Price Competition and Product Differentiation When Consumers Care for the Environment

Increasing environmental awareness may affect the pleasure of consuming a good for which an environment friendly substitute is available. In this paper, we investigate the market implication of product differentiation when customers are concerned about environmental aspects of the good. We use the spatial duopoly model to determine how environmental concern affects prices, product characteristics and market shares of the competing firms. Our analysis is based on a two-stage game, where at the first stage each firm chooses the characteristic of its product. At the second stage, each firm chooses its price. Equilibrium prices and market shares are affected by consumer awareness of the environment and by the higher costs for producing those goods. As for the Nash equilibria in the characteristics, we find three equilibria depending on the parameter constellation. In order to find out whether the market functions in an optimal way, we determine the choice of environmental characteristics by a welfare maximizing authority. The objective of the paper is to understand the environmental quality choices facing firms and to provide policies that would align private choices with the social optimum.JEL classifications: L11, Q38, H23     

A Note on Environmental Awareness and Cross-Border Pollution

Considering a Nash equilibrium in which a developed country chooses the amount of foreign aid and a developing country sets the emission tax rate and the proportion of the received aid allocated to public abatement of pollution, it is shown that an increase in the recipient countrys environmental awareness will reduce the level of cross-border pollution and benefits the donor though its foreign aid is increased.     

Pareto-improving Untied Aid with Environmental Externalities

This paper shows that even untied aid is Pareto-improving if and only if the marginal propensity to consume the polluting good in the donor country is sufficiently larger than in the recipient country.     

我国现行环境政策调整与出口产品“环境竞争力”的提升

加入WTO后,我国要在该组织框架下接受贸易自由化与环境保护两股潮流的双重挑战,应对发达国家层出不穷的绿色贸易壁垒。如何合理调整国内现行的一些与WTO规则相矛盾的环境政策,提升出口产品的环境竞争力,促进我国经济与社会的可持续发展,将是我国加入WTO后急需解决的新问题。本文在对环境竞争力概念进行分析的基础上,界定了影响环境竞争力的主要因素。从国际、国内两个方面论述了当前我国环境政策所面临的挑战,及其调整方向。进而,提出今后提高我国出口产品环境竞争力的对策建议。     

环境信息规制、企业碳减排与地理溢出效应

本文基于 2017-2021 年中国上市公司面板数据,运用固定效应面板模型考察了环境信息规制对企业碳减排的影响.研究发现,环境信息规制对企业碳减排具有显著激励作用,一方面,控排企业在被列为重点排污单位后会显著降低其碳排放水平,另一方面,环境规制政策对碳减排的影响存在地理溢出效应,会使得周边20 km的非控排企业减少碳排放.进一步研究表明,对于非国有、东部地区和技术水平较低的企业而言,政策的碳减排的积极作用更为明显.此外,该政策对企业碳减排的影响有一定的持续性.本文为政府相关部门通过环境信息规制工具促进企业绿色转型提供了理论依据.     

“限塑令”前后北京大兴城区居民环保意识变化分析

通过问卷调查方式对北京市大兴城区居民在限塑令实施前后环保意识变化进行调查研究,并运用Excel软件进行数据统计分析,了解限塑令的实施对北京市大兴城区居民的影响和意义,并提出相关建议以促使限塑令实施更加有效。     

农户对农业环境污染影响因素的认识程度实证分析

随着农村经济快速发展,农村环境污染也越来越严重,已经严重影响人民的身体健康.文章在分析国内外学者对农村环境污染问题研究的基础上,通过入户调查座谈,并运用Logistic模型实证检验了农户对农村环境污染影响因素的认知程度.农户环保意识不强,乡镇企业污染严重并是造成农村环境污染的最重要因素,农业生产污染是重要的原因之一.在此基础上提出了提高农民的环保意识、调整乡镇企业产业结构、增加农村环境保护的经费投入等政策建议.     

