Externalities Research Articles

POTENTIAL OF NO-TILL TECHNOLOGY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Reducing the negative impact of agricultural practices on the environment is essential. There is a growing need for the use and adoption of environmentally friendly and environmentally sound technologies in agriculture. Encouraging the adoption of agri-environmental practices will increase crop productivity, minimise labour time, improve biological control, reduce erosion, improve soil structure, increase infiltration and water retention properties and achieve environmental sustainability. The wide range of conditions under which the minimum tillage system works successfully worldwide are its economic, social and environmental advantages. No-till technology is often characterised as a means of tilling the soil and growing different crop species with positive environmental externalities. The purpose of this paper is to describe the importance of using the agroecological practice of no-till and its impact on land resources as well as its secondary environmental impacts. A literature review of the author's views related to the definitions of No-till technology is conducted. It is most commonly defined as no-till, minimum tillage or a technology such as planting in soil without prior preparation. The palette of benefits that agroecological practice brings to the soil, the environment, agriculture and farmers is rich, namely: ➢ does not disturb soil composition; ➢ improves the functions that occur in ecosystems; ➢ increases the availability of crop residues. Increased availability of crop residues and cover crops on cropland increases biomass production, with the maximized yield serving to store more C in the soil; ➢ improves water conveyance functions, moisture retention, and reduction of surface runoff and erosion, increases heat throughout the soil world; ➢ production quantities obtained are comparable to those of intensive tillage; ➢ reduces both labor time and the use of fuels and pesticides; ➢ minimizes depreciation of the equipment used; ➢ reduce investment in purchasing attachments; ➢ smaller capacity of the machinery and equipment used; ➢ reduce and simplify labour requirements; ➢ easy matching with crop rotation and improved nutrient cycling. Key words: JEL: Q00, Q01, O13

A thematic analysis of the links between multinational enterprises’ corporate social responsibility and the Sustainable Development Goals in Myanmar

AbstractAdopting textual analysis, we examine the links between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 30 foreign subsidiaries in Myanmar, a Country of Concern (CoC). The analysis covers the period from 2001 up to 2020. Our work contributes to the literature on SDGs and CSR in a CoC. We find that although multinational enterprises (MNEs) address community issues via philanthropy unrelated to their principal business, in some cases CSR is related to their core capability. Despite some diversity in CSR processes, we find that MNEs tackle limited CSR issues. Furthermore, MNEs’ CSR generates positive externalities rather than reduce negative externalities. This finding confirms the discourse in international business policy suggesting MNEs focus on only positive externalities and ignoring negative externalities, and this neglect of negative externalities could result in a net-negative impact from their CSR. Nevertheless, we observe that CSR activities map onto all but one SDG, thus demonstrating the potential for further investment in CSR in Myanmar. Our study highlights that given a CoC is all about institutional weakness, MNEs’ CSR must focus on strengthening institutions to bring about systemic changes in these contexts, as opposed to short-term ‘bandage’ approaches, otherwise, gains to SDGs will be short-lived.

The Impacts of Climate Change on Renewable Energy Sector: A Review

‌The energy sector is a complex institutional framework that includes many ministries, government agencies, aid agencies, and international organizations. Electricity levels have increased fivefold between then and now. Thousands of renewable projects have been implemented in rural areas. Many large energy projects have been built, renovated, the institutional, policy and regulatory landscape has improved to some extent, and transmission lines and distribution networks have been expanded. Despite the lack of reliable data, Afghanistan has significant reserves of fossil fuels and a promising future for renewable energy. For the next several decades, the country's wind power capacity alone will probably exceed the projected demand for electricity. Serious problems including the need for energy, the depletion of fossil fuels and their impact on the environment have drawn attention to renewable energy sources in the last ten years. Because of this, there is a growing consensus to prioritize sustainable energy systems based on energy, especially renewable energy sources that produce no pollution or emissions. The research study concludes with the involvement of renewable energy technologies with minimum operating and external cost as the best option in the future. From a policy point of view, steps must be taken in the field of renewable energy and technological innovation that require biomass resources that are associated with unsustainable long-term investments.

Can high-skilled Mexicans’ migration adopt a positive externality view under a stakeholders’ approach?

