61. |
- Bäckström, Kristoffer, et al.
(författare)
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Public Policies and Solar PV Innovation : An Empirical Study Based on Patent Data
- 2014
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of this paper is to examine the innovation impacts of different renewable energy support policies and their interaction in the empirical context of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. This is achieved using data on patent applications for 13 countries over the time period 1978-2008. Three policies are included in the analysis: public R&D support to solar PV, fixed feed-in tariffs (FIT), and renewable energy certificate (REC) schemes. The results are overall robust to alternative model specifications, and indicate that: (a) both FIT schemes and REC schemes induce more solar PV patenting activity even though the impact of the former policy appears to be more profound; (b) (lagged) public R&D support has an important impact on solar PV innovation; and (c) policy interaction exists in that the impact of public R&D support on innovation is greater at the margin if it is accompanied by the use of FIT schemes for solar PV. A corresponding interaction effect does not emerge in the case of public R&D and the use of REC schemes, possibly due to the relatively strong technology selection pressure under the latter policy.
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62. |
- Cialani, Catia, 1970-
(författare)
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Essays on growth and environment
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis consists of a summary and four self-contained papers.Paper [I] Following the 1987 report by The World Commission on Environment and Development, the genuine saving has come to play a key role in the context of sustainable development, and the World Bank regularly publishes numbers for genuine saving on a national basis. However, these numbers are typically calculated as if the tax system is non-distortionary. This paper presents an analogue to genuine saving in a second best economy, where the government raises revenue by means of distortionary taxation. We show how the social cost of public debt, which depends on the marginal excess burden, ought to be reflected in the genuine saving. We also illustrate by presenting calculations for Greece, Japan, Portugal, U.K., U.S. and OECD average, showing that the numbers published by the World Bank are likely to be biased and may even give incorrect information as to whether the economy is locally sustainable.Paper [II] This paper examines the relationships among per capita CO2 emissions, per capita GDP and international trade based on panel data spanning the period 1960-2008 for 150 countries. A distinction is also made between OECD and Non-OECD countries to capture the differences of this relationship between developed and developing economies. We apply panel unit root and cointegration tests, and estimate a panel error correction model. The results from the error correction model suggest that there are long-term relationships between the variables for the whole sample and for Non-OECD countries. Finally, Granger causality tests show that there is bi-directional short-term causality between per capita GDP and international trade for the whole sample and between per capita GDP and CO2 emissions for OECD countries.Paper [III] Fundamental questions in economics are why some regions are richer than others, why their growth rates differ, whether their growth rates tend to converge, and what key factors contribute to explain economic growth. This paper deals with the average income growth, net migration, and changes in unemployment rates at the municipal level in Sweden. The aim is to explore in depth the effects of possible underlying determinants with a particular focus on local policy variables. The analysis is based on a three-equation model. Our results show, among other things, that increases in the local public expenditure and income taxe rate have negative effects on subsequent income income growth. In addition, the results show conditional convergence, i.e. that the average income among the municipal residents tends to grow more rapidly in relatively poor local jurisdictions than in initially “richer” jurisdictions, conditional on the other explanatory variables.Paper [IV] This paper explores the relationship between income growth and income inequality using data at the municipal level in Sweden for the period 1992-2007. We estimate a fixed effects panel data growth model, where the within-municipality income inequality is one of the explanatory variables. Different inequality measures (Gini coefficient, top income shares, and measures of inequality in the lower and upper part of the income distribution) are examined. We find a positive and significant relationship between income growth and income inequality measured as the Gini coefficient and top income shares, respectively. In addition, while inequality in the upper part of the income distribution is positively associated with the income growth rate, inequality in the lower part of the income distribution seems to be negatively related to the income growth. Our findings also suggest that increased income inequality enhances growth more in municipalities with a high level of average income than in municipalities with a low level of average income.
