Negative External Effects Research Articles

Nachhaltigkeitsziele in der Wirtschaftspolitik — volkswirtschaftliche Überlegungen

AbstractThrough the canon of the UN SDGs or the European Green Deal, sustainability goals are finding their way into legislation. From an economic point of view, these targets often aim to reduce negative external effects, which is in many cases in line with the economic goal of maximising welfare. The determination of welfare gains in this context is not trivial and raises new questions in economics. Because they are often not clearly defined, the anchoring of sustainability goals in legislation may weaken legal certainty and lead to an abusive pursuit of other goals under their guise. This should be prevented by formulating the goals as concretely and legally securely as possible and by building up competence in the authorities entrusted with their implementation.

True cost accounting in agri-food networks: a German case study on informational campaigning and responsible implementation

There is broad scientific consensus that current food systems are neither sustainable nor resilient: many agricultural practices are very resource-intensive and responsible for a large share of global emissions and loss of biodiversity. Consequently, current systems put large pressure on planetary boundaries. According to economic theory, food prices form when there is a balance between supply and demand. Yet, due to the neglect of negative external effects, effective prices are often far from representing the ‘true costs’. Current studies show that especially animal-based foodstuff entails vast external costs that currently stay unaccounted for in market prices. Against this background, we explore how informational campaigning on agricultural externalities can contribute to consumer awareness and tolerance of this matter. Further, we investigate the socially just design of monetary incentives and their implementation potentials and challenges. This study builds on the informational campaign of a German supermarket displaying products with two price tags: one of the current market price and the other displaying the ‘true’ price, which includes several environmental externalities calculated with True Cost Accounting (TCA). Based on interpretations of a consumer survey and a number of expert interviews, in this article we approach the potentials and obstacles of TCA as a communication tool and the challenges of its factual implementation in agri-food networks. Our results show that consumers are generally interested in the topic of true food pricing and would to a certain extent be willing to pay ‘true prices’ of the inquired foods. However, insufficient transparency and unjust distribution of wealth are feared to bring about communication and social justice concerns in the implementation of TCA. When introducing TCA into current discourse, it is therefore important to develop measures that are socially cautious and backed by relevant legal framework conditions. This poses the chance to create a fair playing (‘polluter pays’) with a clear assignment of responsibilities to policy makers, and practitioners in addition to customers.

Impact of High-Speed Rail Construction on the Environmental Sustainability of China’s Three Major Urban Agglomerations

Under the background of global warming, it is of great significance to explore how to realize environmentally sustainable development. This paper takes China’s three major urban agglomerations as the research objects: Yangtze River Delta, Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, and Pearl River Delta. Generally, we use carbon emission efficiency to represent the sustainable development of the environment. Then we use the city-level panel data of the three urban agglomerations from 2006 to 2019 to construct the slacks-based measure integrating data envelopment (SBM-DEA) model for calculating each city’s carbon dioxide emission efficiency. Finally, we construct the spatial difference-in-differences (SDID) model to explore the impact of high-speed rail construction on each urban agglomeration’s carbon dioxide emission efficiency and its internal mechanism. The findings are as follows: (1) On the whole, high-speed rail construction improves urban agglomerations’ carbon dioxide emission efficiency. Meanwhile, it has a positive spatial spillover effect on surrounding areas. (2) In terms of urban agglomerations, high-speed rail construction has significantly promoted carbon emission efficiency in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. However, it has had negative external effects on the surrounding areas. (3) From the perspective of mechanism analysis, the construction of high-speed rail has promoted manufacturing agglomeration in the Pearl River Delta region and, at the same time, has had a negative impact on the local carbon dioxide emission efficiency. This study has strong policy implications for promoting the sustainable development of the three major urban agglomerations.

