Policy Package Research Articles

The role of the emissions trading scheme 2 in the policy mix to decarbonize road transport in the European Union

This article analyzes the recently decided EU-wide emission trading scheme for road transport and heating fuels. The so-called ETS2 is part of the ‘Fit for 55’ policy package, which also includes tighter vehicle emission standards, a reform of energy taxation, provisions to enhance advanced fuel infrastructure and a Social Climate Fund to alleviate financial pressure for low-income households. We argue that the ETS2 should be understood as an element of a broader policy mix, which considers multiple market failures, fairness both within and across EU member states within the institutional constraints of EU policy making. We conclude by discussing specific potential modifications to the design of the ETS2 that could help achieve the EU's climate target in an efficient and equitable way. These include linking ETS and ETS2, reducing price volatility, increasing the size of the Social Climate fund, and clarifying penalties for countries missing targets under the Effort Sharing Regulation.

Policy packages and policy space: Lessons from COVID-19

This paper uses the onset of COVID-19 to examine how countries construct their policy packages in response to a severe negative shock. We use several new datasets to track the use of a large variety of policy tools: announced fiscal stimulus (both above- and below-the-line), monetary policy (through interest rates, asset purchases, liquidity support and swap lines), foreign currency intervention, adjustments to macroprudential regulations (including the countercyclical capital buffer) and changes in capital controls (on inflows and outflows). The results suggest that pre-existing policy space was usually more important than other country characteristics and the extent of “stress” (in economic, financial, and health measures) in determining how a country responded to COVID-19. The notable exception is for fiscal stimulus, for which existing policy space did not act as a significant constraint in advanced economies. This is a sharp contrast to results for earlier episodes—although advanced economies with higher debt levels may have been constrained in how they provided stimulus (with more below-the-line commitments). Moreover, the use of (and space available) for each policy tool usually did not affect a country's use of other policies. This suggests that countries are not coordinating their tools optimally in an integrated framework, especially when policy space is limited for certain tools.

COVID‐19 emergency policies, financial security, and social equity: Worldwide evidence

AbstractUsing worldwide country‐level panel data of COVID‐19 emergency policies and aggregated survey responses of 46 million randomly sampled Facebook users, we study the impact of public health and economic measures on household financial worries among various demographic groups. The analysis reveals that public health interventions with stringent mobility restrictions—domestic lockdowns and international travel restrictions—increase the proportion of households with financial stress within countries. However, economic policies with immediate disposability, like wage support and in‐kind transfers, counteract the negative impacts. Notably, younger working‐age groups are particularly sensitive to such public health and economic emergency policies in their assessment of financial security. Our results also show that a country's social safety net coverage and poverty rate moderate the financial impact. As governments face challenges in containing the pandemic, this study highlights the need to create policy packages balancing differential tradeoffs between health and economic interventions while enhancing equity objectives.

Do citizens support the transformation of urban transport? Evidence for the acceptability of parking management, car lane conversion and road closures from a German case study.

Facing the challenges of motorised traffic, many cities around the globe started implementing measures to transform their urban transport systems. One of the major challenges for the success of adequate policies is not only their effectiveness but also whether they are accepted by city residents. With a quantitative case study in four neighbourhoods in Frankfurt am Main (N = 821), this article investigates the acceptability of three measures: (i) parking management, (ii) the conversion of car lanes into cycle lanes and (iii) the closure of an inner city arterial road to car traffic. The results show a surprisingly high acceptability for all measures if the benefits for local residents are tangible. Thus, successful policy packages may combine push measures with either pull measures, as suggested frequently in the literature, or with improvements for other land uses (e.g. re-using former car-parking spaces for non-transport purposes, such as greenery or seating areas). Furthermore, the perceived effectiveness, daily travel practices and intentions to reduce car use, the built environment and, to a lesser degree, socio-demographics explain differences in acceptability by population group.