One of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the generation and transfer of knowledge that enhances productivity. High-skilled immigrants from emerging countries have become relevant players in alleviating the talent shortage developed countries face and providing them with continuous knowledge that promotes innovation and competitiveness. But to what extent does this knowledge generation occur at the expense of emerging economies’ development? This research explores the mechanisms that may favor the attainment of this SDG in migrants’ sending countries. Through the lenses of both the externalities and the stakeholders’ approach, it analyzes the case of highly skilled Mexicans migrating to the U.S. It suggests that these talented people can integrate brain chains that lessen the weaknesses of the home country’s national innovation system and foster Mexico’s absorptive capacities if they count on the support of the private sector and the academia and the indispensable endorsement of the home country government through the creation and execution of sensible public policies.

Evaluation of Social Externalities in Indian Coal Mining Industry - A Concept

Concept of externality is century old. The action of one consumer or a firm should not affect the well-being of another consumer or a firm with whom there is no direct business relationship. Nevertheless, in reality, our economic activities control natural systems directly or indirectly, and definitely has some externalities. This arises when an individual or a firm takes an action but does not take account of the external cost or benefits that are being generated because of lack of any incentive. In this paper, an attempt has been made to identify the social externalities of coal mining in India.

Environmental performance of patient rooms using an integrated approach considering operational energy, daylight and comfort analysis

PurposeThe aim is to holistically assess the environmental performance of windows and analyse how their design and characteristics contribute to the overall performance of the building/space. This study focuses on the performance of windows in patient rooms hosting less mobile people.Design/methodology/approachThis study investigates the life cycle environmental impacts of different glazing types, window frames and fire safety doors at the product level. This article also presents a building-integrated environmental analysis of patient rooms that considers the multiple functionalities of windows by incorporating dynamic energy analysis, comfort and daylighting performance with a life cycle assessment (LCA) study.FindingsThe results indicate that the amount of flat glass is the main contributor to the environmental impacts of the glazing units. As for the patient rooms, global warming shows the most significant contribution to the environmental costs, followed by human toxicity, particulate matter formation and eutrophication. The key drivers for these impacts are production processes and operational energy use. This study highlights the significance of evaluating a wide range of criteria for assessing the performance of windows.Originality/valueAn integrated assessment approach is used to investigate the influence of windows on environmental performance by considering the link between window/design parameters and their effects on energy use/costs, daylighting, comfort and environmental impacts. The embodied impacts of different building elements and the influence of various design parameters on environmental performance are assessed and compared. The environmental costs are expressed as an external environmental cost (euro).

Import competition, state‐owned enterprise prevalence and employment: Evidence from China

AbstractDoes state‐owned enterprise (SOE) prevalence affect the employment adjustments of firms after trade liberalisation? This paper estimates the role of the prevalence of SOEs in the labour market in import competition by using city‐industry level panel data in China from 2000 to 2006. Our results indicate that import competition decreases employment in the manufacturing industry and that SOE prevalence could partially offset the negative effect on employment. This offsetting effect is demonstrated at both extensive and intensive margins. Moreover, SOE prevalence has a positive externality for the employment of non‐SOEs under the import competition shock. Therefore, we verify the positive externality of SOEs in labour market adjustment in response to import competition.

The Fifth Industrial Revolution as a Transformative Step towards Society 5.0

This concept paper aims to shed light on the emergence of the first to the fifth industrial revolutions, their evolution, and their transformative steps towards Society 5.0. By explaining the nuances of the different phases of industrial revolutions and their positive and negative externalities, we found that the fifth industrial revolution can be considered a transformative step for the emergence or coevolution of Society 5.0. By examining how Society 5.0 affects various aspects of human society (e.g., advances in healthcare and improved life expectancy; business, the economy, growth, and industry; education and skills; privacy and cybersecurity; smart cities; labour and the workforce), we conclude that Society 5.0 should move forward by adhering to the harmonious integration of humans and technology to address the world’s pressing problems in the future.

Economic evaluation of vaccination against COVID-19: A systematic review.

