|
on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Nicolas Arregui; Ian Parry |
| Abstract: | The UK has pledged to cut greenhouse gases 68 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, to be emissions neutral by 2050, and to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles by 2030. Much progress has been made, but fully achieving these ambitious objectives with the current policy framework will be challenging as it involves multiple and overlapping pricing schemes with significant sectoral differences in carbon prices and may be difficult to scale up on political and administrative grounds. This paper discusses an alternative framework consisting of: (i) a comprehensive carbon price (ideally a tax) rising to at least £60 (US $75) per ton by 2030; and (ii) reinforcing sectoral policies, most importantly feebates for the transport, industrial, and building sectors. This framework could implement mitigation targets, while limiting burdens on households and firms to enhance acceptability, and still raise revenues of 0.8 percent of GDP in 2030. The UK could also leverage its COP26 presidency to promote dialogue on international carbon price floors and pricing of international transport emissions. |
| Keywords: | climate change, net-zero, UK climate mitigation, carbon pricing, feebate, international carbon price floor |
| JEL: | Q48 Q54 Q58 H23 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8920&r=all |
| By: | Larry S. Karp; Christian P. Traeger; Christian Träger |
| Abstract: | We introduce a “smart” cap and trade system that eliminates the welfare costs of asymmetric information (“uncertainty”). This cap responds endogenously to technology or macroeconomic shocks, relying on the market price of certificates to aggregate information. It allows policy makers to modify existing institutions to achieve more efficient emission reductions. The paper also shows that the efficient carbon price is more sensitive to technological innovations than usually assumed. The lasting impact and slow diffusion of these innovations typically make the optimal carbon price a much steeper function of emissions than suggested by the social cost of carbon. |
| Keywords: | pollution, climate change, taxes, quantities, regulation, smart cap, uncertainty, technology diffusion, dynamic programming, integrated assessment, DICE |
| JEL: | Q00 Q50 H20 D80 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8917&r=all |
| By: | Gertjan Cooreman; Jean-Maurice Frère; Tim Goedemé; Petra Zsuzsa Lévay; Josefine Vanhille; Gerlinde Verbist |
| Abstract: | This Working Paper examines which socioeconomic household characteristics determine greenhouse gas emissions in Belgium. The analysis is based on the PEACH2AIR database, which links the air pollution data with consumption expenditure of Belgian households as recorded in the 2014 Household Budget Survey. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable development, Household consumption, Environmental economic accounts |
| JEL: | C67 C81 D12 Q53 Q56 |
| Date: | 2019–09–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpb:wpaper:1908&r=all |
| By: | Giacomo Falchetta (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Free University of Bozen-Bolzano); Nicolò Golinucci (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Politecnico di Milano); Michel Noussan (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)); Matteo Vincenzo Rocco (Politecnico di Milano) |
| Abstract: | In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) diets are largely based on cereal or root staple crops. Together with socio-cultural change, economic and demographic growth could boost the demand for meat, with significant environmental repercussions. We model meat consumption pathways to 2050 for SSA based on several scenarios calibrated on historical demand drivers. To assess the consequent environmental impact, we adopt an environmentally-extended input-output (EEIO) framework and apply it on the EXIOBASE 3.3 hybrid tables. We find that, depending on the interplay of resources efficiency and demand growth, by 2050 global greenhouse gases emissions could grow by 1.4 [0.9-1.9] Gt CO2e/yr (~175% of current regional agriculture-related emissions), cropping and grazing-related land may cover additional 15 [12.5-21] · 106 km2 (one quarter of today’s global agricultural land), blue water consumption could rise by 36 [29-47] Gm3 /yr (nearly doubling the current regional agricultural consumption), the eutrophication potential could grow by 7.6 [4.9-9.5] t PO4e/yr and additional 0.9 [0.5-1.4] EJ/yr of fossil fuels and 49 [32-73] TWh/yr of electricity may be consumed. These results suggest that – in the absence of drastic resource efficiency or technological improvements – meat demand in SSA is bound to become a major sustainability challenge. We show that a partial substitution of the protein intake with plant-based alternatives carries significant potential for mitigating these impacts. The policies affecting farming practices and dietary choices will thus have a significant impact on regional and global environmental flows. |
| Keywords: | Meat Consumption, Economic Development, Environmental Impact Assessment, Environmentally Extended Input-output Analysis, Sub-Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | O13 Q01 Q21 Q56 |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2021.05&r=all |
| By: | Richard S.J. Tol (University of Sussex, Vrije Universiteit, Tinbergen Institute, CESifo, Colorado School of Mines) |
| Abstract: | I propose a new conceptual framework to disentangle the impacts of weather and climate on economic activity and growth: A stochastic frontier model with climate in the production frontier and weather shocks as a source of inefficiency. I test it on a sample of 160 countries over the period 1950-2014. Temperature and rainfall determine production possibilities in both rich and poor countries; positively in cold countries and negatively in hot ones. Weather anomalies reduce inefficiency in rich countries but increase ineciency in poor and hot countries; and more so in countries with low weather variability. The climate effect is larger that the weather effect. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Weather Shocks, Economic Growth, Stochastic Frontier Analysis |
| JEL: | D24 O44 O47 Q54 |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2021.04&r=all |
| By: | Falchetta, Giacomo; Golinucci, Nicolò; Noussan, Michel; Rocco, Matteo Vincenzo |
| Abstract: | In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) diets are largely based on cereal or root staple crops. Together with socio-cultural change, economic and demographic growth could boost the demand for meat, with significant environmental repercussions. We model meat consumption pathways to 2050 for SSA based on several scenarios calibrated on historical demand drivers. To assess the consequent environmental impact, we adopt an environmentally-extended input-output (EEIO) framework and apply it on the EXIOBASE 3.3 hybrid tables. We find that, depending on the interplay of resources efficiency and demand growth, by 2050 global greenhouse gases emissions could grow by 1.4 [0.9-1.9] Gt CO2e/yr (~175% of current regional agriculture-related emissions), cropping and grazing-related land may cover additional 15 [12.5-21] · 106 km2 (one quarter of today’s global agricultural land), blue water consumption could rise by 36 [29-47] Gm3 /yr (nearly doubling the current regional agricultural consumption), the eutrophication potential could grow by 7.6 [4.9-9.5] t PO4e/yr and additional 0.9 [0.5-1.4] EJ/yr of fossil fuels and 49 [32-73] TWh/yr of electricity may be consumed. These results suggest that – in the absence of drastic resource efficiency or technological improvements – meat demand in SSA is bound to become a major sustainability challenge. We show that a partial substitution of the protein intake with plant-based alternatives carries significant potential for mitigating these impacts. The policies affecting farming practices and dietary choices will thus have a significant impact on regional and global environmental flows. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2021–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemwp:309918&r=all |
| By: | Dasandi, Niheer; Graham, Hilary; Hudson, David; Mikhaylov, Slava Jankin; vanHeerde-Hudson, Jennifer; Watts, Nick |
| Abstract: | This study tests the effects of different framings of climate change messages on public support for mitigation policy using conjoint survey experiments conducted in five countries: China, Germany, India, the UK, and the USA. We consider four different types of climate change frames: valence (positive vs. negative), theme (economic, environmental, health, and migration), scale (individual, community, country, and global), and timeframe (2050, 2030, now). The analysis also tests the effects of these different frames on individuals who are not concerned by the effects of climate change. Our results show a positive framing, in terms of the opportunities they provide, increases support for mitigation policies. We also find that an environmental and health framing of climate change increases public support for mitigation, while a migration framing reduces public support, and an economic framing has no effect. The results also show that framing climate change at a global level elicit greater public support for mitigation than at an individual level, and discussing the current impacts of climate change leads to greater support than future impacts. Our analysis also finds that a positive framing and a health framing of climate change also increase support for mitigation policies among those not concerned by the effects of climate change. |
| Date: | 2021–01–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:372pk&r=all |
| By: | Piñeiro, Valeria; Arias, Joaquin; Elverdin, Pablo; Ibáñez, Ana María; Morales Opazo, Cristian; Prager, Steve; Torero, Máximo |
| Abstract: | Sustainable agricultural practices enable more efficient use of natural resources, mitigate the impact of agriculture on the environment, and strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change and climate variability. Because these practices usually require substantial effort or resource allocation from farmers, incentives are necessary to support farmer adoption. Despite growing interest, there has been little systematic evaluation of the incentives–adoption–outcome chain—that is, which incentives best promote adoption and which lead to desired sustainability outcomes. This brief presents the results of a literature review that examined (1) uptake agricultural practices under three kinds of incentives, market and nonmarket, regulations, and cross-compliance, and (2) the impact on productivity, profitability, and environmental sustainability. Based on this review, it offers a set of seven tested principles to follow in designing and implementing incentives for sustainable agriculture. |
| Keywords: | WORLD; literature; agriculture; sustainable agriculture; good agricultural practices; agricultural practices; agricultural production; scoping review |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:polbrf:9780896294042&r=all |
| By: | Diaz-Rainey, Ivan (Asian Development Bank Institute); Tulloch, Daniel J. (Asian Development Bank Institute); Ahmed, Iftekhar (Asian Development Bank Institute); McCarten, Matthew (Asian Development Bank Institute); Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | The European Union (EU) has redefined the energy sphere in Europe over the last 3 decades. Transnational policies targeting liberalization and integration, energy efficiency, renewables, carbon pricing, and energy security have led to major steps forward in terms of a more secure, integrated, and environmentally friendly energy supply. We explore, through the lenses of a paradigm shift and transition pathways, how the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grouping might advance its own energy trilemma through greater energy cooperation. We provide evidence that ASEAN has lagged behind in energy transition, representing considerable risks in multiple forms ‒ most notably, political and physical climate risks from failing to meet the Paris Agreement targets and the risk of stranded assets if accelerated transition is achieved. However, accelerated transition could come in many forms. By drawing on the EU experience, we argue that an energy policy for ASEAN should explicitly pursue a dual transition pathway strategy to yield the best outcome in terms of the energy trilemma. First, an "ASEAN supergrid" supported by a single energy market and by common carbon pricing would "green" urban and industrial demand. Second, "distributed smart grids" would help reap the social and economic benefits of providing electricity to the rural/remotely located population that have hitherto not had access to electricity. This is a dual transnational and local approach that contrasts with energy transition defined at national level. This interconnected approach should yield security, environmental, and economic dividends. |
| Keywords: | energy transition; EU; ASEAN; energy policy; carbon pricing; renewable energy; climate risk; smart grids |
| JEL: | O44 O52 O53 Q40 Q54 |
| Date: | 2021–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:1217&r=all |
| By: | Martin C. Hänsel; Max Franks; Matthias Kalkuhl; Ottmar Edenhofer |