The Influence of Passenger Car Banning Policies on Modal Shifts: Rotterdam’s Case Study

Low-emission zones (LEZs), incentivizing electric cars, park-and-ride systems, and other traffic reduction schemes, are all single measures aimed at achieving low-/zero-emission mobility. This paper aims to investigate the impact of LEZs’ passenger car banning and argues that such single measures cannot achieve significant traffic or emission reduction levels without being integrated into a well-designed policy package that ensures the sufficient provision of mobility alternatives. Featuring Rotterdam as a single case study, this paper follows a mixed methodology consisting of (1) quantitative real-time data on transport usage that mirror the users’ behavior and (2) qualitative data acquired from in-depth interviews and documents that explain the government’s intention and the users’ behavior. The results show that between 2016 and 2020, after applying the LEZ policy for restricting passenger cars and vans of Euro 3 and lower, there was a 50% decrease in the number of polluting passenger cars and vans entering Rotterdam. However, this decrease is insignificant, since the number of vehicles targeted by the policy was less than 2% of the overall vehicles that entered the LEZ area. The results also shed light on the role of systematic policy packaging in ensuring a change in user behavior. Among other initiatives, a successful LEZ implantation should be supported by inner-city parking reduction, electric vehicle charging facilities, incentive schemes, and alternative sustainable mobility options. Above all, the number of restricted vehicles must be significant. The conclusion and discussion develop a well-structured, educational, evaluative framework and recommend a comprehensive package of policy measures for cities seeking low-emission mobility. The research, however, did not consider the impact of different land-use distributions on the application of the LEZ, which can be an interesting angle for future researchers.

한국과 유럽연합의 미세먼지 대응에 관한 비교법적 연구

Entering the 21st century, the whole world is paying much attention to environmental issues. In the past, environmental problems were regarded as national laws and policies or subjects of discussion by experts, but as the general public gradually began to feel environmental problems, it became a problem for all levels of the world to seek solutions. As a representative example, disasters such as floods and droughts have occurred all over the world due to the impact of the climate crisis, and many people are suffering damage, which also affects crops and fruit yields, resulting in economic problems. In Korea, record- breaking heavy rains fell in 2022, and as many people began to suffer damage, it became an opportunity to have a lot of interest in environmental issues. Another problem is that of fine dust. Fine dust refers to extremely small particles floating in the air in a solid or liquid state. Fine dust originally began to be managed comprehensively as one of the elements of air quality pollution. It began to be separately regulated and managed through the Special Act on Dust Reduction and Management”. Fine dust meant particles of 10 μm or less, but since the smaller the fine dust, the greater the damage, the ultra-fine dust of 2.5 μm or less was separately defined and started to be managed. Fine dust was also a field that was not of great interest unless those involved were involved, but around 2018, many articles on the effect of fine dust were published, and poor air quality was observed every day, The general public has come to regard fine dust as a serious problem. As a result, the demand for air purifiers among home appliances continues to rise due to the influence of fine dust, and interest in KF masks has also increased due to the corona crisis. In Korea, fine dust is managed through so-called ‘Eight Fine Dust Acts’. They are the ｢Special Act on the Reduction and Management of Fine Dust｣, ｢Indoor Air Quality Control Act｣, ｢Special Act On The Improvement Of Air Quality In Air Control Zones｣, ｢Clean Air Conservation Act｣, ｢School Health Act｣, ｢Framework Act On The Management Of Disasters And Safety｣, ｢Safety Control And Business Of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Act｣, ｢Special Act On The Improvement Of Air Quality In Port Areas｣ However, due to the nature of fine dust spreading through the air, it is difficult to say that it is a problem unique to one country and must be resolved through international cooperation. In consideration of this point, matters regarding international cooperation have been added to fine dust-related laws in Korea, but this is still a matter that requires further discussion. In the European Union, there are laws related to fine dust such as ｢European Climate Act｣, European Green Deal, National Emission Ceiling Directive, Ambient Air Quality Directive, Clean Air Policy Package for Europe, Directive on Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe. The European Union manages fine dust through these air quality guidelines. The European Union has legal characteristics that can manage a wide scale due to its structure, and countries outside the EU are also integrated through the ‘Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution’. Considering the characteristics of the fine dust problem that occurs over a wide range, Korea also needs to consider the characteristics of the European Union's EU-scale guidelines and matters related to international agreements.

