Pub Date : 2025-08-19DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103222
Paul Waidelich , Joscha Krug , Bjarne Steffen
This paper analyzes bank lending behavior toward novel clean energy technologies in the presence of high screening costs and potential learning-by-lending. In a two-period model, bank loans in the first period build up banks’ financing experience with the novel technology, which improves lending profitability and partially spills over to peers. Because of these learning externalities, such early-stage loans are either undersupplied by the market (a cooperation problem) or do not occur at all if the banking sector remains stuck in an inferior market equilibrium with no lending (a coordination problem). We propose a policy mix in which public loan provision eliminates the inferior equilibrium, thereby resolving the coordination problem, while de-risking subsidies internalize learning spillovers to peers. Our findings highlight the role of public financial policies if environmental and innovation externalities are already addressed, and we provide a numerical application to the early stage of offshore wind energy in Germany as a plausible context for our policy implications.
{"title":"Mobilizing credit for clean energy: De-risking and public loan provision under learning spillovers","authors":"Paul Waidelich , Joscha Krug , Bjarne Steffen","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103222","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103222","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper analyzes bank lending behavior toward novel clean energy technologies in the presence of high screening costs and potential learning-by-lending. In a two-period model, bank loans in the first period build up banks’ financing experience with the novel technology, which improves lending profitability and partially spills over to peers. Because of these learning externalities, such early-stage loans are either undersupplied by the market (a cooperation problem) or do not occur at all if the banking sector remains stuck in an inferior market equilibrium with no lending (a coordination problem). We propose a policy mix in which public loan provision eliminates the inferior equilibrium, thereby resolving the coordination problem, while de-risking subsidies internalize learning spillovers to peers. Our findings highlight the role of public financial policies if environmental and innovation externalities are already addressed, and we provide a numerical application to the early stage of offshore wind energy in Germany as a plausible context for our policy implications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"133 ","pages":"Article 103222"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144908177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-14DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103219
Kathryn Baragwanath , Nilesh Shinde
Satellite data is essential for enforcing and evaluating environmental policy, but technological limitations of monitoring systems can create perverse incentives and bias impact assessment. This study examines how detection thresholds in satellite monitoring systems affect both the implementation and evaluation of forest conservation policies. We identify three key mechanisms: a measurement issue, where datasets with larger minimum detection thresholds systematically miss small-scale deforestation; a loophole effect, where policy only reduces detectable, large-scale deforestation; and strategic adaptation, where regulated agents adjust behavior to exploit known detection thresholds, substituting from large- to small-scale deforestation. Studying Brazil’s 2008 municipal Blacklisting policy, we find that the government’s primary monitoring system, which does not report patches below 6.25 hectares, overestimates policy effectiveness by a third compared to datasets with smaller minimum detection thresholds. When measured with those datasets, blacklisting reduced deforestation by 31.2 % from baseline—substantially less than the 47.6 % reduction suggested by government data. Average clearing size declined by 28.9 %, with significant increases in patches below detection thresholds, reflecting both undetected and strategically fragmented activity. Our analysis reveals a critical challenge for environmental governance: as monitoring systems improve, so too do evasion strategies, requiring close attention to how technology shapes observed outcomes and on-the-ground incentives.
