The Political Economy of Strategic Environmental Policy When Waste Products are Tradable

In this paper we explore the implications of the possibility of “trade in trash†on optimal environmental policy and on the ramifications of a stronger or weaker environmental lobby across regions or nations. We have constructed a multiple stage game composed of a market stage and a policy stage. Waste might be exported to some less developed countries to get rid of any damages linked to waste treatment and disposal. Waste markets are imperfect where waste exporters exploit market power. We find that environmentalists do not necessarily succeed in pushing stricter environmental policy nor do industrialists in pushing weaker due to the fact that lobbying may be offset by terms of trade effects. As it happens, even stronger environmental sentiment in all nations need not lead to increased protection of the environment globallyTrade and The Environment, Strategic Environmental Policy, International Trade in Waste Products, Lobbying

Entropy Numbers of General Diagonal Operators

We determine the asymptotic behavior of the entropy numbers of diagonal operators D : `p ! `q, (xk) 7! (_kxk), 0 < p, q _ 1, under mild regularity and decay conditions on the generating sequence (_k). Our results extend the known estimates for polynomial and logarithmic diagonals (_k). Moreover, we also consider some exotic intermediate examples like _k = exp(&#8722;plog k)

Endogenous growth and recycling : a material balance approach

In this paper we analyze the importance of recycling in the strive for sustainable development. In contrast to former approaches we emphasize the role of the waste stock as a source of valuable inputs. We enhance a Romer (1990) type endogenous growth model by a material balance condition that re°ects the circulation of matter in the economy. Di®erentiated intermediate products are produced from recycled waste and virgin resources. These material intermediates are then employed in the production of ¯nal output. They either end up as waste after consumption or are bound in the capital stock { depending on the utilization of the produced output. We show that, even in the absence of environmental policy, long-run development is sustainable in this economy. The intuition is, that, as waste is a valuable resource in our model, not recycling part of it, cannot be optimal in the long-run.non-renewable resources, recycling, endogenous growth, sustainable development

The gains from early intervention in Europe: Fiscal surveillance and fiscal planning using cash data

This paper does two things. First it examines the use of real time inter-annual cash data and the role of early interventions for improving the monitoring of national fiscal policies and the correction of fiscal indiscipline. Early warnings are important because they allow us to spread the necessary adjustments over time. Examples from Germany and Italy show that large corrections are often necessary early on to make adjustments later on acceptable and to keep debt ratios from escalating. There is a credibility issue here; we find the difference between front-loaded and back-loaded adjustment schemes is likely to be vital for the time consistency of fiscal policymaking. Second, without early interventions, the later deficit reductions typically double in size – meaning governments become subject to the excessive deficit procedure and significant improvement tests more often. Thus the budget savings from early intervention and the use of cash data are significant; in our examples they are similar in size to the operating budget of the department of housing and urban development in Germany. Similar results apply in other Eurozone countries. JEL Classification: E62, H50, H68additive vs slope adjustments, cash data, early warning, fiscal credibility, fiscal surveillance

An instrument for monitoring number and mass of ambient particles in coarse, fine and ultrafine size ranges

Airborne particulate matter is today recognized as an important category of air pollutants. Current air quality standards, and hence most particle instruments, are based on particle mass concentration-the European standard, for example, on the PM10 fraction. For other metrics, such as number concentration, there is currently a lack of suitable instrumentation for monitoring purposes. A novel realtime particle-counting instrument has been developed in an attempt to fill this gap. The new instrument is capable of detecting and counting particles from about 10 nm to 10 pm particle diameter. This instrument, aimed at monitoring ambient air quality, uses a parallel combination of optical particle counting for larger particles plus condensation particle counting for the smallest particles. The particles are classified into several size fractions, which allows discrimination between ultrafine, fine, and coarse particles. The instrument also enables gravimetric measurement of PM10 or PM2.5 providing the possibility of comparing the measured number concentrations with the mass concentration standards. Furthermore, a conversion of the number concentration data into PMIO.P. M2.5,a nd also PMl mass concentration is possible. The new instrument is unique in offering number and mass information over the complete size range of interest in urban air quality monitoring. The design of the instrument and the development and construction of first prototypes are described as well as calibration and performance results. The performance tests included side-by-side comparisons of two identical prototypes and comparison studies with traditional instrumentation in an urban field environment at a monitoring station in Birmingham (UK). Here, very good correlation was observed between the ultrafine particle concentration indicated by the new instrument and the total number concentration measured by a CPC (TSI model 3022A). Number-to-mass conversion results correlated well with mass concentration measured by TEOM. Possibilities for a further size fractionation in the ultrafine particle size range were investigated and selected techniques tested. Size separation using diffusion devices was identified as a suitable technique to be implemented in the new instrument for ultrafine fractionation. Other future possibilities for further developments are also discussed

Oral History Interview: Thomas Kuhn

This interview is one of a series conducted concerning West Virginia archeology. Thomas Kuhn was an archaeologist and a faculty member at Marshall University. He discusses: archaeological digs; several archaeological collections, including the Adams Collection [of Native American artifacts?] and the Pitt/Stark Collection; his part in bringing the Adams Collection to the Huntington Museum of Art; individuals such as Carol Carter, Bob Maslowski, Cynthia Irwin, Roberta Emerson, Mr. Durett, & Mr. Adams; problems he sees in the archaeological profession; the importance of producing artifacts for the public to see; his views on selling artifacts; a code of ethics for archaeologists; and other topics.https://mds.marshall.edu/oral_history/1379/thumbnail.jp