Essential medicines for cardiovascular diseases in India: Rapid appraisal of policies and processes at the subnational level.

Background The burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and response to health systems vary widely at the subnational level in India. Our study aimed to assess the variation in state-level access to medicines for CVDs by comparing the essential medicines lists (EMLs) at the national and subnational levels in India and by rapid appraisal of the existing policies and processes of drug procurement. Methods We assessed the inclusion of six classes of medicines for CVDs in the recent and publicly available national and subnational EMLs from July to September 2018 in the states of Telangana and Madhya Pradesh. We examined the drug procurement and distribution policies and processes using documentary review and five key informant interviews between March and June 2018. Results The WHO's EML, India's national EML, and 21 of 28 publicly available (75%) Indian state and Union Territory EMLs included all six classes of essential medicines for CVDs. However, some medicines were not included in the policy packages of essential medicines meant for primary health centres. Both the states used centralized tendering and decentralized distribution as part of the public sector drug procurement process. The requirement was based on the previous year's consumption. The approximate time between procurement planning and distribution was 7-8 months in both the states. Conclusion Substantial variation exists in the selection of drugs for CVDs in EMLs at the subnational level in India. Improving forecasting techniques for requirement of medicines and reducing time lags between forecasting and distribution to health facilities may allow for better access to essential medicines.

Determinants of shared moped mode choice

A plethora of shared fleet services have been introduced in cities worldwide. Despite their increased presence in urban areas, it is insofar unknown what are the main determinants of travellers’ choices between the usage of shared-mopeds and cars and thereby the extent to which shared moped can substitute car travel. To this end, we design and conduct an SP choice model experiment. The estimated Panel Mixed Logit model is applied to explore the potential market share for shared moped, car and bike under several scenarios which are devised based on the expert interviews. Our findings demonstrate that the return availability of shared moped is the most influential travel time attribute. Walk time from home to the shared moped is an influential factor for people without moped experience. Moreover, model estimation results show that people who have used a shared moped before value the attributes differently than people without previous moped experience. We specifically focus on choice determinants and policy measures targeting car users to facilitate desirable behavioural changes. We present results from model application to demonstrate the effect of different policy packages on the market share of each mode, showing that certain policy interventions can attract car users to switch to shared moped while avoiding a strong reduction in bike use.

Implications of carbon neutrality for power sector investments and stranded coal assets in China

China's 2060 carbon neutrality vision requires deep decarbonization of the power sector. Existing studies explore decarbonization pathways for China's power sector, but understanding of the associated economic costs still needs to be enhanced, especially in the context of carbon neutrality. We examine the implications of carbon neutrality for China's power sector investments and stranded coal assets under 12 illustrative scenarios by combining integrated assessment model simulations and post-simulation calculations, bottom-up coal capacity data. We inform a technology-level scenario-robust investment strategy for China's power sector in line with its carbon neutrality vision. We estimate that total investments in China's power sector reach $7.3–8.4 trillion between 2021 and 2060, of which 76–82% is expected to be invested in wind and solar. We also estimate that achieving carbon neutrality in our scenarios implies $60–130 billion of coal power assets in China at risk of being stranded after 2030. We emphasize that China's policy package to align power sector decarbonization with the carbon neutrality vision should include investment strategies and promotion measures for low-carbon technologies, particularly wind and solar, as well as a roadmap to completely phase out conventional coal plants by approximately 2050.

EU climate action through an energy poverty lens

Carbon pricing can steer energy choices towards low-carbon fuels and foster energy conservation efforts. Simultaneously, higher fossil fuel prices may exacerbate energy poverty. A just portfolio of climate policies therefore requires a balanced instrument mix to jointly combat climate change and energy poverty. We review recent policy developments in the EU aimed at addressing energy poverty and the social implications of the climate neutrality transition. We then operationalise an affordability-based definition of energy poverty and numerically illustrate that recent EU climate policy proposals risk raising the number of energy poor when not accompanied with complementary measures, while alternative climate policy designs could lift more than 1 million households out of energy poverty through income-targeted revenue recycling schemes. While these schemes have low informational requirements and appear sufficient to avoid exacerbating energy poverty, the findings suggest that more tailored interventions are needed. Finally, we discuss how insights from behavioural economics and energy justice can help shape optimal policy packages and processes.

