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

Second Best Environmental Policies under Uncertainty

Perez, Michelle.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Regulation; Agriculture; Policy; Water; State; Agricultural and Food Policy; Environmental Economics and Policy; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q18; Q58.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/117404

Antoniou, Fabio; Hatzipanayotou, Panos; Koundouri, Phoebe.

We construct a strategic trade model of an international duopoly, whereby production by exporting firms generates a local pollutant. Governments use environmental policies, i.e., an emissions standard or a tax, to control pollution and for rent shifting purposes. Contrary to their firm, however, governments are unable to perfectly foresee the actual level of demand, the cost of abatement and the damage caused from pollution. Under these modes of uncertainty we derive sufficient conditions under which the governments optimally choose an emissions tax over an emissions standard.

New Regulations Governing Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations Require New Solutions: Discussion

Palavras-chave: Strategic Environmental Policy; Pollution; Choice of Policy Instrument; Uncertainty; Environmental Economics and Policy; F12; F18; Q58.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/59375

Fleming, Ronald A.; Thomas, Michael H..

This paper discusses the three invited papers presented in the session titled “New Regulations Require New Solutions: Federal Provisions Governing Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations” (i.e., CAFOs). These papers provide an excellent review of current state and federal laws and an excellent summary of what has been and is currently being done with respect to CAFO regulation. The papers present three different policy approaches: i) alternative performance standards, ii) location-specific regulation, and iii) insurance-based underwriting of CAFO discharges. Each approach has its drawbacks; however, blending theses suggested policies into current regulations would result in efficiency gains.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Alternative performance standards; Animal Feeding Operations; Confined Animal Feeding Operations; Environmental quality; Insurance; Livestock; Manure management; Market-based incentives; Regulation; Spatial regulation; D81; K32; Q52; Q55; Q58.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43349

The Case for Intensity Targets

Pizer, William A..

While the rest of the world has pursued absolute emissions limits for greenhouse gases, the Bush administration has proposed an alternative policy formulation based, among other things, on reducing emissions intensity-that is, emissions per dollar of real gross domestic product. Critics of this formulation have denounced the general idea of an intensity-based emissions target, along with its voluntary nature and weak targets. This raises the question of whether intensity-based emissions limits, distinct from the other features of the Bush initiative, offer a useful alternative to absolute emissions limits. This paper makes the case that they do, based on how emissions targets are framed. The argument draws on four key observations: greenhouse gas emissions...

Combining Supply and Demand Estimates for Ecosystem Services from Cropland

Palavras-chave: Carbon; Climate; Policy; Intensity; Global warming; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q54; Q58; Q56.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10917

Ma, Shan; Swinton, Scott M.; Lupi, Frank.

Payment-for-Ecosystem-Services (PES) programs are gaining appeal as flexible approaches to inducing the voluntary provision of ecosystem services (ES). Farmers, who manage agricultural ecosystems, provide important nonmarket ecosystem services to the public by their choice of production inputs and management practices. Although there exist various PES programs in the United States and Europe, we are aware of none that was designed based on a comprehensive understanding of the underlying supply and demand of ecosystem services. Taking advantage of unique, coupled datasets of stated preferences, this paper combines a supply-side cost function of farmers’ willingness to adopt practices that provide increased ES with a demand-side social benefit function of...

Incorporating Local Water Quality in Welfare Measures of Agri-environmental Policy: A Choice Modelling Approach Employing GIS

Palavras-chave: Payment-for-Ecosystem-Services (PES); Contingent valuation; Aggregate supply and demand; Cropland; Eutrophication; Greenhouse gas; Agricultural and Food Policy; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q11; Q51; Q57; Q58.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103501

Tait, Peter R.; Baskaran, Ramesh.

The spatial distribution of agro-environmental policy benefits has important implications for the efficient allocation of management effort. The practical convenience of relying on sample mean values of individual benefits for aggregation can come at the cost of biased aggregate estimates. The main objective of this paper is to test spatial hypotheses regarding respondents’ local water quality and quantity, and their willingness-to-pay for improvements in water quality attributes. This paper combines choice experiment and spatially related water quality data via a Geographical Information System (GIS) to develop a method that evaluates the influence of respondents’ local water quality on willingness-to-pay for river and stream conservation programs in...

Bankruptcy Risk and Imperfectly Enforced Emissions Taxes

Palavras-chave: Water Quality; Choice Experiment; Geographical Information System; Environmental Economics and Policy; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q51; Q25; Q58.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/116074

Stranlund, John K.; Zhang, Wei.

Under favorable but reasonable conditions, an imperfectly enforced emissions tax produces the efficient allocation of individual emissions control; aggregate emissions are independent of whether enforcement of the tax is sufficient to induce the full compliance of firms, and differences in individual violations are independent of firm-level differences. All of these desirable characteristics disappear when some firms under an emissions tax risk bankruptcy—the allocation of emissions control is inefficient, imperfect enforcement causes higher aggregate emissions, and financially insecure firms choose higher violations.