{"title":"Beyond the canopy: How satellite data detection thresholds influence policy evaluation and deforestation behavior","authors":"Kathryn Baragwanath , Nilesh Shinde","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103219","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103219","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Satellite data is essential for enforcing and evaluating environmental policy, but technological limitations of monitoring systems can create perverse incentives and bias impact assessment. This study examines how detection thresholds in satellite monitoring systems affect both the implementation and evaluation of forest conservation policies. We identify three key mechanisms: a measurement issue, where datasets with larger minimum detection thresholds systematically miss small-scale deforestation; a loophole effect, where policy only reduces detectable, large-scale deforestation; and strategic adaptation, where regulated agents adjust behavior to exploit known detection thresholds, substituting from large- to small-scale deforestation. Studying Brazil’s 2008 municipal Blacklisting policy, we find that the government’s primary monitoring system, which does not report patches below 6.25 hectares, overestimates policy effectiveness by a third compared to datasets with smaller minimum detection thresholds. When measured with those datasets, blacklisting reduced deforestation by 31.2 % from baseline—substantially less than the 47.6 % reduction suggested by government data. Average clearing size declined by 28.9 %, with significant increases in patches below detection thresholds, reflecting both undetected and strategically fragmented activity. Our analysis reveals a critical challenge for environmental governance: as monitoring systems improve, so too do evasion strategies, requiring close attention to how technology shapes observed outcomes and on-the-ground incentives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"134 ","pages":"Article 103219"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145010870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-13DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103181
Deepshikha Batheja , Sarojini Hirshleifer , Jamie T. Mullins
We measure the impact of three components of air pollution on daily labor productivity in call centers in five Indian cities. We find that a one standard deviation increase in fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a pollutant that has been the primary focus of the literature on the harms of air pollution, has a large negative effect of on an index of intensive margin productivity. Notably, we find a comparable negative effect for a one standard deviation increase in carbon monoxide (CO) of as well as a negative effect of from ozone (O3). For one of our main productivity variables, the number of calls per shift, one standard deviation increases in PM2.5, CO and O3 lead to declines relative to the mean of 11.8 %, 10.6 % and 6.0 %, respectively. In summing air pollution harms across our sample, CO is responsible for more than half of the total productivity lost, which is more than double the losses attributable to PM2.5. We then illustrate the potential productivity impacts of an existing national policy in India that targets PM2.5 compared to a counterfactual policy that also targets CO and O3.
{"title":"More than particulates matter: Multiple pollutants and productivity in Indian call centers","authors":"Deepshikha Batheja , Sarojini Hirshleifer , Jamie T. Mullins","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103181","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103181","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We measure the impact of three components of air pollution on daily labor productivity in call centers in five Indian cities. We find that a one standard deviation increase in fine particulate matter (PM<sub>2.5</sub>), a pollutant that has been the primary focus of the literature on the harms of air pollution, has a large negative effect of <span><math><mn>0.15</mn><mi>σ</mi></math></span> on an index of intensive margin productivity. Notably, we find a comparable negative effect for a one standard deviation increase in carbon monoxide (CO) of <span><math><mn>0.14</mn><mi>σ</mi></math></span> as well as a negative effect of <span><math><mn>0.09</mn><mi>σ</mi></math></span> from ozone (O<sub>3</sub>). For one of our main productivity variables, the number of calls per shift, one standard deviation increases in PM<sub>2.5</sub>, CO and O<sub>3</sub> lead to declines relative to the mean of 11.8 %, 10.6 % and 6.0 %, respectively. In summing air pollution harms across our sample, CO is responsible for more than half of the total productivity lost, which is more than double the losses attributable to PM<sub>2.5</sub>. We then illustrate the potential productivity impacts of an existing national policy in India that targets PM<sub>2.5</sub> compared to a counterfactual policy that also targets CO and O<sub>3</sub>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"134 ","pages":"Article 103181"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145106500","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-07DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103218
A.Patrick Behrer , Hemant Pullabhotla
Depletion of groundwater is a major challenge in India. We examine how a major rural public works program (MNREGA) that financed the construction of surface water infrastructure may have plausibly increased aquifer recharge rates and impacted groundwater levels. Using a difference-in-differences approach on the staggered and heterogeneous roll-out of MNREGA, we show that groundwater levels increased after its implementation. These increases were concentrated in states that constructed the largest number of MNREGA-financed surface water projects. The increases we observe in groundwater appear to have led to increases in the irrigated area of high value crops and greater overall irrigation during the dry season.
