Environmental & Resource Economics
Semester two 2011-12
8 February 2011, 1pm - 2pm
Speaker: Ian Lange (University of Stirling)
Title: In Search of the Green Paradox: Announcement Effects of Title IV of the 1990 CAAA
Venue: G7 HBS
Abstract
This paper presents the first empirical test of the green paradox. According to this paradox, well-intended but imperfectly implemented policies may lead to detrimental environmental outcomes, due to supply side responses. We use Title IV of the 1990 U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments as a case study. As owners of stocks of coal saw the prospect for future sales decline, they had an incentive to supply more of their resource between the signing into law of the Acid Rain Program in November 1990 and the start of the Program in January 1995. This incentive is stronger for owners of high-sulfur coal. We study these effects using data on heat input of power plants and sulfur content of coal, respectively. We find strong evidence for an increase in the sulfur content after November 1990, but no evidence for an increase in heat input. These results have implications for currently contemplated climate policies.
Bio
Dr. Ian Lange is a Lecturer in the Division of Economics at the University of Stirling. He earned his PhD at the University of Washington. His main area of research is in the impact of environmental and energy policy on firm’s decision making behaviour. Dr. Lange’s previous appointment was at the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s National Centre for Environmental Economics and Office of Air & Radiation Climate Economics Branch.
15 February 2011, 1pm - 2pm
Speaker: Gina Cavan (SED, University of Manchester)
Title: Planning for climate change: the adaptation challenge in Manchester, UK.
Venue: G7 HBS
Abstract
Climate change is projected to increase summer day and night-time temperatures, and will also intensify the urban heat island effect in cities. Warming of the urban environment in summer is a particular issue of concern for human health, due to the risk of excess mortality associated with heat stress. Further, the projected increase in winter rainfall is likely to increase the risk of both fluvial and surface water flooding. With the increasing number of people living and working in urban areas worldwide, adapting cities to climate change is now a high priority for urban planners and designers.
This talk introduces research being undertaken for the EcoCities project at the University of Manchester. EcoCities is a joint initiative between the University of Manchester and office provider Bruntwood, that seeks to provide a blueprint for the first climate change adaptation strategy for Greater Manchester. The talk focuses on two recent studies. Firstly, at the neighbourhood level, it presents a study that investigates land cover change in the Oxford Road Corridor and how different greening or development scenarios could impact on local climate. Secondly, at the building level, it presents a study about the economic cost of retrofitting office buildings to adapt to climate change.
Bio
Dr Gina Cavan is a Research Associate in the School of Environment and Development at the University of Manchester. Her research focuses on human-environment interactions, including analysis of climate change hazards, risk, vulnerability and adaptation in urban areas, spatial modelling and investigation of urban ecosystem services. Gina currently works on two multidisciplinary research projects in SED - Climate Change and Urban Vulnerability in Africa (CLUVA) and EcoCities.
22 February 2011
MES
29 February 2011, 1pm - 2pm
Speaker: John O’Neil (Philosophy, University of Manchester)
Venue: G7 HBS
7 March 2011
MES
14 March 2011
Venue: 2.066, ALB
TBA
18 April 2011
MES
25 April 2011, 1pm - 2pm
Venue: G.019, ALB
TBA
2 May 2011, 1pm - 2pm
Speaker: Nicolas Jacquemet (Paris School of Economics)
Venue: G7 HBS
Semester one 2011-12
28 September 2011, 1pm - 2pm
Speaker: Arjan Ruijs (PBL—Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, The Netherlands)
Title: Performance Differences and Trade-offs in the Provision of Ecosystem Goods and Services
Venue: 3.040, ALB
Abstract
Governments are struggling how to properly include in their decision making process the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The question is which information is needed and at what aggregation level to properly evaluate the pros and cons of different land use decisions. This paper presents a new method providing relevant spatial trade off information to the discussion on the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services. We concentrate on three types of information. First, using frontier analysis, we assess regional performance differences in terms of the effect land use decisions have on the joint generation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in a region. Secondly, we explain differences in regional performance by assessing the extent to which the operational environment affects performance. Thirdly, marginal rates of transformation are estimated for each region included in the analysis, which reflect the trade-offs between economic output, biodiversity and ecosystem services.
