche sur l’Utilisation des Données Individuelles en lien avec la Théorie Economique - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 - UNIV GUSTAVE EIFFEL - Université Gustave Eiffel); Marion Davin (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | This article examines how pollution and its health effects during childhood can affect the dynamics of inequalities among households. In a model in which children's health is endogenously determined by pollution and the health investments of parents, we show that the economy may exhibit inequality in the long run and be stuck in an inequality trap with steadily increasing disparities, because of pollution. We investigate if an environmental policy, consisting in taxing the polluting production to fund pollution abatement, can address this issue. We find that it can decrease inequality in the long run and enable to escape from the trap if the emission intensity is not too high and if initial disparities are not too wide. Otherwise, we reveal that a policy mix with an additional subsidy to health expenditure may be a better option, at least if parental investment on children's health is sufficiently efficient. |
| Keywords: | Pollution,Health,Human capital,Childhood,Overlapping generations,Inequality. |
| Date: | 2020–11–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpceem:hal-02990775&r=all |
| By: | Kelton Minor; Andreas Bjerre-Nielsen; Sigga Svala Jonasdottir; Sune Lehmann; Nick Obradovich |
| Abstract: | Ambient temperatures are rising globally, with the greatest increases recorded at night. Concurrently, the prevalence of insufficient sleep is increasing in many populations, with substantial costs to human health and well-being. Even though nearly a third of the human lifespan is spent asleep, it remains unknown whether temperature and weather impact objective measures of sleep in real-world settings, globally. Here we link billions of sleep measurements from wearable devices comprising over 7 million nighttime sleep records across 68 countries to local daily meteorological data from 2015 to 2017. Rising nighttime temperatures shorten within-person sleep duration primarily through delayed onset, increasing the probability of insufficient sleep. The effect of temperature on sleep loss is substantially larger for residents from lower income countries and older adults, and females are affected more than are males. Nighttime temperature increases inflict the greatest sleep loss during summer and fall months, and we do not find evidence of short-term acclimatization. Coupling historical behavioral measurements with output from climate models, we project that climate change will further erode human sleep, producing substantial geographic inequalities. Our findings have significant implications for adaptation planning and illuminate a pathway through which rising temperatures may globally impact public health. |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2011.07161&r=all |
| By: | Brändle, Gregor (Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI)); Schönfisch, Max (Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI)); Schulte, Simon (Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI)) |
| Abstract: | As part of the decarbonisation of the global economy, low-carbon hydrogen is expected to play a central role in future energy systems. This article presents a comprehensive approach for estimating the development of global production and supply costs of low-carbon hydrogen from renewable energy sources (RES) and natural gas until 2050. For hydrogen from RES, globally distributed wind and solar photovoltaics (PV) potentials are taken as inputs for low or high temperature electrolysers. A linear optimisation model minimises hydrogen production costs by determining optimal capacity ratios for each RES and electrolyser combination, based on hourly RES electricity generation profiles. For low-carbon hydrogen from natural gas, natural gas reforming with carbon capture and storage (CCS) and pyrolysis are considered. In addition to production costs, this analysis assesses the costs associated with the transportation of hydrogen by ship or pipeline. The combination of production and transportation costs yields a ranking of cost-optimal supply sources for individual countries. Estimation results suggest that natural gas reforming with CCS will be the most cost-efficient low-carbon hydrogen production pathway in the medium term (2020-2030). Production of hydrogen from RES could become competitive in the long run (2030-2050) if capital costs decrease significantly. Optimal long-term hydrogen supply routes depend on regional characteristics, such as RES conditions and gas prices. Imports are cost-effective where domestic production potential is small and/or cost-intensive. Additionally, good import conditions exist for countries which are connected to prospective low-cost exporters via existing natural gas pipelines that can be retrofitted to transport hydrogen. Due to high costs for seaborne transport, hydrogen trade will most likely be concentrated regionally, and markets with different provision schemes could emerge. The results are highly sensitive to capital cost assumptions and natural gas prices. |
| Keywords: | Low-Carbon Hydrogen; Hydrogen Production; Hydrogen Transportation; Levelised Cost |
| JEL: | Q40 Q42 Q49 |
| Date: | 2020–11–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:ewikln:2020_004&r=all |
