SABIIA - Sistema Aberto e Integrado de Informação em Agricultura (Sabiia)

We extend Weitzman's (1998) recombinant growth framework to include endogenous R&D decisions. The analysis is carried out in the (knowledge-capital) state space by means of two characteristic curves: one is identified as a turnpike along which growing economies evolve; the other attracts stagnating economies. Sustained growth depends on a condition relating the slopes of the characteristic curves as well as on a minimal endowment requirement. A growing economy reaches the turnpike at a most rapid R&D rate and evolves along it thereafter. In the long run, the rate of growth and the income shares devoted to R&D, saving and consumption approach constant values that depend on the asymptotic characteristic slopes.

ON KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMIC GROWTH

Palavras-chave: Knowledge generation; Combined ideas; Endogenous R&D; Balanced growth; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; C61; O31; O41.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7135

Uncertain Climate Policy and the Green Paradox

Palavras-chave: International Development.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14997

Smulders, Sjak; Tsur, Yacov; Zemel, Amos.

Unintended consequences of announcing a climate policy well in advance of its implementation have been studied in a variety of situations. We show that a phenomenon akin to the so-called “Green- Paradox” holds also when the policy implementation date is uncertain. Governments are compelled, by international and domestic pressure, to demonstrate an intention to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Taking actual steps, such as imposing a carbon tax on fossil energy, is a different matter altogether and depends on a host of political considerations. As a result, economic agents often consider the policy implementation date to be uncertain. We show that in the interim period between the policy announcement and its actual implementation the emission of green-house...

Palavras-chave: Climate policy; Carbon tax; Uncertainty; Green paradox; Environmental Economics and Policy; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/93129

GROWTH, SCARCITY AND R&D

KNOWLEDGE SPILLOVER, LEARNING INCENTIVES AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

Palavras-chave: International Development.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14994

Knowledge spillover implies that the social value of knowledge is higher than its private value and leads to insufficient private investment in human capital. This paper examines implications for economic growth and offers a remedy. An incentive mechanism that implements the socially optimal outcome is offered based on learning subsidy and flat income or consumption taxes (each levied at a different phase of the growth process). The scheme is self-financed in that the tax proceeds cover exactly the subsidy payments at each point of time.

REGULATING ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS

Palavras-chave: Endogenous growth; Human capital; Knowledge spillover; Learning incentives; Linear taxes; International Development; C61; H21; O33; O38; O41.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14991

Environmental consequences of natural resource exploitation often entail threats of future occurrences of detrimental abrupt events rather than (or in addition to) inflicting a damage gradually. The possibility of abrupt occurrence of climate-change related calamities is a case in mind. The uncertainty associated with the realization of these threats and their public-bad nature complicate the determination of optimal economic response. We analyze the regulation of such environmental threats by means of a Pigouvian hazard tax, based on the shadow cost of the hazard-generating activities. A numerical example illustrates possible effects of the proposed regulation scheme.

ON EVENT UNCERTAINTY AND RENEWABLE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT; Proceedings of the 4th Minnesota Padova Conference on Food, Agriculture, and the Environment, September 4-10, 1994, Wayzata, MN

Palavras-chave: Environmental events; Emission; Climate change; Regulation; Pigouvian tax; Hazard rate; Uncertainty; Environmental Economics and Policy; H23; H41; O13; Q54; Q58.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7150

Endogenous Discounting and Climate Policy

Palavras-chave: Resource /Energy Economics and Policy.

Ano: 1995

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14434

Under risk of abrupt climate change, the occurrence hazard is added to the social discount rate. As a result, the social discount rate (i) increases and (ii) turns endogenous to the global warming policy. The second effect bears profound policy implications that are magnified by economic growth. In particular, we find that greenhouse gases (GHG) emission should be terminated at a finite time so that the ensuing occurrence risk will vanish in the long run. Due to the public bad nature of the catastrophic risk, the second effect is ignored in a competitive allocation and unregulated economic growth will give rise to excessive emissions. In fact, the GHG emission paths under the optimal and competitive growth regimes lie at the extreme ends of the range of...

On the Dynamics of Competing Energy Sources

Palavras-chave: Abrupt climate change; Hazard rate; Discounting; Economic growth; Emission policy; H23; H41; O13; O40; Q54; Q58.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37944

We characterize the dynamics of energy markets in which energy is derived from polluting (fossil) and clean (solar) resources. The analysis is based on geometric optimal control considerations. An important feature of solar energy technologies is that their cost of supply is predominantly due to upfront investment in capital infrastructure (rather than to actual supply rate) and this feature has important implications for the market allocation outcome. In particular, it gives rise to a threshold behavior in that solar energy is adopted only when the price of fossil energy exceeds a certain threshold. Under this condition solar technologies will (eventually) dominate energy supply by driving fossil energy altogether out of the energy sector. A tax on fossil...

ENDANGERED AQUIFERS: GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT UNDER THREATS OF CATASTROPHIC EVENTS

Palavras-chave: Fossil and solar energy; Characteristic curves; Price thresholds; Environmental regulation; Environmental Economics and Policy; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/93127

IRRIGATION PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS WITH WATER-CAPITAL SUBSTITUTION

Palavras-chave: Resource /Energy Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14993

Shani, Uri; Tsur, Yacov; Zemel, Amos; Zilberman, David.

The dynamics of biomass growth implies that the yield of irrigated crops depends, in addition to the total amount of water applied, on irrigation scheduling during the growing period. Advanced irrigation technologies relax constraints on irrigation rates and timing, allowing to better adjust irrigation scheduling to the varying needs of the plants along the growing period. Irrigation production functions, then, should include capital (or expenditures on irrigation equipment) in addition to aggregate water. We derive such functions and study their water-capital substitution properties. Implications for water demand and adoption of irrigation technologies are investigated. An empirical application confirms these properties.