Temporal responses of PM2.5-bound trace elements and health risks to air control policy in a typical northern city in China during 2016–2020

A package of macro-control policies at the national level was an effective way to control air pollution. It was of great practical significance to study the trends of pollution sources and source-specific health risks of PM2.5-bound trace elements under long-term policies implementation, which in turn can not only gain insight into the substantive impact of policies, but also provide accurate guidance for future environmental management. In this study, winter PM2.5 samples were collected in Baoding City in northern China from 2016 to 2020, and variations in pollution sources and source-specific health risks of trace elements in PM2.5 were comprehensively analyzed. The results demonstrated that the concentrations of 10 elements displayed a declining trend, especially those of As, Sn, Zn, Sb, and Cd. By contrast, the concentration of Cr increased (except in 2020). Although the non-carcinogenic risk (NCR, including dust source) and carcinogenic risk (CR) from coal combustion and industrial emissions had decreased in the past five years, the NCR and CR still exceed the widely accept level for both adults and children in the winter of 2020. Coal combustion source was no longer the major contributor to the health risks caused by PM2.5-bound trace elements in winter, but vehicle related non-exhaust emissions have gradually become the main source of pollution.

A collaborative generation-side clearing model for generation company in coupled energy, ancillary service and carbon emission trading market in China

Under the current technical conditions and power mix in China, flexible modified thermal power units must provide enough flexibility resources for new power system since the potential of flexible resource has not been fully used. In this paper, a bi-level model is proposed to characterize the decision behavior of the generation company in the case of individual rationality and generation-side coordination. The model fully considers the concrete conditions of China and the technical differences between thermal power units in the multi-market (including energy, ancillary services and carbon emission trading market). The bi-level model could be reconstructed into an equivalent MILP model which can be solved directly. The strategic bidding behavior of small capacity units in the energy market show the urgency to enhance the transmission of deep peak regulation price compensation signals. The coupling of multi market is likely to be the most effective policy package to guide large-scale units to play a supporting role and small-scale units to assume the regulating function to play a role in the transition to a low-carbon future. Long-term policy mechanisms should be developed, combining electricity transition with the mechanisms in the carbon emission trading market to achieve the integral maximization of environmental benefit.

PEMBERDAYAAN SOSIAL EKONOMI MASYARAKAT DI DAERAH RAWAN BANJIR (Studi Kasus Banjir di Kecamatan Periuk Kota Tangerang)

Empowerment of the environment in society is very essential in the regional and national development agenda. Communities, governments, academics and business actors have an important role as drivers of innovation in national environmental preservation programs. In an effort to implement this function, several strategic studies are needed so that all initiator components can jointly protect the environment from potential natural releases including natural disasters such as floods. Based on this, community service research involving members of the Tangerang City DPRD, the Environment Service, the Public Works and Public Housing Service, the Social Service, the Regional Disaster Management Agency, Officials in the Periuk sub-district and Periuk Sub-District underwent a Focus Group Discussion on social impact economic consequences due to flooding in Periuk District. As for some assistance with problems, namely as follows: 1.) Officials in the Tangerang City area require intensive coordination and supervision to overcome flood problems and their economic impacts, (2.) The need for knowledge for the community regarding the socio-economic impacts that can be experienced as a result of flooding . Therefore, the results of community service research are as follows: (1) succeeded in formulating a policy package that has been approved by the executive and legislative components in the Periuk District and Tangerang City, (2.) The community feels helped by the existence of discussion and presentation facilities material organized by the Business Faculty of Buddhi Dharma University.