治理环境污染的经济制度安排

环境问题的外部性和环境资源的公共财产属性,决定了解决环境污染问题不能单纯依靠市场机制,需要政府的必要调控和干预,政府干预包括有关法规的制定和经济制度的安排。经济制度具有不可替代的效率作用,且应针对不同的情况安排与市场机制相沟通的不同制度形式,如“排污收费”,“治污收费”,“开征环境税”和“排污权交易”等,将环境保护由过去的政府行为转变为一种由政府调控与经济利益机制驱动相结合的市场行为和企业行为。     

Optimizing Environmental Product Life Cycles

In this paper, we propose a methodology, based on materials accounting and operational research techniques, to assess different industry configurations according to their life cycle environmental impacts. Rather than evaluating a specific technology, our methodology searches for the feasible configuration with the minimum impact. This approach allows us to address some basic policy-relevant questions regarding technology choice, investment priorities, industrial structures, and international trade patterns. We demonstrate the methodology in the context of the European pulp and paper industry. We are able to show that current environmental policy's focus on maximizing recycling is optimal now, but that modest improvements in primary pulping technology may shift the optimal industry configuration away from recycling toward more primary pulping with incineration. We show that this will have significant implications for the amount and type of environmental damage, for the location of different stages in the production chain, and for trade between European member states. We caution policy makers that their single-minded focus on recycling may foreclose investment in technologies that could prove environmentally superior. Finally, we hint that member state governments may be fashioning their environmental policy positions at least in part on some of the trade and industrial implications we find.     

Asymmetric Regulation of Identical Polluters in Oligopoly Models

Studies of optimal second-best environmental regulation of identical polluting agents have invariably ignored potentially welfare-improving asymmetric regulation by imposing equal regulatory treatment of identical firms at the outset. Yet, cost asymmetry between oligopoly firms may well give rise to private as well as social gains. A trade-off is demonstrated for the regulator, between private costs savings and additional social costs when asymmetric treatment is allowed. Asymmetry is indeed optimal for a range of plausible parameter values. Further, it is demonstrated that for a broad class of abatement cost functions, there is scope for increasing welfare while keeping both total output and total emission constant. Some motivating policy issues are discussed in light of the results, including international harmonization and global carbon dioxide reduction.     

工业经济发展 、环境规制强度与污染减排效果 ——基于"先污染 ,后治理"发展模式的理论分析与实证检验

文章构建了"先污染 ,后治理"发展模式的理论模型 ,并以2001 -2013年中国30个省区工业产出数据为样本 ,研究了工业经济发展、环境规制强度和污染物减排效果之间的关系.研究发现,工业污染物排放对于产出增长具有刺激作用 ,同时产出增长又会引起环境规制强度的增加 ,从而证明了中国工业存在"先污染,后治理"的发展模式.但由于环境规制投资依然不足,规制效率相对偏低 ,治理的整体效果仍不尽如人意.分阶段看 ,"先污染 ,后治理"发展模式在过去十余年没有发生本质变化 ,但2008年后环境规制的污染减排效果已经开始显现.分地区看 ,中国几乎所有地区都处于"先污染 ,后治理"的过程中 ,而环境规制的效果仅在东部地区较为显著.     

基于环境管理的企业绿色营销对策

环境管理与绿色营销是企业的新经营理念，其主要针对两个方面：一是防止生产经营过程中对环境的污染；二是在经营活动中保护生产经营资源。企业环境管理与绿色营销的基本对策是建立环境管理监控体系，采取开发绿色产品、提供绿色服务、争取绿色标志等环境管理和绿色营销措施。     

Eco-Labeling and Horizontal Product Differentiation

This paper investigates the impact of eco-labels on the abatement of emissions in a market with horizontal product differentiation. A distinction is made between an end-of-pipe abatement method and a clean technology approach. In the former case underinvestment is likely to occur even if the marginal willingness to pay for abatement of consumers is equal to the social marginal benefit of abatement. The level of abatement depends on the number of firms and on the number of consumers. For a large market with few firms overinvestment in abatement is also possible. Clean technology abatement achieves a first best level regardless of market size if all consumers have a marginal willingness to pay for abatement equal to its social benefit.     

