Fiscal policy and ecological sustainability: a post-Keynesian perspective

Fiscal policy has a strong role to play in the transition to an ecologically sustainable economy. This paper critically discusses the way that green fiscal policy has been analysed in both conventional and post-Keynesian approaches. It then uses a recently developed post-Keynesian ecological macroeconomic model in order to provide a comparative evaluation of three different types of green fiscal policy: carbon taxes, green subsidies and green public investment. We show that (i) carbon taxes reduce global warming but increase financial risks due to their adverse effects on the profitability of firms and credit availability; (ii) green subsidies and green public investment improve ecological efficiency, but their positive environmental impact is partially offset by their macroeconomic rebound effects; and (iii) a green fiscal policy mix derives better outcomes than isolated policies. Directions for future heterodox macroeconomic research on the links between fiscal policy and ecological sustainability are suggested

Analysis of success-dependent factors of green bonds financing of infrastructure projects in Ghana

Globally, Green Bonds have experienced a fair share of handicaps within the countries of issuance. In lieu of Ghana announcing the possibility of its first green bonds, it is crucial that lessons are taken from past developments to reinforce the prospects of a salutary roll out. This paper explores factors recommended as success-dependent in the Ghanaian markets. A quantitative approach is employed. Twelve factors are extracted from a review of available literature and converted into a questionnaire targeted at professionals in financial institutions. This included, managers, financial analysts, as well as top management personnel. In total 54 questionnaires were distributed. A total of 32 responses are received, proportional to a response rate of 60.37% and was analyzed with relative importance index and one-sample t-test. The results indicate that “Ensuring Good Credit Ratings, Provision of Local Guideline, and Proper Green Qualifications Criteria and Prioritizing Viable Projects” are highest ranked factors. It is important these are incorporated in the framework to be designed for the roll out of green bonds in the Ghana. Considerations should also be made with respect to the culture and state of the financial markets in the country while bringing out the appropriate structure to facilitate the issuances

Green Innovation and Finance in Asia

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/166185/1/aepr12320.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/166185/2/aepr12320_am.pd

Managing credit risk and improving access to finance in green energy projects

The cost of finance has a relatively high impact on the returns and viability of clean energy projects compared with fossil fuel-based energy projects, because the operating costs for renewable energy projects are very low. Credit risk assessment and ratings, which have usually been an inappropriate measure of credit risk for clean energy finance, have a significant influence on the cost of finance. Factors like inadequate credit information, a lack of historical data at the project level, and the higher risk of technological obsolescence lead to credit market failure in clean energy finance, leading to mispricing of risk and poor capital allocation to clean energy infrastructure in the economy. Access to institutional finance is more constrained in the distributed renewable energy sector, as the transaction costs are high, consumer credit risk is high or unknown, and a variety of other challenges exist. It is important to ease these constraints, through appropriate policy and financing interventions to crowd in domestic banks, by improving the quality of credit information, both technical and commercial, creating suitable financial intermediaries, and providing risk mitigation solutions

Scaling sustainability: Regulation and resilience in managerial responses to climate change

This paper introduces the special issue of the British Journal of Management on ‘Scaling Sustainability: Regulation and Resilience in Managerial Responses to Climate Change’, providing an overview of the key issues in scaling sustainability, comprising an analysis of the six papers in the special issue. We discuss the complex relationship between micro, meso and macro scales, in the context of organizations’, managers’ and consumers’ complicity in the creation and intensification of climate-changing conditions. In networking multiple sites into a ‘global’ scale, managers and organizations can lose sight of the situated, localized nature of the position from which they perform the global. We conclude that a key factor in the capacity and speed at which local actions can be scaled up is the connection of sustainability-related activities by intermediary organizations that can generate resonance between multiple sites through association or alliance, rather than imposing a single logic. Thus, more resilient approaches, which acknowledge the significance of the interconnection between scales, are required to effectively scale sustainability strategies upwards or downwards