Exploring consistency between stated and revealed preferences for the plastic bag ban policy in Chile

Submitted by Cristóbal Vásquez on

This paper exploits individual-level data before the implementation of a national policy to understand the factors driving avoidance of plastic consumption and explore potential inconsistencies between revealed and stated preferences for a plastic bag ban policy. We estimate a bivariate ordered probit model that allows us to account for a potential correlation between these types of preferences. The data reveals that while 71% of respondents take a reusable bag for shopping, only 58% of the sample state to strongly agree with prohibiting plastic bags.

Climate Change, Policy Design, Waste

Valuing the unvalued recreational ecosystem services in developing cities of sub-Saharan Africa: urban parks in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Submitted by Petra Hansson on

Being mostly rural, Dar es Salaam has always been characterized by greenery and more recently by green space development. However, the values of these spaces are often not known. Note that these unknown values are common to sub-Saharan Africa. In order to make informed decisions in the management of these spaces, it is important that the values are assessed and documented. In this study, we do so by estimating the economic value of recreational parks in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Biodiversity, Land, Urban

The external impacts of historic landmarks and buildings on townhouse prices in Vietnam

Submitted by Luat Do on
EfD Authors:

Purpose
This paper aims to explore the external spillover effects of landmarks and buildings with historic preservation designation in Vietnam, a country marked with a unique property right regime and market transparency. The study contributes to the existing debate over the impact of distance to historic preservation sites and landmarks and property prices.

Urban

Can payments for forest environmental services help improve income and attitudes toward forest conservation? Household-level evaluation in the Central Highlands of Vietnam

Submitted by Luat Do on
EfD Authors:

Payments for environmental services (PES) are considered an effective approach to solving both environmental and socio-economic issues. However, there lies a significant research gap in the context of their impact on income and attitudes toward conservation. Using household survey data and the propensity score matching technique, this study evaluates the impact of the payments for forest environmental services (PFES) program on household income and attitudes toward forest conservation in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

Forestry, Policy Design

The subnational crowding out effect of mining windfalls on local tax effort: Does the level of local provision of public goods matter?

Submitted by Cristóbal Vásquez on
EfD Authors:

Although the resource curse offers evidence for the national crowding out generated by resource windfalls from mining, subnational crowding is not fully understood. This knowledge gap is problematic because these windfalls should cover the negative externalities that exist in host zones. Additionally, these communities have different fiscal responsibilities due to the mining industry's environmental, economic, and social costs. This article estimates the subnational crowd out of mining windfalls on local tax collection by considering different levels of fiscal responsibility.

Energy, Policy Design

Green economy reform - social inclusion and policy instrument support

Submitted by Petra Hansson on
EfD Authors:

Briefing highlights 

–    Analyzing policy attitudes is important for understanding environmental policy feasibility.

–    Pure self-interest is not sufficient to explain people’s policy positions. There are other factors that are also important for policy attitude formation.

–    Policy packaging, earmarking and revenue recycling can potentially change people’s policy positions.

Carbon Pricing, Climate Change, Policy Design

Carbon Taxes

Submitted by Petra Hansson on

Economists argue that carbon taxation (and more generally carbon pricing) is the single most powerful way to combat climate change. Since this is so controversial, we need to explain it better, and to be precise, the efficiency gains are largest when the costs of abatement are strongly heterogeneous. This is often—but not always—the case. When it is not, standards can fill much the same role.

Carbon Pricing, Climate Change, Policy Design

Metrics for environmental compensation: A comparative analysis of Swedish municipalities

Submitted by Petra Hansson on
EfD Authors:

Environmental compensation (EC) aims at addressing environmental losses due to development projects and involves a need to compare development losses with compensation gains using relevant metrics. A conceptual procedure for computing no net loss is formulated and used as a point of departure for a comparative analysis of metrics used by five Swedish municipalities as a part of their EC implementation in the spatial planning context of detailed development plans.

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Policy Design