| By: | Augeraud-Véron, E.; Fabbri, G.; Schubert, K. |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a first model integrating the relation between biodiversity loss and zoonotic pandemic risks in a general equilibrium dynamic economic set-up. The occurrence of pandemics is modeled as Poissonian leaps in economic variables. The planner can intervene in the economic and epidemiological dynamics in two ways: first (prevention), by deciding to conserve a greater quantity of biodiversity to decrease the probability of a pandemic occurring, and second (mitigation), by reducing the death toll through a lockdown policy, with the collateral effect of affecting negatively labor productivity. The policy is evaluated using a social welfare function embodying society's risk aversion, aversion to fluctuations, degree of impatience and altruism towards future generations. The model is explicitly solved and the optimal policy described. The dependence of the optimal policy on natural, productivity and preference parameters is discussed. In particular the optimal lockdown is more severe in societies valuing more human life, and the optimal biodiversity conservation is larger for more ``forward looking'' societies, with a small discount rate and a high degree of altruism towards future generations. Moreover, societies accepting a large welfare loss to mitigate the pandemics are also societies doing a lot of prevention. After calibrating the model with COVID-19 pandemic data we compare the mitigation efforts predicted by the model with those of the recent literature and we study the optimal prevention- mitigation policy mix. |
| Keywords: | BIODIVERSITY;COVID-19;PREVENTION;MITIGATION;EPIDEMICS;POISSON PROCESSES;RECURSIVE PREFERENCES |
| JEL: | Q56 Q57 Q58 O13 C61 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gbl:wpaper:2020-11&r=all |
| By: | Brigitte Roth Tran; Daniel J. Wilson |
| Abstract: | We use county panel data to study the dynamic responses of local economies after natural disasters in the U.S. Specifically, we estimate disaster impulse response functions for personal income per capita and a broad range of other economic outcomes, using a panel version of the local projections estimator. In contrast to some recent cross-country studies, we find that disasters increase total and per capita personal income over the longer-run (as of 8 years out). The effect is driven initially largely by a temporary employment boost and in the longer run by an increase in average weekly wages. We then assess the heterogeneity of disaster impacts across several dimensions. We find that the longer-run increase in income per capita rises with disaster severity, as measured by monetary damages. Hurricanes, tornados, and fires yield longer run increases in income, while floods do not. The longer run increase in income tends to rise with recent disaster experience and is absent for counties with no recent experience. Finally, a spatial spillover analysis suggests that, while over the short- to medium-run, the regional and local impacts of disasters on personal income are similar, over the longer run the net regional effect may be negative, in contrast to the positive local effect. |
| Keywords: | climate change; Regional economics |
| Date: | 2020–11–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedfwp:89052&r=all |
| By: | Harvey, John; Saboori, Arash; Miller, Marshall; Kim, Changmo; Jaller, Miguel; Lea, Jon; Kendall, Alissa; Saboori, Ashkan |
| Abstract: | Medium- and heavy-duty trucks on California’s roads are shifting from conventional gasoline and diesel propulsion systems to alternative fuel (natural gas, electric, and fuel cell) propulsion technologies, spurred by the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals. While these alternative fuel trucks produce fewer emissions, they are also currently heavier than their conventional counterparts. Heavier loads can cause more damage to pavements and bridges, triggering concerns that clean truck technologies could actually increase GHG emissions by necessitating either construction of stronger pavements or more maintenance to keep pavements functional. California Assembly Bill 2061 (2018) allows a 2,000-pound gross vehicle weight limit increase for near-zero-emission vehicles and zero-emission vehicles to enable these trucks to carry the same loads as their conventional counterparts. The law also asked the UC Institute of Transportation Studies to evaluate the new law’s implications for GHG emissions and transportation infrastructure damage. To conduct this analysis, researchers at UC Davis considered three adoption scenarios of alternative fuel trucks in two timeframes, 2030 and 2050 (Figure 1). Based on these scenarios, the researchers used life cycle assessment and life cycle cost analysis to evaluate how heavier trucks might affect pavement and bridge deterioration, GHG emissions, and state and local government pavement costs. The study did not evaluate the safety implications of increasing allowable gross vehicle weights. |
| Keywords: | Engineering |
| Date: | 2020–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt2p76t1g4&r=all |
| By: | Braun, Benjamin; Claeys, Irene; de Arriba-Sellier, Nathan; Fontan, Clément; Krahé, Max; Pistor, Katharina; Schreur, Valerie; Smoleńska, Agnieszka; Solana, Javier; van 't Klooster, Jens |
| Abstract: | This is a general commentary that we submitted to the 2020 Public Consultation on the ECB's Draft ECB Guide on climate-related and environmental risks. Based on our research and collaborative discussions we formulate seven main requests for clarification and suggestions for further improving the current draft and the ECB’s Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP) that it will inform. |
| Date: | 2020–11–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:3t2gp&r=all |
| By: | Takuma Kunieda (School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University); Kazuo Nishimura (RIEB, Kobe University and RIETI) |
| Abstract: | To investigate the growth effect of pollution, we apply an optimal growth framework in which human and physical capital accumulation are two growth engines. Pollution is emitted from the stock of physical capital and has a negative impact on the formation of human capital. In this simple growth model, sustainable endogenous growth never occurs and a unique steady state emerges because of the negative impact of pollution. The model shows that (i) if the extent of the external effect of pollution is relatively small, the steady state is stable and the economy starting in the neighborhood of the steady state converges to it, (ii) if the extent of the external effect is relatively large, the steady state is unstable and the economy diverges away from it, and (iii) a Hopf bifurcation occurs at a certain intermediate extent of the external effect. The numerical analysis illustrates the global dynamic behavior in which the economy exhibits a closed orbit as sufficient time passes if the steady state is unstable. |
| Keywords: | pollution, human capital, Hopf bifurcation, limit cycle, endogenous business cycles |
| JEL: | O41 O44 E32 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:221&r=all |
| By: | Mediodia, Hanny John P |
| Abstract: | Tuna move towards higher latitudes or deeper waters in response to ocean warming. The spatial redistribution of tuna will affect countries in the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO). We apply a production function approach to establish the relationship between sea surface emperature (SST) and yellowfin and skipjack tuna catch of purse seines.We use data for !"latitude/longitude grids within the exclusive economic zones of countries in the EPO. Catch ofyellowfin and skipjack tuna increases with SST in all countries with high values recorded in the eastern coastal borders. The biggest increase in revenue from yellowfin and skipjack tuna as result on l"C increase in SST is for Mexico while the smallest is for Kiribati. However, if we adjust these values by coastal population,highest values are for Kiribati and French Polynesia. The higher tuna catch due to ocean warming translates to higher government revenue from tuna fishing licenses and more jobs for tuna fishers and those in the tuna processing industry in the state. However,it is possible that the recorded positive effects on tuna catch will be offset by the reduction on catch of other species and may even result in negative net impact overall. We highlight the importance of conducting research on SST that must be species-,gear-,and location specific to fully account for the impact of ocean warming. |
| Keywords: | Eastern Pacific Ocean, Production function, Sea Surface Temperature, Tuna, |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vuw:vuwecf:9371&r=all |
| By: | Anne-Lorene Vernay (GEM - Grenoble Ecole de Management); Carine Sebi (GEM - Grenoble Ecole de Management) |
| Abstract: | Energy communities—groups of citizens, social entrepreneurs and public authorities who jointly invest in producing, selling and managing enewable energy are expected to play a prominent role in the energy transition. Energy communities are fragile individually and they need to pool resources and coordinate their actions to become robust collectively. This paper adopts an ecosystem perspective and aims to identify characteristics that an energy community ecosystem should exhibit to help energy communities emerge, grow and eventually fully realise their potential to transform the energy sector. It compares energy communities in two countries, France and the Netherlands, where energy community ecosystems have attained uneven levels of maturity. We argue that an energy community ecosystem can fully realize its potential if: 1) it revolves around keystone actors that can foster diversity; 2) it is structured around local capacity builders that can act as catalysers; and 3) it develops both competing and symbiotic relations with incumbent energy actors. |
| Keywords: | Energy communities,Ecosystem,Renewable energy |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:gemptp:hal-02987790&r=all |
| By: | Luis Sarmiento (European Institute of Economics and the Environment, and German Institute of Economic Research); Thomas Longden (Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | Even though a worker’s occupation is a crucial determinant of temperature-related mortality, only a handful of studies assess its effect across different labor groups. This study contributes to the literature on temperature and mortality by examining the impact of heat and cold across agricultural, informal, blue-collar, white-collar, and unemployed workers. Results show that white-collar workers are significantly more resilient to extreme temperatures than other labor groups, especially the elderly/retired, agrarian, and informal laborers. Additionally, we provide evidence that climate zones influence the effect and that extreme temperatures lead to a higher likelihood of heart attacks, diabetes, and influenza/pneumonia-related mortality. |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:ccepwp:2009&r=all |