| Abstract: | We develop a model of optimal carbon taxation and redistribution taking into account horizontal equity concerns by considering heterogeneous energy efficiencies. By deriving first- and second-best rules for policy instruments including carbon taxes, transfers and energy subsidies, we then investigate analytically how horizontal equity is considered in the social welfare maximizing tax structure. We calibrate the model to German household data and a 30 percent emission reduction goal. Our results show that energy-intensive households should receive more redistributive resources than energy-efficient households if and only if social inequality aversion is sufficiently high. We further find that redistribution of carbon tax revenue via household-specific transfers is the first-best policy. Equal per-capita transfers do not suffer from informational problems, but increase mitigation costs by around 15 percent compared to the first-best for unity inequality aversion. Adding renewable energy subsidies or non-linear energy subsidies, reduces mitigation costs further without relying on observability of households’ energy efficiency. |
| Keywords: | carbon price, horizontal equity, redistribution, renewable energy subsidies, climate policy, just transition |
| JEL: | H21 H23 Q52 Q54 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8931&r=all |
| By: | Tol, Richard S. J. |
| Abstract: | I propose a new conceptual framework to disentangle the impacts of weather and climate on economic activity and growth: A stochastic frontier model with climate in the production frontier and weather shocks as a source of inefficiency. I test it on a sample of 160 countries over the period 1950-2014. Temperature and rainfall determine production possibilities in both rich and poor countries; positively in cold countries and negatively in hot ones. Weather anomalies reduce inefficiency in rich countries but increase inefficiency in poor and hot countries; and more so in countries with low weather variability. The climate effect is larger that the weather effect. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2021–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemwp:309917&r=all |
| By: | Apra Sinha; Ashish Kumar Sedai; Abhishek Kumar; Rabindra Nepal |
| Abstract: | This study examines the effects of the rule of law on carbon-dioxide emissions using a large sample of countries for over a century. In principle, the turning point of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) is compared for a range of countries lying between autocracy and democracy. Using decadal data for 220 years (1790-2010) and 150 countries, we use country fixed effects estimation technique to quantify the absolute and interactive effects of autocracy-democracy index on carbon-dioxide emissions. Results show that democracies emit less carbon-dioxide for one unit increase in per-capita income, leading to lower turning point and thus lower emission. The turning point in case of autocracies are more than twice of the turning point for democracies. Electoral autocracies have lower turning point in comparison to closed autocracies. Point estimates are robust to alternative estimation techniques and are not likely to be influenced by omitted variable biases. Strengthening rule enforcement and improving access to justice can be critical in decreasing carbon-dioxide emissions. |
| Keywords: | EKC, Turning Point, Rule of law, Democracy, Autocracy |
| JEL: | Q50 Q53 Q58 |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2021-24&r=all |
| By: | Beirne, John (Asian Development Bank Institute); Renzhi, Nuobu (Asian Development Bank Institute); Volz, Ulrich (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | Southeast Asian countries are among those most heavily affected by climate change. The number and intensity of extreme weather events in the region have been increasing markedly, causing severe social and economic damage. Southeast Asian economies are also exposed to gradual effects of global warming as well as transition risks stemming from policies aimed at mitigating climate change. To empirically examine the effect of climate change on the sovereign risk of Southeast Asian countries, we employ indices for vulnerability and resilience to climate change and estimate country-specific OLS models for six countries and a fixed-effects panel using monthly data for the period 2002–2018. Both the country-specific and the panel results show that greater climate vulnerability appears to have a sizable positive effect on sovereign bond yields, while greater resilience to climate change has an offsetting effect, albeit to a lesser extent. A higher cost of debt holds back much-needed investment in public infrastructure and climate adaptation, increases the risk of debt sustainability problems, and diminishes the development prospects of Southeast Asian countries. |
| Keywords: | climate change; sovereign risk; climate vulnerability; climate resilience; Southeast Asia |
| JEL: | D53 H63 Q54 |
| Date: | 2021–03–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:1223&r=all |
| By: | Philippe Quirion (CNRS, CIRED) |
| Abstract: | Output-based refunding consists in distributing the value of taxes on pollution, or that of tradable emission allowances, to operators of emitting facilities, in proportion of their current production level. It is called output-based rebating in the case of taxes and output-based allocation in the case of tradable emission allowances. This practice is widespread, especially in climate policies, and has important economic consequences. We analyse these consequences, first in a deterministic setting and then accounting for uncertainty. While output-based refunding is detrimental to welfare in a deterministic, closed economy without prior distortions, it also provides some benefits. In particular, it is an efficient way to limit carbon leakage. Then, we present the implementation of output-based allocation in the European Union, California, China, New-Zealand and Alberta, and discuss whether it should be maintained or phased out in the coming decades. |
| Keywords: | output-based allocation, leakage, output-based rebate, output-based refunding, Emission trading |
| JEL: | Q58 Q52 |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:ppaper:2021.01&r=all |
| By: | Philippe Quirion (CNRS, CIRED) |
| Abstract: | Output-based refunding consists in distributing the value of taxes on pollution, or that of tradable emission allowances, to operators of emitting facilities, in proportion of their current production level. It is called output-based rebating in the case of taxes and output-based allocation in the case of tradable emission allowances. This practice is widespread, especially in climate policies, and has important economic consequences. We analyse these consequences, first in a deterministic setting and then accounting for uncertainty. While output-based refunding is detrimental to welfare in a deterministic, closed economy without prior distortions, it also provides some benefits. In particular, it is an efficient way to limit carbon leakage. Then, we present the implementation of output-based allocation in the European Union, California, China, New-Zealand and Alberta, and discuss whether it should be maintained or phased out in the coming decades. |
| Keywords: | output-based allocation, leakage, output-based rebate, output-based refunding, Emission trading |
| JEL: | Q58 Q52 |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2021.03&r=all |
| By: | Martin C. Hänsel (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research); Max Franks (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Technische Universität Berlin); Matthias Kalkuhl (Mercator Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), University of Potsdam); Ottmar Edenhofer (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Mercator Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), Technische Universität Berlin) |
| Abstract: | We develop a model of optimal carbon taxation and redistribution taking into account horizontal equity concerns by considering heterogeneous energy efficiencies. By deriving first- and second-best rules for policy instruments including carbon taxes, transfers and energy subsidies, we then investigate analytically how horizontal equity is considered in the social welfare maximizing tax structure. We calibrate the model to German household data and a 30 percent emission reduction goal. Our results show that energy-intensive households should receive more redistributive resources than energy-efficient households if and only if social inequality aversion is sufficiently high. We further find that redistribution of carbon tax revenue via household-specific transfers is the first-best policy. Equal per-capita transfers do not suffer from informational problems, but increase mitigation costs by around 15 percent compared to the first- best for unity inequality aversion. Adding renewable energy subsidies or non-linear energy subsidies, reduces mitigation costs further without relying on observability of households’ energy efficiency. |
| Keywords: | carbon price, horizontal equity, redistribution, renewable energy subsidies, climate policy, just transition |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pot:cepadp:28&r=all |
| By: | Almeida, María Dolores |
| Abstract: | La implementación de instrumentos tributarios y no tributarios ambientales permite variar los precios relativos de los bienes, servicios y factores de producción de la economía, posibilitando que se internalice el costo de las externalidades negativas asociadas a su producción o su consumo. Mediante este tipo de instrumentos, la política fiscal puede corregir los resultados no deseados y cambiar patrones de consumo y producción para transitar hacia un modelo económico de desarrollo sostenible y bajo en carbono. En este contexto, con este estudio se busca proporcionar conocimiento y bases valorativas para apoyar la toma de decisiones de política fiscal con contenido ambiental mediante la recolección, sistematización y valoración de las lecciones aprendidas de las principales reformas fiscales con contenido ambiental en los países miembros del Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA)/Consejo de Ministros de Hacienda o Finanzas de Centroamérica, Panamá y República Dominicana (COSEFIN) y en cuatro países de América del Sur (Chile, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú). El estudio también aporta al diálogo entre los diferentes actores y a la generación de procesos de aprendizaje entre pares de los ministerios responsables de las finanzas públicas para el diseño de futuras políticas fiscales ambientales. |
| Keywords: | POLITICA FISCAL, ASPECTOS AMBIENTALES, MEDIO AMBIENTE, GASTOS PUBLICOS, INVERSION PUBLICA, TRIBUTACION, FINANCIACION DEL DESARROLLO, DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE, FISCAL POLICY, ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS, ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC EXPENDITURES, PUBLIC INVESTMENT, TAXATION, DEVELOPMENT FINANCE, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT |
| Date: | 2021–03–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:46700&r=all |
| By: | Stephie Fried |
| Abstract: | Can we reduce the damage from climate change by investing in seawalls, stilts, or other forms of adaptation? Focusing on the case of severe storms in the US, I develop a macro heterogeneous-agent model to quantify the interactions between adaptation, federal disaster policy, and climate change. The model departs from the standard climate damage function and incorporates the damage from storms as the realization of idiosyncratic shocks. I find that while the moral hazard effects from disaster aid reduce adaptation in the US economy, federal subsidies for investment in adaptation more than correct for the moral hazard. I introduce climate change into the model as a permanent increase in either or both the severity or probability of storms. Adaptation reduces the damage from this climate change by approximately one third. Finally, I show that modeling the idiosyncratic risk component of climate damage has quantitatively important implications for adaptation and for the welfare cost of climate change. |
| Date: | 2021–01–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedfwp:90160&r=all |
| By: | Li, Guozhen PhD; Ogden, Joan PhD; Miller, Marshall PhD |
| Abstract: | Zero-emission vehicles are seen as key technologies for reducing freight- related air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. California’s 2016 Sustainable Freight Action Plan established a target of 100,000 zero-emission freight vehicles utilizing renewable fuels by 2030. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are a promising zero-emission technology, especially for applications where batteries might be difficult to implement, such as heavy-duty trucks, rail, shipping and aviation. However, California’s current hydrogen infrastructure is sparse, with about 25 stations, primarily sited to serve fuel cell passenger vehicles and buses. New infrastructure strategies will be critical for implementing hydrogen freight applications. The researchers analyzed hydrogen infrastructure requirements, focusing on hydrogen fuel cells in freight applications, using a California-specific EXCEL-based scenario model developed under the Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways program (STEPS) at the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis (Miller et al, 2017). Hydrogen vehicle adoption and demand was estimated for trucks, rail, shipping, and aviation, for a range of scenarios out to 2050. |
| Keywords: | Engineering, Zero emission vehicles, hydrogen fuels, fuel cells, freight transportation, heavy duty trucks, service stations, demand, mathematical models |
| Date: | 2021–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt5cs440qj&r=all |
| By: | Maria Alice Moz-Christofoletti; Paula Carvalho Pereda |