Insight: The Relationship Between Environmental Protection & Economics Growth in China

Stepping ahead into the 21st century, one alarming challenge put upon human society is to balance a healthy relationship between protecting mother earth and achieving economic growth. Back in 2017, China, one of the worlds leading superpowers, proposed its answer to the problem with the Dual Control policy package. This passage serves as an explanation of the Chinese Dual Control and as an evaluation of its true effectiveness after 5 years of implementation timespan. The research team considered short-run economic impacts as well as long-run effects of the Dual Control and eventually reached an overall appraisal concerning its rationality. The team then constructed an analytics hierarchy process (AHP) model to consolidate the prior evaluations. Specifically, the research team divided the current status into the economic part and the environmental part. For each part, the team compiled historical statistics and relatable indexes to eventually form the Environmental-Economic Index (EEI). Based on the modeling results, the team also suggested original policy recommendations to further improve the situation. Examples include the woodland preservation policy package, the build-operate-transfer model, and the feasible emission trading system currently in use by several global nations.

Research on the Path of Stable Economic Growth

The economic forms at home and abroad are becoming increasingly complex, and the factors of instability and uncertainty are increasing significantly. Especially in the post-epidemic era, the domestic economic development potential has not been fully released. At present, we are in a critical period to determine the economic trend. We must seize the time window and try to push the economy back to normal track. Accelerate the steady economic growth and form the domestic big cycle as soon as possible. The development model of domestic and international double cycle is the important task of economic development at this stage. In order to effectively hedge the downside risks of the economy and boost market confidence, the central government has gradually increased the adjustment of counter-cyclical policies and formulated a package of policies and measures to stabilize the economy. Based on this, this paper first analyzes the reality of China's current economic growth, then expounds the latest package of policies, and finally puts forward the risks and challenges faced by the current stable growth, and puts forward corresponding measures.

Greenhouse gas emission budgets and policies for zero-Carbon road transport in Europe

ABSTRACT Following the Paris Agreement, virtually all countries worldwide have committed themselves to undertaking efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. Within the European Union (EU), the recent ‘Fit for 55’ policy package proposes ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation policies for all sectors as part of the EU's contribution to limiting global warming. Yet, it is unclear whether the proposed policies are sufficient for the EU to limit global warming to 1.5 °C and it remains an open policy problem how to translate global temperature targets into sector-specific emission budgets and further into sector-specific policies. Here, we derive GHG budgets for transport in EU27 and obtain GHG mitigation pathways for Europe consistent with 1.5 °C global warming. We do not provide a comprehensive assessment of the ‘Fit for 55’ transport package but we discuss the main policies for road transport in light of the GHG emission budgets, their level of ambition, and suggest amendments to these policies as well as improvements to the ‘Fit for 55’ package. Our results suggest that parts of the ‘Fit for 55’ for transport are still not ambitious enough to align with a 1.5 °C scenario. Key policy insights A Paris-compatible residual carbon budget for EU transport is 10–12 Gt CO2. The budget implies net zero emissions for EU transport by 2044–2048 latest. We find the current ‘Fit for 55’ proposal for transport is not ambitious enough. A faster phase-out of cars and trucks with combustion engines is required and there is a need for ambitious standards for fast charging e-vehicles. CO2 pricing of transport is not a substitute but a complement to fleet targets.

Effectiveness of hierarchical medical system policy: an interrupted time series analysis of a pilot scheme in China.

The Chinese healthcare system faces a dilemma between its hospital-centric approach to healthcare delivery and a rapidly ageing population that requires strong primary care. To improve system efficiency and continuity of care, the Hierarchical Medical System (HMS) policy package was issued in November 2014 and fully implemented in 2015 in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the HMS on the local healthcare system. We conducted a repeated cross-sectional study with quarterly data collected between 2010 and 2018 from Yinzhou district, Ningbo. The data were analysed with an interrupted time series design to assess the impact of HMS on the changes in levels and trends of three outcome variables: primary care physicians' (PCPs') patient encounter ratio (i.e.the mean quarterly number of patient encounters of PCPs divided by that of all other physicians), PCP degree ratio (i.e.the mean degree of PCPs divided by the mean degree of all other physicians, with the mean degree revealing the mean activity and popularity of physicians, which reflected the extent to which he/she coordinated with others in delivering health services), and PCP betweenness centrality ratio (i.e.the mean betweenness centrality of PCPs divided by the mean betweenness centrality of all other physicians; the mean betweenness centrality was interpreted as the mean relative importance of physicians within the network, indicating the centrality of the network). Observed results were compared with counterfactual scenarios computed based on pre-HMS trends. Between January 2010 and December 2018, 272 267 patients visited doctors for hypertension, a representative non-communicable disease with a high prevalence of 44.7% among adults aged 35-75 years, amounting to a total of 9 270 974 patient encounters. We analysed quarterly data of 45 464 observations over 36 time points. Compared to the counterfactual, by the fourth quarter of 2018, the PCP patient encounter ratio rose by 42.7% [95% confidence interval (CI): 27.1-58.2, P < 0.001], the PCP degree ratio increased by 23.6% (95%CI: 8.6-38.5, P < 0.01) and the PCP betweenness centrality ratio grew by 129.4% (95%CI: 87.1-171.7, P < 0.001). The HMS policy can incentivize patients to visit primary care facilities and enhance the centrality of PCPs within their professional network.