| By: | Dayakar Peddi (ICSSR Research Fellow, Madras School of Economics, Chennai); K.S. Kavi Kumar (Professor, Madras School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Soil erosion is a major problem of agriculture in India. The objective of this study is to investigate how farmers perceive the severity of soil erosion in the rain fed watershed areas of Telangana, India. The study is based on a detailed survey of 400 households in two sub-watershed areas. The study findings suggest that farmer‘s perception of soil erosion severity corresponds well with expectations of soil erosion determined by site specific factors such as slope of the plot, soil depth, soil texture, road connectivity, irrigation, crop intensity, and type of crops. The findings from the study also corroborate well with the several empirical studies from different parts of the world. Given this correspondence, it is argued that farmer‘s expertise is important while assessing soil erosion severity. The farmer‘s knowledge of the plot level soil erosion could complement the assessments made through secondary sources. The study findings further highlight the importance of using participatory approaches when working to reduce soil erosion. |
| Keywords: | Land degradation, Soil erosion, Soil conservation |
| JEL: | Q5 Q15 Q51 Q57 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mad:wpaper:2019-180&r=all |
| By: | Simplice A. Asongu (Yaounde, Cameroon); Nicholas M. Odhiambo (Pretoria, South Africa) |
| Abstract: | The study investigates linkages between financial development, income inequality and renewable energy consumption from 39 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The empirical evidence is based on data for the period 2004-2014, Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and Quantile Regressions (QR). The GMM results show that financial development unconditionally promotes renewable energy consumption while income inequality counteracts the underlying positive effect. The QR results reveal that the GMM findings only withstand empirical validity in bottom quantiles of the renewable energy consumption distribution. In order to increase room for policy implications for the promotion of renewable energy consumption, critical masses of income inequality that should not be exceeded are computed for bottom quantiles of the renewable energy consumption distribution while income inequality thresholds that should be exceeded are computed for top quantiles of the renewable energy consumption distribution. The study reconciles two strands of the literature. Theoretical, practical and policy implications are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Renewable energy; Inequality; Finance; Sub-Saharan Africa; Sustainable development |
| JEL: | H10 Q20 Q30 O11 O55 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:20/084&r=all |
| By: | Simplice A. Asongu (Yaounde, Cameroon); Nicholas M. Odhiambo (Pretoria, South Africa) |
| Abstract: | The study investigates linkages between financial development, income inequality and renewable energy consumption from 39 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The empirical evidence is based on data for the period 2004-2014, Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and Quantile Regressions (QR). The GMM results show that financial development unconditionally promotes renewable energy consumption while income inequality counteracts the underlying positive effect. The QR results reveal that the GMM findings only withstand empirical validity in bottom quantiles of the renewable energy consumption distribution. In order to increase room for policy implications for the promotion of renewable energy consumption, critical masses of income inequality that should not be exceeded are computed for bottom quantiles of the renewable energy consumption distribution while income inequality thresholds that should be exceeded are computed for top quantiles of the renewable energy consumption distribution. The study reconciles two strands of the literature. Theoretical, practical and policy implications are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Renewable energy; Inequality; Finance; Sub-Saharan Africa; Sustainable development |
| JEL: | H10 Q20 Q30 O11 O55 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:20/084&r=all |
| By: | Filippo Bontadini; Francesco Vona (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques) |
| Abstract: | We study green specialization across EU countries and detailed 4-digit industrial sectors over the period of 1995-2015 by harmonizing product-level data (PRODCOM). We propose a new list of green goods that refines lists proposed by international organizations by excluding goods with double usages. Our exploratory analysis reveals important structural properties of green specialization. First, green production is highly concentrated, with 13 out of 119 4-digit industries accounting for 95% of the total. Second, green and polluting productions do not occur in the same sectors, and countries tend to specialize in either green or brown sectors. This suggests that the distributional effect of European environmental policies can be large. Third, green specialization is highlypath dependent, but it is also reinforced by the presence of non-green capabilities within the same sector. This helps explain why economies with better engineering and technical capabilities have built a comparative advantage in green production. |
| Keywords: | Green goods; Green specialization; Revealed comparative advantage; Complementarity; Path dependency |
| JEL: | Q55 L60 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/6m5kss847r91no96hiublu6anu&r=all |
| By: | Çam, Eren (Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI)) |