| Abstract: | Through its NDC, Brazil pledged to reduce its GHG emissions by 43% below 2005 levels in 2030, respectively. Carbon pricing could play a key role in meeting this objective. However, a range of issues can emerge when introducing it. Among these issues, the distributional impact has been frequently highlighted as an obstacle to the public acceptance of such a mitigation policy. This paper examines the short-run welfare and emission effects of an economy-wide carbon tax on Brazilian households. The distributional impact is examined by estimating the tax burden relative to annual expenditures and changes in total GHG emissions across income levels, using tax rates consistent with the Paris Agreement and considering a lump-sum rebate that keeps the government revenue neutral. For this, we calculate energy-related GHG emissions coefficients from fossil fuel burning for the whole household consumption basket, and price and expenditure elasticities which account for the zero-expenditure and underdeclaration problems. Our results indicate that the incidence of the carbon tax is effective in reducing emissions in the short run, but imposes welfare losses, especially on the poor. The consideration of compensation mechanisms is critical when designing this type of environmental tax, specially in the context of a highly complex tax-system. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Taxation; Censored QUAIDS; Hybrid Input Output |
| JEL: | H23 K32 O13 |
| Date: | 2021–03–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2021wpecon08&r=all |
| By: | Marini, Marco A.; Tarola, Ornella; Thisse, Jacques-Francois |
| Abstract: | We study how the supply of environmentalism, which is defined by psychic benefits (costs) associated with the purchase of high-environmental (low-environmental) qualities, affects the way firms choose their prices and products and the ensuing consequences for the global level of pollution. Contrary to general belief, a high supply of environmentalism does not necessarily give rise to a better environmental outcome because it endows the green firms with more market power which they use to charge higher prices. Nonetheless, environmentalism can be used to effectively complement more traditional policy instruments such as a minimum environmental standard. |
| Keywords: | environmentalism, psychic costs and benefits, vertical product differentiation, environmental policy |
| JEL: | D0 L2 L22 L23 Q5 Q52 Q56 |
| Date: | 2021–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:106340&r=all |
| By: | Anne de Bortoli |
| Abstract: | The environmental performance of shared micromobility services compared to private alternatives has never been assessed using an integrated modal Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) relying on field data. Such an LCA is conducted on three shared micromobility services in Paris - bikes, second-generation e-scooters, and e-mopeds - and their private alternatives. Global warming potential, primary energy consumption, and the three endpoint damages are calculated. Sensitivity analyses on vehicle lifespan, shipping, servicing distance, and electricity mix are conducted. Electric micromobility ranks between active modes and personal ICE modes. Its impacts are globally driven by vehicle manufacturing. Ownership does not affect directly the environmental performance: the vehicle lifetime mileage does. Assessing the sole carbon footprint leads to biased environmental decision-making, as it is not correlated to the three damages: multicriteria LCA is mandatory to preserve the planet. Finally, a major change of paradigm is needed to eco-design modern transportation policies. |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2103.04464&r=all |
| By: | Josselin Garnier |
| Abstract: | This paper is directed to the financial community and focuses on the financial risks associated with climate change. It, specifically, addresses the estimate of climate risk embedded within a bank loan portfolio. During the 21st century, man-made carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere will raise global temperatures, resulting in severe and unpredictable physical damage across the globe. Another uncertainty associated with climate, known as the energy transition risk, comes from the unpredictable pace of political and legal actions to limit its impact. The Climate Extended Risk Model (CERM) adapts well known credit risk models. It proposes a method to calculate incremental credit losses on a loan portfolio that are rooted into physical and transition risks. The document provides detailed description of the model hypothesis and steps. This work was initiated by the association Green RWA (Risk Weighted Assets). It was written in collaboration with Jean-Baptiste Gaudemet, Anne Gruz, and Olivier Vinciguerra (cerm@greenrwa.org), who contributed their financial and risk expertise, taking care of its application to a pilot-portfolio. It extends the model proposed in a first white paper published by Green RWA (https://www.greenrwa.org/). |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2103.03275&r=all |
| By: | Ingo E. Isphording; Nico Pestel |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of short-term exposure to ambient air pollution on the spread and severity of COVID-19 in Germany. We combine data on county-by-day level on confirmed cases and deaths with information on local air quality and weather conditions. Following Deryugina (2019) we instrument short-term variation in local concentrations of particulate matter (PM10) by region-specific daily variation in wind directions. We find significant positive effects of PM10 concentration on death numbers from four days before to ten days after the onset of symptoms. Specifically, for elderly patients (80+ years) an increase in ambient PM10 concentration by one standard deviation between two and four days after developing symptoms increases deaths by 19 percent of a standard deviation. In addition, higher levels air pollution raise the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 for all age groups. The timing of effects surrounding the onset of illness suggests that air pollution affects the severity of already realized infections. We discuss implications of our results for immediate policy levers to reduce the exposure and level of ambient air pollution, as well as for cost-benefit considerations of policies aiming at sustainable longer-term reductions of pollution levels. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, health, air pollution, Germany |
| JEL: | I12 I18 Q53 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2021_262&r=all |
| By: | Brian C. Prest; James H. Stock |
| Abstract: | In 2019, production on federal lands comprised 40% of domestic coal, 22% of domestic oil, and 12% of domestic natural gas production. Currently, the federal fossil fuel leasing program does not consider the climate costs of burning federal fossil fuels. One way to do so is through a climate royalty surcharge in addition to the current royalty rate, set in 1920, of 12.5% (18.75% offshore). We consider determining this surcharge by maximizing revenue, maximizing welfare, or setting royalties to achieve 80% of the emissions reductions of an outright leasing ban. Using the model in Prest (2021), we calculate the resulting surcharges and their implications. We estimate that all three approaches would lead to meaningful declines in global emissions, and the first two would substantially increase royalty receipts, which are split with the state of production. For example, we estimate that choosing a common royalty rate to maximize revenues yields a climate royalty surcharge of 39%, increases annual royalty receipts by $6.2B, and reduces global emissions by 37 to 63 MMton CO2e/year. |
| JEL: | H23 Q35 Q38 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28564&r=all |
| By: | Almalky, |
| Abstract: | Globally, organizations are under enormous pressure to implement green supply chain processes due to growing environmental concerns. Subsequently, organizations and firms have become more conscious of their suppliers’ green innovation ability. However, the selection of the most optimum supplier concerning green innovation ability remains a challenging task that needs to be analyzed. Thus, this study develops an integrated fuzzy and grey‐based methodology to analyze and prioritize suppliers for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the context of Saudi Arabia. Initially, the study identifies 4 criteria and 20 sub‐criteria through extensive literature review with respect to suppliers’ green innovation ability. Later, the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) computes weights of criteria and sub‐criteria. Finally, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS)‐Grey was employed to rank the suppliers. The process of assigning weights to criteria and sub‐criteria involved twelve experts from academics and industry. The results of Fuzzy AHP indicated that the “Green Innovation Initiatives” is the most significant criterion for the supplier selection. The results of TOPSIS‐Grey revealed that the “Supplier‐3” is the most optimum supplier having the highest potential of adopting green practices among other suppliers. The overall results provide adequate feedback for organizations and firms to maximize their ability to curb environmental impacts from their upstream activities. |
| Date: | 2020–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:3cg8j&r=all |
| By: | Jan Stede; Stefan Pauliuk; Gilang Hardadi; Karsten Neuhoff |
| Abstract: | For the European Union to realise its ambition of carbon neutrality, emissions from basic material production need to be reduced through low-carbon production processes, material efficiency and substitution, as well as enhanced recycling. Different reform options for the EU ETS are discussed that ensure a consistent carbon price incentive for all these mitigation options, while avoiding the risk of carbon leakage. This paper offers a first quantification of potential carbon leakage risks, distributional implications and additional revenues associated with different mechanisms: an import- only border carbon adjustment (BCA), a symmetric BCA, and an excise for embodied carbon emissions at a fixed benchmark level in combination with continued free allocation. We estimate the product-level carbon intensities for about 4,400 commodity groups, including basic materials, material products, and manufactured goods and compute implied price changes and cost increases relative to gross value added to assess the scale of carbon leakage risks. |
| Keywords: | emissions trading, border carbon adjustment (BCA), excise duty, carbon intensity, carbon leakage, distributional effects, fiscal revenues |
| JEL: | F18 C67 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1935&r=all |
| By: | Cavalcanti, T.; Hasna, Z.; Santos, C. |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the aggregate and distributional effects of climate change mitigation policies using a multi-sector equilibrium model with intersectoral input–output linkages and worker heterogeneity calibrated to different countries. The introduction of carbon taxes leads to changes in relative prices and inputs reallocation, including labor. For the United States, reaching its original Paris Agreement pledge would imply at most a 0.6% drop in output. This impact is distributed asymmetrically across sectors and individuals. In the US, workers with a comparative advantage in dirty energy sectors who do not reallocate suffer a welfare loss 12 times higher than workers in non-dirty sectors, but constitute less than 1% of the labor force. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, carbon taxes, worker heterogeneity, labor reallocation |
| JEL: | E13 H23 J24 |
| Date: | 2021–03–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2122&r=all |
| By: | Simplice A. Asongu (Yaounde, Cameroon); Joseph Nnanna (The Development Bank of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria) |
| Abstract: | This study assesses how globalization modulates the effect of governance on CO2 emissions in sub-Saharan African countries. The empirical evidence is based on Generalized Method of Moments. The minimum level (or negative threshold) of FDI required for it to interact with political stability and contribute towards the green economy is 45% of GDP, while 90% of GDP is the maximum level (or positive threshold) required for trade to complement “voice & accountability†in mitigating CO2 emissions. 76 % of GDP and 80 % of GDP are respectively negative trade thresholds for government effectiveness and economic governance. The corresponding negative trade thresholds for the rule of law, corruption-control and institutional governance are respectively, 230% of GDP, 63.5% of GDP and 106.5% of GDP. Actionable openness policy thresholds are provided to inform policy makers on how governance interacts with globalization to promote the green economy. |
| Keywords: | CO2 emissions; Economic development; Africa |
| JEL: | C52 O38 O40 O55 P37 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:21/015&r=all |
| By: | Thomas Puschmann (University of Zurich); Christian Hoffmann (University of Zurich - Department of Banking and Finance); Valentyn Khmarskyi (University of Zurich, Department of Banking and Finance, Students) |
| Abstract: | The financial services industry is currently undergoing a major transformation, with digitization and sustainability being the core drivers. While both concepts have been researched in recent years, their intersection, often conceived as “green FinTech,” remains under-determined. Therefore, this paper contributes to this important discussion about green FinTech by, first, synthesizing the relevant literature systematically. Second, it shows the results of an empirical, in-depth analysis of the Swiss FinTech landscape both in terms of green FinTech startups as well as the services offered by the incumbents. The research results show that literature in this new domain has only emerged recently, is mostly characterized by a specific focus on isolated aspects of green FinTech and does not provide a comprehensive perspective on the topic yet. In addition, the results from the literature and the market analysis indicate that green FinTech has an impact along the whole value chain of financial services covering customer-to-customer (c2c), business-to-customer (b2c), and business-to-business (b2b) services. Today the field is predominantly captured by startup companies in contrast to the incumbents whose solutions are still rare. |