Dynamic and stochastic analysis of environmental and natural resources

Palavras-chave: Resource /Energy Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7180

RESOURCE EXPLOITATION, BIODIVERSITY LOSS AND ECOLOGICAL EVENTS

Uncertainty enters the dynamic tradeoffs of environmental and natural resource management in a variety of ways and forms. In this chapter we review the various sources of uncertainty, the methodologies developed to account for them and implications regarding management of environmental and natural resources.

Tipo: Article

Palavras-chave: Resource management; Environmental policy; Uncertainty; Catastrophic events; Irreversibility.; Environmental Economics and Policy; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Risk and Uncertainty.

Ano: 2012

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/120017

We study the management of a natural resource that supports ecosystems as well as human needs. The reduction in the resource base introduces a threat of occurrence of catastrophic ecological events, such as the sudden collapse of the national habitat that lead to severe loss of biodiversity. The event occurrence conditions involve uncertainty of various types, and the distinction among these types affects the optimal exploitation policies. When uncertainty is due to our ignorance of some aspects of the underlying ecology, the isolated equilibrium states characterizing optimal exploitation for many renewable resource problems become equilibrium intervals. Events triggered by genuinely stochastic environmental conditions maintain the structure of...

On the Dynamics of Competing Energy Sources

Palavras-chave: Ecosystem; Resource management; Event uncertainty; Biodiversity; Extinction; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14981

ITERATIVE LEAST SQUARES ESTIMATION OF CENSORED REGRESSION MODELS WITH UNKNOWN ERROR DISTRIBUTIONS

Palavras-chave: Fossil and solar energy; Optimal processes; Characteristic curves; Price thresholds; Environmental regulation.; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/55265

RESOURCE EXPLOITATION, BIODIVERSITY AND ECOLOGICAL EVENTS

Palavras-chave: Research Methods/ Statistical Methods.

Ano: 1990

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14118

We study the management of a natural resource that supports ecosystems as well as human needs. The reduction in the resource base poses a threat of occurrence of catastrophic ecological events, such as the sudden collapse of the natural habitat, that lead to severe loss of biodiversity. The event occurrence conditions involve uncertainty of various types, and the distinction among these types affects the optimal exploitation policies. When uncertainty is due to our ignorance of some aspects of the underlying ecology, the isolated equilibrium states characterizing optimal exploitation for many renewable resource problems become equilibrium intervals, giving rise to hysteresis phenomena. Events triggered by genuinely stochastic environmental conditions...

Climate change policy in a growing economy under catastrophic risks

Palavras-chave: Ecosystem; Resource management; Event uncertainty; Biodiversity; Extinction; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14996

Under risk of catastrophic climate change, the occurrence hazard is added to the social discount rate. As a result, the social discount rate (i) increases and (ii) turns endogenous to the global warming policy. The second effect bears profound policy implications that are magnifed by economic growth. In particular, it implies that green- house gases (GHG) emission should gradually be brought to a halt. Due to the public bad nature of the catastrophic risk, the second effect is ignored in a competitive allocation and unregulated economic growth will give rise to excessive emissions. We find that the GHG emission paths under the optimal and competitive growth regimes lie at the extreme ends of the range of feasible emissions. We derive the Pigouvian hazard...

WELFARE MEASUREMENT UNDER THREATS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHES

Palavras-chave: Abrupt climate change; Environmental catastrophes; Economic growth; Emission policy; Hazard rate; Environmental Economics and Policy; H23; H41; O13; O40; Q54; Q58.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7132

Welfare measures under threats of environmental catastrophes are studied using the "parable" apparatus of Weitzman and Lofgren [22]. The occurrence probability of the catastrophic event is driven (at least partly) by anthropogenic activities such as natural resource exploitation. Without external effects, the green NNP is a genuine welfare measure vis-à-vis a particular parable economy. Often, however, the occurrence hazard constitutes a public bad, treated as an externality by agents who ignore their own contribution to its accumulation. In such cases the green NNP, although accounting for the event hazard rate per se, fails to properly internalize future effects on the hazard rate of current economic activities and as a result overestimates welfare....

Market Structure and the Penetration of Alternative Energy Technologies

Palavras-chave: Green NNP; Environmental catastrophes; Hazard rate; Uncertainty; Environmental Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14987

Energy market prices ignore external effects, hence miss-allocate energy generation between (polluting) fossil fuels and (clean) solar technologies. Correcting the failure requires understanding the market allocation forces at hand. An important feature of solar energy is that its cost of supply is predominantly due to upfront investments in capital infrastructure (rather than to the actual supply rate) and this feature has far reaching implications for the market allocation outcome. Studying the market allocation process, we specify the conditions under which solar technologies penetrate the energy sector. The framework is then used to analyze policy regulation in the form of taxing fossil energy and subsidizing investments in solar energy. The first...

UNCERTAINTY AND IRREVERSIBILITY IN GROUNDWATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Palavras-chave: Energy; Solar technologies; Fossil fuels; Price thresholds; Regulation; Environmental damage; Learning by doing; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Marketing; C61; Q42; Q58.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/47174

Optimal exploitation of renewable groundwater resources when extraction affects the probability of occurrence of an irreversible event is studied. The term irreversible signifies that the event occurrence renders the resource obsolete. It is found that uncertainty concerning the event occurrence has a profound effect. Under certainty - when the stock level below which the event occurs is known in advance - the optimal state process converges to a unique equilibrium state. Under uncertainty, when the event occurrence level is unknown, we identify equilibrium intervals and show that optimal processes initiated elsewhere converge to a boundary of one of these intervals. Inside an equilibrium interval, the expected loss due to the event occurrence is so high...