Оценка вклада агломерационного фактора в производительность труда в российских регионах

In the article on the basis of data for 2 042 municipal districts of 70 subjects of the Russian Federation, not specializing in mining, an assessment of the impact of the agglomeration effect on differences in labor productivity in Russian regions was made. The authors come to the conclusion that the contribution of the agglomeration effect in the explanation of interregional differences in labor productivity is ambiguous. The estimates obtained indicate the absence of a positive effect of the density of economic activity in space on labor productivity in the regions. At the same time, the effect of negative externalities that manifest themselves in the form of overpopulation effects in the regions of the western part of Russia is less pronounced than in the eastern regions

Stigmatized Properties: Filter Theory

International literature does not treat stigmatized properties in a uniform manner. In the proposed article, the Author employs the following definition: “A stigmatized property is one assigned with a real or perceived negative external effect on the users. That external effect modifies or reduces property market value through a specific, multilayered filter.” Many property-related stigma cases are mentioned in the literature, such as high-voltage lines, noise, air pollution, airports, haunted properties, and many other similar situations. The various stigmas, as well as identical stigmas on different properties, have been assessed individually so far. Knowing the depreciating mechanism of a stigma allows for valuers the uniform handling of stigmas on different properties, as well as understanding the depreciating mechanisms of new stigmas. Using extensive literature research on various stigma cases, the Author built up a framework that explains the major variables and their interdependencies. As the result of the research, the new theory describes the change in value caused by the stigma takes place through a filter that combines the distance between the stigmatizing factor and the stigmatized property, the environmental conditions and community perceptions and interprets them differently over time.

Clean Electricity, Dirty Electricity: The Effect on Local House Prices

Renewable energy production is one of the most important policy instruments to fight climate change. However, despite global benefits, renewable energy production entails some local challenges, such as requiring more space per unit production capacity. In this paper, we study the external effects of large-scale conventional and renewable electric power generation facilities on local house prices. We combine information of all coal, gas, and biomass plants, as well as all wind turbines in the Netherlands, with 1.5 million housing transactions over a period of 30 years. Using a difference-in-difference as well as a repeated sales model, we study the effects of facility openings and closings. Our results show negative external price effects for gas plants and wind turbines, but positive effects for biomass plants, conditionally upon ex-ante lower priced locations. The external effects of power generating facilities on local housing markets are important to consider, especially with the current focus of public policies on the expansion of renewable energy generation. Our paper is one of the first to present a large-scale study, using detailed information, and comparing several different energy sources in one framework.

Developing policy packages for low-carbon passenger transport: A mixed methods analysis of trade-offs and synergies

Transformation to climate neutrality of the transport sector raises multiple challenges at a time, with potentially conflicting objectives and further external effects. This calls for a balanced policy package of which empirical assessment is needed in order to i) quantify its effectiveness and ii) reveal effects of potential overlaps and interactions associated with individual measures within the package. This paper analyses the economic, environmental and distributional effects of a policy package that supports low-carbon passenger transport in Austria, co-developed with policy experts and stakeholders. The package includes hard measures such as a mandated phase-out of conventional cars and explicit road pricing, as well as soft measures to foster the uptake of public transportation. To assess these packages we make use of a computable general equilibrium model for Austria that incorporates heterogeneous household groups, CO2 emissions and a detailed representation of the transport sector. We show that the decoupling of economic welfare and negative external effects of passenger transport is possible with a balanced policy package. Our analysis also highlights potential urban-rural conflicts, regressive impacts and negative public budget implications of single policy measures, issues that the suggested policy package as a whole can mitigate.

Consumer knowledge about protein sources and consumers’ openness to feeding micro-algae and insects to pigs and poultry

Meat demand and production is increasing on a global scale. Soy cultivation for feed is associated with negative external environmental effects such as deforestation, transportation of soy over long distances as well as land competition between feed and food. The need for alternative protein sources in animal feeding is therefore very obvious. However, the establishment of alternative protein sources as feed will only succeed if consumers are aware of present feeding practices and if they are willing to buy meat produced with alternative protein sources. This study analyses consumer knowledge on protein sources in animal feeding and the likelihood of consumers being willing to try pork and poultry that has been produced using insects or micro-algae in the feeding regime by means of univariate analyses as well as structural equation modeling. The results show that especially in the case of pigs, consumer knowledge on feeding in commercial farms can be considered to be low. Structural equation models reveal that consumers’ willingness to buy meat that was produced with insects as alternative protein sources depends on attitudes towards product introduction and in the case of poultry also on social norms. The results contribute to carry out further studies on feeding livestock with alternative proteins. However, a limitation of the paper is that the consumer acceptance of alternative feed was only analysed in a hypothetical setting. The results are promising for the introduction of pork and poultry products based on alternative protein sources.