Coronavirus has burdened considerable expenditures on the different health systems. Vaccination programs, the critical solution against pandemic diseases, are known as safe and effective interventions to prevent and control epidemics. We aimed to perform a systematic review to provide economic evidence of the value of different types of vaccines available to combat the Covid-19 to all health policymakers worldwide. Electronic searches conducted on Medline/PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, and other economic evaluation databases. Related and published articles searched up to March 2022 by using keywords such as "Vaccination," "Covid-19," "Cost-benefit," "Cost-utility," "Cost-effectiveness," "Economic Assessment," and "Economic evaluation." Followed by choosing the most suitable articles according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, data captured and the results extracted. The quality assessment of the articles performed by the checklist of CHEERS 2022. Finally, 13 articles included in the review. All messenger RNA vaccines were dominant with approximately 70% coverage against no vaccination in the primary vaccination program except in one study that looked at booster effects. From a payer's perspective, a dollar invested in a vaccine would be less profitable than from a societal perspective. Therefore, primary mass vaccination can be considered a cost-effective intervention in primary vaccination to save more lives and produce more positive externalities. However, the cost-benefit ratio for all vaccines increases when statistical lifetime value and global economic and educational disadvantages are considered. The COVID-19 primary vaccination programs in regional outbreaks, from a long-term perspective, will demonstrate substantial cost-effectiveness. It is suggested that due to the positive externalities of vaccination, primary mass vaccination, with the help of COVAX-19TM, could be considered a reliable way to combat viral epidemics compared to the loss of individual lives and economic and educational disturbances around the world.

Tax avoidance, investor protection, and investment inefficiency: An international evidence

This paper provides new evidence on the relationship between corporate tax avoidance, and investment inefficiency. Based on a sample of 82,487 firm-year observations across 38 countries, we find that tax avoidance is positively associated with inefficient investments. Particularly, the positive effect of corporate tax avoidance is due to the underinvestment problem suggesting that firms engaging in tax saving activities suffer from exacerbated information asymmetry issues leading them to underinvest. More importantly, the results show that the relationship between tax avoidance and investment inefficiency is more prevalent during crisis periods, suggesting that in periods of economic shortfalls, the investment behavior is altered due to high external financing cost. We also find that the relation between tax avoidance activities and investment inefficiency is less prevalent in countries with strong investor protection. These findings are robust to alternative samples, measures of tax avoidance, investor protection and to endogeneity issues.

Special issue Innovation development and digital technologies for sustainable healthcare ecosystems

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is a twenty-first-century approach that is patient-centered and protects patients, physicians, and others. Where key actors are more interested in social value creation than in value capture (Santos, 2012), health services ecosystems can generate strongly positive externalities and be sustainable. Digital ICT technologies spanning robotics, artificial intelligence, remote patient monitoring, and telemedicine have improved equitable access to care and participated in the sustainable agenda, nurturing an ecosystem of caregiving interaction. Therefore, framing research on information systems in healthcare related to the SDGs can be helpful in the innovation of healthcare organizations in dealing with the pandemic and the post-pandemic. The primary purpose of this special issue is to identify the role and relevance of ICT in healthcare ecosystems while promoting sustainability. Various topics emerge within this special issue, such as Governance models, institutional relations, and social capital; the role of ICT in the healthcare system changes and finally, the use of digital innovations and ICT in pandemics and post-pandemics. In this special issue, we build on this knowledge base and expand the research direction on developing innovation and digital technologies for sustainable health ecosystems.

International monopoly union coordination under the presence of externalities and costs

Despite the advantages of holding monopoly power, unions rarely coordinate their wage demands across countries. In this paper, I argue that the costs of coordination and externalities can explain such behaviour. In the model, monopolistic unions set the wage in each country, and the firm keeps the right-to-manage. If the domestic union raised its wage, the firm would substitute production of the domestic good for the foreign one, reducing employment. The union would be worse off and it would have no incentives to deviate. Upon coordination, unions can raise the wage, share the loss of employment, and be better off. Two extensions are provided: right-to-manage model and differentiated costs of coordination.

Quantitative Valuation Methods in Green Energy

Green Energy is a special case because it can be considered both as a “private good” and a “public good.” In other words, green energy carries a positive externality and the market value reflects only a small portion of the total benefits. That is why, the methods of assessing the value of a market economy does not give a complete picture. In order to calculate the total monetary value in green energy, the indirect valuation methods cannot give the true value, since they study only the use value, and environmental goods/services carries usually the non-use value too. Therefore, direct market valuation methods such as Contingent Valuation (CVM) and Choice Experiment (CE) methods can be used to calculate the total value in Green Energy. Keywords: Green Energy; Willingness to Accept (WTA); Willingness to Pay (WTP); Contingent Valuation Method (CVM); Choice Experiment (CE).

