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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Between A Rock And A Soft Place: Ecological And Feminist Economics In Policy Debates, Julie A. Nelson
Between A Rock And A Soft Place: Ecological And Feminist Economics In Policy Debates, Julie A. Nelson
Julie A. Nelson
The field of ecological economics includes both economic analysis on the one hand, and discussions of normative values and visions for society, on the other. Using feminist insights into cultural beliefs about the relative “hardness” and “softness” of these two sides, this essay discusses how ecological economists can use this unique “between” space in order to better inform policy. The current crisis of global climate change, it is argued, requires that economists move beyond modeling and measurement, while ecological thinkers need to re-examine beliefs about markets and profit.
Hyperbolic Discounting Is Rational: Valuing The Far Future With Uncertain Discount Rates, J. Doyne Farmer, John Geanakoplos
Hyperbolic Discounting Is Rational: Valuing The Far Future With Uncertain Discount Rates, J. Doyne Farmer, John Geanakoplos
Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers
Conventional economics supposes that agents value the present vs. the future using an exponential discounting function. In contrast, experiments with animals and humans suggest that agents are better described as hyperbolic discounters, whose discount function decays much more slowly at large times, as a power law. This is generally regarded as being time inconsistent or irrational. We show that when agents cannot be sure of their own future one-period discount rates, then hyperbolic discounting can become rational and exponential discounting irrational. This has important implications for environmental economics, as it implies a much larger weight for the far future.
Teaching Ecological And Feminist Economics In The Principles Course, Julie A. Nelson
Teaching Ecological And Feminist Economics In The Principles Course, Julie A. Nelson
Julie A. Nelson
It can be difficult to incorporate ecological and feminist concerns into introductory courses, when one is also obliged to teach neoclassical analysis. In this essay we briefly describe how one might extend existing “multi-paradigmatic” approaches to feminist and ecological concerns, and then present an new alternative approach that may be more suitable for some students. This “broader questions and bigger toolbox” approach can be applied in both microeconomics and macroeconomics introductory classrooms.
Probing The Mechanics Of Environmental Kuznets Curve Theory, Jeremy Lynn Kidd
Probing The Mechanics Of Environmental Kuznets Curve Theory, Jeremy Lynn Kidd
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023
The theory of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) proposes to answer important questions regarding the connections between economic growth (development) and the environment. The theory postulates the environment need not always suffer as the economy develops, and it has generated strong support and opposition. Rather than attempting to defend or debunk EKC theory, this research challenges a practice engaged in by proponents and opponents alike. Simplifying assumptions are a necessary part of economic analysis, but this research shows that any assumptions may not be universally applicable. Utilizing, in turn, a simple one-good model and then a more complicated two-good model, …
Carbon Offset Provision With Guilt-Ridden Consumers, Joshua S. Gans, Vivienne Groves
Carbon Offset Provision With Guilt-Ridden Consumers, Joshua S. Gans, Vivienne Groves
Joshua S Gans
Carbon offsets can be purchased by consumers who wish to mitigate their emissions. In a model where the demand for such offsets is driven by consumers who feel guilt about their emissions, it is show that the introduction of offsets are complements to existing „dirty‟ consumption and can cause such consumption to increase. Net emissions are shown to decline, however, regardless of whether prices are regulated, chosen strategically or offset prices are endogenous. One special case is illustrated whereby emissions might rise if „dirty‟ producers can engage in strategic commitments to impact on offset markets.
Environmental Crises: Past, Present Ad Future, M. Scott Taylor
Environmental Crises: Past, Present Ad Future, M. Scott Taylor
M. Scott Taylor
Environmental crises are distinguished by rapid and largely unexpected changes in environmental quality that are difficult if not impossible to reverse. Examples would be major extinctions and signi…cant degradations of an ecosystem. I argue there are three preconditions for crisis: failures in governance, an ecological system exhibiting a tipping point, and an economy/environment interaction with positive feedbacks. I develop a simple model to illustrate how a crisis may arise, and draw on our knowledge of past and present crises to highlight the mechanisms involved. I then speculate as to whether climate change is indeed a crisis in the making.
Trans-Boundary Metals Pollution In The Okanagan Regions Of British Columbia And Washington State: An Assessment Of Metal Toxicity And Speciation In The Columbia River, Ruth M. Sofield, Catherine P. Bollinger
Trans-Boundary Metals Pollution In The Okanagan Regions Of British Columbia And Washington State: An Assessment Of Metal Toxicity And Speciation In The Columbia River, Ruth M. Sofield, Catherine P. Bollinger
Border Policy Research Institute Publications
An assessment of the tools available to decision makers responsible for managing allowable concentrations of metals in aquatic environments was conducted. The emphasis was on surface waters in the Okanagan Valley of BC, Canada and Washington, US. The assessment was framed around four primary goals, which included an evaluation of the validity of hardness corrected values, the Biotic Ligand Model (BLM), the Visual MINTEQ model (VMINTEQ), and a preliminary understanding of what site-specific qualities made one model a better predictor of toxicity than another.
Distributional Effects Of Environmental And Energy Policy: An Introduction, Don Fullerton
Distributional Effects Of Environmental And Energy Policy: An Introduction, Don Fullerton
Don Fullerton
This chapter reviews literature on the distributional effects of environmental and energy policy. In particular, many effects of such policy are likely regressive. First, it raises the price of fossil-fuel-intensive products, expenditures on which are a high fraction of low-income budgets. Second, if abatement technologies are capital-intensive, then any mandate to abate pollution may induce firms to use more capital. If demand for capital is raised relative to labor, then a lower relative wage may also hurt low-income households. Third, pollution permits handed out to firms bestow scarcity rents on well-off individuals who own those firms. Fourth, low-income individuals may …