| Keywords: | sustainability; FinTech; InsurTech; green FinTech; climate change; digital transformation |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp2120&r=all |
| By: | Hidemichi Yonezawa; Taran Faehn |
| Abstract: | We theoretically and numerically analyse the impacts for a small, open country with carbon abatement ambitions of joining a coalition with allowance trading. Besides welfare impacts for both the coalition and the small, open economy joining the coalition, we scrutinise how the studied policy options differ with respect to their distributional impacts across domestic income groups. Our example is the EU 2030 policies and Norway’s linking to it. In spite of theoretical ambiguity, the findings suggest that the tighter the links with the EU, the lower the abatement costs for Norway. The distributional profile of the welfare costs tends to be progressive regardless of the choice of linking options; however, the less progressive, the lower the overall welfare cost. This indicates a trade-off between efficiency and distribution concerns. A national cap-and-trade system without linking to the EU is the least cost-effective option for Norway but also the most progressive as the higher income deciles face lower capital return and wages. |
| Keywords: | carbon policies, distributional impact, Emission Trading System, Effort Sharing Regulation, Computable General Equilibrium model |
| JEL: | C68 Q43 Q48 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8874&r=all |
| By: | Antonella Biscione (Department of Bioeconomic Strategies in the European Union and in the Balkans CESPIC, Catholic University Our Lady of Good Counsel); Dorothée Boccanfuso (Faculté de Gouvernance, Sciences Economiques et Sociales, Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique); Annunziata de Felice (Department of Law, University of Bari Aldo Moro) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this study is to investigate how a set of regulations influences the pro-environmental actions of firms in a panel of 25 Transition Countries. For this purpose, we use the enterprise survey data developed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank Group (WBG). Based on a logit modeling and on the construction of different indicators characterizing the environmental actions of the firms, we find that regulation affects positively the decision of firms to implement an eco-action. Results are confirmed when we examine the different eco-action categories. Findings obtained from the interactions are also worthy of note. In particular, we find that board of directors are more prone to consider shareholder interests, and a strong network effect emerges between EU candidate countries and EU economies. |
| Keywords: | Corporate Environmental Responsibility; Manufacturing Firms; Regulation; Transition countries |
| JEL: | M14 L60 Q58 |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pea:wpaper:1011&r=all |
| By: | Bugden, Dylan |
| Abstract: | Ecological modernization refers to the process through which the state and industry resolve ecological crises through radical improvements in resource efficiency and the substitution of environmentally harmful industrial processes for less harmful ones without undermining existing relations of economic production. While numerous studies cast doubt on the theory of ecological modernization, existing analyses do not fully address the theory’s core hypothesis on the relationship between technological innovation and environmental impacts. I resolve this problem by using newly available global patent data on environmental technologies across 35 countries from 1982-2016. Results demonstrate that as a nation’s technology sector increases its development of environmental technologies, its per capita ecological footprint declines. However, the marginal effect of technological development is too small to offer a meaningful path toward ecological sustainability through technological innovation alone. I conclude by remarking on the implications of this study for social theory and environmental policy. |
| Date: | 2021–03–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:sedf9&r=all |
| By: | Metodieva, Tsvetana Harizanova; Bartos, Hristina Harizanova |
| Abstract: | The paper explores the relation between emitted CO2 in the atmosphere, asset expenditure, produced energy from renewables and energy consumption. ARDL model was developed on the basis of data for Bulgaria (2000 – 2018). As a whole the increase in asset expenditures leads to increase in emitted carbon dioxide in the short-run and in the long-run. The increase in the produced energy from renewables leads to decrease in the emitted carbon dioxide in a long-run, while in the short-run the relation is insignificant. In a short-run the energy consumption and emitted carbon dioxide are in a positive relation: the increase in energy consumption leads to increase in the emitted pollutant. |
| Keywords: | ARDL model, emitted CO2, asset expenditures, produced energy from renewables, energy consumption. |
| JEL: | C32 Q50 |
| Date: | 2020–11–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:106348&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 - Université Gustave Eiffel) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the economic implications of an environmental policy when we account for the life expectancy of heterogeneous agents. In a framework in which everyone su ers from pollution but health status also depends on individual human capital, we find that the economy may be stuck in a trap in which inequality rises steadily, especially when the initial pollution intensity of production is too high. We emphasize that such inequality is in the long run costly for the economy in terms of health and growth. Therefore, we study whether a tax on pollution associated with an investment in pollution abatement can be used to address this situation. We show that a stricter environmental policy may allow the economy to escape from the inequality trap while enhancing the long-term growth rate when the initial inequality in human capital is not too large. |
| Keywords: | Endogenous Growth,Environmental Policy,Human Capital,Inequality,Longevity |
| Date: | 2021–02–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03148480&r=all |
| By: | Sanguinetti, Angela; Amenta, Nina |
| Abstract: | This study explores the potential to promote lower-emissions air travel by providing consumers with information about the carbon emissions of alternative flight choices in the context of online flight search and booking. We surveyed over 450 employees of the University of California, Davis, asking them to choose among hypothetical flight options for university-related business trips. Emissions estimates for flight alternatives were prominently displayed alongside cost, layovers and airport, and the lowest-emissions flight was labeled “Greenest Flight”. We found an impressive rate of willingness to pay for lower-emissions flights: around $200/ton of CO2E saved, a magnitude higher than that seen in carbon offsets programs. In a second step of analysis, we estimated the carbon and cost impacts if the university were to adopt a flight-search interface that prioritizes carbon emissions information and displays alternatives from multiple regional airports in their employee travel-booking portal. We estimated potential annual savings of 79 tons of CO2E, while reducing airfare costs by $56,000, mainly due to an increased willingness of travelers to take advantage of cheaper nonstop (lower-emissions) flights from a more distant airport in the region over indirect flights from their preferred airport for medium-distance flights. Institutionalizing this “nudge” within organizations with large travel budgets could have an industry-wide impact in aviation. |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, Carbon Emissions, Air Travel, Flight Search, Interface Design, Online Travel Booking |
| Date: | 2021–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt70d421zg&r=all |
| By: | Henri-Paul Rousseau |
| Abstract: | in collaboration with Christophe Mondin To promote local purchasing and production and to strengthen supply chains while accelerating the green shift in Quebec’s agri-food sector, digitization is imperative. Because only the digitization of food production, processing and distribution will generate the data needed to achieve these objectives. Digitization will also make it possible to “trace” the food we produce and thus validate its quality and origin, requirements that have become essential for both domestic and international markets. Thanks to this data on Quebec’s agri-food ecosystem, we will be able to make our supply chains more resilient as well as measure and ultimately reduce the ecological footprint of agri-food chains. To make the digitization of these sectors a real priority, certain conditions must be met beforehand: equip all agricultural regions with high-speed Internet connections, establish an inventory for each sector, quickly create a monitoring center to benefit from foreign experiences and mobilize, for several years, a team dedicated fulfill this project. These are certainly demanding conditions, but they are also very structuring for the Quebec economy. |
| Keywords: | Traceability,Digitization,Agri-food,,Data,Sustainability,Blockchain, |
| Date: | 2021–03–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirpro:2021rp-04&r=all |
| By: | Brodeur, Abel; Cook, Nikolai; Wright, Taylor |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impacts of COVID-19 safer-at-home polices on collisions and pollution. We find that statewide safer-at-home policies lead to a 20% reduction in vehicular collisions and that the effect is entirely driven by less severe collisions. For pollution, we find particulate matter concentration levels approximately 1.5µg/m3 lower during the period of a safer-at-home order, representing a 25% reduction. We document a similar reduction in air pollution following the implementation of similar policies in Europe. We calculate that as of the end of June 2020, the benefits from avoided car collisions in the U.S. were approximately $16 billion while the benefits from reduced air pollution could be as high as $13 billion. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19,safer-at-home,lockdowns,air pollution,car crashes |
| JEL: | P48 Q53 Q58 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:774&r=all |
| By: | Ottmar Edenhofer; Mirjam Kosch; Michael Pahle; Georg Zachmann |
| Abstract: | The European Union’s plan for climate neutrality by 2050 reopens the question of the role carbon pricing can and should play. Carbon pricing should not – and ultimately cannot – only be an enforcement tool or backstop that ensures targets are met, while the heavy-lifting of decarbonisation comes from directed technological change policies. Instead, a technologyneutral carbon price must become the main element, providing signals for decarbonised operations, investment and... |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bre:polcon:41514&r=all |
| By: | Barbora Šedová (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), University of Potsdam); Lucia Čizmaziová (Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC)); Athene Cook (Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC)) |
| Abstract: | The large literature that aims to find evidence of climate migration delivers mixed findings. This meta-regression analysis i) summarizes direct links between adverse climatic events and migration, ii) maps patterns of climate migration, and iii) explains the variation in outcomes. Using a set of limited dependent variable models, we meta-analyze thus-far the most comprehensive sample of 3,625 estimates from 116 original studies and produce novel insights on climate migration. We find that extremely high temperatures and drying conditions increase migration. We do not find a significant effect of sudden-onset events. Climate migration is most likely to emerge due to contemporaneous events, to originate in rural areas and to take place in middle-income countries, internally, to cities. The likelihood to become trapped in affected areas is higher for women and in low-income countries, particularly in Africa. We uniquely quantify how pitfalls typical for the broader empirical climate impact literature affect climate migration findings. We also find evidence of different publication biases. |
| Keywords: | migration, climate change, meta-analysis |
| JEL: | F22 O15 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pot:cepadp:29&r=all |
| By: | Martin Noltze; Alexandra Köngeter; Cornelia Römling; Dirk Hoffmann |
| Abstract: | This working paper focuses on the role of monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) for promoting effective climate risk management. It aims to introduce a conceptual framework that governments and development co-operation providers can draw on when developing MEL frameworks for their interventions on climate risk management. The paper also presents existing methods and tools to address the technical challenges to developing such MEL frameworks. Further, it provides examples of good practice for adjusting or updating existing MEL frameworks in support of climate risk management. It contributes to the project Strengthening Climate Resilience: Guidance for Governments and Development Co-operation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). |
| Keywords: | climate change, climate resilience, climate risk management, development co-operation, Monitoring and evaluation, monitoring, evaluation and learning |