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63. |
- Coria, Jessica, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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The progress of GHG markets : opportunities and risks
- 2010
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The climate negotiations at the COP15 in December 2009 did not produce a new international treaty with binding emissions commitments but the Copenhagen Accord for dealing with post-2012 climate change. Given the current climate negotiation process it is unlikely that we will see a global climate agreement soon on a global cap between all Convention members participating in a single carbon market. We may be more likely to see a stepwise process moving towards this scenario, most likely involving linkages between different national policy programs when it comes to mitigation as well as offsetting emissions. In such a process countries will offer commitments based on their domestic abilities, preferences and policies, norms and institutions. National and sub-national policies are thus likely to be the de-facto building blocks of nations' abilities to make and fulfill international commitments. However, also with multilateral mitigation programs without binding commitments, carbon markets will be needed as well as international authorities that support measurement, reporting and verification rules and the international registries. Such markets will necessarily be complicated and temporary in a world without an overarching binding agreement. There will be numerous tradeoffs between different kinds of second-best arrangements. The purpose of this report is to build knowledge about the effects of the development of regional and international carbon markets and the auxiliary technology agreements that might be needed. Among the topics we address are: the evolution and integration of carbon markets, the impacts of policy and technology cost uncertainty on the cost of meeting targets through a carbon market mechanism, the effect of banking, price floors and ceilings, institutional constraints and technological change in the further development of carbon markets and their links to other environmental policy instruments, and the potential of REDD-plus to encourage sustainable forest development and climate mitigation.
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64. |
- Dahlqvist, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Industrial Energy Use, Management Practices and Price Signals : The Case of Swedish Process Industry
- 2019
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy. - : EconJournals. - 2146-4553. ; 9:3, s. 30-45
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objectives of the paper are to: (a) derive and discuss indicators of industrial companies’ decision-making and management practices on energy use; and (b) investigate whether these practices can help explain variations in energy intensities across these companies. The data were collected through telephone interviews with 101 large industrial firms in Sweden. The indicators display a significant overall increase in firms’ awareness of energy efficiency issues over time, including the attention devoted to these issues at the top management level. Still, our econometric results show that energy prices constitute the most important determinant of inter-firm differences in energy intensities. Higher energy prices over the time-period, have induced the implementation of energy-relevant management and practices, and led to more systematic decision-making processes. Finally, firms for which so-called ‘hidden’ costs, e.g., the costs of production disruptions, are a large concern, will be more energy intense than others.
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65. |
- Egüez, Alejandro, 1984-
(författare)
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Energy efficiency, district heating and waste management : essays on environmental economics
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Paper [I] investigates the energy efficiency of multi-dwelling buildings in Sweden to find out whether the ownership type matters. More specifically, we investigate whether rental apartment buildings are less energy efficient than cooperative apartment buildings and whether public ownership has a negative impact on energy efficiency. A conceptual framework is presented to illustrate that such differences could be explained by the split incentives problem and deviations from profit maximizing interests. The empirical analysis is based on a unique dataset that combines data from energy performance certificates with ownership data on residential units. The results indicate that cooperative apartment buildings are significantly more energy efficient than buildings with rental apartments. The results also indicate that publicly owned buildings have somewhat lower energy performance than privately owned ones.Paper [II] Incomplete information may be one reason why some households do not invest in energy efficiency even though it would benefit them to do so. Energy performance certificates (EPCs) have been promoted to overcome such information shortages. In this paper, we investigate whether EPCs together with mandatory home energy audits make households more likely to invest in energy efficiency. Our study takes advantage of the mandatory nature of the EPCs to avoid the potential selection bias problem that typically applies to studies using voluntary energy audits as the treatment. Our treatment group consists of single-family houses in Sweden sold from 2008, i.e., when EPCs became legally required in connection with sales of residential buildings, to 