Download or read book Essays in Public Finance and Environmental Economics written by Radhika Goyal and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation focuses on topics concerning public finance, state capacity, and the environment. In the first chapter, we study the role of proximity to administrative power in explaining spatial inequality in access to public goods. Using a natural experiment in India that quadrupled the number of sub-districts (the lowest level of administrative jurisdiction), we explore the impact of redistribution of political power on spatial inequality of public good investment. By analyzing digitized high-resolution data encompassing approximately 10,000 villages spanning over 55 years, we demonstrate that reducing the distance to local government headquarters helps in bridging the gap in the provision of essential public amenities for remote villages, and furthermore, yields evidence of long-term improvements in state capacity. In the second chapter, we focus on turning points in tax collection. Our method detects both sustained accelerations and decelerations of tax collection (relative to GDP) in a global and historical sample of 150 countries since 1965. Turning points are prevalent (238 events in total), persistent for at least 15 years in many cases, and occur more frequently at lower levels of the country's development. We show that changes in the political environment are strong statistical predictors of accelerations, tax reforms, and economic changes less so. Decelerations appear more unpredictable than accelerations. In the third chapter, we study the ecological gains of place-based environmental measures to ramp up conservation efforts. By combining geo-referenced Indian village maps overlaid with digitized protected area maps and a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, we find that protected areas help improve forest cover. Villages located within protected areas also experienced improved economic activity, attributed in part to the growth of the tourism sector, particularly in wildlife sanctuaries. Moreover, our findings suggest that states which allocate a higher share of expenditure to the forestry sector exhibit stronger forest conservation outcomes.

Download or read book Essays in Finance and Environmental Economics written by Thomas A. Becker and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation is comprised of three chapters, each of which contributes to the field of behavioral finance. Two of the chapters focus on topics in environmental economics and the third on U.S. household finance. All of the papers analyze the incentives and behavior of individuals (or firms in the case of the first chapter) to provide insight into macro phenomena. "The Effects of Carbon Markets on Equity Prices and Volatility" uses a firm-level dataset of carbon assets and liabilities between 2005 and 2007 to examine the impact of volatile carbon prices on equity prices. I find that the changes to firms' market capitalizations during a period of falling carbon prices are explained by the change in the net present value of emission permit holdings. Equity prices respond to changes in the mark-to-market value of firms' carbon permit shortfalls or surpluses and carbon price volatility increases the volatility of equity prices. I also document considerable delays in the equity and options markets responses to developments in carbon markets and attribute these lagged responses to information constraints and the novelty of carbon markets. "Outstanding Debt and the Household Portfolio," co-written with my classmate Reza Shabani, alters a simple portfolio choice model to allow households to retire outstanding debt and realize a risk-free rate of return equal to the interest rate on that debt. Using the Survey of Consumer Finances we find that households with mortgage debt are 10 percent less likely to own stocks and 37 percent less likely to own bonds compared to similar households with no outstanding mortgage debt. To show that our results are not driven by irrational behavior amongst a subset of households, we construct two proxy variables for financial naivete. Finally we calculate the costs of non-optimal investment decisions in the presence of various forms of household debt including mortgages, home equity loans and credit card debt. We find that 26 percent of households should forego equity market participation on account of the high interest rates that they pay on their debt. "Crude Drilling: An Analysis of Incentives and Behavior in the Oil Industry During the 1860s" explains why rates of oil extraction in the nascent oil industry far exceeded the profit maximizing levels predicted by the economic theory of non-renewable resources. The analysis combines historical narrative accounts with property sale and lease data and information on oil well owners to explain how individual incentives led to aggregate over-drilling. In particular, I focus on the incentives of under-capitalized wildcat drillers as an explanation for the excessive waste and under-investment that characterized the early oil market. I find that these poorer prospectors were incentivized to extract oil at higher than optimal rates because of the characteristics of their property lease contracts and the low-cost drilling technology they used to bore exploratory wells. Low barriers to entry in the early oil drilling business led to an influx of wildcat drillers into the nascent oil market and delayed the entry of additional well-capitalized drillers. The result was a market characterized by cyclical supply shocks, low levels of investment in storage and conservation, and corresponding price instability.

Download or read book Essays in Environmental Finance written by Mihir Tirodkar and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis comprises of three empirical studies that examine separate interactions between environmental variables and financial markets. Set within a U.S. backdrop, the studies integrate and analyse relationships between asset pricing, corporate finance, behavioural finance, and environmental economics. The first chapter examines whether low frequency temperature risk, a component of climate risk, is a priced risk factor in equity markets. Rising temperatures are associated with states of poor consumption and potential disasters; consumption-based asset pricing theories suggest investors prefer investments which pay off in these poor states. I estimate low frequency temperature shocks and employ them in asset pricing tests. Results provide no evidence of a low frequency temperature risk premium in U.S. equity markets. I discuss possible reasons as to why results may diverge from the asset pricing theory. The second chapter tests whether institutional investors are reluctant to own polluter ‘sin’ stocks. I hypothesise that sensitivity to social norms restricts institutional ownership of polluters. Using toxic emissions data from the Toxic Release Inventory, I find results that are consistent with the hypothesis. Furthermore, I find that institutions with long-term investment horizons and exposure to public scrutiny display a stronger reluctance to own polluters. I find no evidence of positive abnormal performance of polluter stocks, as hypothesised by the ‘shunned-stock’ theory. The final chapter examines security analyst earnings forecasts for polluter firms. Polluters are negatively exposed to increased regulations and consumer backlash; however, security analysts may misestimate associated costs. Tests show that analysts generate systematically pessimistic forecasts for polluter firm earnings on average; behavioural theories suggest that this pessimism is due to cognitive constraints. I also find evidence of persistent analyst bias for polluters, consistent with the conservatism bias theory. Results provide no evidence of polluter abnormal returns resulting from positive earnings surprises around earnings announcements.

Download or read book Three Essays at the Intersection of Public Finance and Environmental Economics written by Antung Anthony Liu and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 95 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation is comprised of three essays which explore environmental economics topics using public finance tools. The first and third essays are applied theory papers examining two overlooked factors -- tax evasion and the shadow economy -- which sharply alter the calculus of carbon tax reform. The basic finding is that carbon taxes are much less costly than has previously been found, particularly in developing countries. The second essay is an empirical paper studying how China's tax system has impacted its rollout of sewage treatment plants.

Download or read book Environmental Policy and Fiscal Federalism written by Wallace E. Oates and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wally Oates is one of the most important scholars in both environmental economics and public finance and this new volume of his essays collects together his best recent research in both these areas, covering theory, research and policy. The first half of the book includes papers on the political economy of environmental policy, the analysis of environmental regulation and environmental federalism. The second half deals with fiscal and regulatory competition, state and local government finance and fiscal federalism. This new collection will be essential reading for scholars and students in both environmental economics and public finance.

Download or read book Three Essays in Public Finance and Environmental Economics written by Sanghyun Hwang and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first essay studies the Marginal Cost of Funds in the existence of tax evasion. We develop a general equilibrium model of tax evasion, including the expected utility of taxpayers and three different revenue-raising government policies. In this rich model environment, we analytically derive the marginal cost of funds (MCF) for the alternative policy instruments. We consider two main fiscal reforms: the revision in the nonlinear tax scheme and the changes in enforcement mechanism (the audit and penalty rates). First, we derive the MCF for the tax reform and find its key determinants. The derived MCF is greater than the previous ones since it includes a "risk-bearing cost" as well as tax distortion. The reform in enforcement mechanism generates MCFs in different forms. Two more MCFs with respect to audit and penalty rates are presented. Finally, we compare these three different MCFs in numerical example and provide some policy implications. The second essay explores optimal tax structure in the presence of status effect. When the consumption of certain goods affects one's social status, this externality creates two opposite effects in a society. Seeking higher status through "positional goods" gives individuals much incentive to supply labor but still allocates income for less "nonpositional goods" as well. In this case, differential taxes on positional goods work as corrective instruments to internalize the social cost stemming from status seeking. Furthermore, the differential taxes generate revenue that can be used to alleviate preexisting income tax distortion. Thus, the differential taxes on positional goods could give so called "double dividend." I develop a game-theoretic model in which each individual with a different labor productivity unknown to the others engages in a status-seeking game, and the government has a revenue requirement. Then I show that, under a condition in which utility is separable between positional goods and leisure, a revenue-neutral shift in the tax mix away from nonlinear income taxes towards positional-good taxes enhances welfare. Hence, the differential taxes on positional goods are necessary together with the nonlinear income taxes for an optimal tax structure. The third essay explores the impact of increasing capital mobility on regional growth and environment. I develop an endogenous growth model in which each local government competes against the others, to induce imperfectly mobile stock of capital into its region. Then I show that an increase in capital mobility generates "tax importing" due to which each locality experiences a higher growth rate and more degraded environment. That is, the increasing mobility dampens the capital tax and transfers the burden of pollution abatement to the locality. This finding supports the hypothesis of "race to the bottom" in environmental standards. Identifying a reduction in overall welfare of residents, I consider two alternative federal interventions in the model: uniform environmental standard and requirement of lump sum transfer or tax. Both of these federal instruments enhance the residents' welfare.

