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This paper investigates monetary-fiscal interactions in resource-rich emerging economies using an estimated Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium model. We find evidence of an active monetary and passive fiscal policy but confirm the presence of revenue substitution; a phenomenon that alters the automatic stabilizer's role of fiscal policy. Once the response of fiscal policy to oil-related flows is muted, the revenue substitution effect is neutralized, taxes respond positively to debt, and the stagflationary impacts of negative oil price shocks are ameliorated. Our findings highlight the need for dynamic tax policies that are less sensitive to receipts from resource rent as a strategy for achieving debt sustainability and overall macroeconomic stability in resource-rich countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Europe's external migration mix, considering three policy instruments which form part of the EU's remote control of borders: (1) visa regulations managing entry and cross-border mobility, (2) readmission agreements facilitating assisted and forced return of migrants without legal right to remain, and (3) resettlement of refugees with refugee status via formalised programmes. The article explores the degree and nature of these policies co-evolution. Based on a collation of migration policy data for 31 European countries between 1990 and 2020, we disentangle spatial, temporal, and categorical policy patterns and interactions. We find strong evidence for spatial policy dependence across European countries for all three policy areas, but particularly visa policy; evidence for some categorical dependence between selected external policies within countries, but also between external policy instruments and other migration-relevant policies; and only weak or no evidence for temporal sequencing of external policy change. The external migration policy mix appears heterogenous across different European states, but also within single European states, and vis-a-vis third country states, with whom various migration-relevant and externally oriented policies are negotiated. As a result, and perhaps surprisingly, the role of specific migration-relevant policies seems to be underestimated in strategic and overarching migration policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China announced the launch of a national emissions trading scheme (ETS) in December 2017 for the regulation of its carbon dioxides emissions. In emissions trading, China is likely to encounter issues different from those encountered by the European Union and other developed countries. This study first identifies the contextual factors that influence the design of China's national ETS and affect its performance. After an overview of the design of China's national ETS, this study focuses on two key features: (1) ex-post adjustment of the initial allowance allocation in proportion to the actual output levels, and (2) treatment of the power sector. Finally, the study analyzes the interaction between China's national ETS and some overlapping policies such as those on air pollution control. The study's key findings are that China's ETS cannot fully achieve cost-effectiveness because of its design, the price behavior of China's ETS will be different from that of a cap-and-trade ETS, and overlapping policies such as the command-and-control regulations for energy conservation and/or air quality improvement will decrease the demand for allowances and limit the opportunity for allowance trading. These findings are based on existing theoretical studies and relevant global ETS experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study how European climate and energy policy targets affect different member states and households of different income quintiles within the member states. We find that renewable energy targets in power generation, by reducing EU ETS permit prices, may make net permit exporters worse off and net permit importers better off. This effect appears to dominate the efficiency cost of increasing the share of energy provided by renewable energy sources in the countries that adopt such targets. While an increase in prices for energy commodities, which is entailed by the policies in question, affects households in low income quintiles the most, recycling revenues from climate policy allows governments to compensate them for the losses. If renewable targets reduce the revenues from ETS permit auctions, member states with large allocations of auctionable permits will lose some of the ability to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the interactions between a CO2 emissions trading system (ETS) and renewable energy subsidies under uncertainty over electricity demand and energy costs. We develop an analytical model and a numerical model applied to the European Union electricity market in which renewable energy subsidies are justified only by CO2 abatement. We confirm that in this context, when uncertainty is small, renewable energy subsidies are not welfare-improving, but we show that when uncertainty is large enough, these subsidies increase expected welfare because they provide CO2 abatement even in the case of over-allocation, i.e. when the cap is higher than the emissions which would have occurred without the ETS. The source of uncertainty is important when comparing the various types of renewable energy subsidies. Under uncertainty over electricity demand, renewable energy costs or gas prices, a feed-in tariff brings higher expected welfare than a feed-in premium because it provides a higher subsidy when it is actually needed i.e. when the electricity price is low. Under uncertainty over coal prices, the opposite result holds true. Key policy insights Due to the possibility of over-allocation in an ETS, subsidies to renewable energies can increase expected welfare, even when climate change mitigation is the only benefit from renewables taken into account. In most cases studied, a feed-in tariff brings a higher expected welfare than a feed-in premium. The European Commission guidelines on State aid for energy, which incentivize member States to replace feed-in tariffs by feed-in premiums, should be reconsidered based on