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

Burtraw, Dallas; Palmer, Karen L.; Krupnick, Alan J..

A number of state public utility commissions are using "social costing" methods to consider externalities in electricity resource planning. The most comprehensive and formal method is the use of monetary place-holders in the financial evaluation of new investments and potentially in system dispatch to reflect quantitative estimates of externality values. This approach necessarily must take existing environmental and social regulation as given. Furthermore, regulated utilities face increasing competition from electricity generators outside their service territory who may not be affected by social costing. The lack of universal and uniform social costing places PUC actions soundly in the realm of "second-best policy" and they may have unintended consequences...

LOCATION OF PRODUCTION AND ENDOGENOUS WATER QUALITY REGULATION: A LOOK AT THE U.S. HOG INDUSTRY

Palavras-chave: Second-best; Environmental regulation; Electricity regulation; Environmental adders; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q25; Q48; L51.

Ano: 1995

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10753

Metcalfe, Mark R..

This paper examines the effect of state regulation of water quality on the location of hog production across states in the US. A qualitative measure is developed from states' water quality legislation in 1994 and 1998. No evidence is found that increased stringency is detrimental to hog production.

Environmental Regulations and Agricultural Competitiveness

Palavras-chave: Hog production; Environmental regulation; Environmental Economics and Policy; Livestock Production/Industries.

Ano: 1999

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/21631

Monitoring of Compliance in Western Australian Conservation Contracts

Colyer, Dale.

The cost of meeting environmental regulations can be a critical factor in determining the competitiveness of a product, since the cost advantages of producers in one country are often very slim. The existence of negative externalities means that prices are lower than would prevail if all costs where included in the prices of the products. Additional costs associated with new regulations have an effect on the continued importance of a country's agricultural exports. Governments often assist their agricultural sectors in overcoming the disadvantages through subsidies, tax breaks, technical assistance or other means. This assistance increasingly takes the form of green payments, which are currently exempt from the WTO limits imposed on domestic subsidies....

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Agricultural policy; Agricultural trade; Competitiveness; Environment; Environmental regulation; Environmental Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/23846

Crowe, Bronwyn; White, Benedict; Pannell, David J..

Contracting with private landholders for labor towards production of environmental services (payment for actions) or the environmental services themselves (payment for outcomes) is reliant on the environmental organization’s ability to monitor and assess the environmental outcomes provided. Inaccurate and costly assessment reduces the cost effectiveness of the contract. Different assessment technologies will have different impacts on the cost effectiveness and optimal contracting choice of the environmental organization. The paper compares the influence of field assessment by a local expert, and remote assessment via satellite imagery, on the optimal contracting decision for the Western Australian wheat belt.

Enforcing Environmental Regulation: Implications of Remote Sensing Technology

Palavras-chave: Conservation; Environmental; Compliance; Monitoring; Enforcement; Environmental regulation; Crop Production/Industries; Environmental Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/91155

MacAuley, Molly K.; Brennan, Timothy J..

We review economic models of environmental protection and regulatory enforcement to highlight several attributes that are particularly likely to benefit from new enforcement technologies such as remote sensing using satellites in space. These attributes include the quantity and quality of information supplied by the new technologies; the accessibility of the information to regulators, regulatees, and third parties; the cost of the information; and whether the process of information collection can be concealed from the observer. Satellite remote sensing is likely to influence all of these attributes and in general, improve the efficacy of enforcement.

The Effect of Environmental Regulation on the Locational Choice of Japanese Foreign Direct Investment

Palavras-chave: Environmental regulation; New technologies; Remote sensing; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q2; Q28.

Ano: 1998

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10464

Kirkpatrick, Colin; Shimamoto, Kenichi.

This paper assesses the impact of environmental regulation in host countries on Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) decision-making. It tests the pollution haven hypothesis using data on national environmental regulation standards and Japanese inward FDI in five dirty industries (iron and steel industry, non-ferrous metals industry, chemicals industry, paper and pulp industry, non-metallic products industry). The results do not support the pollution hypothesis. On the contrary, inward Japanese FDI appears to be attracted to countries which have committed themselves to a transparent and stable environment regulatory environment, suggesting that the quality of the regulatory framework in terms of its certainty and transparency has a greater influence on...

Changes in Manure Management in the Hog Sector

Palavras-chave: Environmental regulation; Foreign direct investment; Japanese multinationals; Environmental Economics and Policy; International Relations/Trade; Q56; F21.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/30584

Key, Nigel D.; McBride, William D.; Ribaudo, Marc.

