IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v65y2014icp78-85.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The green paradox of the economics of exhaustible resources

Author

Listed:
  • Cairns, Robert D.

Abstract

The green paradox states that an increasing tax on emissions of carbon dioxide, consonant with the expected increase in their marginal damages, may induce oil producers to shift their production toward the present and thereby to exacerbate the problem of climatic change. The model is based on Hotelling models of resource use that do not take the natural and technical features of oil production into account. Natural features include the decline of production through time according to a decline curve. Technical features include the requirement to sink investment in productive capacity. A model of a profit-maximizing firm indicates that, if these features are taken into account, the prediction of the green paradox is unlikely.

Suggested Citation

  • Cairns, Robert D., 2014. "The green paradox of the economics of exhaustible resources," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 78-85.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:65:y:2014:i:c:p:78-85
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.10.047
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421513010707
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.10.047?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sinclair, Peter J N, 1992. "High Does Nothing and Rising Is Worse: Carbon Taxes Should Keep Declining to Cut Harmful Emissions," The Manchester School of Economic & Social Studies, University of Manchester, vol. 60(1), pages 41-52, March.
    2. Cairns, Robert D. & Calfucura, Enrique, 2012. "OPEC: Market failure or power failure?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 570-580.
    3. Nystad, Arild N., 1985. "Petroleum taxes and optimal resource recovery," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 381-401, August.
    4. Thompson, Andrew C., 2001. "The Hotelling Principle, backwardation of futures prices and the values of developed petroleum reserves -- the production constraint hypothesis," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 133-156, April.
    5. Robert M. Solow, 1974. "The Economics of Resources or the Resources of Economics," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Chennat Gopalakrishnan (ed.), Classic Papers in Natural Resource Economics, chapter 12, pages 257-276, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. Pierre Lasserre, 1985. "Capacity Choice by Mines," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 18(4), pages 831-842, November.
    7. John Livernois, 2009. "On the Empirical Significance of the Hotelling Rule," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 3(1), pages 22-41, Winter.
    8. Adelman, M A, 1990. "Mineral Depletion, with Special Reference to Petroleum," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(1), pages 1-10, February.
    9. Graham A. Davis, 2007. "Strike When the Force Is with You: Optimal Stopping with Application to Resource Equilibria," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 89(2), pages 461-472.
    10. Graham A. Davis & Robert D. Cairns, 1998. "Simple Analytics of Valuing Producing Petroleum Reserves," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 133-142.
    11. Hans-Werner Sinn, 2008. "Public policies against global warming: a supply side approach," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(4), pages 360-394, August.
    12. Hartwick, John M. & Kemp, Murray C. & Van Long, Ngo, 1986. "Set-up costs and theory of exhaustible resources," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 212-224, September.
    13. Arild N. Nystad, 1988. "On the Economics of Improved Oil Recovery: The Optimal Recovery Factor from Oil and Gas Reservoirs," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 49-61.
    14. Morris A. Adelman, 1993. "Modelling World Oil Supply," The Energy Journal, , vol. 14(1), pages 1-32, January.
    15. Miller, Merton H & Upton, Charles W, 1985. "A Test of the Hotelling Valuation Principle," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(1), pages 1-25, February.
    16. Davis, Graham A. & Cairns, Robert D., 2012. "Good timing: The economics of optimal stopping," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 255-265.
    17. Raphael Amit, 1986. "Petroleum Reservoir Exploitation: Switching from Primary to Secondary Recovery," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(4), pages 534-549, August.
    18. Harold Hotelling, 1931. "The Economics of Exhaustible Resources," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(2), pages 137-137.
    19. Mr. James L. Smith, 2012. "Modeling the Impact of Taxes on Petroleum Exploration and Development," IMF Working Papers 2012/278, International Monetary Fund.
    20. Davis, Graham A & Cairns, Robert D, 1999. "Valuing Petroleum Reserves Using Current Net Price," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(2), pages 295-311, April.
    21. Harry F. Campbell, 1980. "The Effect of Capital Intensity on the Optimal Rate of Extraction of a Mineral Deposit," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 13(2), pages 349-356, May.