| Abstract: | As the share of intermittent renewable electricity generation increases, the remaining fleet of conventional power plants will have to operate with higher flexibility. One of the methods to increase power plant flexibility is to integrate a thermal energy storage (TES) into the water-steam cycle of the plant. TES can provide flexibility and achieve profits by engaging in energy arbitrage on the spot markets and by providing additional power on the control power markets. This paper considers a reference coal-fired power plant with an integrated TES system for the year 2019 in Germany. Optimal dispatch for profit maximisation with TES is simulated on the hourly day-ahead and quarter-hourly continuous intraday markets as well as on the markets for primary (PRL) and secondary (SRL) control power. Analysing the effects of TES round-trip efficiency and storage capacity on dispatch and the profits, I find that smaller TES systems with up to one hour of storage capacity can achieve substantial profits on the PRL market while also realising profits from energy arbitrage on the continuous intraday market. Higher TES round-trip efficiencies can help TES achieve significant profits also on the day-ahead market. The analysis shows that a storage capacity of 2–3 hours is enough to realise most of the energy arbitrage potential, while larger storage capacities can greatly increase TES profits on the SRL market. Small TES systems are found to increase the full load hours of the plant marginally. However, the increase becomes significant with larger storage capacities and can lead to higher CO 2 emissions for the individual plant. |
| Keywords: | Coal-fired power plant; flexibility; thermal energy storage; energy arbitrage |
| JEL: | Q40 Q49 |
| Date: | 2020–11–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:ewikln:2020_005&r=all |
| By: | van der Borght, Rafael; Cruz-Rodríguez, Alexis; Alatorre, José Eduardo |
| Abstract: | En este estudio, se evalúa en qué medida la cobertura boscosa puede reducir el impacto de las lluvias extremas en la actividad económica. Para ello, se construye un panel de datos a partir de observaciones de la tierra provenientes de imágenes satélites. La actividad económica local se mide a través de la intensidad de las luces nocturnas y las lluvias extremas se caracterizan utilizando series de lluvias diarias con alta resolución espacial. Finalmente, se evalúa y cartografía la cobertura boscosa por medio del índice de vegetación mejorado. Los resultados muestran que las lluvias extremas del período 2016-2017 tuvieron un impacto significativo, aunque negativo, en la actividad económica. El nivel de cobertura boscosa, por su parte, condiciona este impacto: en las zonas con poca cobertura, el impacto acumulado de las lluvias extremas reduce las luces nocturnas un 2,3% al mes en promedio. En cambio, en las zonas con un elevado nivel de cobertura boscosa, el impacto económico de las lluvias extremas tiende a desaparecer y no es estadísticamente significativo. La simulación contrafactual indica que, con un nivel de cobertura alto en todo el país, se hubiese reducido un 70% el impacto económico de las lluvias extremas ocurridas entre 2016 y 2017. |
| Keywords: | CAMBIO CLIMATICO, BOSQUES, LLUVIA, AUMENTO DE LAS PRECIPITACIONES, ASPECTOS ECONOMICOS, INUNDACIONES, CLIMATE CHANGE, FORESTS, RAIN, PRECIPITATION ENHANCEMENT, ECONOMIC ASPECTS, FLOODS |
| Date: | 2020–11–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:46317&r=all |
| By: | Laurent Ott; Mehdi Farsi; Sylvain weber |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates public opinion on the Swiss CO2 levy and its 2020 revision by using a discrete choice experiment answered by a sample of 586 respondents living in Switzerland. The experiment is designed to elicit citizen preferences among various taxation attributes and is followed by a referendum voting experiment on various CO2 levy proposals. Based on latent class modeling approaches, we find that the population is composed by two distinct but relatively preference profiles: Environmentalists and Neutrals. Respondents belonging to the first group tend to favor higher carbon tax rates and a redistribution of proceeds benefiting low-income individuals, whereas those in the second group prefer lower rates and a uniform redistribution of proceeds across all taxpayers. Findings from the voting experiment point to a general support among the Environmentalists, but an uncertain approval from the Neutral group. |
| Keywords: | Carbon tax, preference heterogeneity, public opinion, latent class, discrete choice experiment. |
| JEL: | C25 D72 D78 H23 Q48 Q54 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irn:wpaper:20-11&r=all |
| By: | Ziqiao Chen; Giovanni Marin; David Popp (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs); Francesco Vona (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques) |
| Abstract: | As nations struggle to restart their economy after COVID-19 lockdowns, calls to include green investments in a pandemic-related stimulus are growing. Yet little research provides evidence of the effectiveness of a green stimulus. We begin by summarizing recent research on the effectiveness of the green portion of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on employment growth. Green investments are most effective in communities whose workers have the appropriate “green” skills. We then provide new evidence on the skills requirements of both green and brown occupations, as well as from occupations at risk of job losses due to COVID-19, to illustrate which workers are most likely to benefit from a pandemic-related green stimulus. We find similarities between some energy sector workers and green jobs, but a poor match between green jobs and occupations at risk due to COVID-19. Finally, we provide suggestive evidence on the potential for job training programs to help ease the transition to a green economy. |
