_________________________________________________________________
SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH NETWORK
E N V I R O N M E N T A L E C O N O M I C S
A B S T R A C T S
Working Paper Series
Vol. 12, No. 10: November 30, 2007
_________________________________________________________________
BROWSE all abstracts in this subject:
http://www.ssrn.com/link/environmental-economics.html
SEARCH entire eLibrary at: http://ssrn.com/search
If this document is misaligned, please set type face to a
non-proportional font such as Courier 10.
_________________________________________________________________
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
"The Economic Impact of the South-North Water Transfer Project
in China: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis"
MARIA BERRITTELLA
University of Palermo - CIRPIET
KATRIN REHDANZ
University of Hamburg - Centre for Marine and
Climate Research (ZMK)
RICHARD S.J. TOL
Free University of Amsterdam - Institute for
Environmental Studies (IVM), Carnegie Mellon
University - Center for Integrated Study of the
Human Dimensions of Global Change, University of
Hamburg - Centre for Marine and Climate Research
(ZMK), Princeton University
"Municipal Waste Production, Economic Drivers, and 'New' Waste
Policies: EKC Evidence from Italian Regional and Provincial
Panel Data"
MASSIMILIANO MAZZANTI
University of Ferrara - Department of Economics
Institutions and Territory, National Research
Council (NRC) (CERIS-CNR)
ANNA MONTINI
University of Bologna - Department of Economics,
Italian National Research Council (CNR) - Centre for
Economic Research on Firms and Growth (CERIS)
ROBERTO ZOBOLI
CERIS-CNR Italian National Research Council,
Catholic University of Milan
"Evaluating the Empirical Performance of Alternative Econometric
Models for Oil Price Forecasting"
MATTEO MANERA
University of Milan-Bicocca - Department of
Statistics, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)
CHIARA LONGO
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)
ANIL MARKANDYA
University of Bath - Department of Economics &
International Development, World Bank, Fondazione
Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)
ELISA SCARPA
Intesa SanPaolo Spa
"The Groucho Effect of Uncertain Standards"
RICK HARBAUGH
Indiana University - Business Economics and Public
Policy, Indiana University - Department of Economics
JOHN W. MAXWELL
Indiana University - Kelley School of Business
BEATRICE ROUSSILLON
National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) -
Institute of Economic Theory and Analysis (GATE),
Affiliation Unknown
"The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change"
WILLIAM D. NORDHAUS
Yale University - Department of Economics, National
Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
_________________________________________________________________
"The Economic Impact of the South-North Water Transfer Project
in China: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis"
FEEM Working Paper No. 154.06
Contact: MARIA BERRITTELLA
University of Palermo - CIRPIET
Email: berrittella@ictp.trieste.it
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=411122
Co-Author: KATRIN REHDANZ
University of Hamburg - Centre for
Marine and Climate Research (ZMK)
Email: rehdanz@dkrz.de
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=328616
Co-Author: RICHARD S.J. TOL
Free University of Amsterdam -
Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Carnegie
Mellon University - Center for Integrated Study of
the Human Dimensions of Global Change, University
of Hamburg - Centre for Marine and Climate Research
(ZMK), Princeton University
Email: RICHARD.TOL@IVM.VU.NL
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=125391
Full Text: http://ssrn.com/abstract=952938
ABSTRACT: Water resources are unevenly spread in China.
Especially the basins of the Yellow, Hui and Hai rivers in the
North are rather dry. To increase the supply of water in these
basins, the South-to-North Water Transfer project (SNWT) was
launched. Using a computable general equilibrium model this study
estimates the impact of the project on the economy of China and
the rest of the world. We contrast three alternative groups of
scenarios. All are directly concerned with the South-to-North
water transfer project to increase water supply. In the first
group of scenarios additional supply implies productivity gains.
We call it the "non-market" solution. The second group of
scenarios is called "market solution". The market price for water
adjusts such that supply and demand are equated again. In the
third group of simulations the economic implications of China's
capital investment in infrastructure for the water South-North
water transfer project is analyzed. Finally, the investment is
combined with the increased capacity of water. If an increase in
water supply in China leads to an increase in productivity of
their water-intensive goods and services (non-market solution)
this would result in a huge positive welfare effect from
increased production and export. The effect on China's welfare
would still be positive, if a market for water would exist
(market solution), but the world as a whole would lose. The
negative effect for the rest of the world is largely explained by
a deterioration of its terms-of-trade. Well functioning water
markets in China are unlikely to exist.
______________________________
"Municipal Waste Production, Economic Drivers, and 'New' Waste
Policies: EKC Evidence from Italian Regional and Provincial
Panel Data"
FEEM Working Paper No. 155.06
Contact: MASSIMILIANO MAZZANTI
University of Ferrara - Department of
Economics Institutions and Territory, National
Research Council (NRC) (CERIS-CNR)
Email: mzzmsm@iol.it
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=450657
Co-Author: ANNA MONTINI
University of Bologna - Department of
Economics, Italian National Research Council (CNR)
- Centre for Economic Research on Firms and Growth
(CERIS)
Email: montini@spbo.unibo.it
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=339538
Co-Author: ROBERTO ZOBOLI
CERIS-CNR Italian National Research
Council, Catholic University of Milan
Email: r.zoboli@ceris.cnr.it
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=104037
Full Text: http://ssrn.com/abstract=952948
ABSTRACT: This paper provides empirical evidence on delinking and
Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) for municipal waste production
in Italy. First, methodological issues and literature on
delinking and EKC for waste are critically re-examined. Secondly,
we analyse two very disaggregated panel datasets on Italian
Regions and Provinces (1996-2004 data for the 20 regions,
2000-2004 data for the 103 provinces) to estimate the extent to
which delinking between waste production and economic drivers is
taking place. The empirical analysis of different specifications
shows mixed evidence in favour of an EKC relationship. Evidence
supporting an EKC hypothesis significantly arises at a provincial
level, which presents a very high data heterogeneity.
Nevertheless, the turning point is at very high levels of added
value per capita (around 23,000-26,000 Euros), which characterise
a very limited number of wealthy (Northern) Italian provinces.
The analysis does not reveal a similar evidence for the regional
dataset: only a relative delinking dynamic emerges at the
provincial level, we also note a positive relationship between
waste production and the share of separated waste collection,
which can be explained by the sharp difference in income and
waste-policy performance between Northern and Southern Italy.
Population density is not significant. Finally, the test on some
policy proxies, i.e. the diffusion of the new waste tariff regime
at the local-level and the ability of utilities to recover waste
service cost, leads to the conclusion that they are not (yet)
impacting waste production. To lower the turning points and to
avoid an increasing gap between geographical areas, innovative
(market based) and more effective policy instruments should be
implemented. In particular, the weight of waste policies should
be rebalanced towards waste prevention targets and instruments,
in line with the priorities stated by the EU and Member
Countries. In fact, the indirect feedback effect of good
post-production waste management policies/practices on reducing
waste production at a source can be weak and slow. In general,
the results confirm that more geographically-disaggregated data
may offer more insights with respect to cross-country datasets,
also from the policy perspective.
______________________________
"Evaluating the Empirical Performance of Alternative Econometric
Models for Oil Price Forecasting"
FEEM Working Paper No. 4.2007
Contact: MATTEO MANERA
University of Milan-Bicocca -
Department of Statistics, Fondazione Eni Enrico
Mattei (FEEM)
Email: matteo.manera@unimib.it
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=299771
Co-Author: CHIARA LONGO
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)
Email: chiara.longo@feem.it
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=743781
Co-Author: ANIL MARKANDYA
University of Bath - Department of
Economics & International Development, World Bank,
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)
Email: A.Markandya@bath.ac.uk
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=202870
Co-Author: ELISA SCARPA
Intesa SanPaolo Spa
Email: elisa.scarpa@intesasanpaolo.com
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=696746
Full Text: http://ssrn.com/abstract=958942
ABSTRACT: The relevance of oil in the world economy explains why
considerable effort has been devoted to the development of
different types of econometric models for oil price forecasting.
Several specifications have been proposed in the economic
literature. Some are based on financial theory and concentrate on
the relationship between spot and futures prices ("financial"
models). Others assign a key role to variables explaining the
characteristics of the physical oil market ("structural" models).
The empirical literature is very far from any consensus about the
appropriate model for oil price forecasting that should be
implemented. Relative to the previous literature, this paper is
novel in several respects. First of all, we test and
systematically evaluate the ability of several alternative
econometric specifications proposed in the literature to capture
the dynamics of oil prices. Second, we analyse the effects of
different data frequencies on the coefficient estimates and
forecasts obtained using each selected econometric specification.