General Concept of Business Process Measures in the Circular Economy

The presented research has been embedded in a dynamically developing circular economy. Nowadays, it is more and more often referred to as an alternative economy model to the linear economy model. The principal aim of the research is to develop a general concept of business process measures. It was built on five key principles. They are (1) the principle of Institutional Determinants of Business Processes, (2) the principle of rational change of state, (3) the principle of incorrect definition of determinants, (4) the principle of rational determinants and (5) the principle of the intensity of the impact of determinants. The research mainly used the extensive literature on the subject, which was primarily aimed at showing the context of the circular economy. The concept itself mainly uses the methods and principles of process management. The rules of the Petri nets were used to define the key principles of the presented concept. Ultimately, it turned out that the proposed approach to business measurements can be helpful in managing environmental, social and governance factors also in small- and medium-sized enterprises. The most important result of the research can be presented in a specific theorem. The effective achievement of business process goals, in a circular economy, may depend on the adaptation and use of a wide stream of institutional determinants that make up a holistic environment for socio-economic phenomena taking place in the company. This may be possible thanks to the use of the general concept of business process metrics, which allows identifying and eliminating negative internal and external effects.

THE IMPACT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOURIST INDUSTRY ON THE ENVIRONMENT

The article considers the topical issue of the impact of the tourism industry on the environment.
 The main goal is to analyze the current state of the environment and the impact on it of the tourism industry of Ukraine. Informative-analytical methods, comparison methods, etc. were used during the research.
 The quality of the environment, both natural and artificial, is important for the tourism industry. However, the relationship of the tourism industry in Ukraine with the environment is complex. The tourism industry involves many activities that can have a negative impact on the environment. Many of these impacts are related to the construction of general infrastructure objects such as roads and airports, tourist facilities, including resorts, hotels, restaurants, shops, marinas and more. The negative consequences of the development of the tourism industry can gradually destroy the environment, the resources on which it depends.
 On the other hand, the tourism industry has the potential to create a beneficial impact on the environment, contributes to the protection and preservation of the environment. It is a way to raise awareness of environmental values, and it can serve as a tool to finance the protection of natural areas and increase economic value.
 The paper examines the impact of the tourism industry on natural resources, environmental pollution and the physical environment. In addition, the impact of the tourism industry on the environment on a global scale is analyzed.
 The main positive and negative external effects of the development of the tourism industry of Ukraine are analyzed in the article; the essence of environmental problems of the development of the tourism industry; capital investments for environmental protection by types of environmental measures in Ukraine are analyzed; current costs for environmental protection by types of environmental measures in Ukraine and proposed ways to minimize the negative consequences of the processes “tourism industry ‒ environment”.

Barriers to internal carbon pricing in German companies

Internal Carbon Pricing (ICP) is a tool for companies to internalize negative external effects caused by their carbon emissions and to prepare themselves for a low-carbon economy. Globally, an increasing number of companies adopts ICP. Yet, many German firms do not use it yet. This paper explores why German companies do not adopt ICP and which barriers hinder the proper implementation of the instrument drawing on the concept of eco-innovation. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using a structuring qualitative content analysis. The findings show that small companies face particularly strong challenges to mobilize the financial, technical, and informational resources necessary for the implementation of ICP. Internal carbon price levels similar to existing external carbon pricing schemes fail to unfold a steering function, because these prices are currently too low. Further difficulties arise due to the complexity of correctly accounting for GHG emissions and setting the right carbon price. The paper highlights the need for stringent external carbon policies on a national and European level, for more external information on ICP, and for the facilitation of cooperation between companies in order to increase the adoption rate and the efficacy of ICP in Germany.