| Keywords: | Green subsides; Green stimulus; American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; Heterogeneous effect; Distributional impacts |
| JEL: | E24 E62 H54 H72 Q58 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/6n4g2a16an9rtamie2eh2rpkkm&r=all |
| By: | Jordan, William A. |
| Keywords: | Public Economics |
| Date: | 2020–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cantrf:305862&r=all |
| By: | Purvey, Ralph |
| Keywords: | Public Economics |
| Date: | 2020–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cantrf:305859&r=all |
| By: | Rüttenauer, Tobias; Best, Henning |
| Abstract: | The disproportionate exposure of minorities and socio-economically disadvantaged households to environmental pollution is often explained by selective migration or sorting mechanisms. Yet, previous empirical findings remain inconclusive. In this study, we offer an explanation for mixed findings by focusing on the selective out-migration process triggered by environmental pollution. We use household-level panel data of the German SOEP from 1986 to 2016 and within-household estimates of correlated random effects probit models. More precisely, we test if the subjective impairment through air pollution selectively affects the probability of out-migration according to income and minority status. We find that perceived air pollution has a stronger effect on the likelihood of moving for households experiencing an income increase. Surprisingly, we find only small and imprecise differences between native German and first generation immigrant households, and a relatively large proportion of this difference can be explained by income. This indicates that selective out-migration processes substantially differ from selective in-migration processes, and environmental inequality research should more carefully distinguish the single steps of neighbourhood sorting. |
| Date: | 2020–11–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:wdu2n&r=all |
| By: | Luo, Anran; Rodríguez, Fabricio; Leipold, Sina |
| Abstract: | China and the EU recently established an agreement to develop a Circular Economy (CE), a (re)emerging socio-economic framework to address growing challenges of global environmental change. Up to now, there is limited research addressing the implications of a joint CE framework following the China-EU agreement. Based on 72 expert interviews, 52 documents and participant observation, we study political narratives around the Chinese Waste Ban (WB) to understand China and EU’s visions for a global CE. Our results reveal a political gridlock in China-EU coordination regarding the WB as the two political actors are not yet synchronized regarding their waste management visions and are mentally unprepared to cooperate on international CE development. Both rely on old development and trade discourses, have diverging CE visions and conflicting perceptions of their respective waste governance roles, as well as prioritize differing scales for international CE development. Based on these results, we suggest CE stakeholders to reevaluate the EU and China’s mutual narratives and related agencies. Most importantly, we argue that decision-makers need to reimagine their roles beyond a linear development model, and to focus on waste prevention instead of waste diversion. |
| Date: | 2020–11–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:uyw5g&r=all |
| By: | Gupta, Eashan (The Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise) |
| Abstract: | The paper analyzes the India water crisis. Water scarcity in India has been a problem for a number of years now as many Indian water sources contain biological pollutants and excessive use of groundwater for irrigation depletes water reservoirs. This paper will explore non-revenue water levels and conduct a cost benefit analysis. It will conclude with a recommendation on where the solution to mitigating the Indian water crisis lies – privatization. |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:jhisae:0148&r=all |
| By: | Clifford, McKenna E.; McKendree, Melissa G.S.; Hodbod, Jennifer; Swanson, Janice C. |
| Abstract: | Environmental impacts of agricultural production can be intense and widespread. Uniquely, agriculture has the potential to impact surrounding environments, communities, and people both positively and negatively. Implementation of best management practices (BMPs) can increase positive impacts while mitigating the negative ones. BMPs are intended to minimize environmental consequences of agricultural production while increasing operation profitability (Paudel et al., 2008). They are also backed by research to be the most effective, environmentally sustainable, and economically efficient way to manage an agricultural enterprise long-term (Gillespie et al., 2007; Paudel et al., 2008). A newer BMP within the beef industry, adaptive multi-paddock (AMP) grazing focuses on grazing cattle in a way that improves animal and forage productivity, increases water infiltration and reduces water runoff while potentially sequestering more soil organic carbon than other grazing methods (Park et al., 2017; Stanley et al., 2018). AMP grazing is an intensive grazing style in which lightweight, portable fencing systems are used to move animals strategically around a large pasture or range, allowing for dense grazing interspersed by long periods of recovery for the land. AMP grazing is commonly grouped with other adaptive grazing methods such as Holistic Management (HM), High-Intensity Short Duration Grazing, and Management-Intensive Grazing (Mann and Sherren, 2018) which show promise for sustainability and regeneration (Teague and Barnes, 2017). While investment in grazing systems research has been substantial, few detailed studies have gathered broad understandings of rancher perspectives regarding the efficacy or social, cultural, and economic dimensions of alternative grazing systems (Becker et al., 2016; Gosnell et al., 2020). Current AMP grazing research is limited and focused on the environmental and production benefits of the practice (Park et al., 2017; Stanley et al., 2018; Teague and Barnes, 2017). While some studies have explored perceptions of AMP by adopters, empirical studies on social and economic dimensions of AMP (and HM more broadly) are limited (e.g. Stinner et al. 1997; Roncoli et al. 2007; McLachlan and Yestrau 2009; Richards and Lawrence 2009; Alfaro-Arguello et al. 2010; Sherren et al. 2012; Ferguson et al. 2013; Mann and Sherren 2018; Gosnell et al. 2020). Additionally, little is still known about the wider beef industry’s knowledge and perceptions of AMP grazing or their willingness-to-adopt the grazing style. The purpose of this survey is to better understand current utilization, knowledge, and perceptions, in order to inform a study of willingness-to-accept (WTA) AMP grazing. To understand its current utilization, we analyze grazing management with questions crafted to allow for both researcher-identification and producer-identification of AMP grazing. Additional sections of our survey analyze expected and experienced barriers to AMP adoption, desired improvements within the operation broadly, current BMP adoption, and marketing claims; all of which we anticipate helping explain and motivate AMP adoption. Our in-depth analysis of beef producers’ utilization, knowledge, and perceptions was conducted from a national online survey of 459 producers. This material is based upon work supported by the VF Foundation, Wrangler, and Timberland and is part of the wider “Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing Research Project” based at Arizona State University. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this material are those of the author(s). |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2020–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midasp:307453&r=all |
| By: | Bronzini, Michael S.; Altouney, Edward G. |
| Keywords: | Public Economics |
| Date: | 2020–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cantrf:305957&r=all |
| By: | David Popp (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs); Francesco Vona (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques); Giovanni Marin (Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo); Ziqiao Chen |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the employment effect of the green part of the largest fiscal stimulus in recent history, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Each $1 million of green ARRA created 15 new jobs that emerged especially in the post-ARRA period (2013-2017). We find little evidence of significant short-run employment gains. Green ARRA creates more jobs in commuting zones with a greater prevalence of pre-existing green skills. Nearly half of the jobs created by green ARRA investments were in construction or waste management. Nearly all new jobs created are manual labor positions. Nonetheless, manual labor wages did not increase. |
| Keywords: | Employment effect; Green subsides; American Recovery Act; Heterogeneous effect; Distributional impacts |
| JEL: | E24 E62 H54 H72 Q58 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/7ii74oepuk9mc8fhilvvhfmbgp&r=all |
| By: | Peres-Cajías, José (Universitat de Barcelona, Departament d’Història Economica, Institucions, Política i Economia Mundial, Barcelona, Spain); Torregrosa-Hetland, Sara (Department of Economic History, Lund University); Ducoing, Cristián (Department of Economic History, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | The resource curse literature has established that the taxation of natural resources might limit the long-term development of fiscal capacity in resource-rich countries. This article explores if, and how, natural resource abundance generates fiscal dependence on natural resource revenues. We compare five peripheral economies of Latin America (Bolivia, Chile, Peru) and Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden) over a period of 90 years, between 1850 and 1939. Both groups were natural resource abundant, but in the latter natural resource dependence decreased over time. By using a novel database, we find that fiscal dependence was low in Norway and Sweden, while high and unstable in Bolivia, Chile and Peru. This suggests that natural resource abundance should not be mechanically linked to fiscal dependence. An accounting identity shows that sudden increases in fiscal dependence were related to both economic and political factors: countries’ economic diversification, and attitudes of the relevant political forces about how taxation affects the companies operating in the natural resource sector. |
| Keywords: | resourcecurse; taxation; Latin America; Scandinavia; rentier state; fiscal contract |
| JEL: | H20 N40 N50 O13 Q32 |
| Date: | 2020–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:luekhi:0216&r=all |
| By: | Whelan, Mary S. |
| Keywords: | Public Economics |
| Date: | 2020–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cantrf:305850&r=all |
| By: | Robinson, Raymond M. |
| Keywords: | Public Economics |
| Date: | 2020–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cantrf:305879&r=all |
