554 research outputs found
Modelling sustainable development
No full textThis insightful book explores the issue of sustainable development in its more operative and applied sense. Although a great deal of research has addressed potential interpretations and definitions of sustainable development, much of this work is too abstract to offer policy-makers and researchers the feasible and effective guidelines they require. This book attempts to redress the balance. The authors highlight how various indicators and aggregate measures can be included in models that are used for decision-making support and sustainability assessment. They also demonstrate the importance of identifying practical means to assess whether policy proposals, specific decisions or targeted scenarios are sustainable. With discussions of basic concepts relevant to understanding applied sustainability analysis, such as definitions of costs and revenue recycling, this book provides policy-makers, researchers and graduate students with feasible and effective principles for measuring sustainable development
A sensitivity analysis of timing and costs of Greenhouse gas emission reductions.
Full text link[Dataset available: http://hdl.handle.net/10411/16621]
A Climate-Change Policy Induced Shift from Innovations in Energy Production to Energy Savings
Full text linkWe develop an endogenous growth model with capital, labor and energy as production factors and three productivity variables that measure accumulated innovations for energy production, energy savings, and neutral growth. All markets are complete and perfect, except for research, for which we assume that the marginal social value exceeds marginal costs by factor four. The model constants are calibrated so that the model reproduces the relevant trends over the 1970-2000 period. The model contains a simple climate module, and is used to assess the impact of Induced Technological Change (ITC) for a policy that aims at a maximum level of atmospheric CO2 concentration (450 ppmv). ITC is shown to reduce the required carbon tax by about a factor 2, and to reduce costs of such a policy by about factor 10. Numerical simulations show that knowledge accumulation shifts from energy production to energy saving technology.Induced technological change, Environmental taxes, Partial equilibrium
Are EU Environmental Policies Too Demanding for New Members States?
Full text linkIn 2004, ten new states entered the European Union. Relative to the pre-2004 member states, these accession states have lower environmental standards, and some worry that it will be too demanding for these new EU members to fully comply with European environmental provisions. In this paper, we assess one rationale for such harmonization. Specifically, we analyze the determinants of environmental policies’ stringency, and show that differences in corruption levels are more important as explanatory factor when compared to income differentials. Since high levels of corruption characterize some countries in the enlarged EU, we argue that this is a good reason for an upward harmonization of environmental policies at the EU level.Corruption, European union, Environmental policy
An Empirical Contribution to the Debate on Corruption,Democracy and Environmental Policy
Full text linkBoth theoretical and empirical studies have shown that democracy and corruption have substantial influence on environmental policy. In this paper, we empirically analyse whether both democracy and corruption are equally important determinants. When these variables are jointly included as explanatory variables, we find that corruption stands out as an important determinant of environmental policies, while democracy has a very limited impact. Further on, we discuss our results in the context of the Environmental Kuznets Curve literature. We argue that institutional disarray that plagues developing countries will make it problematic for them to have increasing environmental policy stringency combined with increasing incomes. Finally, and more optimistically, when we consider our results in the context of institutions and growth, we conclude that there is a possibility of reaching a double dividend. Reductions in corruption would induce both higher growth rates and stricter environmental policies. Thus, institutional improvement is an extremely valuable step in achieving sustainable development.Corruption, Democracy, Development, Environmental policy, Institutions
Natural Resources, Investment and Long-Term Income
Full text linkWe study the negative correlation between natural resource-abundance and long-term income focusing on the savings-investment channel. We first present empirical evidence on this channel and then develop an OverLapping-Generations (OLG) model to study the issue. In this model, savings adjust downwards to income from natural resources, and investment in capital contributes to knowledge creation, a feature based on endogenous growth theory. We analyze the link from resource income future income through savings and investment. Natural resources have two counteracting effects on income. In the short term, resource wealth augments income, but in the long-term, it decreases income through a crowding-out effect on capital and knowledge. We discuss different scenarios under which the resource curse is most likely to take place.Natural resources, Growth, Investment, OLG models
Induced Technological Change Under Carbon Taxes
Full text linkWe develop an economic partial equilibrium model for energy supply and demand with capital and labor as production factors, and endogenous technological change through learning by research and learning by doing. Our model reproduces the learning curve typical for (bottom-up) energy system models. The model also produces an endogenous S-curved transition from fossil fuel energy sources to carbon-free energy sources over the coming two centuries. We use the model to study changes in fossil fuel and carbon-free energy use and carbon dioxide emissions induced by carbon taxes. It is shown that induced technological change accelerates the substitution of carbon-free energy for fossil fuels substantially, and can increase by factor 5 the cumulative emission reductions achieved through a carbon tax over the period 2000-2100.Induced technological change, Environmental taxes, Partial equilibrium, Learning by doing
Institutional Explanations of Economic Development: the Role of Precious Metals
Full text linkRecent research has emphasized the influence of colonization on the institutional development and economic performance in former European colonies. Where European colonizers settled, they replicated the investment-conducive institutions found at home. It has been argued that a harsh disease environment and a highly urbanized native population worked against colonization. We show evidence for another significant element explaining the endogenous character of colonization strategies and the formation of institutions. We find the presence of precious metals, gold and silver, to imply an increase in settlements, and an improvement in institutional quality, even when correcting for settlements. Highly valued gold and silver reserves attracted Europeans in large numbers and resulted in an institutional upgrade of mineral-rich areas.Precious metals, Institutions, Economic development
The Value of ITC under Climate Stabilization
Full text linkWe assess the effect of ITC in a global growth model, DEMETER-1CCS, with learning by doing where energy savings, an energy transition, and carbon capturing and sequestration (CCS) are the main options for emissions reductions. The model accounts for technology based on learning by doing embodied in capital installed in previous periods. We have run five scenarios, one baseline scenario in which climate change policy is assumed absent, and four stabilization scenarios in which atmospheric CO2 concentrations are stabilized at 550, 500, 450, and 400 ppmv. We find that the timing of emission reductions and the investment strategy is relatively independent of the endogeneity of technological change. The vintages structure of production is more important. But ITC reduces costs by about factor 2, though these benefits only materialize after some decades.Energy, Carbon taxes, Endogenous technological change, Niche markets
The Economics of Geological CO2 Storage and Leakage
Full text linkThe economics of CO2 capture and storage in relation to the possibility of significant leakage of CO2 from geological reservoirs once this greenhouse gas has been stored artificially underground will be among the main determinants of whether CCS can significantly contribute to a deep cut in global CO2 emissions. This paper presents an analysis of the economic and climatic implications of the large-scale use of CCS for reaching a stringent climate change control target, when geological CO2 leakage is accounted for. The natural scientific uncertainties regarding the rates of possible leakage of CO2 from geological reservoirs are likely to remain large for a long time to come. We present a qualitative description, a concise analytical inspection, as well as a more detailed integrated assessment model, proffering insight into the economics of geological CO2 storage and leakage. Our model represents three main CO2 emission reduction options: energy savings, a carbon to non-carbon energy transition and the use of CCS. We find CCS to remain a valuable option even with CO2 leakage of a few %/yr, well above the maximum seepage rates that we think are likely from a geo-scientific point of view.Climate Change, Carbon Dioxide Emission Reduction, Technological Innovation, CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS), Geological Leakage
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