Exploiting a quasi-natural experiment, which involves the imposition of a ban by Germany in 1994 on an input (‘Azo-dyes’) used by the Indian leather and textile industries, we estimate the indirect impact of the environmental regulation on innovation activities of upstream (dye-producing) firms in India and examine how it varies by different firm characteristics: size and ownership. We find robust evidence of a significant increase (11–61%) in innovation expenditure for the dye-makers in response to the ‘Azo-dyes’ ban. Additionally, we find: (i) increase in technology transfer to the tune of 1.2–2.5 times more than that of internal RD (ii) increase in innovation expenditure with firm size; (iii) domestic firms investing more in technology transfer as compared to R&D, whereas foreign firms only undertaking the latter and (iv) decrease in investments towards innovation by downstream firms, thereby pointing towards a possible substitution effect in aggregate innovation by upstream firms. Our results are consistent with a variety of estimation methods and robustness checks.
{"title":"Does Environmental Regulation Indirectly Induce Upstream Innovation? New Evidence from India","authors":"Pavel Chakraborty, Chirantan Chatterjee","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2664131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2664131","url":null,"abstract":"Exploiting a quasi-natural experiment, which involves the imposition of a ban by Germany in 1994 on an input (‘Azo-dyes’) used by the Indian leather and textile industries, we estimate the indirect impact of the environmental regulation on innovation activities of upstream (dye-producing) firms in India and examine how it varies by different firm characteristics: size and ownership. We find robust evidence of a significant increase (11–61%) in innovation expenditure for the dye-makers in response to the ‘Azo-dyes’ ban. Additionally, we find: (i) increase in technology transfer to the tune of 1.2–2.5 times more than that of internal RD (ii) increase in innovation expenditure with firm size; (iii) domestic firms investing more in technology transfer as compared to R&D, whereas foreign firms only undertaking the latter and (iv) decrease in investments towards innovation by downstream firms, thereby pointing towards a possible substitution effect in aggregate innovation by upstream firms. Our results are consistent with a variety of estimation methods and robustness checks.","PeriodicalId":340493,"journal":{"name":"Pollution eJournal","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126948127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Polluted rivers are harmful to human, animals and plants living along it. To reduce the harm, cleaning costs are generated. However, when the river passes through several different countries or regions, a relevant question is how should the costs be shared among the agents. Ni and Wang (2007) first consider this problem as cost sharing problems on a river network, shortly called polluted river problems. They consider rivers with one spring which was generalized by Dong, Ni, and Wang (2012) to rivers with multiple springs. They introduce and axiomatize three cost sharing methods: the Local Responsibility Sharing (LRS) method, the Upstream Equal Sharing (UES) method and the Downstream Equal Sharing (DES) method. In this paper, we show that the UES and DES methods can also be obtained as the conjunctive permission value of an associated game with a permission structure, where the permission structure corresponds to the river structure and the game is determined by the cleaning costs. Then, we show that several axiomatizations of the conjunctive permission value also give axiomatizations of the UES and DES methods, of which one is comparable with the one from Dong, Ni, and Wang (2012). Besides, by applying another solution, the disjunctive permission value, to polluted river games with a permission structure we obtain a new cost allocation method for polluted river problems. We axiomatize this solution and compare it with the UES method.