| By: | Robinson, Raymond M. |
| Keywords: | Public Economics |
| Date: | 2020–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cantrf:305960&r=all |
| By: | Rockey, Craig F. |
| Keywords: | Public Economics |
| Date: | 2020–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ctrf17:305873&r=all |
| By: | Gianluca Biggi; Elisa Giuliani; Arianna Martinelli |
| Abstract: | A toxic-free world is one of the goals of the European Green Deal and a key objective of the World Health Organization Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals. However, although use of some toxic chemicals is being banned, others continue to be developed. We consider this motivation for a closer examination of the toxicity of chemical inventions. We combine patent analysis with computational toxicology and develop a methodological roadmap to measure patent toxicity, that is, the extent to which a patent includes ''components'' (or compounds) that are toxic to humans and/or the environment. To illustrate our proposed methodology, we analyse the toxicity of ten well-known hazardous chemicals. The measurement of patent toxicity opens up interesting avenues for future research and, potentially, has some strong policy implications. |
| Keywords: | Patents; computational toxicology, chemical inventions. |
| Date: | 2020–11–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2020/33&r=all |
| By: | Smith, T.B. |
| Keywords: | Public Economics |
| Date: | 2020–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cantrf:305871&r=all |
| By: | Jaimes Bonilla, Richard (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management) |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutis:48a44548-df1e-44f9-8e2e-3fb11e06f238&r=all |
| By: | KAPSARC, King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center) |
| Abstract: | Despite the common interests, markets, and economic policies among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, their energy cooperation has been modest. GCC countries hold 20% of the world’s gas reserves. The Dolphin gas pipeline, connecting Qatar to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman, is currently the only GCC cross-border pipeline. |
| Keywords: | Natural Gas, Gulf Cooperation Council, Infrastrucuture development |
| Date: | 2020–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:prc:wbrief:ks--2020-wb09&r=all |
| By: | Zhuldyz Ashikbayeva; Marei Fürstenberg; Timo Kapelari; Albert Pierres; Stephan Thies |
| Abstract: | This thesis studies the impacts of flooding on income and expenditures of rural households in Northeast Thailand. It explores and compares shock coping strategies and identifies household level differences in flood resilience. Drawing on unique household panel data collected between 2007 and 2016, we exploit random spatio-temporal variation in flood intensities on the village level to identify the causal impacts of flooding on households. Two objective measures for flood intensities are derived from satellite data and employed in the analysis. Both proposed measures rely on the percentage area inundated in the surrounding of a village, but the second measure is standardized and expressed in comparison to the median village level flood exposure. We find that household incomes are negatively affected by floods. However, our results suggest that rather than absolute levels of flooding, deviations from median flood exposure are driving negative effects on households. This indicates a certain degree of adaptation to floods. Household expenditures for health and especially food rise in the aftermath of flooding. Lastly, we find that above primary school education helps to completely offset potential negative effects of flooding. |
| Keywords: | Flooding, Household level effects, Southeast Asia, TVSEP |
| JEL: | Q54 D10 I10 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tvs:wpaper:wp-022&r=all |
| By: | Escarley TORRICO |
| Abstract: | Many works focus on water conflicts in urban or rural areas, but very few try to understand what happens in spaces where boundaries are diffuse. In this article, we analyze the tensions and conflicts that arise in the urban-rural interface of Hampaturi, located on the northwest edge of the urban sprawl of the city of La Paz, where we find part of the water dams supplying water for household consumption. |
| Keywords: | Bolivie |
| JEL: | Q |
| Date: | 2020–11–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:avg:wpaper:en11754&r=all |
| By: | Chinmayi Srikanth (Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, IIMK Campus P.O, Kerala 673 570); Zareena Begum Irfan (Associate Professor, Madras School of Economics, Chennai, India) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the need for a gender-centric approach to studying the consequences of the scarcity of a natural resource due to arsenic contamination, particularly water, on the lives of women. The need for such an approach is met by the Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) Framework that identifies women as highly vulnerable as compared to their male counterparts and the most affected by such scarcity. The paper uses the case of Bangladesh‟s arsenic contamination to explore the nuances of gender and how it changes their experience of the phenomenon. It also underlines the importance of FPE in painting a more realistic and complete picture of the vulnerability of women. |
| Keywords: | Feminist Political Ecology, Bangladesh, water, women,vulnerability |
| JEL: | I14 J16 P48 Q53 Z13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mad:wpaper:2020-189&r=all |