Renewable energy plants: environmental compatibility and external costs assessment at global, regional and local scale

In Italy and many European countries energy production from biomass is encouraged by strong economic subsidies (in Italy up to 280 €/MWh granted through a feed-in tariff linked to the electrical production) so that biomass energy plants are getting large diffusion. Nevertheless, this kind of energy plant can involve heavy PM10, NOx, ammonia, methane and N2O emissions, as well as indirect emissions relating to cultivation, transport, fertilizers’ production. Within the described outline, the definition of the environmental compatibility as well as technological and economic issues dealing with the emerging renewable energy scenario is of primary importance. This evaluation should take into account global parameters as well as environmental impacts at regional and local scale coming from new polluting emissions. The environmental balances regarding new energy plants are of primary importance within very polluted areas such as Northern Italy where air quality limits are systematically exceeded. The paper analyses the energy and environmental performances of anaerobic co-digestion of manure and energy crops, wood and poultry manure combustion, involving the emissive balances, analysing different possible energy scenarios, using environmental economics tools like the ExternE methodology, an approach devoted to the assessment of the externalities associated to airborne pollution. The most important conclusion that can be drawn is that the production of renewable energy from anaerobic digestion, can strongly increase ammonia and NOx emissions and, in some cases, also GHG emissions could be worrying, whereas the application of best available techniques to waste gas cleaning and energy recovery allows positive environmental balances.

From agglomeration to dispersion: How does China's noncapital functions' relief affect regional development?

AbstractAgglomeration economies can bring about positive externalities, while excessive agglomeration backfires. However, existing literature on place‐based policies mainly focuses on policies that enhance agglomeration economies. Few studies discuss dispersion policies coping with the negative externality from excessive agglomeration. Owing to the unclear effects of dispersion policies, we conduct empirical research on the noncapital function relief (NCFR) policy, which is implemented to decrease the agglomeration in Beijing, the capital of China, and promote the development of surrounding areas. Exploiting the difference‐in‐difference model, we find that the NCFR policy implementation significantly facilitates the economic growth of the surrounding areas of Beijing. Changes in the distribution of new firm entry and population are two main channels, while no significant effect on the productivity is found. Furthermore, areas that are less‐developed could benefit more from the NCFR policy. Our findings may enlighten other developing countries in urban economic management.

The Role of Education in Economic Advancement: A Case Study of Silicon Valley

Education is an important ingredient in the development of the human capital of any given country since it directly influences the quality of output of the workforce. With an educated workforce, efficiency is enhanced, as well as the level of productivity, due to the capacity of individual workers to be innovative. This paper seeks to analyze the impact of education in a country by analyzing the impact that education has on the level of economic growth, as well as its influence on a workforce’s capacity to absorb new technologies. Additionally, the paper also discusses how education is a crucial asset in reducing poverty and inequality in society by increasing sustainable household incomes as well as bringing about positive externalities. The paper shows from the case of Silicon Valley in the United States, education plays a great role in economic advancement of a nation or region. The paper shows that the Silicon Valley largely benefits from the presence of top higher education institutions such as Stanford University, which train a large number of technological innovation talents.

Digital transformation and innovation output of manufacturing companies-An analysis of the mediating role of internal and external transaction costs.

