Evaluating and regulating the impacts of lobbying in the EU? The case study of green industries

How should we evaluate and regulate the impacts of lobbying in the European Union (EU)? The current lack of transparency around lobbying activities and the absence of formal regulation mean that a hidden lobbying problem may prevail. The tentative case study of green industries in the EU is illustrative. The wind turbine industry, for example, benefits from ambitious environmental target levels for greenhouse gas reductions that will increase the future market for renewable energy. In contrast, for example, no environmental target levels exist that increase the future market shares of organic farming. Rational choice theory suggests that lobbying and group size advantages can explain the observed difference in achieving environmental target levels. The EU may learn from the US legislation as a starting point for a best‐practice solution and future evaluation of impacts of lobbying in the EU

Organic farmers may gain from Green House Gas trade

Farmers may earn money from participating in the ongoing greenhouse gas (GHG) trade system under the Kyoto agreement

How to include farmers in the emission trading system?

The EU has committed itself to an ambitious 20% reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) by 2020 compared to the 1990 emissions level. Moreover, the EU goal beyond 2012 is to strengthen, expand and improve climate change initiatives. Therefore, there is a strong need to consider more carefully how to integrate as many sectors as possible in these efforts. Farmers, however, do not trade GHG under the Kyoto agreement. The idea of including farmers in a national emission trading system has been launched in Australia but it has not yet been applied to the EU

The Climate Heroes of the Future?

How farmers may earn money from greenhouse gas emission trading in the EU

Landmænd kan tjene penge ved handel med drivhusgasser

Landmænd kan tjene penge ved at deltage i handelen med drivhusgasser under Kyotoaftale

Why Does the Northern Light Shine So Brightly? Decentralisation, social capital and the economy

Based on institutional economics, the paper develops a new model pointing at two main reasons why Scandinavia is doing so well in economic terms, namely the level of decentralisation and social capital in its broad sense. The idea in the model is that a political system, which decentralises power, means less lobbyism because access to economically harmful rent seeking is more costly. Consequently, social capital and the trust in other people and the political leadership will increase. This model, suggesting one single social capital measure, is applied to countries in both Western and Eastern Europe. The social capital ranking results indeed show that Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland) is among the seven top ranking countries together with Switzerland, the Netherlands and Iceland.Social capital; decentralisation; economy; Scandinavia; Switzerland; Netherlands; rent seeking; transaction costs; economic freedom; corruption

Er landbruget løsningen på klimaproblemet?

Der skal fastsættes en pris på drivhusgasser og landmænd skal belønnes økonomisk for at mindske udledningen

Designing green taxes in a political context: From optimal to feasible environmental regulation

How should green taxation be designed so that it accommodates producer interests? We argue that to design green taxes which are high enough to have the desired incentive effects, tax revenues must be reimbursed, either by earmarking them for environmental subsidies or by reducing other taxes directed at industry. If green tax schemes can be designed this way, industry will have little incentive to mobilise strong opposition to green taxation. However, in practice, the requirement of reimbursement may be difficult to fulfil because, with few exceptions, polluting industries are not homogeneous. This means that reimbursement will redistribute financial resources within industry and thus create winners and losers. Still, green taxes can be used in heterogeneous industries which can be created by operating separate tax schemes for each branch of industry. The Danish case of pesticide taxation demonstrates that relatively high tax levels can be implemented if an equal relationship between the tax object and the object determining the level of refunds exists throughout the sector. This means that revenues can be reimbursed without creating redistribution within producer communities.Green taxation; Policy design; Reimbursement; Lobbyism; Redistribution

Landbrugspraksis og handel med drivhusgasser

EU har forpligtet sig til en drivhusgasreduktion på hele 20% inden 2020, sammenlignet med niveauet i 1990. EU’s mål efter 2012 er derudover at styrke tiltagene mod klimaændringer. Der er derfor et stærkt behov for at overveje nærmere, hvordan man kan integrere så mange sektorer som muligt i disse bestræbelser

Er landmænd fremtidens klimahelte?

Hvis landmænd får mulighed for at handle CO2-kvoter i EU, vil de efter alt at dømme kunne blive fremtidens klimahelte og samtidig tjene på det