被污染的河流对生活在河边的人类和动植物都是有害的。为了减少危害，产生了清洁费用。然而，当河流经过几个不同的国家或地区时，一个相关的问题是如何在代理人之间分担成本。Ni和Wang(2007)首先将这一问题视为河网上的成本分担问题，简称污染河流问题。他们将Dong, Ni, and Wang(2012)提出的单泉河流归纳为多泉河流。他们介绍并公理化了三种成本分担方法:局部责任分担法(LRS)、上游平等分担法(UES)和下游平等分担法(DES)。在本文中，我们证明UES和DES方法也可以作为具有权限结构的关联博弈的合取权限值，其中权限结构对应于河流结构，博弈由清理成本决定。然后，我们证明了连接许可值的几个公理化也给出了UES和DES方法的公理化，其中一个与Dong, Ni, and Wang(2012)的方法相当。此外，将另一种解——析取权限值——应用于具有权限结构的污染河流博弈，得到了污染河流问题的一种新的成本分配方法。我们将此解公理化，并与UES方法进行比较。
{"title":"Polluted River Problems and Games with a Permission Structure","authors":"R. Brink, Simin He, Jia-Ping Huang","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2657489","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2657489","url":null,"abstract":"Polluted rivers are harmful to human, animals and plants living along it. To reduce the harm, cleaning costs are generated. However, when the river passes through several different countries or regions, a relevant question is how should the costs be shared among the agents. Ni and Wang (2007) first consider this problem as cost sharing problems on a river network, shortly called polluted river problems. They consider rivers with one spring which was generalized by Dong, Ni, and Wang (2012) to rivers with multiple springs. They introduce and axiomatize three cost sharing methods: the Local Responsibility Sharing (LRS) method, the Upstream Equal Sharing (UES) method and the Downstream Equal Sharing (DES) method. In this paper, we show that the UES and DES methods can also be obtained as the conjunctive permission value of an associated game with a permission structure, where the permission structure corresponds to the river structure and the game is determined by the cleaning costs. Then, we show that several axiomatizations of the conjunctive permission value also give axiomatizations of the UES and DES methods, of which one is comparable with the one from Dong, Ni, and Wang (2012). Besides, by applying another solution, the disjunctive permission value, to polluted river games with a permission structure we obtain a new cost allocation method for polluted river problems. We axiomatize this solution and compare it with the UES method.","PeriodicalId":340493,"journal":{"name":"Pollution eJournal","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126112375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Different pollution control policies, even if they achieve the same emissions goal, could have importantly different effects on the composition of the energy sector and economic outcomes. In this paper, we use the G-Cubed model of the global economy to compare two basic policy approaches for controlling carbon emissions from power plants: a tradable performance standard and a carbon tax. We choose these two approaches because they resemble two key options facing policymakers: continue implementing a performance standard approach under the Clean Air Act or adopt an excise tax on the carbon content of fossil fuels instead. Our goal is to highlight the important high-level differences in these basic approaches, abstracting from the details of specific policy proposals. We explore a wide variety of the illustrative policies’ economic outcomes including: changes in capital stocks and electricity production across eight types of generators, changes in end-user electricity prices, changes in gross domestic product (GDP), overall welfare impacts on the household sector and, finally, one outcome represented in the G-Cubed model and few others: short to medium-run changes in aggregate employment.
{"title":"Controlling Carbon Emissions from U.S. Power Plants: How a Tradable Performance Standard Compares to a Carbon Tax","authors":"Warwick McKibbin, A. Morris, P. Wilcoxen","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2642062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2642062","url":null,"abstract":"Different pollution control policies, even if they achieve the same emissions goal, could have importantly different effects on the composition of the energy sector and economic outcomes. In this paper, we use the G-Cubed model of the global economy to compare two basic policy approaches for controlling carbon emissions from power plants: a tradable performance standard and a carbon tax. We choose these two approaches because they resemble two key options facing policymakers: continue implementing a performance standard approach under the Clean Air Act or adopt an excise tax on the carbon content of fossil fuels instead. Our goal is to highlight the important high-level differences in these basic approaches, abstracting from the details of specific policy proposals. We explore a wide variety of the illustrative policies’ economic outcomes including: changes in capital stocks and electricity production across eight types of generators, changes in end-user electricity prices, changes in gross domestic product (GDP), overall welfare impacts on the household sector and, finally, one outcome represented in the G-Cubed model and few others: short to medium-run changes in aggregate employment.","PeriodicalId":340493,"journal":{"name":"Pollution eJournal","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125980756","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Two competing strategies for setting climate policy are cost-benefit analysis and the precautionary principle. This Article analyzes these strategies and considers their application to climate risks in four case studies: determination of the social cost of carbon, international endorsement of a 2° ceiling on warming, EPA’s endangerment finding, and the polar bear listing decision. In practice, cost-benefit analysis of climate change encounters great difficulties. The precautionary principle works well in determining whether to regulate, but gives modest guidance about the level of regulation. One possibility might be to combine the approaches in a two-step process: (1) using economic models to help identify feasible emissions trajectories that minimize the risk of catastrophic outcomes, and then (2) backing out the social cost of carbon based on compliance costs along the optimum trajectories. In the meantime, the four case studies indicate that decision makers have managed to make reasonably defensible decisions despite the obstacles.
