Search

Trade-induced carbon transfer generates significant impacts on global carbon emissions, leading to carbon inequality (CI). This paper introduces a novel indirect metric, the trade-induced domestic carbon share (TDCS), designed to quantify economies' carbon benefits from international trade. Based on data from 17 manufacturing sectors in 66 major economies, this study compares the impact of developed and developing economies' participation in global value chains (GVCs) on TDCS, offering insights into trade-related carbon inequality. Our analysis reveals that GVCs participation by developed economies generally decrease their TDCS, in contrast to an increase in developing economies, thereby exacerbating carbon inequality. Notably, backward participation in GVCs reduces TDCS across all economies, whereas forward participation in GVCs results in increased TDCS in developing economies but a decrease in developed ones. Additionally, our study indicates that developed economies enhance their position in both forward and backward GVCs but experience a decline in the ratio of domestic value added (DVAR). In contrast, developing economies strengthen their forward GVCs position and DVAR but weaken their backward GVCs position. These findings offer new perspectives on carbon inequality in international trade and provide valuable guidance for policymakers in devising industrial trade and carbon reduction strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different types of fishing rights are used to address the problem of overfishing. The three most commonly used are limited entry system, individual quotas and territorial use rights in fisheries. Substantial transaction costs can be involved in the establishment and maintenance of fishing rights, including definition costs, enforcement costs and coordination costs. This paper compares these fishing rights by examining the three types of transaction costs they may incur. The comparison is conducted through an analysis of the success and failure of their applications in different regions (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico and South Africa). The main findings of this research suggest that, firstly, there is no panacea for fishery problems and the three types of fishing rights have different advantages and disadvantages in reducing transaction costs. Secondly, sometimes a mixture of the different fishing rights has the potential to create better protection than a pure regime. Thirdly, governmental intervention is crucial for overcoming residual externalities of fishing rights. This paper synthesises the literature which examines fishing rights individually by providing a comparison between these fishing rights. An analytical framework for comparison is established by linking the discussion of fishing rights with the transaction costs literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the discourse produced in the academic journal Ecological Economics from its inception in 1989, and compares this discourse with that of the field of environmental economics. I used methods for discourse analysis (Alceste and Iramuteq) on 6308 abstracts of papers published in four journals — namely Ecological Economics , the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management , Environmental Values , and Environmental and Resource Economics , published between 1989 and 2013. The results suggest that the discourses of ecological economics and environmental economics have grown closer over time. The semantic classification of co-occurrent terms used in Ecological Economics indicates increasing significance of the notions of ecosystem services and of monetary valuation. I argue that this trend is parallel to Costanza's career-path, which suggests the rise of a tacit recognition of the New Environmental Pragmatic scientific approach. I conclude with some of the implications for EE of promoting this kind of discourse to such an extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The land-use change and forestry sector can be a cost-effective contributor to climate mitigation in at least three ways: providing carbon offsets through carbon sequestration in biomass and soils, reducing emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases, and producing biofuels that replace fossil fuels. The presence of carbon markets should help encourage these activities; however, most carbon trades to date have occurred in the energy sector. A major obstacle to carbon trades from land-use systems is the presence of high transaction costs of converting a carbon offset into a tradable commodity, so the prevailing market carbon prices may not provide enough incentive for adoption. This paper presents a model of the exchange of carbon offsets between a project developer and a group of landholders. The model is solved to derive project feasibility frontiers that show the minimum number of contracts necessary to make a project feasible at any given carbon price. The model is applied to two case studies (smallholder agroforestry in Indonesia and partial reforestation of family farms in Australia) under two types of contract (purchase of carbon flows and rental of carbon stocks). The paper concludes by identifying possible strategies to reduce transaction costs while maintaining project integrity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The purpose of this paper is to explain the sources of energy system lock-in. It presents a comparative analysis of the respective contributions of some features of increasing returns to adoption factors, i.e. learning-by-doing, learning-by-searching and returns to scale effects in explaining the technological change