Environmental regulation and sustainable competitiveness: Evaluating the role of firm-level green investments in the context of the Porter hypothesis

We investigate the impact of environmental regulation on firm performance and investment behavior. Exploiting the case of a German water withdrawal regulation that is managed on the state level, we analyze firms' reactions to an increase in the water tax using a regression- adjusted difference-in-differences approach. We analyze the individual firm's response to a change in environmental regulation, distinguishing between add-on and integrated environ- mental investments. This allows us to include intra-firm innovations into our analysis, which are likely to be of importance for increasing resource-efficiency. Our results show that the regulation in question shows no sign of affecting firms' overall competitiveness. The results imply that the predicted negative impact of the regulation on firms' economic performance that was brought up before the introduction of the tax, does not seem to weigh heavily in this case. Nevertheless, when placed into a sustainable competitiveness context, the regulation considered does not qualify as an appropriate policy tool for fostering green growth

Renewables in the Energy Transition: Evidence on Solar Home Systems and Lighting-Fuel Choice in Kenya

We study the determinants of households' choices of lighting fuels in Kenya, including the option of using solar home systems (SHSs). The paper adds new evidence on the factors that influence the introduction and adoption of decentralized and less carbon-intensive energy sources in developing countries. We capitalize on a unique representative survey on energy use and sources from Kenya, one of the few relatively well-established SHSs markets in the world. Our results reveal some very interesting patterns in the fuel transition in the context of lighting-fuel choices. While we find clear evidence for a crosssectional energy ladder, the income threshold for modern fuel use - including solar energy use - is very high. Income and education turn out to be key determinants of SHSs adoption, but we also find a very pronounced effect of SHSs clustering. In addition, we do not find a negative correlation between grid access and SHSs use

Environmental regulation and sustainable competitiveness: Evaluating the role of firm-level green investments in the context of the Porter hypothesis

We investigate the impact of environmental regulation on firm performance and investment behavior. Exploiting the case of a German water withdrawal regulation that is managed on the state level, we analyze firms’ reactions to an increase in the water tax using a regression-adjusted difference-in-differences approach. We analyze the individual firm’s response to a change in environmental regulation, distinguishing between add-on and integrated environmental investments. This allows us to include intra-firm innovations into our analysis, which are likely to be of importance for increasing resource-efficiency. Our results show that the regulation in question shows no sign of affecting firms’ overall competitiveness. The results imply that the predicted negative impact of the regulation on firms’ economic performance that was brought up before the introduction of the tax, does not seem to weigh heavily in this case. Nevertheless, when placed into a sustainable competitiveness context, the regulation considered does not qualify as an appropriate policy tool for fostering green growth

A Drop in the Ocean: Patchy Evidence on the Societal Benefits of Marine Litter Reduction

The benefits of marine litter reduction to society, which are mostly non-market ones, need to be valued and quantified in monetary terms to be included in cost benefit analyses required by the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. This article investigates the extent to which these benefits can be derived from existing studies. We review the available empirical evidence and analyze its key characteristics based on descriptive statistics. Comparing the availability of estimates with the requirements for the EU Member States, we find a striking mismatch between the data available and the information required, which cannot be alleviated by benefit transfer. This finding is valid for both, ex-ante and ex-post, evaluation attempts. We conclude that the evidence available at present is too patchy to derive country-wide policy implications to the extent necessary to comprehensively conduct the evaluations required by the Directive

From planetary emergency to regenerative economies - Accounting for nature in measures of sustainable development

Starting from a world in which resources have become scarce and planetary boundaries have been reached or exceeded, the paper discusses how these changes affect our understanding of (economic) progress and sustainable development. In doing so, the paper addresses three important points in the discussion on sustainability. Firstly, the question of "means" and "ends", secondly, the visualization of this reality in the measurement of sustainable development, taking into account the specific characteristics of the environment/nature, and thirdly, the question of whether a concept that maps "regenerative development" could be suitable to account for the current state of natural systemsthat have already exceeded their (planetary) limits

