1,721,275 research outputs found
Essays on trade, directed technical change and environment
Full text linkIn the last decades the consequences of the economic growth on the ecosystem are evident, and the environmental protection has become a crucial issue not only in natural sciences setting, but especially from an economic and political point of view. Researchers and policymakers focused the attention on the causes of pollution in order to prevent environmental degradation, and on the consequences that economic and political actions may have on the economic growth.
This work, through three different essays, attempts to debate the environmental issue in a wide prospective from different points of view. The first one regards the link between international trade and environment. In some cases, researchers agreed with the idea that trade liberalization could lead to an improvement of environmental quality, while Pollution Haven Hypothesis states that environmental regulation induces firms to relocate dirty production where the environmental regulation is less stringent. The first part of this work gives an overview of this branch of literature, explaining some studies that support and contrast these theories.
The research question of the second part concerns the international flow of hazardous waste and its drivers. Using a gravity model for trade, the article tries to underlines the role played by the relative levels of policy stringency and the technological specialization across EU-OECD countries and regions.
The last part of the present work, tries to analyse the eco-friendly innovation from a different point of view. Considering a long span of time, the essay investigates the effects that income distribution and institutions may have on the generation of environmental related patents
Carbon Kuznets Curves: Long-run Structural Dynamics and Policy Events
No full textWe study the structural differences among climate change leading ‘factors’ - Northern EU members -, and lagging actors - southern EU countries and the ‘Umbrella group’ - with regard to long run carbon-income relationships. Homogeneous and heterogeneous panel models show that the groups of countries less in favour of stringent climate policy have yet to experience a Kuznets curve, though they show relative delinking. Northern EU instead robustly shows bell shapes. Exogenous policy events such as the 1992 climate change convention appear to be relevant in shaping the EKC of Northern EU. In addition, other events such as the second oil price shock appear to have also impacted in shaping the long run emission/GDP dynamics
Valeria Costantini, Massimiliano Mazzanti (Eds.) - The Dynamics of Environmental and Economic Systems - Innovation, Environmental Policy and Competitiveness
Full text linkThe dynamics of environmental and economic systems é uma coletânea de textos, cujo fi o condutor é a tentativa de estabelecer um diálogo entre as abordagens neoclássica e evolucionária, no que tange à análise de inovações voltadas para proteção ambiental. Essa é, justamente, a área de trabalho dos editores do livro. Professora associada do Departamento de Economia da Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Valeria Costantini estuda as áreas de economia ambiental, políticas ambientais e intersecção entre inovação e meio ambiente. Massimiliano Mazzanti é professor de Economia na Università di Ferrara, alocado no Departamento de Instituições Econômicas e Território. Seus trabalhos englobam economia ambiental e suas relações com políticas públicas, inovações tecnológicas e gerenciamento de recursos naturais.</jats:p
Are regional systems greening the economy? Local spillovers, green innovations and firms’ economic performances
No full textThe adoption and diffusion of environmental innovations (EIs) is crucial to greening the economy and achieving win–win environmental/economic gains. A large and increasing literature has focused on the levers underlying EIs that are external to the firm, such as stakeholder and policy pressures. Little attention, however, has been devoted to the possible role of local spillovers of a sector/geographical nature as a factor that correlates with EIs and economic performances. A rich data set that covers the innovative activities and economic performances of firms in the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy, an area dense in manufacturing districts, is analysed. EIs’ drivers and effects on firms’ performance are investigated through a two-step procedure. First, we examine the relevance of spatial levers, namely, whether high rates of eco-innovators in a given local area induce the adoption of EIs in firms located in the same local area. The role of the ‘agglomeration lever’ turns out to be fairly local in nature: we find that spillovers are significantly inducing innovation within municipal boundaries. Second, we test whether EIs adoptions have significantly increased firms’ economic performances and find that some firms’ productivity performances are positively related to EI adoption
What are the factors driving the adoption and intensity of sustainable irrigation technologies in Italy?
Full text linkThis paper aims to analyse the determinants of Italian farmers’ adoption of sustainable irrigation technologies such as micro-irrigation (drip and sprinklers) and sub-irrigation technologies. To improve farmers’ water management, climate variability adaptive behaviour should be incentivized. Italy, like other Mediterranean countries, has suffered the most for an increase in frequency and intensity of droughts, higher temperatures and fewer precipitations. Applying innovative irrigation systems, water scarcity and water stress may be overcome. Water conservation and saving technologies may help in supporting water-saving behaviour, increasing water conservation in the natural environment and reducing water stress to cultivations. However, accurate analyses of the determinants of adoption and intensity of these techniques are still scarce. This study fills this gap by using a micro-level approach which combines yearly Agricultural Accounting Information Network (RICA) datasets with climatic variables from the ERA-Interim dataset. Based on an unbalanced panel dataset for the period 2012-2016, the decision of a farmer whether to adopt an irrigation saving technology or not is estimated applying a logit and a probit model, while the intensity of adoption is estimated through a Tobit model. Our main findings confirm that crop typology, education, geography and climate are all relevant factors influencing the sustainable irrigation technology adoption choice as well as the adoption intensity given that most farmers adopt water-saving technologies only partially
In a Prescient Mode. (Un)Sustainable Societies in the Post/Apocalyptic Genre
No full textProphecies about a catastrophe causing the demise of civilization resonate throughout the literature of Judaism and Christianity from 1 BC to the Middle Ages. While marking an end, the downfall is inscribed within a cycle of eternal return, according to which disastrous events will recur again and again infinitely, leading humankind to always redefine its place and purpose in history. The notion of eternal recurrence implies that any collapse coincides with a starting point: the apocalypse heralds palingenesis.
The metamorphoses of the apocalypse will be traced throughout the centuries. Anthropogenic events gained narrative momentum in the Victorian Age. Since the inception of the Industrial Revolution the undermining of expectations about technological progress and the degradation of the environment have been denounced in tales of nuclear explosions, collisions of planets, climate change, and pandemics. Although a sense of precariousness and peril is inherent in the cycle of extinction and new foundation evoked by the apocalypse, perception of risk as a defining existential condition permeates present times. Authors of contemporary post-apocalyptic novels speculate on how humanity will adapt to different causes of risk and will cope with specific typologies of disasters
Waste generation and delinking. A theoretical model with empirical application to the Italian municipalities
No full textParticipation and knowledge based Cooperative Approaches for Sustainability
No full textThe book presents existing cases and potential new examples of the intersection between the cooperative economy and sustainability challenges and practices. After defining the field of study of innovative circular and low-carbon sustainable economies, practical examples of the role of cooperative organizations are presented. Cooperatives are increasingly recognized as important contributors to inclusive, sustainable and fair development
Carbon Kuznets Curves: Long-run Structural Dynamics and Policy Events
Full text linkWe study the structural differences among climate change leading ‘factors’ - Northern EU members -, and lagging actors - southern EU countries and the ‘Umbrella group’ - with regard to long run carbon-income relationships. Homogeneous and heterogeneous panel models show that the groups of countries less in favour of stringent climate policy have yet to experience a Kuznets curve, though they show relative delinking. Northern EU instead robustly shows bell shapes. Exogenous policy events such as the 1992 climate change convention appear to be relevant in shaping the EKC of Northern EU. In addition, other events such as the second oil price shock appear to have also impacted in shaping the long run emission/GDP dynamics.Carbon Kuznets Curve, Panel Cointegration, Heterogeneous Panels, Cross-Section Correlation, Kyoto Framework, Bayesian Models, Policy Events, Long Run Dynamics
- …
