Effects of trade openness on environmental quality: evidence from developing countries

Submitted by Luat Do on
EfD Authors:

This paper uses the Bayesian model averaging approach to investigate the effects of trade openness on environmental quality in 64 selected developing countries for the period of 2003–2017. We find no evidence of a statistically significant effect of trade openness on environmental pollution in our sampled developing countries; however, our results show weak support for the pollution haven hypothesis.

Climate Change, Policy Design

Promoting e-mobility in Uganda

Submitted by Petra Hansson on

Energy efficiency and reduced emissions are vital for Uganda's economic transformation. EfD researchers, in collaboration with civil servants participating in the Inclusive Green Economy Program (IGE), have assessed the current state of e-mobility, awareness, and perceptions about the dangers of using fossil fuel-powered engines and the benefits and challenges associated with e-mobility systems.

Air Quality, Climate Change, Policy Design

Balancing affordability and sustainability: Evidence on public perceptions of reasonable electricity bills in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Submitted by Luat Do on
EfD Authors:

Despite the Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring clean and affordable energy for all, research on electricity affordability remains limited. This study employs a stochastic payment card method to elicit perceptions of reasonable electricity bills in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A “reasonable” bill is generally considered affordable for consumers and sufficient to cover provision costs. Our findings support this definition, revealing that respondents view reasonable bills as affordable for all, including their households, sufficient to recover provision costs, and accessible to the poor.

Energy, Policy Design

Policy uncertainty, public perception, and the preferences for rooftop solar power systems: A choice experiment study in Vietnam

Submitted by Luat Do on

The engagement of households as investors in residential solar power distinctively contributes to decarbonizing electricity industry and achieving net-zero emission targets. However, the rapid expansion of rooftop solar power, followed by the phase-out of feed-in tariff, has stagnated investment in residential solar power technology.

Energy, Experiments, Policy Design

The use of plastic as a household fuel among the urban poor in the Global South

Submitted by Petra Hansson on

Increasing plastic waste pollution has led to a rising prevalence of the open burning of plastic waste, especially in locations lacking formal waste management systems. Urban slum communities face particularly acute challenges in accessing both organized waste-collection services and low-cost traditional energy sources, and clean cooking-fuel alternatives tend to be unaffordable for their low-income residents. Here we examine the potential risk these unseen communities face and describe the need for a new research agenda to better understand and quantify the scope of the problem.

Air Quality, Climate Change, Energy, Health, Waste

Are all renewable energy sources the same? A comparative analysis of public perceptions and preferences for renewable energy types in Southeast Asian cities

Submitted by Luat Do on
EfD Authors:

AbstractThe realization of a sustainable energy transition in Southeast Asia will require the overcoming of the current high reliance on fossil fuels in the energy mix and the steady and rapid growth in energy demand in the region. To achieve an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable energy transition in the region, it is vital to utilize all available renewable energy sources to the greatest extent possible. It is therefore essential to gain an understanding of how citizens in each country perceive the available renewables.

Energy, Policy Design