A two-step frontier analysis is proposed which results in informative and objective information about the tradeoffs between biodiversity, ecosystem services and income. In the first step, a nonparametric estimator is used to determine inefficiency with which regions generate biodiversity, ecosystem services and income. In the second step, the frontier is estimated using a translog production function such that opportunity costs can be estimated. The frontier and trade offs are estimated using information for 1085 grid cells in 18 Eastern European countries generated by the integrated assessment model IMAGE and biodiversity model GLOBIO. Based on the analysis, regional performance is evaluated and opportunity costs for biodiversity and ecosystem services and their dependence on income are assessed. It is observed that opportunity costs differ substantially between regions and that more developed countries generally combine ecosystem services and biodiversity in a more efficient way.)
Bio
Arjan Ruijs is senior environmental economist at PBL - Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. PBL is the national institute for strategic policy analysis in the field of environment, nature and spatial planning. Arjan is involved in several strategic and policy evaluation projects, including several projects on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity, second opinions of cost-benefit analysis, program evaluation of environmental policy instruments and strategic research in the field of competition between European regions. Arjan has a PhD from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Before moving to PBL, Arjan worked as assistant professor at the Environmental Economics and Natural Resources Group of Wageningen University and at the Water Economics group of Royal Haskoning, a consultancy firm in the Netherlands.
5 October 2011, 1pm - 2pm
TBA
12 October 2011, 1pm - 2pm
TBA
19 October 2011, 1pm - 2pm
Speaker: Grischa Perino (University of East Anglia)
Title: Motivation Crowding in Real Purchasing Decisions: Price vs. Quantity Based Instruments
Venue: 3.040, ALB
Abstract
We present the first evidence of motivation crowding in real purchasing decisions from a field experiment in a large supermarket chain. We compare three instruments aiming to induce climate friendly choices: labels, subsidies, and product bans and neutrally framed versions of the latter two. Labels and bans activate intrinsic motivation of consumers. A subsidy framed as an intervention is less effective than either a label or an equivalent but neutrally framed price change, i.e. when combined, information and price change perform worse than each individually. We therefore find markedly different effects of price and quantity based instruments on intrinsic motivation.)
Bio
Grischa Perino is a Lecturer in Economics in the School of Economics at the University of East Anglia. He did his undergraduate studies at the University of Bonn, earned a M.Sc. in Environmental and Resource Economics from University College London and a Diplom-Volkswirt (equ. to a M.A. in Economics) from the University of Freiburg. His Ph.D. in Economics is from the University of Heidelberg.
26 October 2011, 1pm - 2pm
Speaker: Dan Rigby, University of Manchester
Title: Using Best Worst Scaling to Elicit Preferences: The Quality and Impact of Academic Journals
Venue: 3.040, ALB
Abstract
This seminar combines an explanation of the Best Worst Scaling (BWS) method of eliciting preferences with examples from recent case studies completed at Manchester by staff and postgraduate students. BWS is an approach which is attracting increasing attention in the academic and market research literature. It is a form of discrete choice experiment in which both the preferred and least preferred options within a set are chosen by respondents within surveys.
The final part of the seminar outlines some work in progress: using BWS to investigate researchers’ assessment of academic journals’ quality. The assessment of quality involves 2 elements: the effect publishing a paper in a particular journal would have on the researcher’s career progression, and the ‘impact’ the papers published in that journal have in wider society.
Bio:
Dan is a Professor of Economics at University of Manchester. He studied Agricultural Economics at Newcastle University before completing his Master's degree and PhD at Manchester where he has remained apart from spells as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Western Australia.
Most of his research concerns agriculture, food and the environment. Much of this work concerns how to elicit and analyse people’s views and preferences within surveys. Recent work on this has concerned risk perceptions, football fans’ preferences over a season and the preferences of plagiarisers within universities.