{"title":"Coping with Uncertainty: Cost-Benefit Analysis, the Precautionary Principle, and Climate Change","authors":"D. Farber","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2637105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2637105","url":null,"abstract":"Two competing strategies for setting climate policy are cost-benefit analysis and the precautionary principle. This Article analyzes these strategies and considers their application to climate risks in four case studies: determination of the social cost of carbon, international endorsement of a 2° ceiling on warming, EPA’s endangerment finding, and the polar bear listing decision. In practice, cost-benefit analysis of climate change encounters great difficulties. The precautionary principle works well in determining whether to regulate, but gives modest guidance about the level of regulation. One possibility might be to combine the approaches in a two-step process: (1) using economic models to help identify feasible emissions trajectories that minimize the risk of catastrophic outcomes, and then (2) backing out the social cost of carbon based on compliance costs along the optimum trajectories. In the meantime, the four case studies indicate that decision makers have managed to make reasonably defensible decisions despite the obstacles.","PeriodicalId":340493,"journal":{"name":"Pollution eJournal","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123628742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was required to establish standards limiting air toxics emissions from industrial plants. This paper examines the effect of five of the largest cost rules issued by EPA in the initial round of air toxics rulemaking over the 1995 to 2000 period. Our estimates suggest that plants in the printing and publishing and pulp and paper industries realized important reductions in their air toxics emissions in the period between publication of the final rule and the effective date for compliance with the rule—although the reduction in air toxics emissions by pulp and paper mills falls short of EPA’s ex ante projections. However, our estimates suggest that plants in the other three industries—petroleum refining, pharmaceutical, and wood furniture—achieved little or no additional reduction in air toxics emissions over the compliance period in response to EPA’s air toxics rules. Finally, the paper explores steps that EPA should take in setting up future retrospective analyses.
{"title":"A Retrospective Study of EPA's Air Toxics Program under the Revised Section 112 Requirements of the Clean Air Act","authors":"A. Fraas, A. Egorenkov","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2622704","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2622704","url":null,"abstract":"Under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was required to establish standards limiting air toxics emissions from industrial plants. This paper examines the effect of five of the largest cost rules issued by EPA in the initial round of air toxics rulemaking over the 1995 to 2000 period. Our estimates suggest that plants in the printing and publishing and pulp and paper industries realized important reductions in their air toxics emissions in the period between publication of the final rule and the effective date for compliance with the rule—although the reduction in air toxics emissions by pulp and paper mills falls short of EPA’s ex ante projections. However, our estimates suggest that plants in the other three industries—petroleum refining, pharmaceutical, and wood furniture—achieved little or no additional reduction in air toxics emissions over the compliance period in response to EPA’s air toxics rules. Finally, the paper explores steps that EPA should take in setting up future retrospective analyses.","PeriodicalId":340493,"journal":{"name":"Pollution eJournal","volume":"122 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131594389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)from existing fossil electricity generators in its proposed Clean Power Plan rule under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. The proposal is based on the best system of emissions reductions (BSER) and calls for states to develop plans to achieve reductions that are demonstrated to be equivalent to those attained by the application of BSER to each state. Policy options from which states may choose are not restricted - the BSER and state plans are distinct from one another. This primer describes the different types of incentive-based comprehensive policies that states could adopt and how policy design features can address particular objectives including overall cost-effectiveness, distributional consequences for electricity consumers and producers, administrative costs, and emissions of other pollutants. We also elucidate some trade-offs that state policymakers will face as they develop their plans for Clean Power Plan compliance.
