Should We Drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? An Economic Perspective

This paper provides model-based estimates of the value of oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The best estimate of economically recoverable oil in the federal portion of ANWR is 7.06 billion barrels of oil, a quantity roughly equal to US consumption in 2005. The oil is worth $374 billion ($2005), but would cost $123 billion to extract and bring to market. The difference,$251 billion, would generate social benefits through industry rents of $90 billion as well as state and federal tax revenues of$37 billion and $124 billion, respectively. A contribution of the paper is the decomposition of the benefits between industry rents and tax revenue for a range of price and quantity scenarios. But drilling and development in ANWR would also bring about environmental costs. These costs would consist largely of lost nonuse values for the protected status of ANWR's natural environment. Rather than estimate these costs and conduct a benefit-cost analysis, we calculate the costs that would generate a breakeven result. We find that the average breakeven willingness to accept compensation to allow drilling in ANWR ranges from$582 to $1,782 per person, with a mean estimate of$1,141.

Field and Online Experiments on Procrastination and Willpower

Self-control problems have recently received considerable attention from economic theorists. We conducted two studies to test the benefits of externally imposed deadlines and how willpower depletion affects behavior, providing some of the first data in these areas. Each study involved a behavioral intervention designed to affect performance. We find that for a lengthy task, regular deadlines neither reduce procrastination nor increase completion rates. Second, a willpower-depleting task reduces initial effort but increases overall task-completion rates. Our results help to inform ongoing efforts to understand and model procrastination, willpower and commitment mechanisms.Experiment, Behavioral Interventions, Procrastination, Willpower

Community Identity: Place and the South Knoxville Waterfront

“With the loss of tactility and the scale and details crafted for the human body and hand, our structures become repulsively flat, sharp-edged, immaterial, and unreal” (Holl 29). Our built environment is full of constructs which are unsuccessful on a number of levels proving why it is critical to concentrate on a sense of place and identity. A great place is described as one where people gravitate towards, a place for everyone, something that is memorable, and a space which evokes a story (Placemaking Is...). South Knoxville, Tennessee, the selected site of this thesis, will test the concept of place and identity with its rich history, communal feel, and distinct character. The neighborhoods, proximity to the waterfront, view-sheds, and the people are just a few examples of what makes South Knoxville a great place. This thesis responds to a variety of users, scales, and representative elements of place present in South Knoxville, all while understanding the forces that challenge place and identity, whether they be spatial, social, economic, or natural. Three goals which drive this thesis include highlighting the identity of South Knoxville, creating public space at the Mid River section of South Knoxville, and connecting the working-class neighborhoods to the heart of the South Knoxville Waterfront which have all been under attack by poor planning and development. South Knoxville, once full of vibrant public places with a thriving main street, began to have its identity compromised with industry and businesses that settled within proximity of the river and major roadways which run through it. The Baptist Hospital complex once at the head and center of South Knoxville, situated between two bridges, was the single most detracting element of South Knoxville’s identity and proposed redevelopment is no different. Precious land was consumed for large scale development, neighborhoods were and to this date are severed, and a once vibrant identity was comprised. South Knoxville’s tactility, scale, and details dramatically have transformed over time, thus presenting the challenge to reinvigorate the sense of place and identity at the most critical point on the South Knoxville Waterfront

Voluntary Public Goods Provision, Coalition Formation, and Uncertainty

The literature on voluntary provision of public goods includes recent theoretical work on the formation of voluntary coalitions to provide public goods. Theory is ambiguous on the equilibrium coalition size and contribution rates. We examine the emergence of coalitions, their size, and how uncertainty in public goods provision affects contribution levels and coalition size. We find that contributions decrease when public good returns are uncertain but increase when individuals can form a coalition to provide the good. Contrary a core theoretical result, we find that coalition size increases when the public good benefits are higher. Uncertainty has no effect on coalition size.

Economic Evaluation of Coastal Land Loss in Louisiana

Louisiana has lost approximately 1,880 square miles of land over the past eighty years. Projections suggest that in a future without action, the next fifty years could result in the loss of 1,750 additional square miles of land area. As land loss continues, a large portion of the natural and man-made capital stocks of coastal Louisiana will be at greater risk of damage, either from land loss or from the associated increase in storm damage. We estimate the replacement cost of capital stock directly at risk from land loss ranges from approximately $2.1 billion to$3.5 billion with economic activity at risk ranging from $2.4 billion to$3.1 billion in output. Increases in storm damage to capital stock range from $8.7 billion to as much as$133 billion with associated disruptions to economic activity ranging from an additional $1.9 billion to$23 billion in total lost output

Reforming Policies for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Indonesia

Including micro firms, SMEs are responsible for more than 97 percent of total employment in Indonesia and represent 99 percent of all firms. The Indonesian government has tried to assist SMEs through programmes, such as subsidised credit, one-stop shops to lower business registration costs and government-sponsored trade fairs. However, there is little evidence on how effective these programmes are or on ways to improve government policies aimed at helping SMEs. We conducted structured interviews with 192 firms across five provinces in Indonesia to investigate the constraints that firms face and how existing programmes do – or do not – help reduce these constraints. We conclude the report with policy recommendations targeted at the Indonesian government and other stakeholders, focusing on the importance of credit and on the need to remove information barriers

Focus Countries for the Study on Climate Change and Migration in the MENA Region

This study aims to be relevant for the MENA region as a whole, but it focuses on five countries - Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and Yemen, and in many (but not all) cases on specific geographic areas within each of the five countries. After a brief introduction, this chapter outlines the reasons that led to the choice of the five focus countries. Next, to provide contextual background for the study, the chapter provides an introductory discussion of climate and migration patterns in each of the five countries, and of the policy and institutional context in which discussions on climate change take place

Transferred Emissions Are Still Emissions: Why Fossil Fuel Asset Sales Need Enhanced Transparency and Carbon Accounting

In a widely reported trend, the “Oil Supermajors” — BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies — are selling off many upstream fossil fuel assets. Selling these assets to entities that will continue producing and selling the fossil fuel resources does not necessarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the supermajors have used these asset sales to support claims that they are making progress toward reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions reporting frameworks allow companies to conflate the apparent emissions reductions from asset sales with direct reductions from efficiency improvements and asset retirements. In doing so, they hinder the ability of investors and the public to push for actual emissions reductions. In addition, the companies that buy these assets are sometimes governed by less rigorous reporting requirements and subject to less public scrutiny than the supermajors, further removing the assets sold and their emissions from public scrutiny. It is crucial to track and monitor the emissions attributable to fossil fuel assets even after they are sold. This report assesses the regulatory landscape governing the corporate disclosure of fossil fuel asset sales, outlines the scale of fossil fuel asset sales by the supermajors, and proposes regulatory reforms to enhance transparency around fossil fuel asset sales by oil and gas companies