| JEL: | O19 O44 O13 Q56 Q54 |
| Date: | 2021–03–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:dcdaaa:92-en&r=all |
| By: | Barrett, Christopher B.; Ortiz-Bobea, Ariel; Phan, Trinh |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the feedbacks between structural transformation and agriculture, on the one hand, and climate and the natural environment, on the other. The longstanding, dominant economic development narrative largely ignores nature’s influence on factor productivity and stocks, even as it increasingly illustrates how agricultural technological change and economic growth affect nature. We articulate some of the missing linkages and pose a range of policy research questions worth exploration concerning structural transformation and the complex feedback among agriculture, nature, and economic growth processes, especially in the low-income agrarian nations of the Global South. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2021–01–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudawp:309951&r=all |
| By: | Lucas Javaudin; Andrea Araldo; André de Palma (Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA) |
| Abstract: | We consider a regulator willing to drive individual choices towards increasing social welfare by providing incentives to a large population of individuals. For that purpose, we formalize and solve the problem of finding an optimal personalized-incentive policy: optimal in the sense that it maximizes social welfare under an incentive budget constraint, personalized in the sense that the incentives proposed depend on the alternatives available to each individual, as well as her preferences. We propose a polynomial time approximation algorithm that computes a policy within few seconds and we analytically prove that it is boundedly close to the optimum. We then extend the problem to efficiently calculate the Maximum Social Welfare Curve, which gives the maximum social welfare achievable for a range of incentive budgets (not just one value). This curve is a valuable practical tool for the regulator to determine the right incentive budget to invest. We then extend our formulation to a class of more general policies, including enforcement, taxation and nonpersonalized- incentive policies. We analytically show that our personalized-incentive policy is optimal also within this larger class of policies. We also show that our algorithm can be used to construct close-to-optimal enforcement and proportional tax-subsidy policies. We then compare our policy with other state-of-the-art incentive policies and show its gains, both analytically and numerically. Finally, we simulate a large-scale application to mode choice in a French department (about 200 thousands individuals) and illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed personalized-incentive policy in reducing CO2 emissions. We are aware that our framework is based on several idealized assumptions that makes its direct applicability difficult in practical situations, in particular for what concerns the assumption of being able to collect precise information about individual preferences. In this sense, the path toward personalized-incentives is still a long way to go. However, we argue that the theoretical findings of this paper, coupled with the continuous evolution of techniques for collecting societal big-data, while respecting privacy, provide important steps along this path. |
| Keywords: | International migration, Weather shocks, Public policies, Weather variability, Natural disasters, Mexico-U.S. migration, Inequality |
| JEL: | C61 H2 Q58 R41 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ema:worpap:2021-08&r=all |
| By: | van 't Klooster, Jens |
| Abstract: | The ECB’s mandate was drafted 30 years ago and focuses narrowly on preventing inflation. As a consequences, the ECB lacks clear democratic guidance concerning the challenges it faces today: how to deal with government debt and what to do to fight climate change. This lack of guidance undermines the legitimacy of its choices and the effectiveness of its programmes. The EU’s political institutions can solve the ECB’s conundrum by providing it with renewed democratic authorisation. |
| Date: | 2021–02–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:f25td&r=all |
| By: | Ali, Amjad; Audi, Marc; Bibi, Chan; Roussel, Yannick |
| Abstract: | This study has investigated the impact of gender inequality and environmental degradation on human well-being in the case of Pakistan from 1980 to 2019. Augmented Dickey-Fuller unit root test is used for stationarity of the variables. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) is used for co-integration among the variables of the model. The results show that gender inequality has a negative and significant impact on human well-being in Pakistan, while gender equality encourages human well-being. The calculated results show that there is a positive, but insignificant relationship between environmental degradation and human well-being in the case of Pakistan. The estimated results show that economic misery has a negative and significant impact on human well-being in the case of Pakistan. The estimated results show that economic growth has a positive and significant relationship with human well-being in Pakistan. Based on estimated results, it is concluded that gender equality, economic misery, and economic growth are playing an important role in determining human well-being in Pakistan. Therefore, to improve human well-being, the government must reduce gender inequality and economic misery while enhancing in parallel economic growth. |
| Keywords: | gender inequality, environmental degradation, human well-being |
| JEL: | J1 O10 Q0 |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:106655&r=all |
| By: | Steve J. Bickley; Alison Macintyre; Benno Torgler |
| Abstract: | The recent acceleration and ongoing development in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its related (and/or enabling) digital technologies presents new challenges and considerable opportunity on which businesses and individuals may capitalise. In the era of BD – and with increasing societal value being placed on sustainable business to minimise or mitigate the impacts of climate change – customers and regulators alike are turning to organizations to tackle large and complex sustainable development goals. AI and BD can help interpret and monitor the environment, identify which problems need attention, design strategies, generate decisions, and action the tactics. A key challenge in sustainable entrepreneurship is a failure to integrate ‘systems thinking’ beyond a limited number of issues, rather than taking the time to understand the relationship between business processes, macro ecological processes, boundary conditions, and tipping points. The recent and substantial increase in data availability simultaneously advances the potential for AI and BD to enhance ecological sustainability through validation and testing of beliefs and hunches, offering empirical guidance to every stage involved in decision making, and comparing inputs against the outcomes – particularly in fast-changing and highly uncertain environments. To prepare, we must strategize by looking to and engaging with the market, our clients, and our customers for guidance. Only then can we then proceed to develop viable and sustainable business models and plans. To reap the rewards of progress in AI, BD, and related technologies, we need to find ways to race with the emerging technologies while also identifying ways to act in symbiosis with them. The demands of adapting to AI and BD are no different from the situation with past disruptive technologies such as the automobile, radio, and the Internet. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence; Big Data; Entrepreneurship; Sustainability; Expert Systems |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2021-11&r=all |
| By: | Guannan He; Dharik S. Mallapragada; Abhishek Bose; Clara F. Heuberger; Emre Gen\c{c}er |
| Abstract: | There is growing interest in hydrogen (H$_2$) use for long-duration energy storage in a future electric grid dominated by variable renewable energy (VRE) resources. Modelling the role of H$_2$ as grid-scale energy storage, often referred as "power-to-gas-to-power (P2G2P)" overlooks the cost-sharing and emission benefits from using the deployed H$_2$ production and storage assets to also supply H$_2$ for decarbonizing other end-use sectors where direct electrification may be challenged. Here, we develop a generalized modelling framework for co-optimizing energy infrastructure investment and operation across power and transportation sectors and the supply chains of electricity and H$_2$, while accounting for spatio-temporal variations in energy demand and supply. Applying this sector-coupling framework to the U.S. Northeast under a range of technology cost and carbon price scenarios, we find a greater value of power-to-H$_2$ (P2G) versus P2G2P routes. P2G provides flexible demand response, while the extra cost and efficiency penalties of P2G2P routes make the solution less attractive for grid balancing. The effects of sector-coupling are significant, boosting VRE generation by 12-55% with both increased capacities and reduced curtailments and reducing the total system cost (or levelized costs of energy) by 6-14% under 96% decarbonization scenarios. Both the cost savings and emission reductions from sector coupling increase with H$_2$ demand for other end-uses, more than doubling for a 96% decarbonization scenario as H$_2$ demand quadraples. Moreover, we found that the deployment of carbon capture and storage is more cost-effective in the H$_2$ sector because of the lower cost and higher utilization rate. These findings highlight the importance of using an integrated multi-sector energy system framework with multiple energy vectors in planning energy system decarbonization pathways. |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2103.03442&r=all |
| By: | Lup, Aurel; Ursu, Ana |
| Abstract: | The material presents the problem of forests, deforestation becoming nowadays a real global problem of mankind. Many millennia ago, population growth required the sacrifice of the forest to make way for crops, today forests are cut primarily for profit, wood being one of the most precious commodities. It is true that in some parts of the world the forest is also sacrificed to increase the arable area. In countries like Romania, for example, both legal and especially illegal logging is done only for money, wood being over 10 times more expensive than any other agricultural product. The consequences of deforestation on many functions performed by the forest are evaluated, such as: carbon dioxide absorption and oxygen release, recreation function, preventing soil erosion with serious consequences on its quality, but also floods, floods, inhabited areas, roads transport and other objectives. The material also tries an evolution in time of the phenomenon both in Romania and globally. |
| Keywords: | forest, wood, deforestation, profit, erosion. |
| JEL: | Q13 Q27 |
| Date: | 2020–11–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:106459&r=all |
| By: | Mariam Sy (UMR MARBEC - MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - IFREMER - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Charles Figuières (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Helene Rey-Valette (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UMR 5211 - 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); Richard Howarth (Environmental Studies Program, Dartmouth College); Rutger de Wit (UMR MARBEC - MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - IFREMER - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This paper describes an empiric study of aggregation and deliberation used during citizens' workshops for the preference elicitation of 20 different ecosystem services (ESs) delivered by the Palavas coastal lagoons located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea close to Montpellier (S. France). The impact of deliberation for the preference elicitation of 20 different ecosystem services (ESs) was studied by gathering and aggregating individual preferences before deliberation that were compared to the collective aggregation after deliberation. The same aggregation rules were used before and after deliberation and we compared two different aggregation methods, i.e. Rapid Ecosystem Services Participatory Appraisal (RESPA) and Majority Judgement (MJ). RESPA had been specifically tested for ESs, while MJ evaluates the merit of each item, an ES in our case, in a predefined ordinal scale of judgment. The impact of deliberation was strongest for the RESPA method. This new information acquired from application of social choice theory is particularly useful for ecological economics studying ES, and more practically for the development of deliberative approaches for public policies. |
| Keywords: | ecosystem services,non-monetary methods,preference elicitation,deliberation,social choice theory,coastal lagoons |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03145117&r=all |
| By: | Muhammad Arif; Muhammad Abubakr Naeem; Saqib Farid; Rabindra Nepal; Tooraj Jamasb |
