Technological choice under environmentalists’ participation in Emissions Trading Systems

We model competition in an emissions trading system (ETS) as a game between two firms and environmental group. In a previous stage, firms endogenously choose their manufacturing technologies. Our results show that there is an inverted U-shape relationship between how polluting the chosen technology is and the degree of the environmentalists' impure altruism. Firms choose a less polluting technology in the presence of the environmentalists than in their absence only if they are characterised by intermediate degrees of impure altruism.ETS; Technology Choice; Induced Technological Change; Impure Altruism

Emission Taxes and the Adoption of Cleaner Technologies: The Case of Environmentally Conscious Consumers

We model a market with environmentally conscious consumers and a duopoly in which firms consider the adoption of a clean technology. We show that as pollution increases, consumers shift more resources to the environmental activities, thereby affecting negatively the demand faced by the duopoly. This effect generates incentives for firms to adopt the clean technology even in the absence of emissions taxes. When such taxes are considered, our results indicate that the benefit of adopting the clean technology is initially increasing and then decreasing in the emission tax. The range of values for which the emission tax increases this benefit becomes narrower when the consumers’ environmental awareness is stronger.Environmentally Conscious Consumers; Technology Choice; Environmental Taxation

Tests for the consistency of three-level nested logit models with utility maximization.

This paper provides necessary conditions for testing the local consistency of three-level nested logit models with random utility maximization. We find that for a model with two sub-nests per nest the conditions can lead to a substantial increase in the range of acceptable dissimilarity parameters, irrespective of the number of alternatives per sub-nest.Nested logit, Discrete choice, Random utility maximization

Entry and Exit in a Liberalised Market

We analyse the entry and exit activity in the UK airline markets in the post-liberalisation period and study the differential traits between traditional and low cost carriers. Alongside with the characteristics traditionally highlighted as determinants of entry (e.g., airport presence and network economies), we find that the existence of charter or seasonal operators, product differentiation opportunities and the level of quality provided by the incumbents are also relevant in explaining entry and/or exit. Despite the liberalisation policies, the contestability of important large markets still seems to be limited.

Cooperative R&D with Endogenous Technology Differentiation

The choice of a particular technology when there is a set of them available to firms has not appeared in the R&D literature yet. We show some examples and present a model in which firms choose their technologies from a continuum of available profiles and the resulting spillovers depend on the compatibility among firms' R&D technologies. Our results indicate that non-cooperating firms are interested in using the same or very similar technologies. Therefore firms seek to establish coordination mechanisms such as patent pools or Research Joint Ventures. A RJV leads to higher levels of social welfare than patent pools or the non-cooperative case.r&d rjv patent pools cooperation

La disputa fronteriza entre India y China: origen y evolución de la controversia

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Public Policy towards R&D in a Mixed Duopoly with Spillovers

We investigate the use of subsidies to R&D, both in a mixed and a private duopoly market. We show that the socially optimal R&D subsidy is positive and increasing in the degree of spillovers both in the private and the mixed duopoly, although it is lower for the former than for the latter. We also find support for the empirical claim that privatization is followed by a scaling down of the R&D activity. A comparative static analysis of welfare levels suggests that privatization is welfare detrimental, which lends some support to the views against the widespread adoption of privatization programs.mixed duopoly, process innovation, R&D subsidies, privatisation, spillovers.

La inacción del Consejo de Seguridad ante la amenaza a la paz y seguridad internacionales: El caso de Birmania

Los conflictos internos permanentes en Birmania y la dictadura de la Junta Militar provocan la comisión de graves violaciones del Derecho Internacional Humanitario y reiterados ataques a los Derechos Humanos de la población civil, que han sido sistemáticamente condenados por diferentes organismos de las Naciones Unidas sin resultado positivo alguno. Además el desplazamiento masivo de refugiados y el tráfico de drogas conforman unos elementos transfronterizos que debieran ser considerados por el Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas; el cual bajo el Capítulo VII de la Carta, posee autoridad para determinar la existencia de cualquier amenaza a la paz y seguridad internacionales. Este artículo muestra cómo en conflictos similares, como Ruanda, Sierra Leona o Afganistán, el Consejo de Seguridad ha intervenido, y sin embargo bajo las actuales circunstancias políticas, el caso de Birmania permanece en una impunidad total