The changes and influencing factors of urban LUCC and EF footprint in energy resource areas: An empirical evidence from China using HLM model

Analyzing urban land use and cover change and its influence factors are of great significance for understanding the situation of regional development and environmental constraints and for evaluating the ability of sustainable development. This paper calculates the three-dimensional ecological footprint and total factor productivity of research cities, these cities have significant individual differences,Yinchuan, Shizuishan, Yan ‘an, Yulin, Ganzhou, Shaoguan etc. are energy resource areas and comparing to those Guangzhou, Dongguan, Wuzhong, Qingyuan etc. are non-energy resource leading cities. The HLM model is used to decompose the influencing factors of three-dimensional ecological footprint. The study shows the important role of total factor productivity in regional and urban sustainable development. Also, the study shows the inter-group differences of three-dimensional ecological footprint produced by cities with different population sizes. And the inter-group difference of urban three-dimensional ecological footprint under the influence of total factor productivity. Result shows that land, population and technology factors have different impacts on three-dimensional ecological footprint. Also, relying mainly on mining areas of energy resources and other industries dominated areas of mining land proportion and industrial structure differences did not lead to the influence of different ecological footprint, energy resource area in affecting factors, the ecological footprint is still a total factor plays the leading role of ecological rate, population and real GDP, There is no obvious negative externality effect of mining activities on the value of regional ecological products, and the regional ecological carrying capacity keeps improving.

An assessment framework for safeguarding public values on mobility platforms

Urbanites increasingly turn to digital mobility platforms to make use of means of transportation and to plan and book journeys. While these platforms can contribute to making urban travel more sustainable and efficient, they can also lead to governance challenges and have negative external effects, raising questions about how public values can best be safeguarded. In this article, public values are defined as normative concepts that describe both the impact on and democratic control of an affected public. This article aims to initiate a more structured discussion about platform urbanism, specifically how and to what extent public values are incorporated in platform design and operation in the realm of mobility. It introduces an assessment framework for mobility platforms that was developed as part of a transdisciplinary research project in the Netherlands. This framework is grounded in two academic debates regarding 1) the rise of platform urbanism and 2) new forms of mobility that accompany the densification of cities. The paper refers to the mobility pilots Kutsuplus, UbiGo and Whim to illustrate how the safeguarding of public values can be evaluated. In the concluding section, the paper discusses some ways in which the assessment framework can be used for future research, for instance through scenarios.

Imposing versus Enacting Commitments for the Long‐Term Energy Transition: Perspectives from the Firm

Imposing versus Enacting Commitments for the Long‐Term Energy Transition: Perspectives from the Firm

The Spatial Characteristics of Sustainable Development for Agricultural Products E-Commerce at County-Level: Based on the Empirical Analysis of China

This paper used the sectional data of Chinese counties to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of sustainable development of e-commerce for agricultural products in China at the county-level. The standard deviation ellipses and Moran’s index were used to research this subject. Then, by constructing spatial measurement models, the spatial spillover effects and influencing factors of the development of county-level agricultural products e-commerce were analyzed from economic development, economic structure, economic vitality, and agricultural development. The results show that: (1) the top 100 counties of agricultural products e-commerce mainly concentrate in southeastern China, spreading along the northeast and southwest; (2) the county-level agricultural products e-commerce shows significant negative spatial spillover effects; (3) the level of economic development and public services have a positive impact on the development of county-level agricultural products e-commerce, while the level of industrial development shows a negative correlation; (4) the level of agricultural development and industrial development have a significant negative external effect on the development of agricultural products e-commerce. This study is of great significance to promote the sustainable development of agricultural products e-commerce, the process of rural urbanization and the optimization of county industrial patterns.