Third, we compare different models at different data frequencies
on a common sample and common data. Fourth, we evaluate the
forecasting performance of each selected model using static and
dynamic forecasts, as well as different measures of forecast
errors. Finally, we propose a new class of models which combine
the relevant aspects of the financial and structural
specifications proposed in the literature ("mixed" models). Our
empirical findings can be summarized as follows. Financial models
in levels do not produce satisfactory forecasts for the WTI spot
price. The financial error correction model yields accurate
in-sample forecasts. Real and strategic variables alone are
insufficient to capture the oil spot price dynamics in the
forecasting sample. Our proposed mixed models are statistically
adequate and exhibit accurate forecasts. Different data
frequencies seem to affect the forecasting ability of the models
under analysis.
______________________________
"The Groucho Effect of Uncertain Standards"
Contact: RICK HARBAUGH
Indiana University - Business
Economics and Public Policy, Indiana University -
Department of Economics
Email: riharbau@indiana.edu
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=248441
Co-Author: JOHN W. MAXWELL
Indiana University - Kelley School of
Business
Email: jwmax@indiana.edu
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=80956
Co-Author: BEATRICE ROUSSILLON
National Center for Scientific
Research (CNRS) - Institute of Economic Theory and
Analysis (GATE), Affiliation Unknown
Email: roussillon@gate.cnrs.fr
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=696876
Full Text: http://ssrn.com/abstract=948538
ABSTRACT: Consumers are rarely sure of the exact standard that
product labels and other certificates of quality represent. We
show that any such uncertainty creates a "Groucho effect" in
which seeing that a product has a label leads consumers to infer
that the standard for the label itself is not very demanding.
Label adoption is therefore always less likely to be an
equilibrium than without uncertainty over the standard, and if it
is an equilibrium it is always less informative than without such
uncertainty. The Groucho effect leads to an information
externality so better firms are reluctant to adopt labels if
worse firms adopt them. Applying the model to eco-labels, we find
that industry groups, governments, and NGOs can increase label
adoption by publicizing labeling criteria, by encouraging
consumers to expect label adoption when there are multiple
equilibria, and by setting high standards that are less likely to
be devalued by low quality firms.
______________________________
"The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change"
NBER Working Paper No. W12741
Contact: WILLIAM D. NORDHAUS
Yale University - Department of
Economics, National Bureau of Economic Research
(NBER)
Email: william.nordhaus@yale.edu
Auth-Page: http://ssrn.com/author=96028
Full Text: http://ssrn.com/abstract=948654
ABSTRACT: How much and how fast should the globe reduce
greenhouse-gas emissions? How should nations balance the costs of
the reductions against the damages and dangers of climate change?
This question has been addressed by the recent Stern Review on
the Economics of Climate Change, which answers these questions
clearly and unambiguously. We need urgent, sharp, and immediate
reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions. An analysis of the Stern
Review finds that these recommendations depend decisively on the
assumption of a near-zero social discount rate. The Review's
unambiguous conclusions about the need for extreme immediate
action will not survive the substitution of discounting
assumptions that are consistent with today's market place.
__________________________________________________________________
S O L I C I T A T I O N O F A B S T R A C T S
Environmental Economics publishes working and accepted
paper abstracts in the full range of subjects that comprise
Environmental Economics. Topics include economic causes and
consequences of environmental changes; tax and regulatory
policies that affect the environment; markets for pollution
rights and related issues; government policies toward the
environment; valuation of environmental resources, "green
accounting" and intergovernmental cooperation in
environmental policy.
To submit your research to SSRN, log in to the SSRN User
HeadQuarters, http://hq.ssrn.com, and click on the My Papers
link on the left menu, and then click on Start New Submission
at the top of the page.
_________________________________________________________________
D I S T R I B U T I O N S E R V I C E S
If your Institution is interested in learning more about
increasing readership for its research by becoming a Partner
in Publishing or starting a Research Paper Series, please
email: Management@SSRN.com.