{"title":"A Primer on Comprehensive Policy Options for States to Comply with the Clean Power Plan","authors":"K. Palmer, A. Paul","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2622697","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2622697","url":null,"abstract":"The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)from existing fossil electricity generators in its proposed Clean Power Plan rule under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. The proposal is based on the best system of emissions reductions (BSER) and calls for states to develop plans to achieve reductions that are demonstrated to be equivalent to those attained by the application of BSER to each state. Policy options from which states may choose are not restricted - the BSER and state plans are distinct from one another. This primer describes the different types of incentive-based comprehensive policies that states could adopt and how policy design features can address particular objectives including overall cost-effectiveness, distributional consequences for electricity consumers and producers, administrative costs, and emissions of other pollutants. We also elucidate some trade-offs that state policymakers will face as they develop their plans for Clean Power Plan compliance.","PeriodicalId":340493,"journal":{"name":"Pollution eJournal","volume":"163 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127316010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This short academic paper, prepared for background study by senior civil servants in a forthcoming mid-career training course, looks at certain plausible elements of sound offset and counter-trade policy design, that are repeatedly noticed in important national jurisdictions that have successfully deployed such tools for fostering their domestic industrial base. It attempts to develop an objective framework for analysing and comparing national offset systems, as an alternative to anecdotal and responses-based systems presently employed for the purpose. The issues for offsets reforms discussed in this short paper could also provide useful pointers to developing countries in particular that may be serious in their intentions and efforts for smart leveraging of public procurement cases for fostering domestic industrial capabilities.
{"title":"More Love in the Time of Cholera: Staying Clear of Black Holes, Whirlpools, Vices and Other Sins in Offset Policy Design","authors":"Sandeep Verma","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.2594320","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.2594320","url":null,"abstract":"This short academic paper, prepared for background study by senior civil servants in a forthcoming mid-career training course, looks at certain plausible elements of sound offset and counter-trade policy design, that are repeatedly noticed in important national jurisdictions that have successfully deployed such tools for fostering their domestic industrial base. It attempts to develop an objective framework for analysing and comparing national offset systems, as an alternative to anecdotal and responses-based systems presently employed for the purpose. The issues for offsets reforms discussed in this short paper could also provide useful pointers to developing countries in particular that may be serious in their intentions and efforts for smart leveraging of public procurement cases for fostering domestic industrial capabilities.","PeriodicalId":340493,"journal":{"name":"Pollution eJournal","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126939699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Since the introduction of the market-oriented reform in 1978, China has achieved such miraculous economic growth to become the world’s second largest single-country economy. However, growing gross domestic product (GDP) as a top priority together with a rapidly growing population has resulted in a severe environmental degradation. China is today the world’s largest source of carbon emissions, world’s top consumer of primary energy and minerals, and leads the world in resource consumption and waste emissions. Domestically, energy and water shortages, water and air pollution, cropland losses, desertification, and biodiversity losses, have become really severe obstacles to a future sustainable development of the country, threatening both China’s natural ecosystems and public health. In such a context, the environmentally sustainable development challenge is arguably China’s most complex and difficult challenge that any country has ever tried to confront. The Chinese government has acknowledged the time has come to implement an alternative growth model. However, what is more striking is the coexistence of often contradictory initiatives. On the one hand, the government continues investing in renewable energy so massively that it has become the world’s largest investor in such sector. On the other, it has repeatedly declared it will not be able to reduce its dependence on coal in the short-term, it will make domestic consumption of the rising middle-class the new growth model, especially promoting car ownership, while imposing at the same time strict measures to tackle pollution. The massive urbanization process, the growing unbridled demand of natural resources and consumption, the increasing production of polluting waste will negatively impact more and more Chinese people in the near future if the country’s leadership will not be able to reconcile its socioeconomic model with environmental