Fishing Technology and Optimal Distribution of Harvest Rates

In this paper we analyze the optimal management of a joint ownership fishery exploitation model where agents use different fishing gears. As opposed to other works, we consider a model in which the fishing technology affects resource's growth not only through the harvest function, but also through the natural growth rate of the resource. The main objective is to capture the evidence that some fishing gears alter the habitat of the resource, and may alter the natural growth rate of the resource. The main result we obtain is that, when the natural growth of the resource is altered by the fishing technology, the optimal stock is not independent of how harvest quotas are distributed among the agents. Thus, in this context, a fishing policy that determines, first, the optimum stock and, secondly, decides on how to distribute the harvest among the different agents will not be efficient.fisheries regulation, fishing gear's selectivity, sharing of quotas

International and Intergenerational Dimensions of Climate Change: North-South Cooperation in an Overlapping Generations Framework

Global environmental problems such as climate change have both an international and an intertemporal dimension. Recently, some papers have used an overlapping generations framework to analyze the climate change problem taking into account jointly the issues of intergenerational equity and intertemporal efficiency but without considering the international aspect of the problem. In this paper, we extend such approach by considering an overlapping generations model of climate-economy interactions where the world is split into two regions: North and South. We resort to numerical simulations of the calibrated model to analyze the effect of cooperation over economic and climate variables under two different scenarios: long-lived and short-lived governments. The main aim of our analysis is to test numrically whether John and Pecchenino´s (1997) theoretical result, which states that international agreements with transfers that lack an intergenerational perspective could actually harm the environment, applies low us to conclude that when we consider short lived governments: (1) the lack of cooperation always leads to higher environmental degradation, (2) the higher the welfare weight attached to the North under cooperation, the lower the environmental degradation in the long run, and (3) some cooperative scenarios may lead in the short run to higher environmental degradation than what it would arise in the non cooperative scenario.international environmental agreements, intergenerational externality, climate change

Fishing Technology and Optimal Distribution of Harvest Rates

In this paper we analyze the optimal management of a joint ownership fishery exploitation model where agents use different fishing gears. As opposed to other works, we consider a model in which the fishing technology affects resource's growth not only through the harvest function, but also through the natural growth rate of the resource. The main objective is to capture the evidence that some fishing gears alter the habitat of the resource, and may alter the natural growth rate of the resource. The main result we obtain is that, when the natural growth of the resource is altered by the fishing technology, the optimal stock is not independent of how harvest quotas are distributed among the agents. Thus, in this context, a fishing policy that determines, first, the optimum stock and, secondly, decides on how to distribute the harvest among the different agents will not be efficient.Financial support from grants UPV/EHU 035-321-HB070/96, GV HU-1998-133 and Gobierno Vasco PI95/13 is gratefully acknowleged

ADAPTECC: A Role-Play Game about Adapting to Climate Change

The ADAPTECC Climate Change Adaptation Game is a role-play game designed to enable players to experience the difficulties that arise at local and regional levels when authorities have to implement adaptation measures. Adaptation means anticipating the advert effects of climate change (CC) and taking measures to prevent and minimise the damage caused by its impacts. Each player takes the role of the mayor or a councillor of a town affected by CC who must decide what adaptation strategies and measures to take, or of a member of the Regional Environment Department which must distribute funding for adaptation among the various towns. At the end of the game, players should have a greater understanding of the challenges posed by adaptation to CCBasque Centre for Climate Change (BC3); UPV/EHU; Basque Government Grant GIC07/56-IT-383-0

Modelling solid waste management solutions: The case of Campania, Italy

The waste crisis in Campania has inspired a huge body of literature that has described its complex nature. Quantitative analysis in this regard provides useful insight into single aspects of the problem but from a static perspective. In this work, a dynamic model has been developed to analyse the interactions between the main elements of the waste system in Campania and their evolution over the critical time horizon. The model considers the process of capacity construction that has been developed to deal with the crisis and the flow of waste through the treatment options available, showing how the waste system behaves if such infrastructures are not able to cope with the amounts expected. The model also provides the analytical framework to explore the effects of alternative waste policies. © 2018 Elsevier Lt

Environmental fiscal reform and unemployment in Spain in the presence of an informal sector

4 p.This policy briefing reports the results obtained in two recent papers (Markandya et al 2012 and Gonzalez-Eguino et al 2012) where the role of Enviromental Fiscal Reform (EFR) is revisited for the case of Spain. We analyse the implications of including into the standard models an important additional dimension: the presence of an informal sector. We conclude that, if the distortions created by the shadow economy are considered, the case for an environmental tax reform where revenues are used to reduce labour taxes is strengthened

Environmental Fiscal Reform and Unemployment in Spain

22 p.The theoretical literature relevant to the relationship between environmental taxation and employment creation is centred on the suggestion by Pearce (1991) that environmental taxation could lead to a “double dividend†. In this paper we review the literature on the employment double dividend for Spain and add to it with some new analysis of our own that fills some important gaps in the literature

From Shadow to Green: Linking Environmental Fiscal Reforms and the Informal Economy

47 p.In the past few decades many papers have analysed in some depth different environmental tax reforms and the double dividend hypothesis, i.e. the possibility of improving not only the environment but also the economy through the reduction of distortions in the tax system. Recently, more stress has been placed on testing empirically what effects a reduction in labour taxes may have on unemployment when accompanied by a carbon or other environmental tax. However, such studies have not modelled the effects of the presence of a shadow economy, even though informal markets account for a significant and growing part of GDP in many developed economies. This paper analyses this link using an Applied General Equilibrium model for the case of Spain, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world and one of the biggest informal economies of any wealthy country. We conclude that our analysis strengthens the case for an environmental tax reform in Spain if revenues from a CO2 tax are recycled via a labour tax reduction

The use of role-play games in teaching: The International Climate Negotiation Game

This paper presents a role-play game designed by the authors, which focuses on international climate negotiations. The game has been used at a university with students all drawn from the same course and at summer schools with students from different levels (undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers) and different knowledge areas (economics, law, engineering, architecture, biology and others). We discuss how the game fits into the process of competence-based learning, and what benefits games, and role-play games in particular, have for teaching. In the game, students take on the role of representatives of national institutions and experience at first hand a detailed process of international negotiation concerned with climate change.Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3); UPV/EHU; Basque Government Grant ((GIC07/56-IT-383-07)