Measuring Green Growth: Why Standardisation is (Sometimes) Not Desirable

The need to find a suitable alternative to our present carbon-based production pattern is currently the subject of international discussion, not least because economic growth usually goes hand in hand with increased resource consumption. As part of such an alternative, all economic decisions would have to take into account environmental concerns and the value of natural assets. The discussion is mainly focused on different concepts of green growth, now a buzzword. The hope is that we can find a solution to our world's most pressing issues, one that enables us to achieve economic growth while conserving ecosystems, preventing environmental degradation and contributing to the aims of climate stability and poverty reduction. In addition to the important debate on the different ways of achieving this, it is also essential to discuss how we can effectively map the achievement of green growth. A number of international organisations have proposed sets of indicators for measuring green growth, and initiatives such as the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) have been set up to pool existing knowledge, identify gaps in knowledge and provide a platform for discussion. In this context, finding a standardised way of measuring green growth is far less trivial than it may appear at first glance, as there are at least two sources of heterogeneity that need to be taken into account: the different concepts of green growth that exist and the specific conditions of each country that require different priorities to be set. Differing income levels mean that countries will have varying degrees of scope for action and will set different policy priorities. Furthermore, there are often fundamental structural differences between economies, with implications for environmental impact and the use of natural resources. There must also be a certain degree of political stability for green growth strategies to be planned and implemented properly. Finally, it is necessary when measuring green growth to (be able to) distinguish between cyclical and structural changes in the economy. This results in several sets of indicators for measuring green growth. However, the goal should not necessarily be to develop one sole set of universally valid indicators. If we are to clearly delimit the concept of green growth to prevent its arbitrary use, then we need firstly to come up with a comprehensive way of defining it and secondly find overarching key indicators for measuring it that reflect central categories. At the same time, the different baseline conditions in developing countries, emerging economies and industrialised nations mean that green growth strategies must be adapted to individual situations. Accordingly, sets of indicators for measuring green growth need not only to allow a certain degree of flexibility, but also to be capable of reflecting this diversity

Zur Messung grünen Wachstums: Warum Vereinheitlichen (manchmal) gar nicht erwünscht ist

Eine sinnvolle Alternative zur derzeitigen kohlenstoffabhängigen Wirtschaftsweise zu finden, wird aktuell international diskutiert, u. a. weil ökonomisches Wachstum in der Regel mit steigendem Ressourcenverbrauch einhergeht. Eine solche Alternative würde auch erfordern, dass Umweltbelange und der Wert von natürlichem Kapital bei sämtlichen ökonomischen Entscheidungen berücksichtigt werden. Die Diskussion bezieht sich vor allem auf Variationen des Konzepts Grünen Wachstums (green growth), das zu einer Art Modewort avanciert ist. Dabei schwingt die Hoffnung mit, eine Lösung für die dringendsten Probleme dieser Welt zu entwickeln: Das Bewahren von Ökosystemen und die Vermeidung von Umweltdegradation sollen ebenso mit ökonomischem Wachstum in Einklang gebracht werden wie die Ziele Klimastabilität und Armutsreduzierung. Neben der wichtigen Debatte über die verschiedenen Wege zu diesen Zielen ist die Diskussion darüber essenziell, wie das Erreichen von grünem Wachstum sinnvoll abgebildet werden kann. Eine Reihe internationaler Organisationen hat Sets von Indikatoren zur Messung grünen Wachstums vorgeschlagen, und darüber hinaus haben sich Initiativen wie die Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) gebildet, die das vorhandene Wissen bündeln, Wissenslücken identifizieren und der Diskussion eine Plattform bieten. Die einheitliche Messung grünen Wachstums ist dabei weit weniger trivial, als es auf den ersten Blick scheinen mag, da es mindestens zwei Quellen von Heterogenität gibt, die berücksichtigt werden müssen: Zum einen existieren mehrere Konzepte zu grünem Wachstum und zum anderen bedingen die individuellen Rahmenbedingungen der Länder, dass Prioritäten unterschiedlich gesetzt werden. So führen die differierenden Einkommensniveaus der Länder zu unterschiedlichen Politikschwerpunkten und Handlungsspielräumen. Des Weiteren unterscheiden sich die Ökonomien oft fundamental in ihrer Wirtschaftsstruktur – mit Implikationen für Umweltauswirkungen und die Nutzung natürlicher Ressourcen. Zudem bedarf es eines gewissen Maßes an politischer Stabilität, um grüne Wachstumsstrategien sinnvoll planen und verfolgen zu können. Und schließlich muss die Messung grünen Wachstums auch zwischen zyklischen und strukturellen wirtschaftlichen Veränderungen unterscheiden (können). Daraus resultieren mehrere Indikatoren-Sets zur Messung grünen Wachstums. Das Ziel sollte aber nicht zwangsläufig sein, ein alleingültiges Indikatoren-Set zu entwickeln. Um das Konzept Grünes Wachstum klar abzustecken und damit vor dessen beliebiger Verwendung zu schützen, werden erstens eine übergreifende Definition grünen Wachstums benötigt und zweitens, zur Messung, übergeordnete Schlüsselindikatoren, die zentrale Kategorien widerspiegeln. Allerdings erfordern die heterogenen Ausgangsbedingungen in Entwicklungs-, Schwellen- und Industrieländern grüne Wachstumsstrategien, die an die individuellen Situationen angepasst werden können. Demzufolge müssen auch Indikatoren-Sets zur Messung grünen Wachstums nicht nur eine gewisse Flexibilität erlauben, sondern auch in der Lage sein, diese Diversität zu reflektieren