Download or read book Environmental Economics and Computable General Equilibrium Analysis written by John R. Madden and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-07-11 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses major issues such as a growing world energy demand, environmental degradation due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, and risk management of disastrous events such as pandemics, abnormal climate, and earthquakes. Using cutting-edge analytical tools, particularly computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling, the analyses are focused on a very wide range of policy-relevant economic questions for the Asia-Pacific region, especially for Japan, China, India, Vietnam, and smaller nations, including Brunei, Timor Leste, and Fiji. The first part considers (a) the effects of climate change on agriculture sectors, energy policies, and future GHG emission trends, (b) adaptation to climate changes in energy policy and its impacts on the economies, and (c) risk management of catastrophic events such as global pandemics. The second part examines (a) energy environmental issues, (b) economic impacts of natural disaster and depopulation, and (c) effects of informatics development on risk management, using CGE modelling and other methods in regional science fields. Contributors are internationally active leading CGE modellers and environmental economists. The book should be greatly beneficial for scholars and graduate students as well as policy makers who are interested in the economic effects and management of risks relating to climate change and disastrous events.

Download or read book Environmental Quality in a Growing Economy written by Kenneth Ewart Boulding and published by . This book was released on 1966 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Environmental and Public Economics written by Wallace E. Oates and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this collection of essays honoring the work of Wallace E. Oates, contributors apply his ideas and insights to a range of problems. Chapters on environmental economics assess environmental policy in today's conservative era and analyze environmental taxes, environmental federalism, and policy instruments. Chapters on public economics investigate vouchers for private schools, capitalization, and urban growth controls. Other subjects examined include intergovernmental grants in South Africa, and public pensions in the EU. The editors are affiliated with the University of Maryland-College Park, and Resources for the Future in Washington, DC. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Download or read book Economic Theory for the Environment written by Karl-Göran Mäler and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2002 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text investigates many of the contemporary advances in economics, in terms of the management of natural resources and environments. The authors also concentrate on other important issues such as control theory for non-convex economic problems, duopoly theory, game theory, local public finance, patent races and population control. In addition, they investigate the difficulties involved in constructing environmental agreements, and detail the potential benefits of marrying together the disciplines of ecology and economics. As a whole, the book illustrates both the power and limitations of economics to shed light on many of today's pressing environmental issues.

Download or read book Essays on Public Finance and Environmental Economics in Namibia written by Michael N. Humavindu and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Three Essays in Environmental Economics written by Koji Kotani and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development written by Herman E. Daly and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This clear-thinking collection brings together 25 of Daly s essays, speeches, reviews and testimonials from the past decade. . . as a whole they provide a useful masterclass on the principles of ecological economics. Daly s vision, as well as his frustration with mainstream economists refusal to engage with his arguments, comes through loud and clear. New Scientist It s hard to imagine ecological economics without the numerous and profound contributions of Herman Daly. These papers reveal the consistency of his analysis and clarity of exposition that have made him one of the most influential economists of his generation. Because of Herman Daly we have a much better understanding of how economies relate to the environment, why so much is wrong with this relationship and what must be done to fix it. Peter Victor, York University, Canada This thrilling compilation outlines the origins of the young discipline of ecological economics by the intellectual leader of the movement, Herman Daly. He recounts how, as a member of the recently demoted environment department at the World Bank, he integrated ecology with economics during his six years in the bowels of the beast. Herman lucidly and compellingly combines common sense with profound understanding of both economics and ecology to arrive at sustainable solutions to the global problematique. Herman s rigorous yet compassionate solutions to climate change, peak oil, globalization vs. internationalization, poverty reduction, and the unsung concept of scale leading to uneconomic growth, are precisely what we need to prevent the current liquidation of our beautiful world. This book will galvanize you into the action we need so much. Robert Goodland, Environmental adviser, World Bank Group, 1978 2001 In this book, written in crystal clear style, Herman Daly reiterates the main points of his analysis and vision, he praises some teachers (John Ruskin, Frederick Soddy, Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, Kenneth Boulding), he fearlessly attacks some adversaries in the World Bank and MIT, and he offers some advice to the government of his own country, to the Russian Duma, and especially to OPEC that, if followed, would change the world very much for the better. Finally, on a different line of thought, he interrogates conservation biologists on their reasons for wanting to keep biodiversity since, as biologists, they claim that evolution has no particular purpose. Why not let the Sixth Great Extinction run its course? In other words, science cannot provide an ethics of conservation, which Herman Daly finds in religion more than in democratization deliberations. Joan Martinez-Alier, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona, Spain Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development comprises a carefully chosen selection of some 25 articles, speeches, congressional testimonies, reviews, and critiques from the last ten years of Herman Daly s ever-illuminating work. This book seeks to identify the blind spots and errors in standard growth economics, alongside the corrections that ecological economics offers to better guide us toward a sustainable economy one with deeper biophysical and ethical roots. Under the general heading of sustainability and ecological economics, many specific topics are here brought into relation with each other. These include: limits to growth; full-world versus empty-world economics; uneconomic growth; definitions of sustainability; peak oil; steady-state economics; allocation versus distribution versus scale issues; non-enclosure of rival goods and enclosure of non-rival goods; production functions and the laws of thermodynamics; OPEC and Kyoto; involuntary resettlement and development; resource versus value-added taxation; globalization versus internationalization; immigration; climate change; and the philosophical presuppositions of policy, including the policies suggested in connection with the topics above. This fascinating work will appeal to scholars and academics of ecol