In recent years, structural changes in the hog sector, including increasing farm size and regional shifts in production, have altered manure management practices. Over the same period, changes to the Clean Water Act, new state regulations, and increasing local conflicts over odor have influenced manure management decisions. This study uses data from two national surveys of hog farmers to examine how hog manure management practices vary with the scale of production and how these practices evolved between 1998 and 2004. The findings provide insights into the effects of structural changes and recent policies on manure management technologies and practices, the use of nutrient management plans, and manure application rates.

Variation in Environmental Regulations in California and Effects on Dairy Location

Palavras-chave: Hog production; Manure management; Structural change; Environmental regulation; Livestock Production/Industries.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/6071

Sneeringer, Stacy E.; Hogle, Regina.

In recent decades, urban encroachment and increasing environmental regulation have impacted California’s dairy industry. A complicated set of environmental legislation affects dairies in the state, and can differ depending on location, creating the possibility for within-state pollution havens. This article details the regional, state, and federal environmental regulation of California’s dairy industry, and examines data to see if it matches a hypothesis of regulation affecting dairy location. Using county-year data, we show evidence of changing dairy location within the state matching times of local legislative action. The Central Valley gained production, while the more regulated and urban-affected Los Angeles area lost. Large dairies have increased by...

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Pollution haven; California; Dairy; Environmental regulation; Environmental Economics and Policy; Livestock Production/Industries.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/45667

FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY: A SUMMARY OVERVIEW

'Green' Preferences as Regulatory Policy

Carriker, Roy R..

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which was signed into law on January 1, 1970, has come to be regarded as the first major piece of federal legislation to call for comprehensive attention to environmental concerns in the United States. During the two decades following enactment of NEPA, Congress adopted and then refined major legislation on nearly every aspect of environmental quality concerns: air pollution, water pollution, drinking water quality, hazardous waste management, wildlife protection, pesticide use, and several related problem areas. Current arguments for environmental regulatory reform are a phase in the continuing evolution of this body of federal environmental policy.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Environmental policy; Environmental regulation; Regulatory reform; Environmental Economics and Policy.

Ano: 1996

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/15231

Brennan, Timothy J..

We examine the suggestion that if consumers in sufficient numbers are willing to pay the premium to have power generated using low-emission technologies, tax or permit policies become less necessary or stringent. While there are implementation difficulties with this proposal, our purpose is more fundamental: can economics make sense of using preferences as a regulatory instrument? If"green" preferences are exogenously given, to what extent can or should they be regarded as a substitute for other policies? Even with green preferences, production and consumption of polluting goods continues to impose social costs not borne in the market. Moreover, if green preferences are regarded as a policy instrument, the "no policy" baseline would require a problematic...

On the Dynamics of Competing Energy Sources

Palavras-chave: Environmental regulation; Preference change; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q2; B4; D6.

Ano: 2001

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10787

Tsur, Yacov; Zemel, Amos.

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...

Regulatory Tailoring, Reliability, and Price Volatility with Stochastic Breakdowns

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

Gruenspecht, Howard K..

Although real-world energy supply systems are subject to stochastic failures, the impacts of proposed regulations affecting these systems have typically been evaluated using non-stochastic models. This paper develops an energy market model that explicitly allows for stochastic failures and demonstrates they play an important, or even dominant, role in determining the market impacts of environmental regulations that tailor product specifications to address local or regional conditions, such as fuel-formulation requirements specific to certain regional markets within the United States. While traditional non-stochastic analyses view the tailoring of regulatory requirements by location as an efficiency-enhancing alternative to a -one size fits all- regulatory...

Environmental Regulations of Land-use and Public Compensation: Principles with Swiss and Australian Examples

Palavras-chave: Reliability; Boutique fuels; Gasoline price spikes; Stochastic failures; Environmental regulation; Tailored regulation; Demand and Price Analysis; Q2; Q4.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10781

Seidl, Irmi; Tisdell, Clement A.; Harrison, Stephen R..

This paper discusses regulation of rural land-use and compensation, both of which appear to have become more common but also more disputed. The implications of contemporary theories in relation to this matter are examined. Coverage includes the applicability of new welfare economics, the relevance of the neoclassical theory of politics, and the implications of contemporary theories of social conflict resolution and communication. Examining case studies of Swiss and Australian regulation of the use of rural properties and the ensuing conflicts, it is found that many decisions reflect a mixture of these elements. Rarely, if ever, are social decisions in this area made solely on the basis of welfare economics, for instance social cost-benefit analysis. Only...

