This paper explores the significance of policy-induced technological change for the design of carbon-abatement policies. We derive analytical expressions characterizing optimal CO2 abatement and carbon tax profiles under different specifications for the channels through which technological progress occurs. We consider both R&D-based and learning-by-doing-based knowledge accumulation, and examin...

The impact of induced technological change (ITC) in energy/climate models on the timing of optimal CO2-abatement depends on whether R&D or learning-by-doing (LBD) is the driving force. Bottom-up energy system models employing LBD suggest strong increases in optimal early abatement. In this paper we extend an existing top-down model supporting this view according to the notion that socio-economi...

We study the importance for climate policy of uncertainty concerning the gravity of climate change and thus the benefits of abatement. In particular, this uncertainty can have different effects on the benefits of early abatement and R&D. We explore these differences, which depend in large part on the curvature of the marginal abatement cost function—prudence, in other words. With convex margina...

Coastal aquatic ecosystems are increasingly affected by diffuse source nutrient water pollution from agricultural activities in coastal catchments, even though these ecosystems are important from a social, environmental and economic perspective. To warrant sustainable economic development of coastal regions, we need to balance marginal costs from coastal catchment water pollution abatement and ...

The impact of induced technological change (ITC) in energy/climate models on the timing of optimal CO 2 -abatement depends on whether R&D or learning-by-doing (LBD) is the driving force. Bottom-up energy system models employing LBD suggest strong increases in optimal early abatement. In this paper we extend an existing top-down model supporting this view according to the notion that socio-econo...

The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) has been extensively criticized on theoretical and empirical grounds. In this article, the EKC is reformulated as the best practice technology frontier—countries’ distances from the frontier reflect the degree to which they have adopted the best practice technology in emissions abatement. The Kalman filter is used to model the state of sulfur emissions abat...

In environmental economics it is common to add non-negative constraints on abatement, or equivalently to constrain emissions by some maximum unabated level. However, in this paper it is argued that these assumptions are both physically wrong and complicating. Also, more seriously, such constraints can rule out optimal solutions. For instance, negative NOx abatement can be optimal from the socia...

The success of any international climate change agreement depends on abatement targets and the incentives for countries to participate. International emissions trading is frequently cited in the policy literature as a means to making headway on both issues. With trading, more stringent targets become less costly, and agreements can be profitable for the developing world by allowing them to capt...

This paper studies incentives to develop advanced pollution abatement technology when technology may spillover across agents and pollution abatement is a public good. We are motivated by a variety of pollution control issues where solutions require the development and implementation of new pollution abatement technologies. We show that at the Nash equilibrium of a simultaneous-move game with R&...