these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to examine the innovation impacts of renewable energy support policies, and their interaction in the empirical context of solar photovoltaics (PV) technology. This is achieved using data on patent applications for 13 countries over the period 1978–2008, and unconditional negative binomial estimators. The analysis addresses one technology-push instrument, public R&D support, and two demand-pull instruments, feed-in tariffs (FIT), and renewable energy certificate (REC) schemes. The results indicate that: (a) both FIT and REC schemes induce solar PV patenting activity, but the impact of the former policy appears to be more profound; (b) public R&D support has overall been more influential than FIT and REC schemes in encouraging solar PV innovation; (c) policy interaction exists in that the impact of public R&D support on innovation is greater at the margin if it is accompanied by the use of FIT schemes for solar PV. A corresponding interaction effect is harder to detect for public R&D support and REC schemes, possibly due to the stronger technology selection pressure under the latter policy. The results following several robustness tests support the existence of a positive interaction effect between public R&D and FIT schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we evaluate the bonus-malus schemes proposed by governmental investigation in Sweden in 2014. The objective was to reach the target of maximum 95 g/km of average emissions for new car sales by 2020. Two bonus-malus schemes along with several other policies were introduced in different scenarios as measures to reach the target. The scenarios differ in design regarding bonus-malus schemes, vehicle circulation tax, clean car premiums, company car benefits tax, and fuel tax. Both private and company car segments are targeted in these scenarios. We use a nested logit model for car type choice to predict the effects of the proposed policy scenarios on Swedish new car sales. Moreover, we introduce a methodology to predict the future of car supply. Our model results show that none of the three proposed policy scenarios is successful enough to meet the average emissions target. Furthermore, although the number of electric, plug-in hybrid, and alternative fuel cars will increase, new car sales will still be dominated by fossil-fueled cars in all scenarios. The average emissions in the scenarios containing bonus-malus schemes are not lower than that of the business-as-usual scenario. However, introducing bonus-malus schemes on its own would reduce emissions showing that interacting with other non--differentiated policies counteracts their effects. Moreover, bonus-malus schemes are predicted to give a budget surplus effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydropower contributes to a higher share of renewables but is also in conflict with environmental legislation aiming to protect natural habitats, wildlife and endangered species. Analysing two neighbouring European countries with similar topographical and hydromporphological characteristics, Austria and Slovenia, allows assessing to what extent a policies’ national context steers possible policy conflicts of EU legislation. The paper shows that hydropower expansion in examined countries is strongly shaped by factors such as financial concerns of investors, diverging opinions of involved stakeholders, available hydro potential and the role of hydropower in national energy strategies. Addressing issues that lead to a lower effectiveness of national policies already at the level of EU policy design or engaging countries to broadening their national energy portfolio by considering emerging technologies such as PV and wind will enable future energy and climate strategies that are more consistent with other environmental goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of merit-aid is not a new development in higher education. Although previous researchers have demonstrated the impact of state-adopted merit-aid funding on student decision-making, fewer studies have examined institutional pricing responses to broad-based merit-aid policies. Using a generalized difference-in-difference approach, we extend previous empirical work by examining the impact of merit-aid on institutional pricing strategies while considering both the institution’s tuition-setting authority and the relative strength of the merit-aid program. In this study, we find that colleges and universities with the authority to set their own tuition increased their in-state tuition and fees following broad-based merit-aid policy adoption; however, institutions with state-controlled tuition-setting authority respond to broad-based merit-aid policies by lowering their in-state tuition and fees. Our findings suggest that the incentives and dynamics of each state’s policy environment are significant determinants of institutional responses to state-level policy adoptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coordination of agricultural, environmental and energy policies requires a thorough understanding of the interactions between crop, food and energy markets. This paper develops a general equilibrium model to analyze the interactions and to evaluate the price and welfare effect of biofuel mandates and subsidies. Results suggest that biofuel mandates are a primary cause of some of the major concerns associated with crop-based biofuel production, including higher food prices and lower consumer welfare. The price and welfare effects of biofuel subsidies depend on the level of the biofuel mandate. When the mandate is weak or not binding, a biofuel subsidy becomes a transfer from consumers to biofuel producers, which tends to reduce food and fuel prices because of the negative income effect. However, with a strong mandate, a biofuel subsidy will increase the prices of crops, food, and fuel when crops account for a large share of production cost and when the supply of crops is inelastic. Using parameter values consistent with empirical evidence found in the U.S., we calculated the price and welfare effects of the biofuel mandates and subsidies specified in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Results suggest that the biofuel mandates and subsidies increased the price of corn by 