Basic Income at Municipal Level: Insights from the Barcelona B-MINCOME Pilot

Abstract Between 2017 and 2019, Barcelona was one of the first European cities to implement a basic income experiment, the B-MINCOME pilot, aimed at reducing poverty and social exclusion in a low-income area of the city. A new cash grant was designed along with a package of active policies. Four modalities of participation were then established depending on two criteria: whether attending these policies was mandatory or not, and whether participants’ additional income altered the amount of the grant or was instead net added on top. The context which initially moulded the pilot is firstly explained. Then, the cash schema and the active policies are described followed by an explanation of its experimental design. The main results at individual, community and institutional levels formerly released in the official reports are now integrated and jointly addressed. Finally, conclusions discuss some issues raised by the pilot’s results in light of the findings gathered in other similar basic income experiments.

Beyond Job Guarantee: The Employer of Last Resort Program as a Tool to Promote the Energy Transition

ABSTRACT We argue that a careful design of a program of direct employment and public provision by the state can have permanent effects and promote the structural and environmental transformation of the economy. Starting from this point, we develop a multisectoral stock-flow consistent model to study the long-run effects of the implementation of a job guarantee program, both in the original formulation of Minsky and in its recent version put forward as part of the ‘Green New Deal’ (GND) policy package. We also assess the impact of both ‘green’ and ‘brown’ standard fiscal expenditures, as well as a policy mix including industrial, environmental and employment measures. Results from our simulations point out that, in order to pursue the twin targets of full employment and environmental sustainability, the government should invest in gross fixed capital formation while both reducing energy consumption and acting as an employer of last resort in order to absorb the workforce expelled from the energy sector.

Assessing the neonatal health policy landscape in low- and middle-income countries: Findings from the 2018 WHO SRMNCAH policy survey.

We aimed to describe the availability of newborn health policies across the continuum of care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and to assess the relationship between the availability of newborn health policies and their achievement of global Sustainable Development Goal and Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP) neonatal mortality and stillbirth rate targets in 2019. We used data from World Health Organization's 2018-2019 sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (SRMNCAH) Policy Survey and extracted key newborn health service delivery and cross-cutting health systems policies that align with the WHO health system building blocks. We constructed composite measures to represent packages of newborn health policies for five components along the continuum of care: antenatal care (ANC), childbirth, postnatal care (PNC), essential newborn care (ENC), and management of small and sick newborns (SSNB). We used descriptive analyses to present the differences in the availability of newborn health service delivery policies by World Bank income group in 113 LMICs. We employed logistic regression analysis to assess the relationship between the availability of each composite newborn health policy package and achievement of global neonatal mortality and stillbirth rate targets by 2019. In 2018, most LMICs had existing policies regarding newborn health across the continuum of care. However, policy specifications varied widely. While the availability of the ANC, childbirth, PNC, and ENC policy packages was not associated with having achieved global NMR targets by 2019, LMICs with existing policy packages on the management of SSNB were 4.4 times more likely to have reached the global NMR target (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 4.40; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.09-17.79) after controlling for income group and supporting health systems policies. Given the current trajectory of neonatal mortality in LMICs, there is a dire need for supportive health systems and policy environments for newborn health across the continuum of care. Adoption and implementation of evidence-informed newborn health policies will be a crucial step in putting LMICs on track to meet global newborn and stillbirth targets by 2030.