protection, namely to achieve environmental sustainability in the long-term. Based on an extensive relevant literature review as well as an accurate analysis of statistical data related to the topic at issue, the present research seeks therefore to broadly examine the key intertwined challenges and opportunities for China to achieve an environmentally sustainable development. By adopting a holistic approach and presenting data, the study was explorative and interpretative in nature. Given the cross-cutting nature of the topic, which requires to be analyzed from many perspectives in order to be fully understood, conducting such kind of research was not easy task. Despite this, it has attempted to give the most accurate picture and analysis to contribute to the discussion about environmental sustainability in present-day China. China’s huge environmental challenges are significant for us all. The choices the Chinese government and Chinese people are making influence not only the health and wellbeing of China but, given the global nature of environmental problems, th
{"title":"China and Environmental Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities Ahead","authors":"Matteo Cantoni","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2996193","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2996193","url":null,"abstract":"Since the introduction of the market-oriented reform in 1978, China has achieved such miraculous economic growth to become the world’s second largest single-country economy. However, growing gross domestic product (GDP) as a top priority together with a rapidly growing population has resulted in a severe environmental degradation. China is today the world’s largest source of carbon emissions, world’s top consumer of primary energy and minerals, and leads the world in resource consumption and waste emissions. Domestically, energy and water shortages, water and air pollution, cropland losses, desertification, and biodiversity losses, have become really severe obstacles to a future sustainable development of the country, threatening both China’s natural ecosystems and public health. In such a context, the environmentally sustainable development challenge is arguably China’s most complex and difficult challenge that any country has ever tried to confront. The Chinese government has acknowledged the time has come to implement an alternative growth model. However, what is more striking is the coexistence of often contradictory initiatives. On the one hand, the government continues investing in renewable energy so massively that it has become the world’s largest investor in such sector. On the other, it has repeatedly declared it will not be able to reduce its dependence on coal in the short-term, it will make domestic consumption of the rising middle-class the new growth model, especially promoting car ownership, while imposing at the same time strict measures to tackle pollution. The massive urbanization process, the growing unbridled demand of natural resources and consumption, the increasing production of polluting waste will negatively impact more and more Chinese people in the near future if the country’s leadership will not be able to reconcile its socioeconomic model with environmental protection, namely to achieve environmental sustainability in the long-term. Based on an extensive relevant literature review as well as an accurate analysis of statistical data related to the topic at issue, the present research seeks therefore to broadly examine the key intertwined challenges and opportunities for China to achieve an environmentally sustainable development. By adopting a holistic approach and presenting data, the study was explorative and interpretative in nature. Given the cross-cutting nature of the topic, which requires to be analyzed from many perspectives in order to be fully understood, conducting such kind of research was not easy task. Despite this, it has attempted to give the most accurate picture and analysis to contribute to the discussion about environmental sustainability in present-day China. China’s huge environmental challenges are significant for us all. The choices the Chinese government and Chinese people are making influence not only the health and wellbeing of China but, given the global nature of environmental problems, th","PeriodicalId":340493,"journal":{"name":"Pollution eJournal","volume":"40 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130101277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
G. Bel, Catalina Bolancé, Montserrat Guillén, Jordi Rosell
Two speed management policies were implemented in the metropolitan area of Barcelona aimed at reducing air pollution concentration levels. In 2008, the maximum speed limit was reduced to 80 km/h and, in 2009, a variable speed system was introduced on some metropolitan motorways. This paper evaluates whether such policies have been successful in promoting cleaner air, not only in terms of mean pollutant levels but also during high and low pollution episodes. We use a quantile regression approach for fixed effect panel data. We find that the variable speed system improves air quality with regard to the two pollutants considered here, being most effective when nitrogen oxide levels are not too low and when particulate matter concentrations are below extremely high levels. However, reducing the maximum speed limit from 120/100 km/h to 80 km/h has no effect – or even a slightly increasing effect –on the two pollutants, depending on the pollution scenario.