Digital transformation, based on digital technologies, has triggered economic growth in many industries and brought about production and service transformation in the manufacturing sector. As an important source of innovation output and a driving force for national economic development, it is of great significance to study the impact of digital transformation on innovation output in manufacturing companies. This study analyzes the effects of digital transformation on the quality, quantity, and overall innovation output of manufacturing companies from both the macro provincial-level digital transformation and micro enterprise-level digital transformation perspectives. Additionally, using data from manufacturing companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2012 to 2022, this study empirically tests the mechanism through which digital transformation affects innovation output from the perspectives of internal transaction costs and external transaction costs. The results show that digital transformation promotes overall improvement in innovation output of manufacturing companies and leads to improvements in both the quality and quantity of innovation output. Furthermore, the study finds that the effect of digital transformation on innovation output has a nonlinear characteristic under different levels of market competitiveness and market freedom. The mediation analysis reveals that the influence of digital transformation on innovation output can be attributed to the reduction of internal transaction costs and the enhancement of external transaction efficiency. In terms of digital policy formulation, it is necessary to coordinate the development of diverse and innovative digital infrastructure at the macro level with the micro-level ecosystems of enterprises, in order to reduce transaction costs within and outside innovative entities. Ultimately, it is essential for the government to foster a conducive free market environment that enhances transaction efficiency and timely regulates the excessive competition resulting from oligopolistic monopolies, thus maximizing the potential of digital transformation in promoting innovation output.

Societal sustainable development and long‐run economic growth: How do we stand?

AbstractThe United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development proposes the ambitious goal of an inclusive and sustainable economy. Thus, a realistic assessment of individual countries' possibilities to implement the Sustainable Development Goals might provide helpful insights. We seek to contribute to the existing literature by proposing a working framework for assessing, at the individual country level, the impact of long‐run economic growth on societal sustainable development. The framework is based on composite models from the Structural Equation Modeling‐SEM with a Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS‐PM) estimator. In contrast, societal sustainable development is viewed as emerging from its various dimensions (environmental protection, human development and public health). Based on the analyses of an extended sample of 99 countries, including data for thirty years (from 1990 to 2019), we find that economic growth matters in explaining societal sustainable development, and different countries have benefited unequally from this situation. The key finding reveals that countries aiming to follow the SDGs should recognize their significant disparities and engage in profound structural, institutional, functional and cultural transformations. Thus, a more holistic approach to societal sustainable development is currently needed to enhance government effectiveness as a transmission channel for the impact of growth. In addition, governments need to adjust their economic mechanisms to internalize the costs of environmental degradation and negative externalities for human development and public health.

Structural and functional analysis of Buchanan’s constitutional contract

Buchanan attempted to seek new theoretical construction through the contract method by introducing elements such as ‘individual’, ‘veil of uncertainty’, ‘public choice’, ‘decision costs’, and ‘unanimous agreement principle’. He not only transformed the contract theory model but also interpreted the ideas of consensus politics in an acceptable manner. Specifically, ‘individuals’ are entities of choice and behavior, and the process of choice allows individuals to express different goals and interests. The ‘veil of uncertainty’ prompts individuals to think about issues from a fair point of view when interests cannot be identified and future prospects are unpredictable and to make choices that are beneficial for both themselves and the group. ‘Public choice’ can solve the problem of justice diversity because it does not exclude different or conflicting motivations and goals. ‘Decision costs’ and ‘external costs’ both limit the way collective decisions are made and help identify the normal consequences of constitutional choices. The ‘unanimous agreement principle’ gives everyone equal status, allowing each person the right to pursue their own goals and values and preventing others from abusing their power. The use of the aforementioned theoretical elements not only helps people discuss constitutional choices at a general level but also helps to present the true face of the collective decision-making process, thereby establishing an empirical theory about the actual logic of individual actions in the political system.

Bidding strategy and economic evaluation of energy storage systems under the time-of-use pricing mechanism

Energy storage systems (ESSs) can smooth loads, effectively enable demand-side management, and promote renewable energy consumption. This study developed a two-stage bidding strategy and economic evaluation model for ESS. In the first stage, time-of-use (TOU) pricing model based on the consumer psychology theory and user demand response function is proposed. In the second stage, the benefits and life cycle costs of ESS were measured, and a bidding strategy optimization model was constructed to maximize profit. Subsequently, based on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concept, an integrated value model was constructed to evaluate the economics of ESS. Finally, the economics of ESSs were analyzed using the proposed model in a case study. The results indicate the following: (1) The TOU pricing model can effectively reduce the peak-to-valley load difference; (2) The integrated value of ESS is 249,930 yuan, and economic value of ESS is 22,016 yuan in scenarios 1, implying that the ESS has positive externalities under the TOU pricing mechanism; and (3) The net profit and economics of ESS are positively correlated with the rated power of the storage battery and negatively correlated with its rated capacity.