| Abstract: | Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, this study explores the hedging and safe-haven potential of green bonds for conventional equity, fixed income, commodity, and forex investments. We use the cross-quantilogram approach that provides a better understanding of the dynamic relationship between assets under different market conditions. Our full sample results show that the green bond index could serve as a diversifier asset for medium- and long-term equity investors. Besides, it can also serve as a hedging and safe haven instrument for currency and commodity investments. Moreover, the sub-sample analysis of the pandemic crisis period shows a heightened short- and medium-term lead-lag association between the green bond index and conventional investment returns. However, the green bond index emerges as a significant hedging and safe-haven asset for the long-term investors of conventional financial assets. Our results offer insights for long-term investors whose portfolios comprise conventional assets such as equities, commodities, forex, and fixed income securities. Further, our findings reveal the potential role that the green bond investments could play in global financial recovery efforts without compromising the low-carbon transition targets. |
| Keywords: | Green bonds, hedge, safe-haven, cross-quantilogram, COVID-19 |
| JEL: | G10 G11 G19 Q01 |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2021-20&r=all |
| By: | Carter, Andrew Pearce (Defenders of Wildlife) |
| Abstract: | Traditional environmental policy analysis has followed a neopositivist epistemological frame, using the natural sciences as a template as to how social-ecological problems can be analyzed. Such approaches to policy analysis have been caught up in the same crisis as the social sciences have in general: an overarching failure to create a predictive science of society or to consistently provide solutions to social problems. This has led some policy researchers to align with the interpretivist turn, which has had its own drawbacks. In this review I summarize the historical development and main tenets of both approaches, examining their advantages and disadvantages. I then review an alternative epistemological approach to social science, critical realism, which combines an ontological realism with an epistemological relativism, a focus on elucidating causal mechanisms in the social-ecological systems studied, an approach that may be particularly suited for analyzing the complex social-ecological systems studied in environmental policy analysis. |
| Date: | 2021–01–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:u8hgk&r=all |
| By: | Lyons-White, Joss; Jespersen, Kristjan; Gallemore, Caleb; Catalano, Allison S.; Ewers, Robert M.; Knight, Andrew T. |
| Abstract: | Tropical deforestation in global agricultural commodity supply chains is a “wicked” problem. Attempted solutions to wicked conservation problems like tropical deforestation often involve idealised, technical mechanisms. For example, company commitments to “zero deforestation” have become a mainstay of global forest conservation efforts. To be resolved, however, wicked conservation problems require strategically-developed, context-specific mixes of mechanisms. Drawing on interdisciplinary literature from the policy sciences, energy and land-use policy, and conservation, we examine why the contextual complexity of wicked conservation problems demands mixes of mechanisms. We present an operational model of conservation that incorporates the mechanism mix concept. We then explore how the dynamism and uncertainty of wicked problems means mixes of mechanisms must be continually reconfigured. Drawing the concepts of contextual complexity, dynamism and uncertainty together, we propose a conceptual model – the “M3 Model” – which aids understanding of how mechanism mixes can be reconfigured to sustain progress towards a desired outcome. The M3 model has four practical implications, which we discuss with reference to supply chain initiatives to reduce deforestation. First, it makes the need to address multiple interacting variables explicit, countering the tendency to seek panaceas. Second, it emphasises the importance of analysing mechanisms’ contributions to problem amelioration, instead of their shortcomings as idealised solutions. Third, it highlights the possibility of failure, reorienting conservation practice towards learning. Fourth, it emphasises polycentric governance, reinforcing the need for distributed mechanism deployment across stakeholder groups. Our synthesis provides tools to support a holistic, systemic approach to tackling wicked conservation problems. |
| Date: | 2021–02–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:gan7w&r=all |
| By: | Carlo Andrea Bollino (University of Perugia, King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research (KAPSARC)); Marzio Galeotti (University of Milan, King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research (KAPSARC)); Axel Pierru (King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research (KAPSARC)) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new evidence on the convergence process of energy, water and food per capita consumption levels for 108 countries from 1971 to 2018, using a common data set, with VAR and panel data approach. We establish a new notion of multivariate sigma and beta-convergence. The results reveal that there is evidence of sigma- absolute beta- and conditional beta-convergence process for the countries. Moreover, the multivariate approach reveals that there are spillover effects with complex positive impact of each variable on the others in the analyzed countries. The speed of convergence is simulated to assess when the desired levels according to the prescription of the SDG of per water, energy and food capita consumption is reached by each country. Results have important policy implications for interventions on macro variables. Investment has a positive accelerating effect on water convergence. In addition, investment, openness to foreign trade and inflow of foreign direct investment have a positive accelerating effect on food convergence as well as on energy convergence. |
| Keywords: | Water, Energy, Food Nexus, Multivariate Convergence, Sustainable Development Goals, Worldwide Countries Data Set |
| JEL: | C33 Q43 O11 O13 R11 |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2021.06&r=all |
| By: | Zanfrillo, Alicia Inés; Morcela, A.; Mortara, Verónica; Tabone, Luciana |
| Abstract: | El concepto de desarrollo sostenible se expresa como un equilibrio entre diferentes dimensiones: social, económica, ambiental e institucional, que interactúan en el discurrir de la actividad humana basadas en principios de equidad, respeto, factibilidad y participación como directrices del quehacer de las organizaciones. Las diferentes actividades de las cadenas de valor generan impactos positivos y negativos en el entorno. Es por ello, que en la actualidad cobra relevancia la necesidad de propiciar el desarrollo sostenible de las organizaciones, con el objetivo de crear valor económico, ambiental y social. Una organización sostenible no solo busca la creación de valor económico, sino que busca implementar acciones que añadan valor a las actividades sociales y ambientales. |
| Keywords: | Desarrollo Sostenible; Valor Agregado; Organizaciones; |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:3417&r=all |
| By: | Frank Jotzo (Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University); Zeba Anjum (Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University); Jorrit Gosens (Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University); Subho Banerjee (Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | Long-term strategies (LTS) to cut greenhouse gas emissions are important tools for understanding possible pathways towards long-term emissions goals and their implications. High-quality LTS can guide decision-making in policy, investment and society, and provide a comprehensive foundation of evidence for broader public debate. Some countries have submitted or are preparing official LTS to the Paris Agreement process, others have strategies to underpin long-term emissions goals, prepared either by governments or other bodies. They take a range of forms, include a variety of elements, and use different processes. This paper provides a conceptual synthesis and empirical analysis of LTS, and identifies elements of best practice in process, design and implementation. It illustrates these best-practice elements by drawing on examples of LTS and LTS-type studies and processes. Taken together, the best-practice elements can be considered a benchmark for national or sub-national LTS frameworks. |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:ccepwp:2102&r=all |
| By: | Gaina, Boris; Fedorchukova, Svetlana; Gobirman, Galina |
| Abstract: | The wine-growing and wine-making complex of Moldova has come a long way: from metal-intensive technical equipment from unalloyed steels to modern European equipment from stainless, food-grade material. All new vineyard plantings are created from planting of certified material of our own production or acquired in Italy, France and Germany. At the present stage, vineyard plantations in Moldova are 80% occupied by classic European varieties. The rest - are local indigenous varieties. All technological processes in primary winemaking are based on modern biotechnology achievements and innovations: enzymes for clarifying wort, yeast for fermentation and bacteria to reduce acidity in red wines. The well-known preservative - sulfur dioxide is replaced with inert gases (nitrogen, carbon dioxide) and the use of low temperatures. Table wines are exported mainly to Romania, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, China, the United States and Canada. All the achievements of viticulture and winemaking in Moldova are based on the latest scientific and technological progress, developed and implemented in the Republic of Moldova by scientists from the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, universities, as well as specialists from the National Office of Grapes and Wine. |
| Keywords: | grape-wine-making complex, grape-based secondary products, European grape varieties, local indigenous varieties, wine market. |
| JEL: | Q13 |
| Date: | 2020–11–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:106350&r=all |
| By: | Gruener, Sven |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the susceptibility to misinformation in a survey experiment by considering three hand-picked topics (climate change, Covid-19, and artificial intelligence). Subjects had to rate the reliability of several statements within these fields. We find evidence for a monological belief system (i.e., being susceptible to one statement containing misinformation is correlated with falling to other false news stories). Moreover, trust in social networks is positively associated with falling for misinformation. Whereas, there is some evidence that risk perception, willingness to think deliberately, actively open-minded thinking, and trust in science and media protects against being susceptible to misinformation. Surprisingly, the level of education does not seem to matter much. |
| Date: | 2021–01–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:r3fx7&r=all |
| By: | Picchio, Matteo |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the effectiveness of placing microchips on the bags for the curbside collection in reducing the unsorted urban solid waste and increasing the fraction recycled. The microchip allows the waste collection company to identify the users that left the bags on the curb and check whether they properly sorted the waste. Our study is carried out in the Italian province of Macerata (Marche, Italy), where the bag microchips were introduced only in some municipalities in 2013. Exploiting monthly information on waste collection and natural experiment methods, we find that, two years after the programme start, the bag microchip increased the fraction recycled by 3-4:5 percentage points and decreased the monthly unsorted waste by 1-2 kilograms per capita. |
| Keywords: | Recycling behaviour,unsorted waste,microchip bags,natural experiment,difference-in-differences,synthetic control method |
| JEL: | C23 D78 Q53 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:772&r=all |
| By: | Sanguinetti, Angela; Outcault, Sarah; Alston-Stepnitz, Eli; Moezzi, Mithra; Ingle, Aaron |
| Abstract: | Solar water heating provides domestic hot water with lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to more typical natural-gas water heating. Solar water heating has a long history, particularly in places where the climate is favorable, such as California where state-backed incentive programs have been successful in creating small bursts of adoption. However, widespread adoption of solar water heating has not occurred in California despite these conditions. This research surveyed 227 single-family households with solar water heating across the state of California to understand their motivations and experiences, and draw implications regarding barriers to adoption. The survey explored households’ experiences across five stages of adoption, as outlined in Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation theory: Knowledge, Persuasion, Decision, Implementation, and Confirmation. Findings revealed challenges at each stage. Most notably, prevalent disappointment in lower-than-expected energy and bill savings (31%) and high rates of technical problems (41%) appear to be the most significant issues. |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, solar water heating, residential water heating, household water, consumer adoption, barriers |
| Date: | 2021–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt4rw591ft&r=all |
| By: | Eric Jondeau (University of Lausanne - Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC Lausanne); Swiss Finance Institute); Benoît Mojon (Bank for International Settlements (BIS)); Cyril Monnet (University of Bern) |
| Abstract: | The momentum toward greening the economy implies transition risks that are new threats to financial stability. In particular, the expectation that other investors may exclude high carbon corporate emitters from their portfolio creates a risk of runs on brown assets. We show that runs can be contained by a liquidity backstop with an access fee that depends on the firm’s carbon intensity, while the interest rate on the liquidity lent through this facility is independent from its carbon intensity. |
