Comparative analysis of the existing and proposed ETS

Emissions trading schemes (ETS) have been operational to control greenhouse gas emissions in European Union since 2005. Under the EU ETS, the governments of the Member States agree on national emission caps, allocate allowances to industrial operators, track and validate the actual emissions and retire allowances at the end of each year. ETS have been proposed to be introduced in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, US, Canada, Korea, India and two Chinese provinces in the near future. The main idea of the ETS is to create the market for pollution which will provide economic agents with incentives to reduce their emissions ( Stavins, et al., 2003). The design of ETS plays an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting environmental and economic sustainability. There are several designs of ETS including cap-and-trade, baseline-and-credit and hybrid, however, cap-and-trade scheme is the most popular among the proposed ETS. The purpose of this paper is to perform a comprehensive review of the existing and the proposed ETS focusing on design issues. Findings of this research will be useful for countries with existing and proposed ETS and for countries intending to adopt ETS in the future.Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), Sustainability, Cap-and-trade, Baseline-and-credit, Hybrid

Non-Linear Unit Root Properties of Crude Oil Production

While there is good reason to expect crude oil production to be non-linear, previous studies that have examined the stochastic properties of crude oil production have assumed that crude oil production follows a linear process. If crude oil production is a non-linear process, conventional unit root tests, which assume linear and systematic adjustment, could interpret departure from linearity as permanent stochastic disturbances. The objective of this paper is to test for non-linearities and unit roots in crude oil production. To realize our objective, this study applies a threshold autoregressive model with an autoregressive unit root to monthly crude oil production levels for 16 OPEC and non-OPEC countries over the period January 1973 to December 2006. Specifically, first we test for the presence of non-linearities (threshold effects) in the production of crude oil in two regimes. Second, we test for a unit root against a non-linear stationary process in two regimes and a partial unit root process when the unit root is present in one regime only. We find that crude oil production is characterized by threshold effects. We find that for ten of the countries a unit root was present in both regimes, while for the others a partial unit root was found to be present in either the first regime or second regime.Oil production, unit root, linearities.

Unit Root Properties of Crude Oil Spot and Futures Prices

In this paper we examine whether WTI and Brent crude oil spot and futures prices (at one, three and six months to maturity) contain a unit root with one and two structural breaks, employing weekly data over the period 1991-2004. To realize this objective we employ Lagrange Multiplier (LM) unit root tests with one and two endogenous structural breaks proposed by Lee and Stazicich (2003, 2004). We find that each of the oil price series can be characterized as a random walk process and that the endogenous structural breaks are significant and meaningful in terms of events that have impacted on world oil markets.Crude oil prices, Unit root, Stationarity

Financial development and economic growth in Malaysia: Cointegration and Co-feature analysis

This study seeks to explore the relationship between financial development and economic growth in Malaysia over the period of 1980 to 2008 using the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). Focusing on long term relationship, this investigation is carried out within the Granger causality and vector error correction model (VECM). The empirical results data suggest the existence of the long-run equilibrium relationship between financial development and economic growth in Malaysia. The causality between economic growth and stock market was found to mutually causal, that is the causality is bi-directional. This finding suggests that a strong stock market is a good channel to foster economic growth of the country. At the same time, strong growth of economy helps to promote the development of the stock market in Malaysia. Therefore it is vital for the Malaysian government to formulate policy that will enhance the efficiency of the financial system to stimulate the stock market and further boost up the growth of economy.stock market, economic growth, Malaysia, causality, VECM

Energy Consumption Inequality and Human Development

Abstract not availabl

Renewable Electricity Generation, CO2 Emissions and Economic Growth: Evidence from Middle-Income Countries in Asia

Over the past three decades there has been a steady growth in total electricity generation in Asia. Although most of this electricity came from natural gas and coal, renewable electricity generation also has significantly contributed to total electricity generation, with hydro being the largest source of renewables-based electricity. In this study, we analyze the dynamics between economic growth, emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and the share of renewable electricity in total electricity generation in eleven Asian developing countries over the period from 1980 to 2010. The Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) methodology is used to study the interactions among the variables and to analyze the impact of expansion of renewable electricity on per capita emissions and economic wellbeing. Our results show that the majority of middle-income countries in Asia are likely to face a trade-off between economic growth and environment sustainability at least in the early years. Therefore, such countries may need to implement policies complementing renewable energy generation and improving energy efficiency.Durante las últimas tres décadas ha habido un crecimiento constante en la generación total de electricidad en Asia. Aunque la mayor parte de la electricidad proviene del gas natural y el carbón, la generación de electricidad renovable ha contribuido de manera significativa a la generación total de electricidad, siendo la hidraulica la mayor fuente de electricidad basada en energías renovables. En este estudio analizamos la dinámica entre el crecimiento económico, las emisiones de dióxido de carbono (CO2) y el peso de la electricidad renovable en la generación total de electricidad en once países asiáticos durante el período de 1980 a 2010. Se aplica la metodología del Vector Autorregresivo Estructural (SVAR) para estudiar las interacciones entre las variables y analizar el impacto de la expansión de la electricidad renovable en las emisiones per cápita y en el bienestar económico. Nuestros resultados muestran que la mayoría de los países de renta media de Asia es probable que se enfrenten a una disyuntiva entre crecimiento económico y sostenibilidad del medio ambiente, al menos en los primeros años, y, por lo tanto, en estos países puede ser necesario aplicar políticas que complementen la generación de energía renovable y la eficiencia energética

Cointegration between oil spot and future prices of the same and different grades in the presence of structural change

The purpose of this study is to examine whether crude oil spot and futures prices of the same and different grades are cointegrated using a residual-based cointegration test that allows for one structural break in the cointegrating vector and high-frequency data. We choose the US WTI and the UK Brent as the representative crudes for this analysis since these two crudes have well-established spot and futures markets. We find that spot and future prices of the same grade as well as spot and futures prices of different grades are cointegrated. We examine potential causes of structural change as revealed by the cointegration test in terms of events that have impacted on world oil markets as well as discuss the implications of the results for hedge managers, investors and regulators

Renewable electricity generation, CO2 emissions and economic growth: Evidence from middle-income countries in Asia

Over the past three decades there has been a steady growth in total electricity generation in Asia. Although most of this electricity came from natural gas and coal, renewable electricity generation also has significantly contributed to total electricity generation, with hydro being the largest source of renewables-based electricity. In this study, we analyze the dynamics between economic growth, emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and the share of renewable electricity in total electricity generation in eleven Asian developing countries over the period from 1980 to 2010. The Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) methodology is used to study the interactions among the variables and to analyze the impact of expansion of renewable electricity on per capita emissions and economic wellbeing. Our results show that the majority of middle-income countries in Asia are likely to face a trade-off between economic growth and environment sustainability at least in the early years. Therefore, such countries may need to implement policies complementing renewable energy generation and improving energy efficiency