dynamics in the energy system. The paper is technically based on a critical analysis of the learning curve approach. Econometric estimation of learning and scale effects inherent to seven energy technologies were performed by the use of several learning curve specifications. These specifications permit to deal with some crucial issues related to the learning curve estimation which are associated with the problem of omitted variable bias, the endogeneity effects and the choice of learning indicators. Results show that dynamic economies from learning effects coupled with static economies from scale effects are responsible for the lock-in phenomena of the energy system. They also show that the magnitude of such effects is correlated with the technology life cycle (maturity). In particular, results point out that, 1) the emerging technologies exhibit low learning rates associated with diseconomies of scale which are argued to be symptomatic of the outset of the deployment of new technologies characterized by diffusion barriers and high level of uncertainty, 2) the evolving technologies present rather high learning rates meaning that they respond quickly to capacity expansion and R&D activities development, 3) conventional mature technologies display low learning rates but increasing returns to scale implying that they are characterized by a limited additional diffusion prospects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The success of a common property regime can be partially judged on the basis of its ability to handle extreme events that stress its capacity for cooperation. This paper compares the performance of 38 irrigation associations in a large irrigation area in Spain during a severe drought as a test of hypotheses derived from property right theories. The case is particularly interesting because it contains a transferable quota institution that can potentially strengthen the effectiveness of common property regimes in scarcity conditions. According to the results the use of transferable quotas across associations can contribute to cooperation and drought performance. In this context, performance is higher when the associations enjoy (1) effective monitoring systems, (2) experience and legitimate leaders, and (3) facilitative biophysical conditions like soil water holding capacity. The analysis also suggests that biophysical properties like soil water holding capacity may compensate for weaker monitoring or leadership, and vice-versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity consumption produces private goods, such as heat for homes, but fossil fuel consumption impacts the public goods of clean air and water. While self interests can increase usage, social interests, such as global climate change, can impact an individual's attitude toward energy consumption. This paper examines the tragedy of the commons using household data, and compares the impact of self and social interests in predicting electricity consumption. Using both stated and observed behavioral data, the results show that self interests have a greater impact on energy saving behaviors and electricity use. We extend the analysis to control for an individual's environmental concern and perceived behavioral impact, finding similar results, and supporting the notion that the tragedy of the commons occurs regardless of a person's perception or environmental concern. These findings may explain why pro-environmental attitudes do not necessarily lead to pro-environmental behaviors, and it contributes to our understanding of the motivating factors for energy savings and electricity use by examining both stated and observed behaviors. Policies aimed at electricity reduction may have a greater impact if they focus on private interests, such as pricing, rebates, subsidies, and taxes, rather than social interests alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper addresses the management of multispecies fisheries, and suggests the use of restricted fishing policies as an interesting option for unassessed fisheries (as is the case within developing countries). Specifically, we consider a predator–prey system under two potential management policies: an unrestricted regime where agents can compete to harvest from both species, and a second one where they are allowed to harvest only predators. The performance of both policies is compared from an ecological and an economic point of view. For a sufficiently large number of agents (or for strong biological interaction parameters) the assumed restricted fishing policy yields both higher long run stock levels and profits. Thus, this contribution suggests that such a policy, while requiring weaker monitoring/governance than instruments based on outputs (such as quotas or taxes), would meet environmental and economic objectives. Finally, several features of the analysis are discussed, including targeting prey instead of predator and the issue of compliance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper analyzes the role of forest-based carbon sequestration in a unilateral EU27 emissions reduction policy under a Global Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) framework. Forestry mitigation is introduced into the model relying on carbon sequestration curves provided by a global forestry model. The structure of the original CGE is extended to consider land use change and timber supply effects, resulting from the use of forest sinks to reduce carbon emissions. Results show that afforestation and timber management could lead to substantially lower policy costs. By using forest-carbon sinks it is possible to achieve the 30% emissions reduction target with an additional