| 1. |
- Bonilla, Jorge, 1975, et al.
(författare)
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Synergies and Trade-offs between Climate and Local Air Pollution: Policies in Sweden
- 2012
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this paper, we explore the synergies and tradeoffs between abatement of global and local pollution. We built a unique dataset of Swedish heat and power plants with detailed boiler-level data 2001-2009 on not only production and inputs but also emissions of CO2 and NOx. Both pollutants are subject to strict policies in Sweden. CO2 is subject to multiple levels of governance using environmental instruments such as the EU ETS and Swedish carbon taxes; NOx – as a precursor of acid rain and eutrophication – is regulated by a heavy fee. Using a quadratic directional output distance function, we characterize changes in technical efficiency as well as patterns of substitutability in response to the policies mentioned. The fact that generating units face a trade-off between the pollutants indicates a need for policy coordination.
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| 2. |
- Coria, Jessica, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Should we tax or let firms trade emissions? An experimental analysis with policy implications for developing countries
- 2011
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this paper we use laboratory experiments to test the theoretical predictions derived by Villegas-Palacio and Coria (2010) about the effects of the interaction between technology adoption and incomplete enforcement. They show that under Tradable Emissions Permits (TEPs), and in contrast to taxes, the fall in permit price produced by adoption of environmentally friendly technologies reduces the benefits of violating the environmental regulation at the margin and leads firms to improve their compliance behavior. Moreover, when TEPs are used, the regulator can speed up the diffusion of new technologies since the benefits from adopting the new technology increase with the enforcement stringency. Our experimental results confirm these theoretical predictions. While the aggregate emissions do not statistically differ between the two policy instruments, the fraction of firms violating the regulation and the aggregate extent of violation are lower under TEPs than under emission taxes regardless of the monitoring probability. Hence, in contrast to previous studies, our results indicate that TEPs would appear to be a feasible policy alternative in weak regulatory contexts.
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| 3. |
- Ambec, Stefan, et al.
(författare)
-
Prices vs Quantities with Multiple Pollutants
- 2011
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We examine the choice of policy instrument price, quantity, or a mix of the two when two pollutants are regulated and firms’ abatement costs are private information. A key parameter that affects this choice is the technological externality between the abatement efforts involved, i.e., whether they are substitutes or complements. If they are complements, a mix policy instrument with a tax on one pollutant and a quota on the other is sometime preferable, even if the pollutants are identical in terms of benefits and costs of abatement. Yet, if they are substitutes, the mix policy is dominated by taxes or quotas.
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| 4. |
- Ambec, Stefan, et al.
(författare)
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Strategic environmental regulation of multiple pollutants
- 2015
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We analyze the interplay between policies aimed to control global and local pollution such as greenhouse gases and particulate matter. The two types of pollution interact in the abatement cost function of the polluting firms through economies or diseconomies of scope. They are regulated by distinct entities (global versus local), potentially with different instruments that are designed according to some specific agenda. We show that the choice of regulatory instrument and the timing of the regulations matter for efficiency. Emissions of local pollution are distorted if the local regulators anticipate that global pollution will later be regulated through emission caps. The regulation is too (not enough) stringent when abatement e¤orts exhibit economies (diseconomies) of scope. In contrast, we obtain e¢ ciency if the global pollutant is regulated by tax provided that the revenues from taxing emissions are redistributed to the local communities in a lump-sum way.
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| 5. |
- Ambec, Stefan, et al.
(författare)
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The informational value of environmental taxes
- 2019
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We propose informational spillovers as a new rationale for the use of multiple policy instruments to mitigate a single externality. We investigate the design of a pollution standard when the firms’ abatement costs are unknown and emissions are taxed. A firm might abate pollution beyond what is required by the standard by equalizing its marginal abatement costs to the tax rate, thereby revealing information about its abatement cost. We analyze how a regulator can take advantage of this information to design the standard. In a dynamic setting, the regulator relaxes the initial standard in order to induce more information revelation, which would allow her to set a standard closer to the first best in the second period. Updating standards, though, generates a ratchet effect since the low-cost firms might strategically hide their cost by abating no more than required by the standard. We provide conditions for the separating equilibrium to hold when firms act strategically. We illustrate our theoretical results with the case of NOx regulation in Sweden. We find evidence that the firms that are taxed experience more frequent standard updates.
