Carbon Taxation, Fuel Substitution and Welfare in Australia

This paper examines the potential role for fuel substitution in electricity production in reducing carbon dioxide emissions over a ten-year time horizon. This is achieved by adding fuel substitution to output changes resulting from demand responses arising from a tax on carbon dioxide emissions. A time profile of adjustments is developed. The tax required for Australia to meet a 20 per cent reduction in emissions from 1993 levels is calculated and effects on inequality and social welfare are examined. The paper also examines the potential effect of a subsidy towards the use of low-emission fuels, financed from the carbon tax. A subsidy produces an improvement in emissions abatement and a lower tax required to reach the emissions target.     

Response Rate and Response Quality of Internet-Based Surveys: An Experimental Study

This study examines the effect of the timing of follow-ups, different incentives, length, and presentation of the questionnaire on the response rate and response quality in an online experimental setting. The results show that short questionnaires have a higher response rate, although long questionnaires still generate a surprisingly high response. Furthermore, vouchers seem to be the most effective incentive in long questionnaires, while lotteries are more efficient in short surveys. A follow-up study revealed that lotteries with small prizes, but a higher chance of winning are most effective in increasing the response rate. Enhancing questionnaires with visual elements, such as product images, lead to a higher response quality and generate interesting interaction effects with the length of the questionnaire and the incentives used. Finally, the timing of the follow-up has no significant influence on the response rate.     

The price of poverty: The association between childhood poverty and adult income and education in Sweden, 1947–2015

Childhood poverty increases the likelihood of being poor as an adult. We know relatively little about this persistence of poverty in the past and whether it changed as modern welfare societies developed. This study both analyses determinants of childhood poverty and assesses the association between childhood poverty and economic outcomes in adulthood for men and women who grew up in southern Sweden, and who were followed to adulthood regardless of where in Sweden they resided. Poverty is measured in relative terms. Being raised by a single mother, foreign origin, and being raised in a context where the household head was not employed were important risk factors for childhood poverty. Growing up in relative poverty was in turn associated with low income and education in adulthood. Both the persistence and intensity of childhood poverty mattered, and so did the age during which poverty was experienced. Patterns were similar for men and women, and there was no consistent change over time as the Swedish welfare state expanded.     

Determinants of Electric Vehicle Diffusion in China

Environmental and Resource Economics - We analyze the effect of four determinants of electric vehicle diffusion in China for a panel of 31 regions for the period 2010–2016. We analyze...     

They Will Definitely Need Us,When We Are 64: Old-Age Provision in Germany

Intereconomics - Many countries followed the German example in increasing the legal retirement age, reaching the German standard envisaged for 2030 (of 67 years of age) at an earlier stage (in...     

Social security pension reform in China

China has legislated a mixed social security pension system with a defined benefit pay-as-you-go portion and an investment-based defined contribution portion. This paper analyzes the economics of these two types of systems in the Chinese context and calculates the advantage to China of using an investment-based portion. Several options for reform of the recently legislated system are considered.