{"title":"The Environmental Effects of Changing Speed Limits: A Quantile Regression Approach","authors":"G. Bel, Catalina Bolancé, Montserrat Guillén, Jordi Rosell","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2533098","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2533098","url":null,"abstract":"Two speed management policies were implemented in the metropolitan area of Barcelona aimed at reducing air pollution concentration levels. In 2008, the maximum speed limit was reduced to 80 km/h and, in 2009, a variable speed system was introduced on some metropolitan motorways. This paper evaluates whether such policies have been successful in promoting cleaner air, not only in terms of mean pollutant levels but also during high and low pollution episodes. We use a quantile regression approach for fixed effect panel data. We find that the variable speed system improves air quality with regard to the two pollutants considered here, being most effective when nitrogen oxide levels are not too low and when particulate matter concentrations are below extremely high levels. However, reducing the maximum speed limit from 120/100 km/h to 80 km/h has no effect – or even a slightly increasing effect –on the two pollutants, depending on the pollution scenario.","PeriodicalId":340493,"journal":{"name":"Pollution eJournal","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126534346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper couples data concerning 2500 grants given to local watershed management councils by an Oregon state agency, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), with 20 years of monthly water quality data sampled at 141 sites around the state. I examine whether public input, in the form of grant funding, to nonprofit watershed councils impacts water quality, and further compare the impacts of different grant types, such as restoration projects or stakeholder outreach. These data present some of the first evidence regarding the effect of collaborative management outputs on environmental outcomes (Carr et al. 2012; Koontz and Thomas 2006). In modeling these effects, this paper also makes a methodological contribution by demonstrating how spatio-temporal ecological and epidemiological modeling techniques can be used to test policy theory and analyze policy impacts using extant data. Specifically, I use integrated nested Laplace approximation (INLA) (Rue et al. 2009) and stochastic partial differential equations (SPDE) (Lindgren et al. 2011) to fit a hierarchical Bayesian model that accounts for spatial and temporal dependency. I find that increased public support (in the form of OWEB grant funds) for nonprofit watershed council education and outreach actions are strongly linked to water quality improvements. Support for council administrative purposes and scientific or technical activities are also associated with improved water quality over longer timer periods. The impacts of restoration projects are positive on average but more uncertain.
本文结合了俄勒冈州机构俄勒冈流域促进委员会(OWEB)向当地流域管理委员会提供的2500笔赠款的数据，以及20年来在该州141个地点取样的每月水质数据。我研究了以赠款资金形式向非营利流域委员会提供的公众投入是否会影响水质，并进一步比较了不同赠款类型(如修复项目或利益相关者外展)的影响。这些数据提供了一些关于协作管理产出对环境结果影响的第一手证据(Carr et al. 2012;Koontz and Thomas 2006)。在对这些影响进行建模时，本文还通过展示如何使用时空生态和流行病学建模技术来测试政策理论并使用现有数据分析政策影响，从而在方法上做出了贡献。具体来说，我使用集成嵌套拉普拉斯近似(INLA) (Rue et al. 2009)和随机偏微分方程(SPDE) (Lindgren et al. 2011)来拟合考虑空间和时间依赖性的分层贝叶斯模型。我发现，增加公众对非营利性流域委员会教育和推广行动的支持(以OWEB赠款基金的形式)与水质改善密切相关。对理事会行政目的和科学或技术活动的支持也与长期改善水质有关。恢复项目的影响总体上是积极的，但不确定性更大。
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