2015; while the control group consists of houses sold between 2002 and 2008, i.e., without an EPC. The results show that there is no statistically significant treatment effect for most of the measures that a household can take to improve the energy performance of their house. The significant treatment effect that we do find concerns a few heating system-related measures.Paper [III] The price of district heating in Sweden is unregulated and differs substantially among different networks. This paper investigates if the price variation can partly be explained by ownership status, i.e., whether the network companies are privately- or municipally-owned. The empirical analysis is based on data on district heating prices, ownership status, and network characteristics for the period 2012-2017. The results show that prices are higher in privately-owned district heating networks than in municipally-owned networks, especially in the fixed component of the price. It is argued that municipal and private companies’ divergent objectives may be part of the explanation for these differences. Finally, district heating prices are positively correlated with the market prices for heat pumps, regardless of ownership, which suggests a general price-setting strategy based on the price of substitutes.Paper [IV] assesses whether and to what extent income and the stringency and enforcement (S&E) of environmental regulation influence compliance with the EU Waste Hierarchy (EWH), i.e., how EU member states treat waste. The EWH prioritizes waste prevention and re-use over recycling, which is ranked above waste to energy (WtE), while incineration and landfilling are the least preferred options. Biennial panel data for the period 2010–2016 is used to create a compliance index based on the waste treatment alternatives in the EWH. The waste (excluding major mineral waste) of 26 European Union countries is examined. This study is the first of its kind to regress an EWH compliance index on income, the stringency and enforcement of environmental regulation, and other variables that are also expected to affect the relative benefits and costs of waste treatment, such as population density, heating demand, and electricity prices. The shares of landfilling, incineration, WtE, and recycling are also modeled to capture the effect of these variables in the waste treatment mix. The stringency and enforcement of environmental regulation are found to have a positive effect on compliance with the EWH, which has increased over time.
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66. |
- Ejdemo, Thomas
(författare)
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Entrepreneurship and the Geography of Innovation : Essays on the Role of Related Variety
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The traditional view that large industrial corporations are the primary engines of innovation and economic progress has gradually been replaced by the notion that place is the key organizing platform for innovative activity in the modern knowledge economy. The geography of innovation has shown that innovative activities tend to cluster in space, due to the advantages of certain cities and regions. Recent literature suggests that a regional diversity of economic activities that are related in a cognitive or technological sense is advantageous, as it facilitates knowledge spillovers that foster positive economic outcomes. This re-specifies the traditional dichotomy between economic specialization and diversity and opens up new lines of inquiry. This thesis aims to contribute to the literature on the geography of innovation and related variety with studies that treat the relationships between related industry variety, innovation and entrepreneurship in explicit fashions, thus addressing important research gaps. The overall purpose of the thesis is therefore to examine and explain the relationship between regional related variety and regional economic change, in terms of: (a) entrepreneurship, and; (b) innovation. The thesis consists of an introductory text and five appended papers. Paper 1 provides a bibliometric study of the literature on related variety, while papers 2 to 5 provide empirical analyses that address the implications of related variety for regional economic outcomes in terms of growth, entrepreneurship and innovation. The main findings of the thesis work suggest that related variety facilitates knowledge spillovers that unlock entrepreneurial opportunities, and that knowledge spillover entrepreneurship underpins the external economies of scope that arise from related variety. In addition, the thesis finds that entrepreneurship is an important driver of economic diversification in related activities. Furthermore, findings presented in the thesis align with previous literature that has reported a positive influence of related variety on regional innovation, which indicates the presence of positive knowledge externalities that foster innovation. It is however argued that the thesis work extends on previous findings by emphasizing the function of entrepreneurship in realizing the knowledge spillover effects of related variety. The importance of entrepreneurship is further reinforced by the finding that unrelated variety in particular is associated with firm-level entrepreneurial innovation. Drawing on the notion of Knightian uncertainty, the thesis work concludes that the process of innovation may require business decisions under ‘true’ uncertainty about expected returns, particularly when combinations of unrelated knowledge are attempted as they are new and unprecedented, and such pursuits can be understood as acts of entrepreneurial innovation.