| Keywords: | Financial stability, Runs, Brown assets, Liquidity provision |
| JEL: | G01 G18 G28 |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp2122&r=all |
| By: | Sanguinetti, Angela; Queen, Ella; Yee, Christopher; Akanesuvan, Kantapon |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| Date: | 2020–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt9hm406d5&r=all |
| By: | Cai, Zhengyu; Yu, Chin-Hsien; Zhu, Chunhui |
| Abstract: | The Chinese government is actively promoting urbanization to stimulate its economic growth while facing increasingly prominent environmental concerns. The main objective of this research is to assess whether the Chinese government is making efforts to promote cleaner energy demand while pushing for urbanization. This study employs system GMM models to empirically investigate the causal relationship between urbanization and natural gas demand by using a sample of 30 provinces in China over the period 2005–2018. The estimates of the preferred specifications show that government-led urbanization has a positive impact on natural gas demand conditional on total energy use. By attaching natural gas facilities to new structures through the use of administrative power, the government induces natural gas demand while promoting urbanization. Robustness checks indicate that adding more potentially influential factors will not qualitatively change the results from the baseline. A constrained two-step static panel data estimation is used to estimate the depreciation rates of natural gas and of all fuel appliances, suggesting that the promotion of natural gas demand provides a relatively economical way to balance the trade-off between economic growth and the reduction of emissions. The empirical results also show that the dynamic model outperforms its static counterpart in predictions. Based on the results, policy recommendations are made towards the goals of the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for the National Economic and Social Development of China. |
| Keywords: | Natural gas,urbanization,dynamic panel model,China |
| JEL: | Q41 Q47 Q48 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:798&r=all |
| By: | Gary Clyde Hufbauer (Peterson Institute for International Economics) |
| Abstract: | One economic argument for government subsidies is that they are necessary to compensate firms and industries for benefits they provide to society at large but cannot capture in the prices they charge for goods or services. For example, subsidies to renewable energy are defended because renewable energy limits carbon emissions. When a major economy subsidizes extensively, however, its trading partners are drawn into the game, with losses all around. As the prisoner’s dilemma suggests, a better outcome would entail mutual restraint. But the goal of mutual restraint is no less difficult in international trade than it is in international arms control. Both the European Union and the US federal system try, in different ways, to regulate industrial subsidies. Hufbauer examines efforts to contain unjustifiable subsidies and proposes modest improvements, bearing in mind that as countries struggle to overcome the global economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is little appetite for restoring a free market economy—one in which firms compete with minimum government assistance or regulation. Selective upgrading of the rulebook may nevertheless be possible. |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iie:pbrief:pb21-5&r=all |
| By: | Bruna Morais Guidetti; Paula Carvalho Pereda, Edson Roberto Severnini |
| Abstract: | When a health shock hits a location, the healthcare infrastructure needs to be adjusted to meet the increased demand. is may be a challenge in developing countries because of limited hospital capacity. In this study, we examine the consequences of health shocks induced by air pollution in a megacity in the developing world: São Paulo, Brazil. Using daily data from 2015-2017, and an instrumental variable approach based on wind speed, we provide evidence that exposure to particulate matter (PM10) causes an increase in pediatric hospitalizations for respiratory diseases, which in turn leads to a decrease in hospital admissions for elective care – phimosis surgery and epilepsy-related procedures such as video-EEG (electroencephalograph) monitoring. Importantly, emergency procedures such as appendectomy and bone fracture repair are not affected. While strained Sao Paulo hospitals seem to absorb the increased demand induced by poor air quality, our results imply that the common practice of using health outcomes unrelated to pollution as “placebo tests'' in studies on the effects of air pollution might be inadequate in settings with limited healthcare infrastructure. This is often the case in developing countries, where severe pollution is also ubiquitous, but also happens in deprived areas in the developed world. |
| Keywords: | Air Pollution; Health Outcomes; Hospitalization for Respiratory Diseases and Other Causes; Healthcare Infrastructure; Hospital Capacity Constraint |
| JEL: | I15 Q53 Q56 O13 |
| Date: | 2021–03–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2021wpecon05&r=all |
| By: | Russell McKenna; Stefan Pfenninger; Heidi Heinrichs; Johannes Schmidt; Iain Staffell; Katharina Gruber; Andrea N. Hahmann; Malte Jansen; Michael Klingler; Natascha Landwehr; Xiaoli Guo Lars\'en; Johan Lilliestam; Bryn Pickering; Martin Robinius; Tim Tr\"ondle; Olga Turkovska; Sebastian Wehrle; Jann Michael Weinand; Jan Wohland |
| Abstract: | The rapid uptake of renewable energy technologies in recent decades has increased the demand of energy researchers, policymakers and energy planners for reliable data on the spatial distribution of their costs and potentials. For onshore wind energy this has resulted in an active research field devoted to analysing these resources for regions, countries or globally. A particular thread of this research attempts to go beyond purely technical or spatial restrictions and determine the realistic, feasible or actual potential for wind energy. Motivated by these developments, this paper reviews methods and assumptions for analysing geographical, technical, economic and, finally, feasible onshore wind potentials. We address each of these potentials in turn, including aspects related to land eligibility criteria, energy meteorology, and technical developments relating to wind turbine characteristics such as power density, specific rotor power and spacing aspects. Economic aspects of potential assessments are central to future deployment and are discussed on a turbine and system level covering levelized costs depending on locations, and the system integration costs which are often overlooked in such analyses. Non-technical approaches include scenicness assessments of the landscape, expert and stakeholder workshops, willingness to pay / accept elicitations and socioeconomic cost-benefit studies. For each of these different potential estimations, the state of the art is critically discussed, with an attempt to derive best practice recommendations and highlight avenues for future research. |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2103.09781&r=all |
| By: | Schlund, David (Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI)); Schönfisch, Max (Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI)) |
| Abstract: | We perform a model-based analysis of the impact of a renewable hydrogen quota on EU gas and electricity markets. By comparing a scenario in which a renewable hydrogen quota with tradable certificates is imposed on final gas consumption in the sectors of the economy outside the EU ETS with a reference scenario without a quota, we assess price, quantity and welfare effects. Our model simulations show that the hydrogen quota leads to a significant expansion in renewable energy sources (RES) capacity to produce renewable hydrogen and synthetic methane with Power-to-Gas (PtG) technologies. On the electricity market, the price increases substantially, rising by up to 12%—mostly due to increasing emission allowance prices—leading to a higher surplus for power producers. The quota’s primary beneficiaries in the power sector are renewable energy producers. On the gas market, the quota leads to a small decrease in prices (by a maximum of -3%) and gas producer surpluses. Quota obliged gas consumers, mainly households, commercial and small industrial consumers, carry the largest part of the burden associated with the obligation. Overall, the quota leads to the redistribution of welfare from these consumers to RES and PtG producers and a significant decline in total welfare. |
| Keywords: | Hydrogen; power-to-gas; quota obligation; renewable energy support |
| JEL: | C61 Q41 Q42 Q48 |
| Date: | 2021–03–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:ewikln:2021_003&r=all |
| By: | González, María Virginia; Lacaze, María Victoria; Lupín, Beatriz |
| Abstract: | La presente comunicación sintetiza un proyecto de investigación y extensión que constituye una asociación estratégica entre ocho unidades académicas de la Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Su objetivo general es diagnosticar y evaluar las dimensiones socio-económica, sanitaria, ambiental, agronómica y jurídica del cinturón frutihortícola del Partido de General Pueyrredon, a fin de proponer alternativas de manejo sostenibles y desarrollar instrumentos para la gestión pública y privada. El abordaje de la investigación es cualitativo y cuantitativo y está organizado por ejes: socio-económico -con estudios económicos (consumo de alimentos y caracterización de sistemas productivos) y sanitario (estudios epidemiológicos en las áreas urbana, periurbana y rural)-; de degradación ambiental -para evaluar el impacto del uso de agroquímicos en suelos y agua como así el grado de degradación del suelo- y de alternativas tecnológicas y manejo agronómico. Se propone formular un conjunto de indicadores sistémicos que permitan sentar las bases para la creación de un Observatorio Frutihortícola. La aplicación de metodologías participativas será complementada por un eje de extensión destinado a evaluar Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas. La información será georreferenciada. Se avanzará en la propuesta de creación de un Fondo Ambiental. Finalmente, se efectuará un meta-análisis acerca de la construcción transdisciplinar del conocimiento en el ámbito universitario. |
| Keywords: | Actividad Frutihortícola; Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas; |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:3420&r=all |
| By: | Masiero, Giuliano (USI Università della Svizzera Italiana); Mazzonna, Fabrizio (USI Università della Svizzera Italiana); Santarossa, Michael (University of Pavia) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effect of extreme temperatures on mortality and emergency hospital admissions, and whether local social care allows to mitigate their adverse effects. We merge monthly administrative data on mortality and hospital discharge from Italian municipalities for the period 2001-2015 with daily data on local weather conditions, and yearly data on disaggregated municipal expenditure. We compare two different measures of temperature shocks, the standard measure based on absolute levels and another measure based on deviations from local mean temperatures. We find that the former measure is more effective in capturing the adverse effects of shocks on health outcomes. In particular, extremely hot and cold days increase mortality rates and hospital admission rates for both cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. These effects are mostly driven by the oldest age group and partially by young children. Then, we report evidence of a mitigating effect of social expenditure on the impact of extremely hot and cold days on both emergency hospital admission and mortality rates. A back of the envelope calculation suggests that the additional social care expenditure is fully compensated by the benefits arising from the lower impact of temperature shocks. |
| Keywords: | hospital admissions, mortality, social expenditure, temperature shocks |
| JEL: | I18 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14201&r=all |
| By: | Furey, Ryan; Merrill, Nathaniel; Sawyer, Joshua Paul (EPA); Mulvaney, Kate K.; Mazzotta, Marisa J. |
| Abstract: | Linking human behavior to environmental quality is critical for effective natural resource management. While it is commonly assumed that environmental conditions partially explain variation in visitation to coastal recreation areas across space and time, scarce and inconsistent visitation observations challenge our ability to reveal these variations. With the ubiquity of mobile phone usage, novel sources of digitally derived data are increasingly available at a massive scale. Applications of mobile phone locational data have been effective in research on urban-centric human mobility and transportation, but little work has been conducted on understanding behavioral patterns surrounding dynamic natural resources. We present an application of cell-phone locational data to estimate the effects of beach closures on visitation to coastal access points. Our results indicate that beach closures on Cape Cod, MA, USA have a significant negative correlation to visitation at those beaches with closures, while closures at a sample of coastal access points elsewhere in New England have no detected impact on visitation. Our findings represent geographic mobility patterns for over 7 million unique coastal visits and suggest that closures resulted in approximately 1,800 (0.026%) displaced visits for Cape Cod during the summer season of 2017. We demonstrate the potential for human-mobility data derived from mobile phones to reveal the scale of use and behavior in response to changes in dynamic natural resources. Future applications of passively collected geocoded data to human-environmental systems are vast. |