_________________________________________________________________
D I S T R I B U T E D B Y
Economics Research Network (ERN), a division of Social Science
Electronic Publishing, Inc. (SSEP) and Social Science Research
Network (SSRN)
D I R E C T O R S
ERN SUBJECT MATTER JOURNALS
MARTIN S. FELDSTEIN
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Harvard
University
Email: msfeldst@nber.org
MICHAEL C. JENSEN
Harvard Business School, The Monitor Company, Social Science
Electronic Publishing (SSEP), Inc.
Email: mjensen@hbs.edu
Please contact us at the above addresses with your comments,
questions or suggestions for ERN-Sub.
A D V I S O R Y B O A R D
Environmental Economics
DON FULLERTON
Professorship, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin -
Department of Economics, National Bureau of Economic Research
(NBER)
LAWRENCE H. GOULDER
Shuzo Nishihara Professor of Environmental and Resource
Economics, Stanford University - Department of Economics,
Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
WILLIAM D. NORDHAUS
Yale University - Department of Economics, National Bureau of
Economic Research (NBER)
PAUL PORTNEY
Resources for the Future
ROBERT N. STAVINS
Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, Harvard
University - John F. Kennedy School of Government, Resources
for the Future
TOM TIETENBERG
Mitchell Family Professor of Economics, Colby College -
Department of Economics
_________________________________________________________________
S U B S C R I P T I O N M A N A G E M E N T
You can change your journal subscriptions by going to the SSRN
User HeadQuarters: http://hq.ssrn.com. Please enter the email
address where you received this email in the "Your Email Address"
field and click "Submit". Click on "Email me this information" on
the next screen, and your User ID and Password will be emailed to
you. Once you have successfully logged in, you will be able to
change your journal subscriptions. If you have questions or
problems with this process, please email UserSupport@SSRN.com or
call 877-SSRNHelp (toll free). Outside of the United States, call
00+1+585+4428170.
SITE LICENSE MEMBERSHIP
Many university departments and other institutions have purchased
site licenses covering all of the journals in a particular
network. If you want to subscribe to any of the SSRN journals,
you may be able to do so without charge by first checking to see
if your institution currently has a site license.
To do this please click on any of the following URLs.
Instructions for joining the site are included on these pages.
Accounting Research Network
http://www.ssrn.com/update/arn/arn_site-licenses.html
Economics Research Network
http://www.ssrn.com/update/ern/ern_site-licenses.html
Entrepreneurship Research & Policy Network
http://www.ssrn.com/update/erpn/erpn_site-licenses.html
Financial Economics Network
http://www.ssrn.com/update/fen/fen_site-licenses.html
Information Systems & eBusiness Network
http://www.ssrn.com/update/isn/isn_site-licenses.html
Legal Scholarship Network
http://www.ssrn.com/update/lsn/lsn_site-licenses.html
Management Research Network
http://www.ssrn.com/update/mrn/mrn_site-licenses.html
NEW Political Science Network NEW
http://www.ssrn.com/update/psn/psn_site-licenses.html
Social & Environmental Impact Network
http://www.ssrn.com/update/sein/sein_site-licenses.html
Social Insurance Research Network
http://www.ssrn.com/update/sirn/sirn_site-licenses.html
HRN Classics Research Network
http://www.ssrn.com/update/crn/crn_site-licenses.html
HRN English & American Literature Research Network
http://www.ssrn.com/update/lit/lit_site-licenses.html
HRN Philosophy Research Network
http://www.ssrn.com/update/prn-/prn_site-licenses.html
If your institution or department is not listed as a site, we
would be happy to work with you to set one up. Please email
Site@SSRN.com for more information.
INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP (for those not covered by a site license)
Join a site license, request a trial subscription, or
purchase a subscription within the SSRN User HeadQuarters:
http://www.ssrn.com/subscribe
FINANCIAL HARDSHIP
SSRN understands there is financial hardship in certain countries
(for example the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries).
If you are undergoing financial hardship and you cannot pay for a
journal, please email a detailed explanation to Subscribe@SSRN.com
_________________________________________________________________
To ensure delivery of this journal, please add
ERN@publish.ssrn.com (Economics Research Network) to your email
contact list.
REDISTRIBUTION
Individual and professional subscriptions to the journal are for
single users. It is a violation of copyright to redistribute this
document electronically or otherwise without the explicit
permission of Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. Site
licenses for organizations are available by emailing Site@SSRN.com
_________________________________________________________________
Copyright 2007
SSEP, Inc., all rights reserved.