{"title":"Spilling over: The benefits of public works projects for groundwater in India","authors":"A.Patrick Behrer , Hemant Pullabhotla","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103218","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103218","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Depletion of groundwater is a major challenge in India. We examine how a major rural public works program (MNREGA) that financed the construction of surface water infrastructure may have plausibly increased aquifer recharge rates and impacted groundwater levels. Using a difference-in-differences approach on the staggered and heterogeneous roll-out of MNREGA, we show that groundwater levels increased after its implementation. These increases were concentrated in states that constructed the largest number of MNREGA-financed surface water projects. The increases we observe in groundwater appear to have led to increases in the irrigated area of high value crops and greater overall irrigation during the dry season.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"133 ","pages":"Article 103218"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144878604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-05DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103215
Sandra Aguilar-Gomez
Many cities have adopted air quality alert systems to reduce the health risks from severe pollution episodes, pairing public messaging with temporary restrictions on vehicle and industrial activity. Despite their widespread implementation, evidence on their effectiveness remains mixed, in part because of data limitations and a focus on traffic-only or voluntary measures. This paper evaluates Mexico City’s air quality alert program using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design that exploits a preset ozone threshold for policy activation. I find that alerts lead to significant improvements in ozone and sulfur dioxide concentrations and sizable reductions in emergency department visits for respiratory (56 % decrease) and cardiovascular conditions (50 % decrease). The effects on transport-related pollutants are smaller and time-dependent, consistent with the alerts mitigating vehicle emissions more slowly. To assess mechanisms, I analyze information-seeking behavior, mobility data, and emissions inventories. The alerts increase online searches about air quality and the policy itself, but not about protective behaviors. Traffic volume falls and congestion improves, though public transit usage does not increase. Finally, I show that the pollution reductions are largest near restricted industrial facilities, which suggests that industrial curbs play a central role in policy effectiveness. These results can support the design of short-term environmental response policies in cities facing both mobile and stationary sources of pollution.
{"title":"Adaptation and mitigation of pollution: Evidence from air quality warnings","authors":"Sandra Aguilar-Gomez","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103215","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103215","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Many cities have adopted air quality alert systems to reduce the health risks from severe pollution episodes, pairing public messaging with temporary restrictions on vehicle and industrial activity. Despite their widespread implementation, evidence on their effectiveness remains mixed, in part because of data limitations and a focus on traffic-only or voluntary measures. This paper evaluates Mexico City’s air quality alert program using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design that exploits a preset ozone threshold for policy activation. I find that alerts lead to significant improvements in ozone and sulfur dioxide concentrations and sizable reductions in emergency department visits for respiratory (56 % decrease) and cardiovascular conditions (50 % decrease). The effects on transport-related pollutants are smaller and time-dependent, consistent with the alerts mitigating vehicle emissions more slowly. To assess mechanisms, I analyze information-seeking behavior, mobility data, and emissions inventories. The alerts increase online searches about air quality and the policy itself, but not about protective behaviors. Traffic volume falls and congestion improves, though public transit usage does not increase. Finally, I show that the pollution reductions are largest near restricted industrial facilities, which suggests that industrial curbs play a central role in policy effectiveness. These results can support the design of short-term environmental response policies in cities facing both mobile and stationary sources of pollution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"134 ","pages":"Article 103215"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145106498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-05DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103216
Léo Coppens , Simon Dietz , Frank Venmans
We analyse the large and diverse literature on technical change in integrated assessment models (IAMs) of climate change, with a view to understanding how different representations of technical change affect optimal climate policy. We first solve an analytical IAM that features several models of technical change from the literature, including exogenous technical change in abatement technologies, exogenous decarbonisation of the economy, endogenous technical change via learning-by-doing, and endogenous technical change via R&D (in particular, directed technical change). We show how these models of technical change impact optimal carbon prices, emissions and temperatures in often quite different ways. We then survey how technical change is currently represented in the main quantitative IAMs used to inform policy, demonstrating that a range of approaches are used. Exogenous technical change in abatement technologies and learning-by-doing are most popular, although the latter mechanism is only partially endogenous in some models. We go on to quantify technical change in these policy models using structural estimation, and simulate our analytical IAM numerically, assessing the effect of technical change on optimal climate policy. We find large quantitative effects of technical change and large quantitative differences between different representations of technical change, both under cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness objectives.