A Drop in the Ocean: Patchy Evidence on the Societal Benefits of Marine Litter Reduction

The benefits of marine litter reduction to society, which are mostly non-market ones, need to be valued and quantified in monetary terms to be included in cost benefit analyses required by the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. This article investigates the extent to which these benefits can be derived from existing studies. We review the available empirical evidence and analyze its key characteristics based on descriptive statistics. Comparing the availability of estimates with the requirements for the EU Member States, we find a striking mismatch between the data available and the information required, which cannot be alleviated by benefit transfer. This finding is valid for both, ex-ante and ex-post, evaluation attempts. We conclude that the evidence available at present is too patchy to derive country-wide policy implications to the extent necessary to comprehensively conduct the evaluations required by the Directive

Invention and Global Diffusion of Technologies for Climate Change Adaptation: A Patent Analysis

Etudes économiques et sectoriellesThe Earth's climate has already begun to change and will inevitably continue to do so. Even if the targets set in the Paris Agreement are met—to keep the global surface temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius relative to preindustrial levels—many regions will still suffer severely from the consequences of climate change. They will have more frequent extreme weather events, changes in precipitation patterns, rising sea levels, temperature increases, and many other related effects (IPCC 2018). In this context, technology is certainly a major tool to increase societies’ ability to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change (Klein and Tol 1997; Miao 2017; GCA 2019). International technology transfer hence becomes particularly important because a large fraction of the innovation activity in today's knowledge-based economy takes place in the Global North, while technologies for climate change adaptation are urgently needed in low- and middle-income countries, which are particularly vulnerable to climate shocks (Fankhauser and McDermott 2014) Increasing the availability of technology in vulnerable countries requires knowledge of the current geography of innovation. To that end, this report uses patent data to describe and quantify the invention and global diffusion of technologies for climate change adaptation over recent decades based on a global patent database. Importantly, relying on patent data restricts the scope of the analysis to solutions for adaptation that are at the technological frontier and excludes the role of nontechnological forms of innovation and low-tech options. A particular emphasis is put on the case of low- and middle-income countries, which combine high vulnerability to climate change with low technological resources. The analysis relies on patent data from the World Patent Statistical Database (PATSTAT), maintained by the European Patent Office (EPO), which covers the population of patents filed worldwide. We use the EPO's new "Y02A" category to identify all patents in PATSTAT pertaining to "technologies for adaptation to climate change." The classification was released in April 2018 and has so far never been used in empirical analyses. Although innovation scholars and analysts widely use patent data to map technology fields, such data do have some drawbacks, as the report discusses. The patent data are thus complemented with data on foreign direct investment (FDI), which allow us to test the robustness of the results on technology transfer

Invention and Global Diffusion of Technologies for Climate Change Adaptation: A Patent Analysis

International audienc