    22. Philippe J. Crabbe, 1982. "The Effect of Capital Intensity on the Optimal Rate of Extraction of a Mineral Deposit: A Comment," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 15(3), pages 534-541, August.
    23. Robert D. Cairns & Graham A. Davis, 2001. "Adelman's Rule and the Petroleum Firm," The Energy Journal, , vol. 22(3), pages 31-54, July.
    24. Cairns, Robert D. & Van Quyen, Nguyen, 1998. "Optimal Exploration for and Exploitation of Heterogeneous Mineral Deposits," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 164-189, March.
    25. Robert D. Cairns, 2009. "Green Accounting for Black Gold," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 113-140.
    26. Nystad, Arild N., 1987. "Rate sensitivity and the optimal choice of production capacity of petroleum reservoirs," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 37-45, January.
    27. Ulph, Alistair & Ulph, David, 1994. "The Optimal Time Path of a Carbon Tax," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 46(0), pages 857-868, Supplemen.
    28. Morris A. Adelman, 1993. "Modelling World Oil Supply," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 1-32.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Okullo, Samuel J. & Reynès, Frédéric & Hofkes, Marjan W., 2021. "(Bio-)Fuel mandating and the green paradox," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    2. Jia-Yue Huang & Yun-Fei Cao & Hui-Ling Zhou & Hong Cao & Bao-Jun Tang & Nan Wang, 2018. "Optimal Investment Timing and Scale Choice of Overseas Oil Projects: A Real Option Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-22, October.
    3. Hou, Xiang & Hu, Qianlin & Liang, Xin & Xu, Jingxuan, 2023. "How do low-carbon city pilots affect carbon emissions? Staggered difference in difference evidence from Chinese firms," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 664-686.
    4. Akkaya Sahin & Bakkal Ufuk, 2020. "Carbon Leakage Along with the Green Paradox Against Carbon Abatement? A Review Based on Carbon Tax," Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, Sciendo, vol. 20(1), pages 25-44, June.
    5. Emmanuel Hache & Samuel Carcanague & Clément Bonnet & Gondia Sokhna Seck & Marine Simoën, 2019. "Some geopolitical issues of the energy transition," Working Papers hal-03101697, HAL.
    6. Soren T. Anderson & Ryan Kellogg & Stephen W. Salant, 2018. "Hotelling under Pressure," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(3), pages 984-1026.
    7. Zhao, Jun & Jiang, Qingzhe & Dong, Xiucheng & Dong, Kangyin, 2020. "Would environmental regulation improve the greenhouse gas benefits of natural gas use? A Chinese case study," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. Zhao, Xing & Guo, Yifan & Feng, Tianchu, 2023. "Towards green recovery: Natural resources utilization efficiency under the impact of environmental information disclosure," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Wu, Haitao & Xu, Lina & Ren, Siyu & Hao, Yu & Yan, Guoyao, 2020. "How do energy consumption and environmental regulation affect carbon emissions in China? New evidence from a dynamic threshold panel model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    10. van den Bijgaart, Inge & Rodriguez, Mauricio, 2020. "Closing wells; fossil exploration and abandonment in the energy transition," Working Papers in Economics 789, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    11. Calvin Atewamba & Bruno Nkuiya, 2017. "Testing the Assumptions and Predictions of the Hotelling Model," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 66(1), pages 169-203, January.
    12. Lappi, Pauli, 2020. "A model of optimal extraction and site reclamation," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    13. Johannes Pfeiffer, 2017. "Fossil Resources and Climate Change – The Green Paradox and Resource Market Power Revisited in General Equilibrium," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 77, May.
    14. van den Bijgaart, Inge & Rodriguez, Mauricio, 2023. "Closing wells: Fossil development and abandonment in the energy transition," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    15. Naef, Alain, 2024. "The impossible love of fossil fuel companies for carbon taxes," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    16. Liu, Wen & Xu, Jiaqi & She, Shengxiang, 2023. "Green economic development by increasing efficiency of natural resource consumption," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    17. Yanchao Feng & Yong Geng & Zhou Liang & Qiong Shen & Xiqiang Xia, 2021. "Research on the Impacts of Heterogeneous Environmental Regulations on Green Productivity in China: The Moderating Roles of Technical Change and Efficiency Change," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-21, October.
    18. Clement Bonnet & Samuel Carcanague & Emmanuel Hache & Gondia Seck & Marine Simoën, 2019. "Vers une Géopolitique de l'énergie plus complexe ? Une analyse prospective tridimensionnelle de la transition énergétique," Working Papers hal-02971706, HAL.
