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No matter how it is measured, income declines with global warming

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  • Ng, Pin
  • Zhao, Xiaobing

Abstract

The contemporaneous relationship between temperature and income is important because it enables economists to estimate the economic impact of global warming without assuming a structural model. Until recently, empirical evidence generally suggests that there is a negative relationship between temperature and income, and, therefore, global warming has an adverse impact on economic activity. However, Nordhaus (2006) argues that the temperature-income relationship depends on how income is measured. We show in this paper that the results of Nordhaus (2006) may be due to an omitted-variable problem. Based on a well-motivated temperature-income model, we find that the relationship between temperature and income is not dependent on income measurement. Our regression results show that the adverse impact of an increase of 1 °C in temperature can be as much as a 3% decrease in total income for the G-7 nations. Therefore, our results suggest an aggressive climate mitigation policy.

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  • Ng, Pin & Zhao, Xiaobing, 2011. "No matter how it is measured, income declines with global warming," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(5), pages 963-970, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:70:y:2011:i:5:p:963-970
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