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| 6. |
- Bonilla, Jorge, 1975, et al.
(författare)
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Diffusion of NOx abatement technologies in Sweden
- 2014
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper studies how different NOx abatement technologies have diffused under the Swedish system of refunded emissions charges and analyzes the determinants of the time to adoption. The policy, under which the charge revenues are refunded back to the regulated firms in proportion to energy output, was explicitly designed to affect investment in NOx-reducing technologies. The results indicate that a higher net NOx charge liability, i.e. a reduction in tax liabilities net of the refund due to the new technology, increases the likelihood of adoption, but only for end-of-pipe post-combustion technologies. We also find some indication that market power considerations in the heat and power industry reduce the incentives to abate emissions through investment in postcombustion technologies. Adoption of post-combustion technologies and the efficiency improving technology of flue gas condensation are also more likely in the heat and power and waste incineration sectors, which is possibly explained by a large degree of public ownership in these sectors.
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| 7. |
- Coria, Jessica, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Air Pollution Dynamics and the Need for Temporally Differentiated Road Pricing
- 2013
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this paper we investigate the effects of the temporal variation of pollution dispersion, traffic flows and vehicular emissions on pollution concentration and illustrate the need for temporally differentiated road pricing through an application to the case of the congestion charge in Stockholm, Sweden. By accounting explicitly for the role of pollution dispersion on optimal road pricing, we allow for a more comprehensive view of the economy-ecology interactions at stake, showing that price differentiation is an optimal response to the physical environment. Most congestion charges in place incorporate price bans to mitigate congestion. Our analysis indicates that, to ensure compliance with air quality standards, such price variations should also be a response to limited pollution dispersion.
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| 8. |
- Coria, Jessica, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Services Provision: A Tale of Confused Objectives, Mulitple Market Failures and Policy Challenges
- 2012
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Most research and funding in conservation has been oriented toward biodiversity per se. Until recently there has been little tangible effort in linking conservation to ecosystem service provision. Nevertheless, this trend seems to be changing due in part to the relative success of payment mechanisms that provide funding for the conservation of ecosystem services – defined as discrete and identifiable end-products. This paper describes the features of optimal policies to protect (i) biodiversity vs. (ii) ecosystem services and analyze to what extent the criteria in (i) and (ii) set against each other or create synergies. We also analyze how payments for ecosystem services affect the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation.
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| 9. |
- Coria, Jessica, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Carbon Pricing: Transaction Costs of Emissions Trading vs. Carbon Taxes
- 2015
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this paper we empirically compare the transaction costs from monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of two environmental regulations directed to cost-efficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions: a carbon dioxide (CO2) tax and a tradable emissions system. We do this in the case of Sweden, where a set of firms are covered by both types of regulations, i.e., the Swedish CO2 tax and the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). This provides us with an excellent case study as it allows us to disentangle the costs of each regulation from other firm-specific variables that might affect the overall cost of MRV procedures. Our results indicate that the MRV costs of CO2 taxation do not depend on firms’ emissions, while they do in the case of the EU ETS. For firms of equivalent emissions’ size, the MRV costs are lower for CO2 taxation than for the EU ETS, which confirms the general view that regulating emissions upstream by means of a CO2 tax yields lower transaction costs vis-á-vis downstream regulation by means of emission trading.
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| 10. |
- Coria, Jessica, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Ecotourism and the Development of Indigenous Communities: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
- 2011
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A large part of the literature analyzing the links between biodiversity conservation and community development assumes that nature-based tourism managed by indigenous communities will result not only in conservation of natural resources but also in increased development. In practice, indigenous communities have often failed to implement successful ecotourism projects due to a combination of factors, including isolation and a lack of financial resources, management skills, and infrastructure. Based on a review of experiences, we analyze the complex interaction among the factors shaping the success and failure of ecotourism experiences in indigenous communities, and we stress the need for a better approach to indigenous-based ecotourism. Moreover, use of complementary economics instruments and marketing of so-called charismatic species may be crucial elements for maximizing revenues of the ecotourism activities.
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