Environmental externalities Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

This paper analyzes the environmental impact of Lithium extraction, economic use, and waste product. It is broken into two eras: (1) “early use and extraction”, from 1850 to 1985, during which lithium was extracted via open-pit mines and... more

This paper analyzes the environmental impact of Lithium extraction, economic use, and waste product. It is broken into two eras: (1) “early use and extraction”, from 1850 to 1985, during which lithium was extracted via open-pit mines and used for medicine, airplane grease, and nuclear weapon fuel and (2) “late use and extraction” 1985 to now, during which lithium is extracted via brine mines and used predominantly in Li-ion battery production.

Wastewater reuse in Africa has been identified as a veritable tool to alleviate freshwater scarcity, improve crop yield and sustain the environment. This study analyzed and modelled wastewater reuse externalities in the context of African... more

Wastewater reuse in Africa has been identified as a veritable tool to alleviate freshwater scarcity, improve crop yield and sustain the environment. This study analyzed and modelled wastewater reuse externalities in the context of African agriculture. Data were retrieved from the Food and Agriculture Organization (2015). Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were performed to analyze wastewater variables in line with its irrigation potentials, and determine the relationship between the environmental implications of treated municipal wastewater effluent respectively. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and Stochastic frontier cost functions were modelled for specifying and quantifying the economic/environmental trade-offs of wastewater reuse and costs of wastewater treatment. The descriptive results indicated that Northern Africa, which is the most vulnerable region, has the greatest potentials of wastewater reuse. The average regional quantities of treated municipal wastewater use in Africa were proportional to the rate of collected and produced municipal wastewater. The quantity of treatment plants had negative correlation with its treatment capacity between these regions (Northern and Southern Africa), as the former that had the least number of treatment facilities compared to the latter, produced the highest effluents (6.422 X 109 m3 per year). According to the correlation analysis results, "area of land salinized" had a highly positive significant correlation with the quantity of treated wastewater used (r=0.69). Proportion of area equipped for irrigation salinized, area waterlogged by irrigation and population of people affected by water-related diseases exhibited a weak negative correlation coefficient (r=-0.093, -0.045 and -0.045 respectively). Water-related diseases were devastating in regions with low or zero usage of treated effluents. In modelling these trade-offs, CBA model accounts for the cost of wastewater reuse like; treatment cost, health cost, cost of soil reclamation and aquifer damage cost. These costs must be calculated against the benefit accrued to wastewater reuse. Such benefits include, increased crop yield and aquifer recharge. A conceptual stochastic frontier model (SFM) was also developed in this research as no previous studies took into account inefficiency parameters (negative externalities) accompanied with wastewater reuse. However, there is both economic and environmental justification no matter the cost of wastewater reuse. Beside the direct benefits of increasing water supply, safeguarding the environment from pollution and health effect of dumping wastewater not only justify the allocated resources, but also supports sustainable development. African regions living above “water poverty line” must, however, not wait till when freshwater will become a limiting resource, because unvalued water may lead to an uncertain future. Investment in safe wastewater collection and treatment can remove a potential brake on economic activity in Africa. It is also important to be weary of the increased use of wastewater overtime and the vagaries of climate change. The significance of salinity in this study calls for the use of appropriate agronomic practices to remediate saline soils. Stochastic frontier model specified in this study is recommended to be applied to empirical data for further studies, considering the valuation of externalities. In conclusion, this study puts wastewater on the policy agenda by emphasizing its impacts in agriculture.

Sri Lankan forest policy and the forestry sector master plan of 1995 emphasize commercial forest plantation development by private sector management to produce sufficient industrial and other woods to meet increasing demand. However, the... more

Sri Lankan forest policy and the forestry sector master plan of 1995 emphasize commercial forest plantation development by private sector management to produce sufficient industrial and other woods to meet increasing demand. However, the nature of forest control and the form of ownership provide an essential link between forest resources and their use. The solution to problems of common access to resources in tropical forest management has often failed to safeguard either forest resources or the livelihood of dependents. The privatization of forest resources has sometimes impoverished the majority while enabling short-term gain for a few whose economic decision making is distant from the considerations of socio-economics and environmental externalities. Sudden and abrupt changes in the control system or ownership may trigger phases of resource destruction or degradation. In the establishment and management of private forest plantations, it is of practical importance to identify the ...

Many city public authorities have implemented measures to alleviate the negative effects of freight transport in urban areas, but these have often proved ineffective. The literature contains studies related to ex-post assessment of urban... more

Many city public authorities have implemented measures to alleviate the negative effects of freight transport in urban areas, but these have often proved ineffective. The literature contains studies related to ex-post assessment of urban freight transport policies. This paper proposes a methodology for ex-ante assessment of their effects. The focus is the assessment of pollutant emissions. The application of the methodology to the inner urban area of Rome shows that an urban distribution centre can be more effective in reducing environmental externalities than policies based on vehicle fleet renewal.