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67. |
- Ejdemo, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
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Framtidens Norrbotten : Fem scenariobeskrivningar över länets utveckling
- 2016
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Föreliggande rapport utgör en framåtriktad analys av de regionala förutsättningar som rapporterats inom projektet Regional förnyelse, som finansierats av Länsstyrelsen i Norrbottens län och Luleå tekniska universitet (LTU). Utifrån de studier och rapporter som bidragit till en ökad förståelse kring länets möjligheter och utmaningar resonerar vi i den här studien om möjliga framtidsscenarier för Norrbotten. Vår målsättning är inte att förutspå den regionala utvecklingen utan att i stället lyfta fram ett antal scenarier som det regionala utvecklingsarbetet kan leda till. Syftet blir att skapa ett diskussionsunderlag som kan vara till nytta för framtida utveckling av regionala strategier såsom exempelvis den regionala utvecklingsstrategin och den regionala innovationsstrategin. Regionala strategierDen regionala utvecklingsstrategin ingår i EU:s och Sveriges strategier för hållbar tillväxt och är styrande för de mer operativa programmen i länet. Strategin binder samman planeringsprocesser som har betydelse för en hållbar tillväxt och kan därigenom underlätta samverkan inom och mellan länen. Strategin utgör och ett strategiskt underlag i förhandlingar mellan länet och regeringen och även vid överläggningar på EU-nivå.Den regionala analysen av Norrbottens förutsättningar för utveckling och potential för tillväxt resulterade i fem strategiska områden där ett antal prioriterade åtgärder anges. De största utmaningarna är den demografiska utvecklingen och den framtida kompetensförsörjningen. Avgörande för regionens tillväxt är att det finns arbetskraft och kompetens som matchar arbetslivets behov. Med en allt äldre befolkning ökar försörjningsbördan och det blir allt svårare att upprätthålla välfärden med minskade skatteunderlag.Regionala analyserEtt flertal rapporter och studier har författats inom ramarna för projektet Regional förnyelse. Näringslivsanalyser och analyser av internationell handel stödjer att det finns goda förutsättningar för tillväxt inom länets företag. Företagarna beskriver kompetensförsörjning som en av de största utmaningarna för att uppnå planerad tillväxttakt. Regionala scenarierUtifrån de regionala analyserna har fem scenarier, i form av framtidsbilder, målats upp. Avsikten med scenarierna är att beskriva hur regionala insatser och utveckling kan skapa alternativa framtider för Norrbotten. Avsikten med scenarierna är således inte att förutspå regionens framtida utveckling utan snarare peka på hur olika typer av regional utveckling kan skapa olika förutsättningar. De scenarios som diskuteras i denna rapport är:— Scenario I: Basindustriregionen— Scenario II: Kunskap, kreativitet och kommunikation som regional drivkraft— Scenario III: Förändrat globalt klimat med nya möjligheter— Scenario IV: Smart specialisering baserad på relaterad variation— Scenario V: Diversifiering efter en nationell genomsnittsmodell
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68. |
- Ejdemo, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
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Mining investment and regional development : a scenario-based assessment for Northern Sweden
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Resources policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0301-4207 .- 1873-7641. ; 26:1, s. 14-21
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The way in which mineral development contributes to economic development in the region where it takes place is important for the mining industry's relations to the local community. The purpose of this paper is to provide an assessment of the regional-economic impacts of a large-scale contemporary iron ore project in Northern Sweden (including two new mines, two processing plants, and one pellet plant). The regional input-output model rAps, provided by the Swedish government agency NUTEK is used, and it explicitly addresses the linkages between demographic development, the labour market, industrial production and the municipal finances in a consistent modelling framework. The simulation results suggest an average employment multiplier of about 2-2.5 during the maximum production phase, indicating that for every 100 jobs in mining about 100-150 jobs are supported elsewhere in the local economy. The positive impacts in this case are made possible in large because of the existing mining cluster and local suppliers in northern Sweden. Still, these results are perhaps best viewed as an indication of the potential for local economic development as they neglect, for instance, potential supply constraints (e.g., attracting the necessary labour force, road infrastructure, etc.). Specific policies to further strengthen the regional linkage effects may therefore be necessary in order for this potential to be realized in practice, and attention would preferably be paid to policy measures that have positive external spillover effects on the surrounding geographical area.