Monitoring of compliance in Australian conservation contracts

Palavras-chave: Australia; Compensation for takings; Conservation; Environmental regulation; Property rights; Rural land-use; Switzerland; Welfare economics; Environmental Economics and Policy; Land Economics/Use.

Ano: 2001

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/48366

Crowe, Bronwyn; White, Benedict; Pannell, David J.; Lindner, Robert K..

Government and non-government conservation agencies have long-term goals and objectives to provide environmental services, such as conserving the biodiversity of Australian native vegetation. In addition to national parks and reserves, private lands are often included in conservation programs to achieve these objectives. Formal contracts are entered into between the private landholder and the conservation agency to provide environmental services, or more commonly to provide inputs that are likely to lead to environmental services. The paper examines the costs and benefits of monitoring these conservation contracts when biodiversity change is stochastic.

Intel's XL Permit: A Framework for Evaluation

Palavras-chave: Conservation; Compliance; Monitoring; Enforcement; Environmental regulation; Environmental Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/5990

Boyd, James; Krupnick, Alan J.; Mazurek, Janice V..

The paper develops a framework to evaluate permits granted to firms under the Environmental Protection Agency's Project XL -- with emphasis on the novel air permit granted to the Intel Corporation. We describe the permit, the process that created it, and the types of costs and benefits likely to arise from this type of "facility-specific" regulatory arrangement. Among other things, the paper describes the permit's impact on environmental quality, production costs, transaction costs, and Intel's strategic market position. The paper also considers how an estimate of the costs and benefits -- both to Intel and society -- might be estimated. While facility-specific regulation typically conjures images of production cost savings as processes are re-engineered...

Cleaning Up the Nuclear Weapons Complex: Exploring New Approaches

Palavras-chave: Project XL; Tailored regulation; Environmental regulation; Cost-benefit analysis; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; L51; Q28; L63; K32.

Ano: 1998

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10666

Probst, Katherine N.; Pilling, Carolyn A.; Dunn, Karen T..

In recent years, policy experts have increasingly decried the "piecemeal" approach to environmental protection embodied in existing laws and regulations. This paper analyzes one aspect of the call for more integration: the feasibility and advisability of developing an integrated approach to regulating the cleanup of the nation's nuclear weapons complex. The Cold War has left an unprecedented set of difficulties at sites across the country where vast quantities of hazardous and radioactive materials must be properly managed. Regulatory fragmentation--particularly the phenomenon of multiple regulators and regulations driving the allocation of resources in an uncoordinated fashion--is nowhere more evident than in the current statutory and regulatory framework...

Using Environmental Benefit-Cost Analysis to Improve Government Performance

Palavras-chave: Nuclear weapons complex; Integration; Environmental law; Environmental regulation; Environmental Economics and Policy; H56; K32; Q28.

Ano: 1996

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10765

Farrow, Scott; Toman, Michael.

In this paper we first describe the legal and administrative basis of mandates that variously require and eschew economic measures for environmental management. We then summarize the steps involved in benefit-cost analysis and what can and cannot be accomplished with such information. Our basic conclusion is that while the approach is not perfect, benefit-cost analysis has a solid methodological footing and provides a valuable performance measure for an important governmental function, improving the well-being of society. However, benefit-cost analysis requires analytical judgements which, if done poorly, can obfuscate an issue or worse, provide a refuge for scoundrels in the policy debate. We conclude the article with specific suggestions for both the...

Environmental Governance, Globalisation and Economic Performance

Palavras-chave: Benefit-cost analysis; Environmental regulation; Regulatory reform; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q28; D61; H43.

Ano: 1998

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10598

Tisdell, Clement A..

Increasing globalisation of economic activity and accompanying economic growth have been factors in the worldwide loss of natural environments and biodiversity loss, and these losses have accelerated since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, Emissions of many types of pollutants and wastes from human activity are rising globally and are exceeding the capacity of natural environments to absorb and neutralize them. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the quality and size of some natural sinks for neutralizing them (such as forests) are declining. Consequently, these wastes are accumulating in many environments and pose a growing threat to human welfare and to sustainable economic development. There are, for instance, global concerns about...

SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES: HOW SHOULD GOVERNMENT COORDINATE FARM REGULATIONS AND POLICY?

Palavras-chave: Environmental economics; Environmental governance; Environmental law; Environmental regulation; Globalisation; Global warming; Greenhouse gases; Transboundary pollution; Transboundary natural resources.; Environmental Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/55341