This paper reviews in a non-technical presentation some of the theoretical foundations of the Porter Hypothesis that argues that strict environmental regulations may increase the profits of industries that have to respect them. After a... more

This paper reviews in a non-technical presentation some of the theoretical foundations of the Porter Hypothesis that argues that strict environmental regulations may increase the profits of industries that have to respect them. After a short presentation of the hypothesis, some of the arguments based on firms’ organizational failures are presented. Arguments based on market failures are then discussed. The

La présente brochure examine l’utilité et les limites des évaluations monétaires de la nature. Dans une première partie, nous expliquerons ce à quoi elles servent et comment elles fonctionnent. En deuxième lieu, nous démystierons... more

La présente brochure examine l’utilité et les limites des évaluations monétaires de la nature. Dans une première partie, nous expliquerons ce à quoi elles servent et comment elles fonctionnent. En deuxième lieu, nous démystierons plusieurs croyances à leur sujet. Finalement, dans une troisième et dernière partie, nous montrerons dans quelles conditions nous pensons que ces évaluations peuvent servir et quelles solutions de rechange existent lorsque ces conditions ne sont pas réunies.

In the singular search for profits, some corporations inadvertently kill humans. If this routinely occurs throughout an industry, it may no longer serve a net positive social purpose for society and should be eliminated. This article... more

In the singular search for profits, some corporations inadvertently kill humans. If this routinely occurs throughout an industry, it may no longer serve a net positive social purpose for society and should be eliminated. This article provides a path to an objective quantifiable metric for determining when an entire industry warrants the corporate death penalty. First, a theoretical foundation is developed with minimum assumptions necessary to provide evidence for corporate public purposes. This is formed into an objective quantifiable metric with publicly-available data and applied to two case studies in the U.S.: the tobacco and coal mining industries. The results show the American tobacco industry kills 4 times more people per year than it employs, and the American coal-mining industry kills more than one American every year for every coal miner employed. The results clearly warrant industry-wide corporate death penalties for both industries in America. Future work is discussed to ensure industries only exist to benefit humanity in all the societies in which they operate.

Course description The course examines microeconomic theory and its applications to economic, political, institutional and social problems. Students will practice the comprehension and application of the theory in several problem sets and... more

Course description The course examines microeconomic theory and its applications to economic, political, institutional and social problems. Students will practice the comprehension and application of the theory in several problem sets and assignments. The course discusses various behavioral models and incorporates game-theoretic and experimental findings. Applications and references to contemporary public policy examples are provided as much as possible. Students will, for example, learn how microeconomics can assist policymakers in various public policy areas, such as taxation, transfer payments, social welfare programs, common property resources, environmental externalities and regulation. Objectives

Information asymmetry in the market leads to adverse selection problems because buyers cannot differentiate the quality of certain products. This problem can also happen in the capital market as uninformed potential investors lack... more

Information asymmetry in the market leads to adverse selection problems because buyers cannot differentiate the quality of certain products. This problem can also happen in the capital market as uninformed potential investors lack information about firms' future cash flow, which may lead to a 'lemons problem'. This provides incentives to high quality firms to convey their private information to the market and reduce the underpricing of their securities. Investors can infer private information from some action(s) or decision(s) of management. Companies can use voluntary disclosures, especially environmental disclosures as a means of transferring their information to the market because of the expected economic benefits (e.g., reducing underpricing). This paper links the economic benefits of voluntary disclosures with the problem of environmental externalities.

Environmental costs (to the degree of manumission of nonhumans) are economically internalised because human wrongdoers become liable for infringing nonhumans' rights. This means that an economic competitor who damaged self-owning... more

Environmental costs (to the degree of manumission of nonhumans) are economically internalised because human wrongdoers become liable for infringing nonhumans' rights. This means that an economic competitor who damaged self-owning nonhumans can be directly sued to protect one’s own profit margins, should police or the DPP omit to do so. In this way the invisible hand can be said to protect the necessary long term biological basis of the market. Liability is 'payable' in specie by real value restoration. This means cleaning up pollution that is not digestible to receiving nonhumans, and replacing or healing manumitted nonhumans that have been directly harmed. Real living value, which underwrites economic value in the final analysis, is retained over the long term. All this is achieved by democratic means, by referendum to amend the Constitution, in order to implement the MM. This ensures interhuman legitimacy, and avoids recourse primarily to central authority to ensure the long term biological basis of the macroeconomy.

We derive non-cooperative Nash equilibrium (NE) importer and exporter petroleum excise taxes given full within-group tax coordination, but no coordination between groups, assuming that importers do not produce and exporters do not consume... more

We derive non-cooperative Nash equilibrium (NE) importer and exporter petroleum excise taxes given full within-group tax coordination, but no coordination between groups, assuming that importers do not produce and exporters do not consume petroleum, and petroleum consumption causes a global externality. The aggregate NE tax is found to consist of an externality component and an optimal tariff component, and exceeds the standard Pigou tax. The environmental component in isolation is however less than the Pigou tax. With Stackelberg tax setting, the leader's tax is higher than in the Ne, and the follower's tax lower, and the overall tax higher. We show that importers prefer to set a tax instead of an import quota, since exporters' optimal response to a quota is a higher tax. An optimal cap-and-trade scheme will thus fare worse than an optimal tax scheme for importers, and will imply greater petroleum consumption and carbon emissions. When exporters behave as a cartel sa...