Non-cooperative and cooperative climate policies with anticipated breakthrough technology

Global warming can be curbed by pricing carbon emissions and thus substituting fossil fuel with renewable energy consumption. Breakthrough technologies (e.g., fusion energy) can reduce the cost of such policies. However, the chance of such a technology coming to market depends on investment. We model breakthroughs as an irreversible tipping point in a multi-country world, with different degrees of international cooperation. We show that international spill-over effects of R&D in carbon-free technologies lead to double free-riding, strategic over-pollution and underinvestment in green R&D, thus making climate change mitigation more difficult. We also show how the demand structure determines whether carbon pricing and R&D policies are substitutes or complements.     

Environmental disaster,pollution and infant health: Evidence from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

In 2010 the Gulf Coast experienced the largest oil spill affecting U.S. waters in history. Evaporating crude oil and dispersant chemicals can cause major health problems. This paper examines the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on air quality and infant health outcomes. Using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) AirData, vital statistics data from National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), and a difference-in-difference methodology, we find that the oil spill of 2010 increased concentrations of PM2.5, NO2, SO2, and CO in affected coastal counties, increased incidence of low birth weight (<2500 g) and premature born infants (<37 weeks of gestation). Heterogeneity effects reveal more pronounced adverse infant health outcomes for black, Hispanic, less educated, unmarried, and younger mothers. Results are robust to a wide range of controls and robustness checks.     

Carbon taxation,OPEC and the end of oil

I develop a differential game between an oil cartel and an importer investing in research and development (R&D) to reduce the cost of a green substitute to oil. In equilibrium, the cartel is forced to deter the substitute, which thus imposes a price ceiling falling over time. Credible carbon taxes are below the Pigovian level, implying the importer cannot internalise the full pollution externality, much less capture resource rents. Without carbon pricing, the importer curtails long-run pollution using a costly R&D programme. Normatively, climate policy will be more expensive if relying on green R&D programmes only.     

Environmental regulation as a double-edged sword for housing markets: Evidence from the NOx Budget Trading Program

We investigate the effects of environmental regulations on housing markets using a quasi-experimental setting—the NO_x Budget Trading Program (NBP). Hedonic theory predicts that house prices should rise as pollution levels decrease. However, environmental regulations may also affect labor markets, and thus housing demand. Employing a difference-in-differences framework, we find that house prices shifted up in the regulated areas with low manufacturing intensity, whereas in the areas with high manufacturing intensity, housing markets were weakened. We also find that in high-manufacturing-intensity areas, loan application volume declined, rejection rate augmented, and the probability of loan default increased.     

Energy performance certification and time on the market

This paper analyzes whether energy performance certificates (EPCs) serve as means to reduce the information asymmetry among market participants during the sale of homes. Using a sample of 876,000 single-family homes in the Netherlands, we examine the impact of EPC adoption on the speed of sale. Our results indicate that energy-rated homes sell faster than non-energy-rated homes, an effect that varies by 7–12 percent depending on model specifications and increases when positive (green) ratings are granted. The information conveyed by these certificates reduces the information asymmetry between buyers and sellers, which helps to reduce the uncertainty of quality.     

Spatial aggregation and the value of natural capital

Location matters for the value of capital assets. The value of changes in natural capital wealth can depend on whether natural capital asset prices are measured locally and then aggregated or whether average values are applied over aggregate representative areas. Spatial heterogeneity of resource characteristics and institutions impact approximations of the intertemporal welfare function and accounting price function because when spatial aggregation precedes valuation it implies greater arbitrage opportunities leading to more inelastic shadow (accounting) price functions than when valuation is done locally and then aggregated. Aggregation of observed values across varying resource and institutional characteristics can lead to omitted variables bias. We illustrate these results in the context of groundwater in the Kansas High Plains Aquifer and demonstrate that the accounting price function is less elastic when the accounting price is measured locally. Failure to measure locally and then aggregate could lead to undervaluing scarce resources and overvaluing plentiful ones, which biases wealth accounts in favor of passing the non-declining wealth sustainability test.     

Effects of stricter environmental regulations on resource development

This analysis seeks to understand whether changes in oil regulation brought about by the shale revolution have restricted the pace of drilling and production. This hypothesis is tested using data on North Dakota and Montana both before and after North Dakota increased regulations that raise fixed costs. Results generally find that the new regulations had no statistical impact on the pace of drilling and production, however it is found that smaller operators reduced their production and exited. These results are instructive for policymakers who weigh the loss of economic welfare against improved environmental quality when deciding on new regulations.     

事故致因“2-4”模型中“事件”与“动作”的关系探讨

为进一步完善和简化事故致因"2-4"模型,对模型中的"事件"和"动作"之间的关系进行探讨。首先,通过文献分析,确定了事件、动作和状态的定义及属性,提出了动作是事件的观点并加以图示说明。然后,以北京交通大学"12. 26"较大实验室爆炸事故为案例,对图示进行解释,详细分析了上述观点的合理性。结果表明:动作和状态是人和物都具备的,并且状态包含在动作过程中;动作、状态、事故都是事件,事件是人或物的动作,或者动作过程中的某一瞬时状态,故"2-4"模型中动作和事件是等价的,可以相互替代或混用。     

Public preferences for timeliness and quality of mine site rehabilitation. The case of bauxite mining in Western Australia

Government departments that regulate environmental management for mining have a range of choices about the timing and quality of rehabilitation. Economic theory suggests that the cost incurred by firms should relate to the social cost of the environmental damage, however, there has been little work done on non-market values for mine rehabilitation. This study uses choice modelling to assess these issues for bauxite mining in state owned native forest in south-west Australia. The results show that the public place a relatively high value on the re-creation of vertebrate habitat and would prefer in situ mine rehabilitation over environmental offsets. Alcoa's current rehabilitation practices appear to be supported by the preferences revealed in this study.     

Perspectives on community representation within the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative: Experiences from south-east Madagascar

This article critically examines the nature and quality of governance in community representation and civil society engagement in the context of trans-national large-scale mining, drawing on experiences in the Anosy Region of south-east Madagascar. An exploration of functional relationships between government, mining business and civil society stakeholders reveals an equivocal legitimacy of certain civil society representatives, created by state manipulation, which contributes to community disempowerment. The appointment of local government officials, rather than election, creates a hierarchy of upward dependencies and a culture where the majority of officials express similar views and political alliances. As a consequence, community resistance is suppressed.