European effort of only 0.2% of GDP compared with the cost of a 20% emissions reduction without forestry. Carbon price is also reduced, by approximately 30% in 2020. European forest-carbon sequestration may have, however, the perverse effect of increasing timber production in areas of the world which already have high deforestation rates. A sensitivity analysis on main parameters confirms the robustness of our results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper we construct bilateral emission trade balances (ETB) for The Netherlands with 17 regions and compare results for 1996 and 2007 for three different greenhouse gasses. We establish a cross-sectional analysis of bilateral ETBs into a volume of trade, composition and technology effect. In order to analyze the driving forces of changes over time we perform a structural decomposition analysis of embodied import and export emissions. The main findings are that the embodied import emissions have increased by 37% whereas export emissions increased by only 3%, which is primarily driven by CO2. The 2007 bilateral balances are positive with OECD countries but negative with economies such as Russia, Africa and China. The analyses demonstrate that the worsening of the ETB is to a large extent caused by the changing composition of trade: the Dutch economy increasingly exports clean products and imports dirty products. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper investigates the economic efficiency–oil consumption relationship in 42 countries during the period 1986–2006. In a first stage by using DEA window analysis countries' economic efficiencies are obtained. In a second stage an econometric analysis based on robust GMM estimators reveals an inverted ‘U’-shape relationship between oil consumption and economic efficiency. In order to capture heterogeneities among countries' development stages the analysis has been separated into two groups (advanced economies and developing/emerging economies). The results show that advanced economies have much higher turning points compared to emerging and developing economies. It appears that oil consumption increases countries' economic efficiency. In addition the consumption patterns of oil products and its derivatives have changed through years and among countries. The different turning points from the econometric analysis indicate the dependence of oil consumption in advanced economies (higher turning points) is driven mainly by household purchasing activities and their standards of living (transport, housing and water, food, etc.). Finally, it appears that oil consumption is the main driver behind the progress of industrialization and urbanization regardless of the country's development stage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) is becoming increasingly popular as a way to manage ecosystems using economic incentives. The environmental economics approach to PES tries to force ecosystem services into the market model, with an emphasis on efficiency. The ecological economics approach, in contrast, seeks to adapt economic institutions to the physical characteristics of ecosystem services prioritizing ecological sustainability and just distribution and requiring a transdisciplinary approach. This paper summarizes the results of a participatory “atelier” workshop held in Costa Rica. We developed a set of principles (the Heredia Declaration) for PES systems and report on evolving initiatives in several countries. We discuss how the distinction between ecosystem goods (which are stock-flow resources) and ecosystem services (which are fund-service resources) and the physical characteristics of the fund-services affect the appropriate institutional form for PES. We conclude that PES systems represent an important way to effectively manage fund-service resources as public goods, and that this represents a significant departure from conventional market institutions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents a societal level exergy analysis approach developed to analyse transitions in the way that energy is supplied and contributes to economic growth in the UK, the US, Austria and Japan, throughout the last century. We assess changes in exergy and useful work consumption, energy efficiency and related GDP intensity measures of each economy. The novel data provided elucidate certain characteristics of divergence and commonality in the energy transitions studied. The results indicate that in each country the processes of industrialization, urbanisation and electrification are characterised by a marked increase in exergy and useful work supplies and per capita intensities. There is a common and continuous decrease in the exergy intensity of GDP. Moreover for each country studied the trend of increasing useful work intensity of GDP reversed in the early 1970s coincident with the first oil crisis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

