Carbon Emissions and Economic Growth: Homogeneous Causality in Heterogeneous Panels

This paper introduces the concept of homogeneous non-causality in heterogeneous panels. This concept is used to examine a panel of data for evidence of a causal relationship between GDP and carbon emissions. The technique is compared to the standard test for homogeneous non-causality in homogeneous panels and heterogeneous non-causality in heterogeneous panels. In North America, Asia and Oceania the homogeneous non-causality hypothesis that CO2 emissions does not Granger cause GDP cannot be rejected if heterogeneity is allowed for in the data-generating process. In North America the homogeneous non-causality hypothesis that GDP does not cause CO2 emissions cannot be rejected either.Energy; Carbon Emissions; Granger Causality; Heterogeneous Panels

Climate and Happiness

Climate is an important input to many human activities. Climate affects heating and cooling requirements, determines clothing and nutritional needs and limits recreational activities. As such it is to be expected that individuals will have a preference for particular types of climate. These preferences have indeed been observed using a variety of approaches including regional analyses of wage rates and land prices, the propensity to migrate, and analyses based on household consumption patterns. Mindful of existing research this paper analyses a panel of 67 countries attempting to explain differences in self-reported levels of happiness by reference to amongst other things temperature and precipitation. Various indices are used for each of these variables including means, extremes and number of months with a particular climate like the number of hot and cold months. Using a panel-corrected least squares approach the paper demonstrates that, even when controlling for a range of other factors, climate variables have a particularly powerful effect on self reported levels of happiness. Furthermore there is a correspondence between the findings that emerge from this analysis and earlier studies with respect to what constitutes a preferred climate. The relationship between climate and self reported happiness is of particular interest because of the much discussed threat of anthropogenically induced climate change. Differential patterns of warming along with a changed distribution of rainfall promises to alter dramatically the distribution of happiness between nations with some countries moving towards a preferred climate and others moving further away. We find that higher mean temperatures in the coldest month increase happiness, whereas higher mean temperatures in the hottest month decrease happiness. Precipitation does not significantly affect happiness. In particular high latitude countries included in our dataset might benefit from temperature changes. Countries already characterized by very high summer temperatures would most likely suffer losses from climate change.amenity value, climate change, happiness, well-being

HAPPINESS OVER SPACE AND TIME

Hedonic theory assumes that changes in land prices and wage rates eliminate the utility advantages of differing locations. Using happiness data from the German socio-economic panel this paper empirically tests whether regional utility differences exist and if so whether utility levels show any tendency to converge over time. Empirical analysis reveals substantial differences in utility over different regions of Germany. Analysing a panel of data indicates that even if individual utility levels are at any one moment in disequilibrium they are rapidly converging over Germany for all types of individuals.amenity value, Happiness

THE AMENITY VALUE OF CLIMATE TO HOUSEHOLDS IN GERMANY

This study uses the hedonic approach to measure the amenity value of climate in Germany. Unlike in earlier research separate hedonic wage rate and house price regressions are estimated for relatively small geographic areas and formal tests undertaken to determine whether the coefficients describing the impact of climate variables are homogenous over these areas. The evidence suggests that households in Germany are compensated for climate amenities mainly through hedonic housing markets. Given that climate is largely unproductive to industry and few industries spend more on land than labor this is consistent with what theory would predict. Overall households regard higher January temperatures as an amenity but higher July temperatures as a disamenity.amenity value, Climate Change, Germany, Hedonic Pricing

Local Environmental Quality and Life-Satisfaction in Germany

Hitherto the task of valuing differences in environmental quality arising from air pollution and noise nuisance has been carried out mainly by using the hedonic price technique. This paper proposes a different approach to deriving information on individual preferences for local environmental quality. It analyses data drawn from the German socio economic panel in an attempt to explain differences in self-reported levels of well-being in terms of environmental quality. Mindful of existing research a large number of other explanatory variables are included to control for socio-demographic differences, economic circumstances as well as neighbourhood characteristics. Differences in local air quality and noise levels are measured by how much an individual feels affected by air pollution or noise exposure in their residential area. The evidence suggests that even when controlling for a range of other factors higher local air pollution and noise levels significantly diminish subjective well-being. But interestingly differences in perceived air and noise pollution are not capitalised into differences in house prices.air pollution, environmental quality, Germany, life-satisfaction, noise exposure, well-being

The effect of a planet on the dust distribution in a 3D protoplanetary disk

Aims: We investigate the behaviour of dust in protoplanetary disks under the action of gas drag in the presence of a planet. Our goal is twofold: to determine the spatial distribution of dust depending on grain size and planet mass, and therefore to provide a framework for interpretation of coming observations and future studies of planetesimal growth. Method: We numerically model the evolution of dust in a protoplanetary disk using a two-fluid (gas + dust) Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) code, which is non-self-gravitating and locally isothermal. The code follows the three dimensional distribution of dust in a protoplanetary disk as it interacts with the gas via aerodynamic drag. In this work, we present the evolution of a minimum mass solar nebula (MMSN) disk comprising 1% dust by mass in the presence of an embedded planet. We run a series of simulations which vary the grain size and planetary mass to see how they affect the resulting disk structure. Results: We find that gap formation is much more rapid and striking in the dust layer than in the gaseous disk and that a system with a given stellar, disk and planetary mass will have a completely different appearance depending on the grain size. For low mass planets in our MMSN disk, a gap can open in the dust disk while not in the gas disk. We also note that dust accumulates at the external edge of the planetary gap and speculate that the presence of a planet in the disk may enhance the formation of a second planet by facilitating the growth of planetesimals in this high density region.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic