About the Author
Robert N. Stavins is the Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, Director of the Harvard Environmental Economics Program, and Chairman of the Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Group.
Category Archives: Forest Policy
On the Origins of Research
In response to my last essay at this web site, “On Becoming an Environmental Economist,” several readers suggested that someday I should write about the origins of my various research initiatives over the past 25 years. Today, I’m doing that … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change Policy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Policy, Economic Stimulus Policy, Energy Economics, Energy Policy, Environmental Economics, Environmental Policy, Fisheries Policy, Forest Policy, Health Policy, Natural Resource Economics, Natural Resource Policy, Politics, Positive Political Economy, Water Policy, Wine Economics
Tagged benefit-cost analysis, cap-and-trade, common property resources, cost-effectiveness, distributional analysis, distributional equity, economic valuation, efficiency, environmental politics, externalities, free rider problem, global climate policy, Kyoto Protocol, linkage of cap-and-trade systems, market failure, market-based environmental policies, regulation, revenue-neutral taxes
Leave a comment
On Becoming an Environmental Economist
My essay this month represents a departure from my standard blog posts about a contemporary environmental policy issue. Rather, it is of a more personal nature, and stems from the fact that the second volume of my collected papers has … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change Policy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Policy, Economic Stimulus Policy, Energy Economics, Energy Policy, Environmental Economics, Environmental Policy, Fisheries Policy, Forest Policy, Health Policy, Natural Resource Economics, Natural Resource Policy, Politics, Positive Political Economy, Water Policy, Wine Economics
Tagged benefit-cost analysis, cap-and-trade, common property resources, cost-effectiveness, distributional analysis, distributional equity, economic valuation, efficiency, environmental politics, free rider problem, global climate policy, information problems, Kyoto Protocol, linkage of cap-and-trade systems, market failure, market-based environmental policies, public goods, regulation, revenue-neutral taxes
1 Comment
Cap-and-Trade, Carbon Taxes, and My Neighbor’s Lovely Lawn
The recent demise of serious political consideration of an economy-wide U.S. CO2 cap-and-trade system and the even more recent resurgence in interest among policy wonks in a U.S. carbon tax should prompt reflection on where we’ve been, where we are, … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change Policy, Economic Policy, Economic Stimulus Policy, Energy Economics, Energy Policy, Environmental Economics, Environmental Policy, Forest Policy, Politics, Positive Political Economy
Tagged cap-and-trade, carbon tax, cost-effectiveness, distributional analysis, distributional equity, efficiency, environmental politics, global climate policy, Kyoto Protocol, linkage of cap-and-trade systems, market-based environmental policies, Mitt Romney, Obama Administration, revenue-neutral taxes, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, Waxman-Markey legislation
12 Comments
Economics of the Environment
The Sixth Edition of Economics of the Environment: Selected Readings has just been published by W. W. Norton & Company of New York and London. Through five previous editions, Economics of the Environment has served as a valuable supplement to … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change Policy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Policy, Economic Stimulus Policy, Energy Economics, Energy Policy, Environmental Economics, Environmental Policy, Fisheries Policy, Forest Policy, Natural Resource Economics, Natural Resource Policy, Politics, Positive Political Economy, Water Policy
Tagged Australia, benefit-cost analysis, Brazil, California, cap-and-trade, China, common property resources, cost-effectiveness, distributional analysis, distributional equity, economic valuation, efficiency, environmental politics, European Union, externalities, free rider problem, global climate policy, import allowance requirement, India, information problems, Japan, Korea, Kyoto Protocol, linkage of cap-and-trade systems, market failure, market-based environmental policies, Mexico, Obama Administration, Office of Management and Budget, public goods, regulation, revenue-neutral taxes, sulfur dioxide
1 Comment
What Happened (and Why): An Assessment of the Cancun Agreements
The international climate negotiations in Cancun, Mexico, have concluded, and despite the gloom-and-doom predictions that dominated the weeks and months leading up to Cancun, the Sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-16) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change Policy, Energy Economics, Energy Policy, Environmental Economics, Environmental Policy, Forest Policy, Natural Resource Policy
Tagged ALBA States, Australia, AWG-KP, AWG-LCA, Bolivia, Brazil, Cancun, CDM, China, Christiana Figueres, Climate Technology Center and Network, COP-15, COP-16, COP-17, Copenhagen, Copenhagen Accord, cost-effectiveness, Council on Foreign Relations, Cuba, D, Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen, distributional equity, Durban, environmental politics, European Union, free rider problem, G20, global climate policy, Green Climate Fund, India, Japan, Korea, Major Economies Forum, market-based environmental policies, Mexico, Michael Levi, Nicaragua, Obama Administration, Patricia Espinosa, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, REDD+, South Africa, Sudan, Turkey, Venezuela
20 Comments
Unintended Consequences of Government Policies: The Depletion of America’s Wetlands
Private land-use decisions can be affected dramatically by public investments in highways, waterways, flood control, or other infrastructure. The large movement of jobs from central cities to suburbs in the postwar United States and the ongoing destruction of Amazon rain … Continue reading
Posted in Environmental Economics, Environmental Policy, Forest Policy, Natural Resource Economics, Natural Resource Policy, Water Policy
Tagged benefit-cost analysis, Clean Water Act, common property resources, econometric analysis, economic valuation, environmental politics, externalities, free rider problem, infrastructure, land use, market failure, public goods, regulation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Soil Conservation Service, wetlands
2 Comments
What Hath Copenhagen Wrought? A Preliminary Assessment of the Copenhagen Accord
After years of preparation, the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) commenced on December 7th, 2009, and adjourned some two weeks later on December 19th after a raucous all-night session. … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change Policy, Energy Economics, Energy Policy, Environmental Economics, Environmental Policy, Forest Policy, Positive Political Economy
Tagged Annex I, Asia-Pacific Economic Conference, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Brazilian President da Silva, cap-and-trade, China, common but differentiated responsibilities, Copenhagen, Copenhagen Accord, cost-effectiveness, Cuba, distributional equity, environmental politics, European Union, finance, forestry, free rider problem, global climate policy, import allowance requirement, India, Indian Prime Minister Singh, Japan, Korea, Major Economies Forum, market-based environmental policies, Mexico, Nicaragua, Obama Administration, Portfolio Approach, Premier Wen Jiabo, South Africa, South African President Zuma, Sudan, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, UNFCCC, Venezuela, Waxman-Markey legislation
36 Comments
What Role for U.S. Carbon Sequestration?
With the development of climate legislation proceeding in the U.S. Senate, a key question is whether the United States can cost-effectively reduce a significant share of its contributions to increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations through forest-based carbon sequestration. Should biological carbon … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change Policy, Environmental Economics, Environmental Policy, Forest Policy
Tagged cap-and-trade, carbon sequestration, cost-effectiveness, efficiency, energy efficiency, environmental politics, forestry, global climate policy, market-based environmental policies, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, Waxman-Markey legislation
15 Comments