China's rapid urbanization has been characterized by excessive economic growth and a series of environmental issues. The urban environmental sustainability of 46 typical Chinese cities in 2007 was evaluated with Data Envelopment Analysis in this paper, and the Malmquist Productivity Index was used to identify the change within 2006–2007. This analysis employed indicators from economic, environmental, and resource sub-systems which are frequently involved in the concept of environmental sustainability. We introduced projecting and benchmarking as two possible approaches for less sustainable cities to refer to their peers. Based on the computed results and empirical analysis, the roles of GDP per capita, city scale, and industrial structure as influence factors of environmental sustainability were explored; and the regional disparity of urban environmental sustainability was also investigated. The results show: (1) 24% of the sample cities (e.g. Beijing, Hohhot, etc.) are relatively “environmentally sustainable.” The efficiency scores of Urumqi rank the last. (2) GDP per capita, city scale, and industrial structure factors all exert significant influence on urban environmental sustainability. (3) The environmental sustainability of southeast cities leads the 6 major Chinese regions, and cities around the Bohai area are rapidly approaching environmental sustainability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Implementing any conservation intervention, including Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES), in the context of weak institutions is challenging. The majority of PES programs have been implemented in situations where the institutional framework and property rights are strong and target the behaviours of private landowners. By contrast, this paper compares three PES programs from a forest landscape in Cambodia, where land and resource rights are poorly defined, governance is poor, species populations are low and threats are high. The programs vary in the extent to which payments are made directly to individuals or to villages and the degree of involvement of local management institutions. The programs were evaluated against three criteria: the institutional arrangements, distribution of costs and benefits, and the conservation results observed. The most direct individual contracts had the simplest institutional arrangements, the lowest administrative costs, disbursed significant payments to individual villagers making a substantial contribution to local livelihoods, and rapidly protected globally significant species. However, this program also failed to build local management organisations or understanding of conservation goals. By contrast the programs that were managed by local organisations were slower to become established but crucially were widely understood and supported by local people, and were more institutionally effective. PES programs may therefore be more sustainable when they act to empower local institutions and reinforce intrinsic motivations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Pesticide use in agriculture poses several risks to both human health and nontarget agro-ecosystems. Due to lack of information on the monetary value of reducing pesticide risks, it is difficult to perform an economic analysis that addresses social efficiency of policy and draws conclusions about the appropriate degree of regulation. The aim of the current paper is to present a critical overview of the empirical literature on pesticide risk valuation that provides disaggregate willingness-to-pay estimates (WTPs) of pesticide risks reduction. Recent multidimensional classification methods, such as coined decision tree analysis, are used in a comparative approach as tools for explaining the differences in empirical research findings. The analysis shows that the order of magnitude of WTPs is related to both the valuation technique and to the data available from biomedical and ecotoxicological literature. It also shows that WTP estimates of pesticide risks cannot be simply averaged over several empirical studies. The order of magnitude of a WTP estimate is, in fact, related to the specific type of risk and to the nature of the risk scenario considered, as well to lay people''s subjective perception of risks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015 are a widely recognized framework to guide sustainable development policies and actions. This papers aims to analyze the potential of SDGs to improve government and business coordination by aligning their reporting practices. To do so, we assess the consistency between the sustainability indicators at the national level (Belgian) and of businesses (pharmaceutical and retail sectors). We aim to answer the following questions: Do they measure the same SDGs issues? Do they develop similar quantitative targets on similar issues? And, for both sets of indicators and targets, how can data from one level be used by the other in order to better coordinate their respective actions? Firstly, we show that indicators are developed for each SDG at the national level but fall behind at the business level on several issues, especially regarding goals 9, 10 and 11. Secondly, it appears that there is a general disconnect between both levels' quantitative targets. Thirdly, we show that business measures are poorly focused on issues and goals which are critical at the national level, i.e. facing unfavorable evolutions. Finally, a focus on GHG emissions shows that Belgian GHG targets at the national level are not compatible with reaching the climate objective of 1.5°, while some business targets (scope 1 & 2) seem consistent with this goal, despite measurement uncertainties. These results show room for improvement of indicators in order to ease the coordination of actors and also for public intervention to align businesses on the achievement of SDGs. • The lack of reporting at the business level on social inequalities, sustainable industrial processes, innovation and biodiversity. • The misalignment between the priorities of companies and what responding to national SDGs weaknesses would require. • The general lack of use of targets. • The low macro-micro consistency of targets, especially regarding greenhouse gas emissions. • More generally, the complete disconnect between government and business SDGs reporting practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]