2 November 2011, 1pm - 2pm
TBA
9 November 2011, 1pm - 2pm
Speaker: Dimitrios Reppas, University of Manchester
Title: Modeling Fisheries Agreements with Side Payments: The Case of Western Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
Venue: 3.040, ALB
Abstract
Though the management of internationally shared fisheries with side payments is often considered politically difficult, quota transferring is now a policy alternative in specific fisheries treaties. Nevertheless, a theoretical framework capturing the details of the side-payments solution is, to a large extend, missing. This paper tries to fill this gap in the literature, by proposing a static and a dynamic model in the context of a stochastic sequentially harvested stock. The conditions characterizing the solution of the dynamic model are the analogue of the Martingale Property from finance literature. The Western Atlantic Bluefin Tuna fishery is used as an example to calibrate the theory. The objective is to estimate the amount of compensation Canada should provide to the US, such that the latter restricts fishing activities. The compensation scheme could supplement/reform the existing management strategies.)
Bio
Dimitrios undertook graduate studies, first at University College London (M.Sc. Environmental & Resource Economics), and then at the University of Maryland (M.Sc, Ph.D. Agricultural & Resource Economics). His main research interests are in fisheries economics (particularly, contract theory/negotiations in fisheries), and in instruments for environmental policy (price versus quantity instruments for climate change control).
16 October 2011, 1pm - 2pm
MES
23 November 2011, 1pm - 2pm
Speaker: Luca Panzone, University of Manchester
Title: The design and application of an environmental index of sustainable consumption using supermarket data in the UK
Venue: 3.040, ALB
Abstract
Patterns of consumption that allow for a sustainable use of resources and generate low levels of environmental pollution are becoming increasingly important in the policy agenda. Three areas of consumption of particular importance are food, private transport, and domestic energy usage. To contribute to a better understanding of sustainable food consumption, this paper develops and applies an environmental indicator named the Environmentally Sensitive Shopper (ESS) index, which essentially scores patterns of food purchasing on a scale derived from official guidance (directed toward consumers) for more sustainable food consumption behaviours.
The ESS is implemented for the UK using revealed preference data provided by the largest UK retailer. The second part of the paper employs the ESS index and additional data in a household production model to explore novel insights recently put forward by psychological theories of moral self-licensing. Results suggest that (non-material) consumption of the natural environment and of sustainability in food are substitutes: the more households consume (immaterially) nature, the less they will purchase sustainable food. Consistent with the theory, mere exposure to nature through sunshine (which is also a mood enhancer) stimulates sustainable food purchasing. The paper concludes discussing the methodological approach and the implications of the findings of the empirical exercise.
Bio
Luca became a Research Associate at the Sustainable Consumption Institute (University of Manchester) in 2011. His research interests focus on the analysis of social problems related to agriculture, food and the environment. In particular, his interest is mainly focused on the analysis of food consumption and demand from a quantitative, applied micro-econometric perspective on households and consumers. Apart from economics of consumer behavior, Luca maintains a strong interest in marketing theory, always focusing on the demand side.
Previous place of employment, relevant job roles and involvement in projects: University College London; University of Reading; National Institute for the Study and Cure of Cancer; Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra.
30 November 2011, 1pm - 2pm
Speaker: Frans de Vries (University of Stirling)
Title: Inciting Protocols
Venue: 3.077, ALB
Abstract
This paper studies patenting decisions by firms in relation to the negotiation and signing of the Helsinki and Oslo protocol as part of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. We use a uniquely constructed patent data set on SO2 abatement technologies filed in 15 signatory and non-signatory countries in the period 1970-1997. The data distinguish between so-called “mother” patents, or original inventions, and “family” patents, which represent the same invention but are patents filed in foreign countries. Our analysis suggests that not only local environmental regulations matter for patenting decisions. International environmental agreements provide incentives for additional inventive activity in and the diffusion of knowledge towards signatory countries by reducing investment uncertainty for inventing firms.
Bio
Frans de Vries joined the University of Stirling in 2007 as a lecturer after academic positions at the University of Groningen and Tilburg University. He is Senior Lecturer in Economics and Director of the new M.Sc. programme in Environmental Economics, both within the Economics Division of the Stirling Management School. He has a broad research interest in environmental economics and is currently leading the three-year project Designing Markets for Ecosystem Services Delivery , which is funded by the European Investment Bank. He has also been a consultant for the OECD Environment Directorate on Environmental Policy and Technological Innovation, and for the UK Department of International Development (DFID).
7 December 2011, 1pm - 2pm
MES
Archive
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- Workshops 2009/10 first semester
- Workshops 2009/10 second semester
- Workshops 2008/09 second semester
- Workshops 2008/9 first semester
- Workshops 2007/8 second semester