Climate policy and the optimal extraction of high‐ and low‐carbon fossil fuels

Abstract. We study how restricting CO₂ emissions affects resource prices and depletion over time. We use a Hotelling‐style model with two non‐renewable fossil fuels that differ in their carbon content (e.g., coal and natural gas) and in addition are imperfect substitutes in final good production. We show that an economy facing a CO₂ flow‐constraint may substitute towards the relatively dirty input. As the economy tries to maximize output per unit of emissions it is not only carbon content that matters: productivity matters as well. With an announced constraint the economy first substitutes towards the less productive input such that more of the productive input is available when constrained. Preliminary empirical results suggest that it is cost‐effective to substitute away from dirty coal to cleaner oil or gas, but to substitute from natural gas towards the dirtier input oil.     

Carbon leakage revisited: unilateral climate policy with directed technical change

Using a stylized theoretical model, we argue that current economic analyses of climate policy tend to over-estimate the degree of carbon leakage, as they abstract from the effects of induced technological change. We analyse carbon leakage in a two-country model with directed technical change, where only one of the countries enforces an exogenous cap on emissions. Climate policy induces changes in relative prices, that cause carbon leakage through a terms-of-trade effect. However, these changes in relative prices also affect the incentives to innovate in different sectors. This leads to a counterbalancing induced-technology effect, which always reduces carbon leakage. We therefore conclude that the leakage rates reported in the literature may be too high, as these estimates neglect the effect of price changes on the incentives to innovate.      

Forecasting the electric transformation in transportation: the role of battery technology performance

In an effort to encourage consumers to purchase electric vehicles (EVs), the government has been funding battery research to solve some of these problems. This paper presents a study using technology forecasting using data envelopment analysis (TFDEA) to forecast future battery performance characteristics. The results were compared against the performance goals established by the US Department of Energy (DOE). We find that the foreseen progress of EV battery performance will be insufficient to meet the DOE projected goals for the range that EVs can travel before running out of power. Therefore, a new battery technology must be developed because the incremental improvements in current battery technologies leave EVs considerably short of the DOE performance specification for longer trip ranges.     

弄清楚你的住房按揭贷款

美国甚至全世界的房主在本轮国际金融危机前几年犯了太多的错误.这些错误中的大部分能被简化为一个基本的现象:人们借了太多的钱,甚至超过了他们的实际偿还能力.     

A simple examination of the empirical relationship between dividend yields and deviations from the CAPM

Several papers have been published in recent years dealing with both the theoretical and the empirical impact of dividend yields on security returns. Dividends have been postulated as affecting stock returns because of tax effects, agency costs and the Wealth Transfer Hypothesis. In this paper we perform a purely empirical examination of whether and to what extent deviations from the zero beta form of the CAPM are explained by divident yields. The paper demonstrates that dividend yield has a large and statistically significant impact on return above and beyond that explained by the zero beta form of the CAPM. This is consistent with the findings of Litzenberger and Ramaswamy. In addition our results are consistent with the findings of small firm effects.     

A framework for upgrading comparative management research

Nearly a decade ago major problems facing the field of comparative management were identified. They continue to persist today despite considerable progress made in recent years. These problems related to the reliability, validity, and generalizability of comparative research findings will need to be resolved if the field is to attain academic maturity and legitimacy. Indentification and operationalization of critical variables will play an important role in the design of research studies and their conduct. A framework for upgrading comparative management research, with regard to overcoming both theoretical as well as methodological problems, is presented and discussed in this article.