    19. Lin, Boqiang & Zhao, Hengsong, 2023. "Evaluating current effects of upcoming EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: Evidence from China's futures market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    20. Okullo, Samuel J. & Reynès, Frédéric, 2016. "Imperfect cartelization in OPEC," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 333-344.
    21. Wang, Xiaolin & Qiu, Yangyang & Chen, Jun & Hu, Xiangping, 2022. "Evaluating natural gas supply security in China: An exhaustible resource market equilibrium model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    22. Simone Marsiglio & Marco Tolotti, 2020. "Motivation crowding‐out and green‐paradox‐like outcomes," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 22(5), pages 1559-1583, September.
    23. Richard G. Newell & Brian C. Prest & Ashley Vissing, 2016. "Trophy Hunting vs. Manufacturing Energy: The Price-Responsiveness of Shale Gas," NBER Working Papers 22532, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Bruno, Ellen Marie & Hagerty, Nick, 2023. "Anticipatory Effects of Regulation in Open Access," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt58n467v5, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    25. Marie-Catherine Riekhof & Johannes Bröcker, 2017. "Does The Adverse Announcement Effect Of Climate Policy Matter? — A Dynamic General Equilibrium Analysis," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 8(02), pages 1-34, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anthony J. Venables, 2014. "Depletion and Development: Natural Resource Supply with Endogenous Field Opening," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(3), pages 313-336.
    2. Soren T. Anderson & Ryan Kellogg & Stephen W. Salant, 2018. "Hotelling under Pressure," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(3), pages 984-1026.
    3. Okullo, Samuel J. & Reynès, Frédéric & Hofkes, Marjan W., 2015. "Modeling peak oil and the geological constraints on oil production," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 36-56.
    4. Robert Cairns, 2001. "Capacity Choice and the Theory of the Mine," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 18(1), pages 129-148, January.
    5. Wang, Qiao & Balvers, Ronald, 2021. "Determinants and predictability of commodity producer returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    6. Robert D. Cairns & Graham A. Davis, 2015. "Mineral Depletion and the Rules of Resource Dynamics," The Energy Journal, , vol. 36(1_suppl), pages 159-178, June.
    7. Jeffrey A. Krautkraemer, 1998. "Nonrenewable Resource Scarcity," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 2065-2107, December.
    8. Hart, Rob, 2016. "Non-renewable resources in the long run," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 1-20.
    9. Okullo, Samuel J. & Reynès, Frédéric & Hofkes, Marjan W., 2021. "(Bio-)Fuel mandating and the green paradox," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    10. Jakobsson, Kristofer & Bentley, Roger & Söderbergh, Bengt & Aleklett, Kjell, 2012. "The end of cheap oil: Bottom-up economic and geologic modeling of aggregate oil production curves," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 860-870.
    11. Cotrina-Teatino, Marco A. & Marquina-Araujo, Jairo J., 2024. "Hotelling rule in non-renewable resources: A bibliometric and systematic literature review analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    12. Leach, Andrew & Mason, Charles F. & Veld, Klaas van ‘t, 2011. "Co-optimization of enhanced oil recovery and carbon sequestration," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 893-912.
    13. Andrade de Sá, Saraly & Daubanes, Julien, 2016. "Limit pricing and the (in)effectiveness of the carbon tax," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 28-39.
    14. van den Bijgaart, Inge & Rodriguez, Mauricio, 2023. "Closing wells: Fossil development and abandonment in the energy transition," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    15. Reynolds, Douglas B., 2013. "Uncertainty in exhaustible natural resource economics: The irreversible sunk costs of Hotelling," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 532-541.
    16. Richard G. Newell & Brian C. Prest & Ashley Vissing, 2016. "Trophy Hunting vs. Manufacturing Energy: The Price-Responsiveness of Shale Gas," NBER Working Papers 22532, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Johnson Kakeu, 2023. "Concerns for Long-Run Risks and Natural Resource Policy," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(4), pages 1051-1093, April.
    18. Julien Daubanes & Pierre Lasserre, 2019. "The supply of non-renewable resources," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1084-1111, August.
    19. Amigues, Jean-Pierre & Kama, Alain Ayong Le & Moreaux, Michel, 2015. "Equilibrium transitions from non-renewable energy to renewable energy under capacity constraints," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 89-112.
    20. Gao, Shen & van ’t Veld, Klaas, 2021. "Pegging input prices to output prices—A special price adjustment clause in long-term CO2 sales contracts," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:65:y:2014:i:c:p:78-85. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.