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Environmental Abatement and the Macroeconomy in the Presence of Ecological Thresholds

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  • Ben Heijdra
  • Pim Heijnen

Abstract

We study the environmental and economic effects of public abatement in the presence of multiple stable steady-state ecological equilibria featuring reversible hysteresis. The isocline for the stock of pollution possesses two stable branches. Assuming that the ecology is initially located on the upper (high pollution) branch of the isocline, a simple time-invariant temporary abatement policy can be used to steer the environment from the high- to the low-pollution equilibrium. In all models considered in this paper, a “cold turkey” abatement policy is optimal within the class of stepwise policies, i.e. the largest feasible shock should be administered for the shortest possible amount of time. The cold-turkey result is robust to alternative models for the economic system, although there is a capital feedback effect that either helps or hinders the speed of transition to the low-pollution equilibrium. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

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  • Ben Heijdra & Pim Heijnen, 2013. "Environmental Abatement and the Macroeconomy in the Presence of Ecological Thresholds," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 55(1), pages 47-70, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:55:y:2013:i:1:p:47-70
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-012-9613-z
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    1. Heijdra, Ben J. & Heijnen, Pim, 2011. "Environmental Policy and the Macroeconomy in the Presence of Ecological Thresholds," Economics Series 269, Institute for Advanced Studies.
    2. Taner Akan & Halil İbrahim Gündüz & Tara Vanlı & Ahmet Baran Zeren & Ali Haydar Işık & Tamerlan Mashadihasanli, 2023. "Why are some countries cleaner than others? New evidence from macroeconomic governance," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 6167-6223, July.
    3. Ikefuji, Masako & Ono, Yoshiyasu, 2021. "Environmental policies in a stagnant economy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    4. Aart Zeeuw & Chuan-Zhong Li, 2016. "The Economics of Tipping Points," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 65(3), pages 513-517, November.
    5. Annicchiarico, Barbara & Correani, Luca & Di Dio, Fabio, 2018. "Environmental policy and endogenous market structure," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 186-215.
    6. Pim Heijnen & Lammertjan Dam, 2019. "Catastrophe and Cooperation," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 122-141, March.
    7. Wagener, Florian & de Zeeuw, Aart, 2021. "Stable partial cooperation in managing systems with tipping points," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    8. Wagener, F.O.O., 2013. "Economics of environmental regime shifts," CeNDEF Working Papers 13-08, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Center for Nonlinear Dynamics in Economics and Finance.
    9. Ben J. Heijdra & Pim Heijnen, 2021. "Reversible Environmental Catastrophes with Disconnected Generations," De Economist, Springer, vol. 169(2), pages 211-252, May.
    10. Maxime Menuet & Alexandru Minea & Patrick Villieu & Anastasios Xepapadeas, 2020. "Economic Growth and the Environment: A Theoretical Reappraisal," DEOS Working Papers 2031, Athens University of Economics and Business.
    11. Maria Arvaniti & Chandra K. Krishnamurthy & Anne-Sophie Crépin, 2019. "Time-consistent resource management with regime shifts," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 19/329, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    12. Maxime MENUET & Alexandru MINEA & Patrick VILLIEU & Anastasios XEPAPADEAS, 2021. "Growth, Endogenous Environmental Cycles, and Indeterminacy," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 2889, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ecological thresholds; nonlinear dynamics; environmental policy; abatement; overlapping generations; D60; E62; H23; H63; Q20; Q28; Q50;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt
    • Q20 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - General
    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General

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