{"title":"Optimal climate policy under exogenous and endogenous technical change: Making sense of the different approaches","authors":"Léo Coppens , Simon Dietz , Frank Venmans","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103216","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103216","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We analyse the large and diverse literature on technical change in integrated assessment models (IAMs) of climate change, with a view to understanding how different representations of technical change affect optimal climate policy. We first solve an analytical IAM that features several models of technical change from the literature, including exogenous technical change in abatement technologies, exogenous decarbonisation of the economy, endogenous technical change via learning-by-doing, and endogenous technical change via R&D (in particular, directed technical change). We show how these models of technical change impact optimal carbon prices, emissions and temperatures in often quite different ways. We then survey how technical change is currently represented in the main quantitative IAMs used to inform policy, demonstrating that a range of approaches are used. Exogenous technical change in abatement technologies and learning-by-doing are most popular, although the latter mechanism is only partially endogenous in some models. We go on to quantify technical change in these policy models using structural estimation, and simulate our analytical IAM numerically, assessing the effect of technical change on optimal climate policy. We find large quantitative effects of technical change and large quantitative differences between different representations of technical change, both under cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness objectives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"133 ","pages":"Article 103216"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144878729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We conduct a field experiment to test whether informational messages can nudge organic consumers toward purchasing “greener” products that support climate change adaptation. Leveraging data from a large Italian online shop of organic products, we use pasta as a case study to examine consumer responses to information about an ancient durum wheat variety with superior drought tolerance compared to modern wheat. We test two types of messages that frame climate adaptation as achievable through everyday choices: a colloquial information that adopts a relatable tone and a science-based message that presents evidence with visual elements. We find that the colloquial message increases the market share of “greener” pasta by 13 %, while the science-based message is effective only among highly environmentally conscious consumers. Effects persist for at least three months and are stronger among women, younger individuals, and those with higher education. The effect of colloquial messaging is amplified among consumers previously experiencing severe or extreme drought conditions. We observe a backfire effect among the greenest consumers, i.e., those who were already predominantly purchasing ancient pasta.
{"title":"Nudging toward climate adaptation. A field experiment on informational strategies in organic food markets","authors":"Cecilia Castaldo , Matilde Giaccherini , Giacomo Pallante , Alessandro Palma","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103217","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103217","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We conduct a field experiment to test whether informational messages can nudge organic consumers toward purchasing “greener” products that support climate change adaptation. Leveraging data from a large Italian online shop of organic products, we use pasta as a case study to examine consumer responses to information about an ancient durum wheat variety with superior drought tolerance compared to modern wheat. We test two types of messages that frame climate adaptation as achievable through everyday choices: a colloquial information that adopts a relatable tone and a science-based message that presents evidence with visual elements. We find that the colloquial message increases the market share of “greener” pasta by 13 %, while the science-based message is effective only among highly environmentally conscious consumers. Effects persist for at least three months and are stronger among women, younger individuals, and those with higher education. The effect of colloquial messaging is amplified among consumers previously experiencing severe or extreme drought conditions. We observe a backfire effect among the greenest consumers, i.e., those who were already predominantly purchasing ancient pasta.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"133 ","pages":"Article 103217"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144826989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-21DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103211
Sayahnika Basu , Jonathan D. Ketcham , Nicolai V. Kuminoff
We investigate how environmental regulation under the U.S. Superfund program and Clean Air Act affected exposures to fine particulate air pollution and hazardous waste for Americans over age 65 during the 2000s. Our research design uses quasi-random features of how the two programs enforce regulations and provide information to estimate their causal effects on migration and pollution exposure. We show that senior Americans’ average pollution exposures declined substantially. We also show that spatially heterogeneous improvements in environmental quality had little-to-no effect on residential sorting. This led to relatively large reductions in pollution exposure for seniors living in the dirtiest areas.