Download or read book Finance and the Macroeconomics of Environmental Policies written by P. Arestis and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-01-29 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines current and previous environmental policies, and suggests alternative strategies for the future. Addressing resource depletion and climate change are pressing priorities for modern economies. Planning energy infrastructure projects is complicated by uncertainty, as such clear government policies have a crucial role to play.

Download or read book Macroeconomics and the Environment written by Salah El Serafy and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'This is an important book. It not only serves as a valuable contribution to green accounting, it is a testament to Salah El Serafy's tireless efforts to reform the national income accounts in ways that would better reveal the sustainable product of nations and the value of development policies. No matter what differences the reader may have with some of the points made, there is no denying that the world would be a much improved place if the reforms suggested by El Serafy were implemented.' – Philip Lawn, Flinders University, Australia 'This book is a fabulous summary of Salah El Serafy's seminal contributions to "greening" national income accounts. If only we had employed the famous "El Serafy method" of investing depletion of non-renewable resources into renewable alternatives, the world would be in a much stronger and more sustainable place today. Hopefully it is not too late to take up this and El Serafy's many other recommendations for improving national income accounting.' – Robert Costanza, Portland State University, US Though scientists and environmentalists have long expressed concern over the rapid deterioration of the global environment, economists have largely failed to recognize the issue's relevance to their field. Salah El Serafy argues for an increased focus on the economic aspects of environmental degradation, calling for a fundamental shift in how economists measure and discuss national income. Through a combination of new material reflecting recent developments in the field and previously published essays that provide a history of green accounting, the author emphasizes the importance of considering natural resources as part of a nation's economic capital. Setting forth what has become known as the 'El Serafy Method', this fascinating and complex volume presents both the justification and the methodology for giving the environment a place in the global economic conversation. Students, professors, researchers and policymakers in the field of environmental and ecological economics will no doubt find much to appreciate in this thoughtful and comprehensive analysis of the intersection between economics and the environment.

Download or read book Environment and Development written by K. R. Shanmugam and published by Sage Publications Pvt. Limited. This book was released on 2015-12-31 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grounded in current issues and constraints, this book focuses on valuing environmental degradation, green economic growth, trade–environment linkage, climate change, health outcome efficiency and public works programmes. Can the ‘impressive’ growth rates registered by the Indian economy last in the long run? If so, are they inclusive of the key dimensions of well-being? Can the balance between India’s demand for and supply of natural capital make the country an ecological debtor? This volume, in honour of Professor U. Sankar, addresses such significant debates and provides policy initiatives to tackle these issues. This book argues that sustainable development as a long-term objective demands a paradigm shift in the approach to viewing ecology and that sustainability has to be assessed in terms of economic, social and environmental outcomes.

Download or read book Essays in Resource and Environmental Economics microform written by Catherine Shelley Norman and published by Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms International. This book was released on 2005 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The four essays included consider approaches to understanding issues of importance to management and understanding of the relationships between economic activity, natural resources, and the environment.