The U.S. Proposed Carbon Tariffs, WTO Scrutiny and China’s Responses

Palavras-chave: Bankruptcy; Emissions Taxes; Limited Liability; Environmental Economics and Policy; Public Economics; Risk and Uncertainty; L51; Q28; Q58.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/42127

Zhang, ZhongXiang.

With countries from around the world set to meet in Copenhagen to try to hammer out a post-2012 climate change agreement, no one would disagree that a U.S. commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions is essential to such a global pact. However, despite U.S. president Obama’s recent announcement to push for a commitment to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 17% by 2020, in reality it is questionable whether U.S. Congress will agree to specific emissions cuts, although they are not ambitious at all from the perspectives of both the EU and developing countries, without the imposition of carbon tariffs on Chinese products to the U.S. market, even given China’s own recent announcement to voluntarily seek to reduce its carbon intensity by 40-45% over the same...

Endogenous Discounting and Climate Policy

Palavras-chave: Post-2012 Climate Negotiations; Border Carbon Adjustments; Carbon Tariffs; Emissions Allowance Requirements; Cap-And-Trade Regime; Lieberman-Warner Bill; Waxman-Markey Bill; World Trade Organization; Kyoto Protocol; China; United States; Environmental Economics and Policy; F18; Q48; Q54; Q56; Q58.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/60682

Tsur, Yacov; Zemel, Amos.

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...

Efficiency and Distributional Impacts of Tradable White Certificates Compared to Taxes, Subsidies and Regulations

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

Giraudet, Louis-Gaetan; Quirion, Philippe.

Tradable White Certificates (TWC) schemes, also labelled Energy-Efficiency Certificates schemes, were recently implemented in Great Britain, Italy and France. Energy suppliers have to fund a given quantity of energy efficiency measures, or to buy so-called "white certificates" from other suppliers who exceed their target. We develop a partial equilibrium model to compare TWC schemes to other policy instruments for energy efficiency, i.e., energy taxes, subsidies on energy-saving goods and regulations fixing a minimum level of energy-efficiency. The model features an endogenous level of energy service and we analyse the influence of the substitutability between energy and energy-saving goods to produce the energy service, as well as the influence of the...

Fossil Fuel Extraction and Climate Policy: A Review of the Green Paradox with Endogenous Resource Exploration

Palavras-chave: Energy Saving Policies; Energy-Efficiency Certificates; White Certificates; Rebound Effect; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q38; Q48; Q58.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/46554

Modelling the Impact of Decoupling on Structural Change in Farming: Integrating Econometric Estimation and Optimisation

Osterle, Ines.

Policies aimed at reducing emissions from fossil fuels may increase climate damages. This “Green Paradox” emerges if resource owners increase near-term extraction in fear of stricter future policy measures. Hans-Werner Sinn (2008) showed that the paradox occurs when increasing resource taxes are applied within a basic exhaustible resource model. This article highlights that the emergence of the Green Paradox within this framework relies on the non-existence of a backstop technology and fixed fossil fuel resources. In doing this, it initially presents a basic exhaustible resource model which includes a backstop technology and shows that the implementation of a specific sales tax path is effective in mitigating global warming. Secondly, it considers the case...

Tipo: Working Paper

Palavras-chave: Green Paradox; Supply-side dynamics; Climate Policy; Exhaustible Resources; Fossil Fuels; Exploration; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q31; Q54; Q58; H23; H32.

Ano: 2012

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/122010

Hennessy, Thia C.; Rehman, Tahir.

Implementation of the Mid Term Review of the Common Agricultural Policy on farming in Europe is expected, and intended, to initiate structural changes in European agriculture. This impact of the agricultural policy reform will be triggered at the farm level with both up- and down-stream effects for agriculture in Europe. Modelling such a phenomenon is challenging. An integrated modelling approach, involving farm level optimisation models and exogenously estimated econometric models of farmer behaviour, is developed for Ireland; this framework is a general one and is applicable elsewhere. Entry and exit from farming, postulated as the main consequences of the policy reform, are estimated exogenously to determine their role in the allocation of farm labour....

Institutional Impediments to Groundwater Trading: the case of the Gnangara groundwater system of Western Australia

Palavras-chave: Common Agricultural Policy; Decoupling; Farm Level Modelling; Linear Programming; Succession; Labour Allocation; Agricultural and Food Policy; C6; Q12; Q15; Q58.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25271

Skurray, James H.; Pandit, Ram; Pannell, David J..

The development of a market in groundwater usage rights can be inhibited by constraints arising from the institutional context. Such impediments may reduce the potential gains from trade and may generate high transaction costs for prospective traders. We analyse the regulations and policies influencing groundwater transfers in a case-study area -- the Gnangara groundwater system around Perth, Western Australia -- and identify significant impediments to a groundwater market. Property rights are found to be conditional, temporary, and vulnerable to amendment. Regulatory approval is required for all transfers. Facilitating infrastructure is lacking, and price information is unavailable. Management area boundaries reflect land ownership and use rather than...

Colombia's Discharge Fee Program: Incentives for Polluters of Regulators?

Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy; Environmental Economics and Policy; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Land Economics/Use; Political Economy; Public Economics; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q15; Q25; Q28; Q38; Q56; Q57; Q58; D02; R52; H41; H23; H11; D23; D47; D78; H44.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/117825

Blackman, Allen.

Colombia's discharge fee system for water effluents is often held up as a model of a well-functioning, economic-incentive pollution control program in a developing country. Yet few objective, up-to-date evaluations of the program have appeared. Based on a variety of primary and secondary evaluative data, this paper finds that that the program has been beset by a number of serious problems including limited implementation in many regions, widespread noncompliance by municipal sewage authorities, and a confused relationship between discharge fees and discharge standards. Nevertheless, in several watersheds, pollution loads dropped significantly after the program was introduced. While proponents claim the incentives that discharge fees created for polluters...

How a National Carbon Policy Could Affect Grain Variety Selection: The Case of Rice in Arkansas

Palavras-chave: Environment; Economic incentive; Market based instrument; Discharge fees; Water pollution; Latin America; Colombia; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q53; Q56; Q58; O13; O54.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10869

McFadden, Brandon R.; Nalley, Lawton Lanier; Popp, Michael P..

This study conducts a life cycle assessment (LCA) of carbon emissions and estimates the carbon sequestered in 14 commonly sown rice varieties across the Arkansas Delta. Given the uncertainty regarding future carbon legislation, and increased consumer and industry demand for “greener” products, this study estimates how potential carbon policies would affect rice cultivar selection Hybrid rice varieties, given their higher yield and higher yield per unit of green house gas (GHG) emission, are better positioned to take advantage of any increase in consumer demand for “greener” products and/or absorb any government policy better than conventional rice cultivars.

Las principales aportaciones a la teoria de la regulacion medioambiental. Los ultimos cuarenta anos.

Palavras-chave: Rice; Carbon Policy; Cap and Trade; Carbon Offset; Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q52; Q54; Q58.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/97827

Grau, Montserrat Viladrich.

Resumen: En este artículo analizo las principales aportaciones a la teoría de la regulación medioambiental desarrolladas durante los últimos cuarenta años. Inicio este recorrido en los años sesenta con la presentación de las primeras contribuciones. A continuación, abordo el estudio de la década de los setenta, donde me centro de manera preferente en la comparación de las propiedades de los sistemas basados en incentivos económicos y de los basados en cantidades. Seguidamente me adentro en los desarrollos que surgieron durante los ochenta, concentrando mi atención en el análisis de los sistemas de licencias negociables. Por último, analizo como en la década de los noventa la regulación medioambiental se orienta hacia la búsqueda de soluciones para...

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Environmental Economics and Policy; Q58; Q50.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28778

Are there Carbon Savings from US Biofuel Policies? Accounting for Leakage in Land and Fuel Markets

Bento, Antonio M.; Klotz, Richard; Landry, Joel R..

This paper applies the insights of the carbon leakage literature to study the emissions consequences of biofuel policies. We develop a simple analytic framework to decompose the intended emissions impacts of biofuel policy from four sources of carbon leakage: domestic fuel markets, domestic land markets, world land markets and world crude oil markets. A numerical simulation model illustrates the magnitude of each source of leakage for combinations of two current US biofuel policies: the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). In the presence of both land and fuel market leakage, current US biofuel policies are unlikely to reduce greenhouse gases. Four of the five policy scenarios we consider lead to increases in...

Are Compact Cities Environmentally (and Socially) Desirable?

Palavras-chave: Multi-market; Carbon leakage; Biofuels; Greenhouse gases; Agricultural and Food Policy; Land Economics/Use; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q42; Q54; Q58.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/104008

Gaigne, Carl; Riou, Stephane; Thisse, Jacques-Francois.

There is a wide consensus among international institutions and national governments in favor of compact (i.e. densely populated) cities as a way to improve the ecological performance of the transport system. Indeed, when both the intercity and intra-urban distributions of activities are given, a higher population density makes cities more environmentally friendly as the average commuting length is reduced. However, when we account for the possible relocation of activities within and between cities in response to a higher population density, the latter may cease to hold. Because changes in population density affect land rents and wages, firms and workers re-optimize and choose new locations. We show that this may reshape the urban system in a way that...

Tipo: Working Paper

Palavras-chave: Greenhouse gas; Commuting costs; Transport costs; Cities; Environmental Economics and Policy; D61; F12; Q54; Q58; R12.

Ano: 2012

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/121692

Climate change policy in a growing economy under catastrophic risks

Tsur, Yacov; Zemel, Amos.

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...

Do Farmers Value The Environment? Evidence from the Conservation Reserve Program Auctions

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

Vukina, Tomislav; Levy, Armando; Marra, Michele C..

The paper uses data from the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) auctions to elicit farmers' attitudes toward the environment by analyzing their bids. The CRP pays farmers to remove land from production and put it to a conservation use. An interesting aspect of these auctions is that winners are determined by a combination of low bids and environmental scores of individual plots. The results indicate that farmers condition their bids on the strength of their environmental scores and that they consistently value those environmental improvements which are concentrated locally such as reduced soil erosion, while they place less emphasis on those benefits which resemble public goods such as air quality and wildlife habitat.