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Climate Change Skepticism in the Face of Catastrophe

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  • Mark Kagan

    (VU University Amsterdam)

Abstract

This paper develops a general-equilibrium model of skill-biased technological change that approximates the observed shifts in the shares of wage and non-wageincome going to the top decile of U.S. households since 1980. Under realistic assumptions, we find that all agents can benefit from the technology change, provided that the observed rise in redistributive transfers over this period is taken into account. We show that the increase in capital’s share of total income and the presence of capital-entrepreneurial skill complementarity are two keyfeatures that help support the wages of ordinary workers as the new technology diffuses.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Kagan, 2012. "Climate Change Skepticism in the Face of Catastrophe," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 12-112/VIII, Tinbergen Institute, revised 29 Sep 2014.
    • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20120112
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    File URL: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/12112.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Tatiana Kiseleva, 2016. "Heterogeneous Beliefs and Climate Catastrophes," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 65(3), pages 599-622, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    climate change; catastrophic damages; climate skepticism; uncertainty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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