| 31. |
- Kander, Astrid
(författare)
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Baumol's disease and dematerialization of the economy
- 2005
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009. ; 55:1, s. 119-130
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper argues that there is reason to be skeptical about the idea that the transition to a service economy will bring about dematerialization of production and consequent environmental improvement. This is because the shift to a service economy is an illusion in terms of real production, but is instead generated by the fall in the price of manufacturing goods relative to services, which is in turn caused by more rapid productivity growth in manufacturing than in services. This argument relies on the insights Baumol provided on the nature of the service economy and uses Swedish long-term data on relative sectoral development as an empirical illustration. On the other hand, the paper argues that there is reason to be cautiously optimistic that structural change may bring about a greening of growth, namely the changes in growth patterns sometimes labeled the third industrial revolution, which is connected to the emergence of microelectronics. Swedish CO2 emissions show a decline after 1970, which is mainly explained by a politically driven change in the mix of energy carriers, but is also related to the stabilization of energy consumption. This energy stabilization was caused by slow growth of the economy in conjunction with substantial declines in energy intensity within industrial sectors and an absence of relative growth of the heavy sectors, a growth that had marked the economy between 1870 and 1970. Microelectronics have contributed to permanently transforming the Swedish industrial sector in a lighter direction, reducing energy losses in heavy industries and stabilizing household energy consumption. So it appears as if there may be some environmental gains from this development that was initiated in the 1970s, but not from relatively more production in the service sector.
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| 32. |
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| 33. |
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| 34. |
- Kander, Astrid, et al.
(författare)
-
Economic environmental history : anything new under the sun?
- 2016
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Ingår i: Structural analysis and the process of economic development : Essays in memory of Lennart Schön - Essays in memory of Lennart Schön. - 9781138101302 - 9781315657042 ; , s. 174-190
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 35. |
- Kander, Astrid, et al.
(författare)
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Economic growth and the transition from traditional to modern energy in Sweden
- 2014
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Ingår i: Energy Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0140-9883. ; 46, s. 56-65
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We examine the role of substitution from traditional to modern energy carriers and of differential rates of innovation in the use of each of these in economic growth in Sweden from 1850 to 1950. We use a simple growth model with a nested CES production function and exogenous factor-augmenting technological change and carry out a counterfactual simulation based on the econometric results. Even though the rate of technical change was higher for modern energy, innovation in the use of traditional energy carriers contributed more to growth between 1850 and 1890, since the cost share of traditional energy was so much larger than that of modern energy in that period. However, after 1890 we find that modern energy contributed much more to economic growth than traditional energy, but, increasingly, labor-augmenting technological change became the most important single driver of growth.
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| 36. |
- Kander, Astrid, et al.
(författare)
-
Economic growth and the transition from traditional to modern energy in Sweden
- 2013
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We examine the role of substitution from traditional to modern energy carriers and of differential rates of innovation in the use of each of these in Sweden from 1850 to 1950. We use a simple growth model with a nested CES production function and exogenous factor augmenting technological change and carry out a growth accounting decomposition based on the econometric results. Energy and energy augmenting technological change contributed more than a third of the economic growth in this period. Even though the rate of technical change was much larger for modern energy, innovation in the use of traditional energy carriers contributed more to growth between 1850 and 1890, since the cost share of traditional energy was so much larger than that of modern energy in that period. However, after 1890 we find that modern energy contributed much more to economic growth than traditional energy, but increasingly labor augmenting technological change and capital accumulation became the most important drivers of growth in the final decades of the period.
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| 37. |
- Kander, Astrid
(författare)
-
Economic growth, energy consumption and CO2 emissions in Sweden 1800-2000.
- 2002
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Large transformations of technologies have occurred in the Swedish economy during the last two centuries, resulting in higher income, better quality of products and changing composition of GDP. An agrarian society has given way to an industrial society and lately to a post-industrial phase. The energy supply systems have changed, from traditional energy carriers, such as firewood and muscle energy to modern carriers like coal, oil and electricity, with effects on CO2 emissions. Not only the energy supply has gone through fundamental changes, but also forest management, which affects the net emissions of CO2. The interrelations of growth, energy and CO2 are analyzed in this thesis, which uses standard calculations, relative price analyses and energy quality factors, to determine the relative effects of structural and technical changes, including changes in energy carrier composition to explain the long term delinking of energy consumption, CO2 emissions and economic growth that takes place. Technical change is the main reason of energy intensity decline. Total factor productivity gains, including improvements in technical energy efficiency, saves energy in relation to output. The most spectacular energy savings took place in the sectors transportation & communications and industry. Structural changes at the sector level tended to increase energy intensity between 1870 and 1970. No correlation was found between increasing energy quality and decreasing energy intensity, but energy quality may have had an impact on economic growth rates. The consumers’ surplus was exceptionally high during the interwar period and the three decades after the Second World War, and the total energy quality was outstanding during the latter period. The most rapid relative decline in energy intensity took place between 1970 and 2000. In this period structural changes at the sector level no longer worked to increase energy intensity and the new growth direction of the third industrial revolution saved energy in relation to output. The decrease in energy intensity after 1970 was not caused by changed patterns of foreign trade for Sweden, but by changed patterns of demand in Sweden as well as abroad. CO2 intensity, when only emissions from fossil fuels are counted, shows a pattern of either one long Environmental Kuznets’ Curve, interrupted by the Wars, or of three separate EKCs. The main determinants of this CO2 intensity are energy intensity and energy carrier composition, where the latter turned out to be most influential. The three costs involved in energy consumption, purchasing cost, handling costs and environmental costs are intended to play different roles at different income levels, with effects on energy carrier composition. The estimate of CO2 emissions and sequestration by Swedish forests showed a magnitude well in parity with emissions from fossil fuels. The aggregate CO2 emissions over the period 1800-2000 were not much altered, but the pattern of CO2 intensity was profoundly altered when forest emissions were included. Furthermore the analysis of forest management questioned the idea that firewood caused net CO2 emissions in a dynamic perspective, because the demand for thin timber dimensions stimulated a rational forestry.
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