| Date: | 2021–01–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:56fk8&r=all |
| By: | D'Onofrio, Paula; Rodriguez, J. A.; Iacono, C.; Dominguez Marzano, Facundo; Hernández, R.; Gorosito, Silvina Marcela; García, F. |
| Abstract: | En el Partido de General Pueyrredon existen empresas que se destacan por sus acciones de responsabilidad social, conformando un objeto de análisis relevante desde el punto de vista de la contabilidad social y ambiental debido a su impacto positivo en la comunidad. Por ello, mediante este proyecto se propuso relevar las políticas de responsabilidad social asumidas por dichas empresas, analizar el impacto en sus destinatarios y proponer sistemas de información contable que reflejen estas políticas y satisfagan las necesidades de los usuarios interesados. Se parte del hecho de que los usuarios del sistema contable asignan cada vez mayor relevancia a la información referida al desempeño social, ético y medioambiental de las empresas. En este sentido, las investigaciones que desde la disciplina contable y afines abordan esta temática, realizan aportes valiosos para el ejercicio de la profesión, y adicionalmente, permiten que las empresas que asumen una actitud responsable frente a diferentes problemáticas sociales puedan adecuar los informes de sus sistemas contables y dar cuenta de sus acciones a múltiples usuarios. Metodológicamente proponemos triangular nuestro objeto de investigación en base a un nutrido cuerpo teórico, información primaria relevada a través de entrevistas en profundidad e información secundaria proporcionada por las empresas seleccionadas para el estudio. Nos valemos de la teoría de los stakeholders para el marco analítico general de la investigación, y los desarrollos de la contabilidad social y ambiental para la propuesta de mejora de los informes empresariales. |
| Keywords: | Responsabilidad Social; Contabilidad; Medio Ambiente; |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:3416&r=all |
| By: | Christina Littlejohn; Stef Proost |
| Abstract: | EU countries want to decarbonize their road freight transport quickly. Long-haul electric trucks are a promising technology. There are several competing designs but at present the trade-off is between e-trucks with very large batteries and e-trucks with a smaller battery but combined with motorways electrified via catenary lines. In the latter case a combination of public investment (catenary lines on major motorways) and private investment (electric trucks) is required. As long-haul truck transport is partly international this raises problems of coordination among countries. We study the possible pricing and investment strategy of one forerunner country that faces lagging neighbors. The forerunner can make the use of electric trucks mandatory on its own territory by using very high road charges for diesel trucks. If it has opted for a catenary system, it faces still the choice of how it will price the use of its electric motorways. International diesel trucks, when crossing the border of a forerunner country, have to choose between paying high charges and transferring the load into an e-truck. We study the outcome of this international coordination game exploring the non-cooperative outcome varying the relative size of the forerunner in international truck traffic and varying the cost of electric highways. |
| Keywords: | electric trucks, freight transport, climate policy, tax exporting, distance charging |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8876&r=all |
| By: | Sebastian Dullien (Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK)); Alexander Herzog-Stein (Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK)); Peter Hohlfeld (Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK)); Christoph Paetz (Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK)); Sabine Stephan (Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK)); Thomas Theobald (Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK)); Silke Tober (Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK)); Sebastian Watzka (Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK)) |
| Abstract: | Unter der Annahme, dass die umfangreichen Maßnahmen zur Eindämmung von Covid-19 ab Mai gelockert werden, ist mit einem Rückgang des deutschen Bruttoinlandsprodukts (BIP) um 4 % in diesem Jahr zu rechnen. Das BIP dürfte insbesondere im zweiten Quartal 2020 stark einbrechen, aber auch im dritten Quartal noch negativ ausfallen und sich erst im vierten Quartal zaghaft erholen. Der private Konsum wird trotz umfangreicher Stützungsmaßnahmen zwei Quartale lang schrumpfen, dann aber die Erholung tragen. Besonders deutlich sinken die Exporte und die Ausrüstungsinvestitionen, während sich Staatskonsum und Bau durchgängig positiv entwickeln und einen noch stärkeren Wirtschaftseinbruch verhindern. Geprägt von Nachholeffekten dürfte das BIP im Jahresdurchschnitt 2021 um 2,4 % zunehmen. Angesichts eines zeitweilig starken Anstiegs der Kurzarbeit geht die Zahl der Erwerbstätigen in beiden Jahren nur leicht zurück. Die Arbeitslosenquote dürfte von 5,0 % im Jahr 2019 auf 5,5 % im Jahr 2021 steigen. Die Risiken sind hoch und eine verschärfte weltwirtschaftliche Abschwächung kombiniert mit einschränkenden Maßnahmen für weitere zwei Monate würden zu einer mehr als doppelt so starken Wirkung des Schocks auf das deutsche BIP führen. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imk:report:157-2020&r=all |
| By: | Federica Cappelli (Roma Tre University); Gianni Guastella (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Stefano Pareglio (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we estimate the relationship between urban sprawl and a measure of air quality, namely the number of days in which the PM10 concentration exceeds safeguard limits in European Union cities. Building on a multidimensional representation of sprawl, the paper employs several indicators to account for built-up area development, population density, and residential discontinuity. The paper employs generalised additive models to disentangle the non-linear effects in the variables and the interaction effects of the three sprawl dimensions. A significant and robust effect of urban morphology emerges after controlling for socio-economic, demographic, and climatic factors and the geographical location of the city. We find that urban sprawl impacts positively on pollutant concentration, but the effect is highly context-specific because of threshold effects and interactions. |
| Keywords: | Air Pollution, Urban Sprawl, European Cities, Additive Models |
| JEL: | Q53 R14 C21 |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2021.07&r=all |
| By: | Arik Levinson (Department of Economics, Georgetown University); Lutz Sager (McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | Regulators attest that tightened energy efficiency standards save consumers money. Efficient light bulbs, appliances, and vehicles cost more upfront but reduce energy expenses by more than enough to compensate. We use survey data on American cars and their drivers to examine whether individual drivers have indeed underinvested in fuel economy, given the gas prices they face and the miles they drive. We find that may be true, but only on average. Some drivers could likely have saved money by spending more upfront for efficient cars. But many others could have saved money purchasing less expensive, less fuel-efficient cars. In fact we find little correlation between individual drivers’ annual fuel expenditures and their fuel economy choices: a driver’s income, sex, age, and education are far more closely associated with their vehicle’s fuel economy. We can rule out several explanations for the disconnect. Rich car purchasers do not seem to consider fuel expenses any more than poorer ones, undermining arguments that borrowing constraints prevent low-income consumers from investing in fuel efficiency. And the disconnect between fuel expenses and vehicle choice holds whether we examine anticipated or realized mileage, ruling out mistaken expectations about future driving as an explanation. |
| Keywords: | Fuel economy, energy efficiency paradox, CAFE |
| JEL: | Q48 Q58 R48 |
| Date: | 2021–03–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:geo:guwopa:gueconwpa~21-21-02&r=all |
| By: | Lacaze, María Victoria |
| Abstract: | La pesca desempeña un importante rol en el sistema alimentario mundial. Para los países desarrollados, estos productos forman parte de la oferta de alimentos saludables y de lujo. Para muchos países en desarrollo, la principal fuente de nutrientes destinados a la población proviene de la actividad pesquera. El consumo de estos alimentos ha aumentado en países desarrollados y en desarrollo en los últimos diez años y eso ha mejorado las dietas en todo el mundo. El comercio de alimentos pesqueros también ha aumentado en las últimas décadas, como resultado de un entorno productivo cada vez más globalizado. Desde el comienzo del nuevo milenio, más de la mitad de las exportaciones globales, tanto en términos de valor como de volumen, proceden de países en desarrollo. Para estos países, la pesca constituye la principal fuente de ingresos por divisas. |
| Keywords: | Comercio Mundial; Productos Pesqueros; Restricciones a los Intercambios; Seguridad Alimentaria; Modelo Gravitacional; |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:3443&r=all |
| By: | Kuikeu, Oscar |
| Abstract: | Despite the improvement of use, usage and monetary instruments as well the increasing in monetary area the cfa franc zone believe to be well spell and consider because today we have of him an sign of Recognized. Nevertheless his Member States continue to be expose as an sign of fragility in this kind of Monetary area where the currency unit have been use as an engine against Coronavirus. Important message toxard the Road of industrialization the main challenge is on the mechanisms to reach this unachieved goal, in fact this process required to destroy some of ancestral tradition, traditional cure against modern medicine as an engine of resilience against Coronavirus (kledavid in Cameroon, artemesia in Madagascar). Once more, toward of real dependence those against raw material product his Member States face monetary dependence an unbelieved challenge used as reason to explain Africa’s Marginalization, this multidisciplinary subject. |
| Keywords: | Marginalization, climate change, VAR Models |
| JEL: | C32 O47 |
| Date: | 2021–03–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:106686&r=all |
| By: | Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet (ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech, CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Université Paris-Saclay - AgroParisTech - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Anna Petronevich (Banque de France - Banque de France - Banque de France); Laurent Faucheux (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Université Paris-Saclay - AgroParisTech - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Scaling up home energy retrofits requires that associated loans be priced efficiently. Using a unique dataset of posted loan prices scraped from online simulators made available by French credit institutions, we examine the differentiation of interest rates in relation to project risk. Crucially, our data are immune from sorting bias based on borrower characteristics. We find that greener, arguably less risky, automobile projects carry lower interest rates, but greener home retrofits do not. On the other hand, conventional automobiles carry lower interest rates than do conventional home retrofits, despite arguably similar risk. Our results are robust to a range of robustness checks, including placebo tests. They together suggest that lenders use underlying assets to screen borrower's unobserved willingness to pay, which can cause under-investment in home energy retrofits. We thereby point to a new form of the energy efficiency gap. This has important policy implications in that it can explain low uptake of zero-interest green loan programs. |
| Keywords: | personal loan,home energy retrofit,screening,data scraping,online prices,energy efficiency gap |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01890636&r=all |
| By: | Jean-Claude Berthélemy (UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, FERDI - Fondation pour les Etudes et Recherches sur le Développement International); Mathilde Maurel (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, FERDI - Fondation pour les Etudes et Recherches sur le Développement International) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a new methodology for evaluating off-grid electrification projects, based upon Nighttime Light (NTL) observations, obtained by a combination of Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) data and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) data. The methodology consists of comparing NTL data before and after the implementation of the projects. The projects are selected from FERDI's Collaborative Smart Mapping of Mini-grid Action (CoSMMA) analysis, which documents existing project evaluations reported in published papers. Such reported evaluations are of uneven quality, with few evaluations which meet scientific standards. Our results suggest that our new methodology can contribute to fill this gap. For each project, we compute the NTL deviation with respect to its counterfactual, which provides us a proxy for the off-grid electricity-induced rate of NTL growth. |
| Keywords: | Decentralized electrification,sustainable development,impact assessment,Nighttime Light,DMSP,VIIRS |
| Date: | 2021–03–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-03164719&r=all |