Product Differentiation and Public Education

We demonstrate that differentiation in public services can arise as a way of reducing competition among cities. Quality differentiation can be particularly relevant to the provision of education. If cities finance education through a property tax that generates "tax competition," we find that quality differentiation in education changes the amount of educational services provided. In the case of property-value maximization, this means a reduction in educational services in both the city with high quality and that with low quality. The reduction in educational services means that under reasonable conditions property values in both cities can increase.     

排污权的初次配置方式及其价格问题研究

当前多数国家采用的免费分配、公开拍卖等排污权初次配置方式存在着诸多不足，文章论述了标价限量配售应当是排污权初次配置基本模式的观点，并在此基础上分析了确定排污权初次配售价格时应综合考虑的决定性经济因素、政策体制因素和一些非经济因素。     

媒介意识与农村公共产品供给

农村地区的公共产品供给与需求之间经常脱节.显性原因是财政体制不完善、农村公共产品需求表达机制缺失;隐性根源是大众媒介对农民的俯视效应,农民话语权的缺失.大众媒介的利益驱动导致农村居民媒介信息上的劣势,也使得其无法有效地影响政府的经济人动机,也无法影响政府的政策,导致农村公共产品供给出现不足.推进基层民主、加强受众的教育、增加接触媒介机会是增加农村公共产品供给的有效对策.     

农民组织意识培养与农村非政府组织发展

农民组织意识是指农民自发组织起来的意愿和心理状态。农民组织意识的强弱,在农村非政府组织的发展中扮演着非常重要的角色,成为影响农民是否会自愿自动成立各种组织的一个重要因素。随着市场经济的发展,农村各项改革的深入,农民成立各种非政府组织的外围条件逐步具备的情况下,培养农民的组织意识也就具有特别的紧迫性与重要性。同时,农村非政府组织的发展,犹如一柄双刃剑,这就要求我们要尽快完善相关法规,因势利导,促进其健康发展。     

The Timing of Environmental Policy: A Note on the Role of Product Differentiation

We examine the role that product differentiation can play in the design of environmental policy under full commitment and no commitment on the part of the environmental regulator. We consider a setting with two firms selling a differentiated product which generates pollution through emissions. Firms can reduce their emissions by undertaking abatement activities while an environmental regulator taxes emissions. The main results are: (1) When products are highly differentiated, the optimal time-consistent (no commitment) tax is always lower than the optimal pre-commitment tax. As the degree of product differentiation decreases, for relatively efficient abatement technology and high damages, the time-consistent emission tax exceeds the optimal pre-commitment one. (2) Abatement when product differentiation is extensive is higher under the time-consistent regime unless the abatement technology is extremely efficient. The same ranking applies to social welfare. However, as products become more and more similar, these results are (partially) reversed and pre-commitment could lead to both higher levels of abatement and welfare.     

论环境质量的消费性与环境意识

本文首先回顾了西方发达国家环保运动发展史,然后从家庭消费结构的演替视角来探讨环境质量的消费功能,指出环境意识与经济发展的密切关系,最后结合我国的资源环境与经济的可持续发展提出合理环保投入和政府行为的重要作用。     

环境美学与环境伦理学的关系

在中国伦理型文化精神的影响下,美学与伦理学关系密切。但是时下的部分学者无形中却在环境问题上将美学与伦理学相割裂。在他们看来,环境美学关注的是美化问题,而环境伦理学关乎的是功用。环境美学与环境伦理学相关吗？环境美学与环境伦理学关系密切,不仅环境美的存在离不开环境伦理学的理论支持,而且环境伦理学的拓展也离不开环境审美而来的感性冲动。在环境问题的解决中,环境美学与环境伦理学必须联手。环境美学与环境伦理学建立联系意义重大：有助于克服传统美学中美善相分的形式主义倾向;通过环境审美伦理学的建立,实现环境伦理学与环境美学的双向拓展。环境美学与环境伦理学的汇通之处在于敬畏、同情与体验性参予。