Analysis and Implementation of Economic Means of Environmental Protection in China

Since the reform and opening up, China has been adhering to the extensive economic growth model, which has led to serious environmental damage, energy depletion, global warming and environmental pollution and other environmental problems have been increasingly prominent. The root of environmental problems lies in external diseconomy. Environmental pollution has obvious negative external effects, as environmental resources are public goods, enterprises will not increase their own costs in using or consuming public goods, but the society has to bear the marginal cost in providing the goods, which will lead to the inconsistency between social cost and private cost, thus causing excessive damage to the domestic environment. In the past, our country mainly governs by administrative means, and the shortcomings such as high management cost and poor effect in the implementation process are increasingly obvious. Combined with the treatment process of environmental pollution in western countries, economic measures have a good effect on the external diseconomy of environmental problems. According to the current environmental problems and governance status in China, environmental governance means in urgent need of transformation. Based on the literature, this paper analyzes the current situation of environmental pollution in China and the mechanism of economic means in environmental protection, puts forward the means of environmental governance and protection from the economic level, and discusses the future direction of environmental governance.

All the Tea in China: Solving the ‘China Problem’ at the WTO

AbstractThe history of China’s accession to the WTO has been a rollercoaster of alacrity and acrimony. Hailed as another milestone in the WTO‐era, it soon proved to be a thorn in the side of the multilateral edifice. Various complaints have arisen, and all have to do with the role of state involvement in the workings of the economy. The cause of concern is not state involvement per se – it is state involvement in an economy of unprecedented size. State‐owned enterprises and transfer of technology are the expressions of state involvement that have caught most of the attention. In this paper we argue in favor of multilateral solutions to address both matters. Staying idle is not an option as the trading community otherwise will continue to be confronted with unilateral responses that are largely ineffective while generating significant negative external effects.

Between walls and fences: How different types of gated communities shape the streets around them

Gated communities in Latin American cities have become the new normal. The streets bordered by fences, walls and the occasional gate, formed when two or more gated communities face each other, dominate the urban landscape today. Taking Bogotá with its 3500 gated communities as my case study, I create a novel typology focusing on the gated community’s spatial dimension, not portraying it as an isolated island but as an integral part of the urban realm. Using an empirically grounded typology formation process, I present five distinctive types of gated communities in Bogotá, varying widely in how they shape the surrounding public spaces. Some types have significant expected negative effects on activity and security in the adjacent streets and others hardly any. I show how future gated community research and policymaking would benefit from disaggregation of the concept and present some policy strategies to mitigate negative external effects of gated communities.

Analysis of participation in collective action initiatives for addressing unilateral agri-environmental externalities

The fact that agriculture is associated with negative external effects on ecosystems is of great concern. Most of these agri-environmental externalities are public goods in nature and therefore solving them through conventional market and regulation tools is challenging. Collective action has been identified as an option in dealing with externalities emanating from activities touching on agriculture and the environment especially in circumstances where markets and government regulation are not effective. In this paper, we assess the potential for collective action in addressing agri-environmental externalities. The study achieves this objective using cross-sectional household survey data collected from 307 households in the Lake Naivasha basin, Kenya. Results indicate that non-participation in collective action initiatives is a dominant strategy in the Lake Naivasha basin. The study also identifies factors that influence the probability of participating and therefore could be catalysts to encourage participation. Such factors include expected private incentives, labour endowments and agricultural commercialization. Positive perceptions and attitudes, the presence of social sanctions and norms of trust were also found to significantly influence participation. To deal with agri-environmental challenges through collective action, policy needs to focus on facilitating selective incentives, awareness creation and embracing local participation in resource management.

Economic and environmental effects of replacing bottom trawling with fishing with creels

Bottom trawling is associated with negative external effects such as seafloor pressure and high fuel use. Replacing bottom trawls with passive gear, such as creels, is therefore interesting for policymakers. We investigate the response of the Norway lobster fishery in Sweden to an expanded creel area. Using an economic model (FishRent), we analyse fleet structure, net present value and two environmental indicators under five management scenarios. Our results show that expanding the creel area increases the number of creel fishers, while some trawlers leave the fishery. In total, the net present value and the environmental performance of the fishery improve.