{"title":"Environmental regulation, residential sorting, and pollution exposure among senior Americans","authors":"Sayahnika Basu , Jonathan D. Ketcham , Nicolai V. Kuminoff","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103211","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103211","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We investigate how environmental regulation under the U.S. Superfund program and Clean Air Act affected exposures to fine particulate air pollution and hazardous waste for Americans over age 65 during the 2000s. Our research design uses quasi-random features of how the two programs enforce regulations and provide information to estimate their causal effects on migration and pollution exposure. We show that senior Americans’ average pollution exposures declined substantially. We also show that spatially heterogeneous improvements in environmental quality had little-to-no effect on residential sorting. This led to relatively large reductions in pollution exposure for seniors living in the dirtiest areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"133 ","pages":"Article 103211"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144829121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-17DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103208
Piero Basaglia , Elisabeth T. Isaksen , Misato Sato
Carbon pricing is often paired with compensation to carbon-intensive firms to mitigate the risk of carbon leakage. This paper empirically examines the effects of indirect carbon cost compensation on UK manufacturing firms. Using administrative microdata, we combine difference-in-differences and fuzzy regression discontinuity designs to exploit firm-level eligibility criteria and identify the causal impact of compensation. We find that compensation reduces output contraction but also increases electricity consumption and emissions. These findings highlight a key policy trade-off – while compensation can help protect firms’ competitiveness and reduce leakage risks, it may also delay industrial decarbonization and increase the overall cost of achieving national emission targets.
{"title":"Carbon pricing, compensation, and competitiveness: Lessons from UK manufacturing","authors":"Piero Basaglia , Elisabeth T. Isaksen , Misato Sato","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103208","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103208","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Carbon pricing is often paired with compensation to carbon-intensive firms to mitigate the risk of carbon leakage. This paper empirically examines the effects of indirect carbon cost compensation on UK manufacturing firms. Using administrative microdata, we combine difference-in-differences and fuzzy regression discontinuity designs to exploit firm-level eligibility criteria and identify the causal impact of compensation. We find that compensation reduces output contraction but also increases electricity consumption and emissions. These findings highlight a key policy trade-off – while compensation can help protect firms’ competitiveness and reduce leakage risks, it may also delay industrial decarbonization and increase the overall cost of achieving national emission targets.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"133 ","pages":"Article 103208"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144704125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-14DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103209
Lucas Bretschger
The paper develops an endogenous growth framework to show that poor input substitution and population growth are compatible with sustainable development, once labor and knowledge are adequately taken into account. A sustainable economy with poor input substitution relies on the combination of a favorable demand effect, providing a “safe haven" for capital and knowledge, and a supply effect that is supported by the “waterbed function" of labor. Population growth promotes sustainability through innovation, but has a negative impact if it implies increased pressure on ecosystem services. Induced innovation cannot avert an economic catastrophe when the ecology is tipping. Degrowth policies protect the environment but harm welfare level and development. Knowledge is the most important economic indicator of sustainability, but measurements at sectoral and country levels must be interpreted with great care.
{"title":"Nature and the ultimate resource: Sustainability with poor input substitution","authors":"Lucas Bretschger","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103209","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103209","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The paper develops an endogenous growth framework to show that poor input substitution and population growth are compatible with sustainable development, once labor and knowledge are adequately taken into account. A sustainable economy with poor input substitution relies on the combination of a favorable demand effect, providing a “safe haven\" for capital and knowledge, and a supply effect that is supported by the “waterbed function\" of labor. Population growth promotes sustainability through innovation, but has a negative impact if it implies increased pressure on ecosystem services. Induced innovation cannot avert an economic catastrophe when the ecology is tipping. Degrowth policies protect the environment but harm welfare level and development. Knowledge is the most important economic indicator of sustainability, but measurements at sectoral and country levels must be interpreted with great care.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"133 ","pages":"Article 103209"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144653088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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