25-40 %, increased the price of food by 1.5-2.5 %, and lowered the price of gasoline by 5-10 %. Overall, the biofuel policies had only a small effect on consumer utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a two-country open economy model, Bencivenga, Huybens, and Smith [2002, What to Stabilize in the Open Economy, International Economic Review 43, 1289-1307] investigate three policy regimes and find that a fixed exchange rate regime, where the country with the lowest reserve-to-deposit ratio is charged with maintaining the fixed rate, and a price-level targeting regime are both more prone to price-level instability than a constant money growth rate regime. This paper, by replacing their "helicopter drops" assumption with an open market operations assumption, shows that the two rules of fixing the money growth rate and targeting the time path of the price level work equally well. Additionally, under a regime of fixed exchange rates, it does not matter which country is charged with keeping the fixed exchange rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Energy Modeling Forum 24 study included a set of policy scenarios designed to compare economy wide market-based and sectoral regulatory approaches of potential U.S. climate policy. Models from seven teams participated in this part of the study assessing economy-wide cap-and-trade climate policy and sectoral policies in the transportation and electric sector in terms of potential greenhouse gas emissions reductions, economic cost, and energy systems implications. This paper presents an overview of the results from the U.S. policy scenarios, and provides insights into the comparison of results from the participating models. In particular, various metrics were used to compare the model results including allowance price, the efficient frontier, consumption loss, GDP loss, and equivalent variation. We find that the choice of economic metric is an important factor in the comparison of model results. Among the insights, we note that the carbon price should cautiously be considered when other non-cap sectoral policies affecting emissions are assumed in tandem. We also find that a transportation sector policy is consistently shown to be inefficient compared to an economy-wide capand-trade policy with a comparable level of emissions reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a unique 10-year dataset of all 458 Dutch municipalities, we apply a differences-in-differences approach to estimate the effect of unit-based pricing on household waste quantities and recycling. Community-level studies of unit-based pricing typically do not include fixed effects at the local level. We find that failure to do so may substantially inflate the estimated price effect. We also find that unit-based pricing may be endogenous, and use instrumental variables to account for this. Our analysis shows that user fees depend on user fees in neighboring jurisdictions (policy interaction). Our estimate of the garbage reduction per $1 user fee is lower than any previous estimate bar one. The price effect depends on the pricing system: weight-based systems reduce garbage quantities more than volume-based systems. User fees increase recycling, especially of paper, but not nearly as much as they reduce garbage quantities. We find no evidence for waste tourism or illegal dumping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyze the concept of interactions between policy instruments addressing environmental, energy and climate change issues. Although discussion on such policies has been taking place for almost two decades, their interactions are not so sufficiently explored. Initially, we refer to literature on various types of interactions and we classify them. Furthermore, we construct a qualitative method that can assist policymakers in selecting an optimal policy mix. This method breaks down into numerous components, the areas where different policies interact, and facilitates the unveiling of potential overlaps and complementarities. These areas consist of categories as measure identification, objectives, scope, market arrangements, market flexibility, financing, technological parameters, timing, compliance parameters and institutional setup. In addition, it renders the possibility of combining different options and design elements of policies. Furthermore, a list of various criteria serves as an assessment tool for interactions, where a weighing factor and uncertainty parameters have been added, in order to produce an aggregate indicator of the ex-ante analysis of the policy mix selected. Through this method, we present a complete framework of discernment of diverse forms of environmental policy instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyze policy interactions between two innovative climate and energy policy instruments, namely White Certificates (WhC) and Joint Implementation (JI) that target at energy efficiency improvement and reductions of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. We have selected The Netherlands and Bulgaria as a case study given that the former has a cumulated experience in energy efficiency policies and the latter for a growing potential in JI projects as a host country. Based on a method of analyzing policy interactions, we demonstrate how a possible design of such a scheme can take place and how it should function. A couple of parameters that deserve attention are a baseline definition and a conversion rate for credits. Our basic finding is that an integrated scheme is complementary and can assist substantially in achieving Dutch national United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Kyoto Protocol targets. Dutch electricity and gas suppliers (parties that receive energy efficiency obligations) can implement energy efficiency projects domestically and in other countries, hence reducing total abatement costs. Furthermore, such a scheme can stimulate further energy efficiency actions from other stakeholders participating in energy markets. Based on an ex-ante assessment, a carefully designed hybrid WhC and JI scheme appears to be effective in terms of targets, efficient, generating positive impacts on markets and society, while uncertain in stimulating innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]