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69. |
- Ejdemo, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
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Möjligheter och hinder för en grön energiomställning : erfarenheter från andra regioner med lärdomar för Norrbotten
- 2017
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Denna rapport har tagits fram inom ramen för projektet Gröna energiinvesteringar som finan-sieras av Europeiska regionala utvecklingsfonden, Region Norrbotten, Länsstyrelsen i Norr-bottens län och Energimyndigheten. Projektet har drivits av Energikontor Norr i samverkan med Luleå tekniska universitet (Energiteknik, Nationalekonomi samt Entreprenörskap och Innovation) och Företagarna Norrbotten.Syftet med rapporten är att (a) öka förståelsen för de mervärden som kan uppstå regionalt och lokalt av en omställning av energisystemet och vilka hinder som kan finnas för en sådan omställning; samt att (b) identifiera olika former av strategier, styrmedel och affärsmodeller som kan bidra till realiserandet av nya hållbara energillösningar. Detta åstadkoms genom att konsultera och syntetisera relevanta erfarenheter från tidigare energiomställningsprocesser, samt genom att diskutera förutsättningarna för en sådan omställning i Norrbotten.Rapporten innehåller tre huvudsakliga delar. Den första delen är generell och baseras på erfarenheter och lärdomar från andra regioner och länder. Här diskuteras hinder för hållbara energiprojekt, med fokus på betydelsen av goda finansieringsmöjligheter, förutsättningar för etablerandet av ny teknologi samt hinder i form av sociala konstruktioner såsom stereotypa föreställningar om kön, etnicitet etc. En fallstudie av de hinder som kan försvåra ett ökat utnyttjande av industriell överskottsvärme belyser en rad faktorer som är viktiga att hantera i många former av samverkansprojekt på energiområdet. Den första delen av rapporten beskriver också hur hållbara energiprojekt kan bidra till regional ekonomisk utveckling, och identifierar vilka faktorer som påverkar hur stora dessa effekter kan bli. En viktig lärdom är att positiva spridningseffekter på den lokala ekonomin inte alltid sker automatiskt; olika åtgärder och strategier för att förstärka dessa effekter är ofta viktiga. Därför diskuteras även ett antal sådana strategier, t.ex. fondlösningar, lokalt ägande, gräsrotsfinansiering, samt olika strategier som syftar till att aktivt stärka de aktörsnätverk som behöver växa fram kring de nya projekten.Rapportens andra del vänder blicken mot Norrbotten, och diskuterar förutsättningarna för att en hållbar energiomställning med betydande mervärden för den ekonomiska utvecklingen kan åstadkommas i länet. Dessa förutsättningar beskrivs med utgångspunkt i de existerande strategier som finns för att stimulera regional ekonomisk tillväxt; en gemensam nämnare för dessa är att de pekar på möjligheterna att förena regionala tillväxtmål med en hållbar energiomställning. Här diskuteras även de regionala förutsättningarna för inkluderande, inte minst jämställd, innovation i länet.I rapportens tredje och avslutande del sammanfattas de viktigaste lärdomarna från rapporten. Här tydliggörs relevansen av de tidigare erfarenheterna och lärdomarna för det regionala sammanhanget, och vi diskuterar, med utgångspunkt i intervjuer av projektägare, erfarenheter rörande hinder, mervärden, strategier etc. från sju olika energiprojekt som följts och studerats i projektet Gröna energiinvesteringar. I ett avslutande kapitel lyfts ett antal viktiga lärdomar och rekommendationer för det fortsatta energiomställningsarbetet i länet fram.
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70. |
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