IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/tin/wpaper/20240064.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Greening the Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Steven Poelhekke

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute)

Abstract

The economy is traditionally human-centered and has given too little consideration to plants, animals, climate, and nature in general. What should the economy do to become `green'? Changing people's social norms would be ideal but is hard to achieve. Second best is to regulate and constrain the economy through taxes, subsidies, standards, and redistribution. However, setting these to the `right' level is challenging and must address how much humans care about nature, the desire to retain the benefits of economic growth, and the political feasibility of implementing national and international policies that accelerate the transition to a green economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven Poelhekke, 2024. "Greening the Economy," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 24-064/VIII, Tinbergen Institute.
  • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20240064
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/24064.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erik O. Kimbrough & Alexander Vostroknutov, 2016. "Norms Make Preferences Social," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 608-638, June.
    2. Daron Acemoglu & Philippe Aghion & Leonardo Bursztyn & David Hemous, 2012. "The Environment and Directed Technical Change," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(1), pages 131-166, February.
    3. Thomas Douenne & Adrien Fabre, 2022. "Yellow Vests, Pessimistic Beliefs, and Carbon Tax Aversion," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 81-110, February.
    4. Peyton Young, H., 1998. "Social norms and economic welfare1," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3-5), pages 821-830, May.
    5. Konc, Théo & Savin, Ivan & van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M., 2021. "The social multiplier of environmental policy: Application to carbon taxation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    6. Mark R Jacobsen & James M Sallee & Joseph S Shapiro & Arthur A van Benthem, 2023. "Regulating Untaxable Externalities: Are Vehicle Air Pollution Standards Effective and Efficient?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(3), pages 1907-1976.
    7. Olivier Blanchard & Christian Gollier & Jean Tirole, 2023. "The Portfolio of Economic Policies Needed to Fight Climate Change," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 15(1), pages 689-722, September.
    8. Sabrina T. Howell, 2017. "Financing Innovation: Evidence from R&D Grants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(4), pages 1136-1164, April.
    9. Ulph, Alistair & Ulph, David, 2021. "Environmental policy when consumers value conformity," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    10. Rob Hart, 2019. "To Everything There Is a Season: Carbon Pricing, Research Subsidies, and the Transition to Fossil-Free Energy," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(2), pages 349-389.
    11. Jan Zalasiewicz & Julia Adeney Thomas & Colin N. Waters & Simon Turner & Martin J. Head, 2024. "The meaning of the Anthropocene: why it matters even without a formal geological definition," Nature, Nature, vol. 632(8027), pages 980-984, August.
    12. Richard T. Carson, 2012. "Contingent Valuation: A Practical Alternative When Prices Aren't Available," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(4), pages 27-42, Fall.
    13. World Bank, "undated". "State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2024," World Bank Publications - Reports 41544, The World Bank Group.
    14. Dan Tong & Qiang Zhang & Yixuan Zheng & Ken Caldeira & Christine Shearer & Chaopeng Hong & Yue Qin & Steven J. Davis, 2019. "Committed emissions from existing energy infrastructure jeopardize 1.5 °C climate target," Nature, Nature, vol. 572(7769), pages 373-377, August.
    15. Jerry Hausman, 2012. "Contingent Valuation: From Dubious to Hopeless," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(4), pages 43-56, Fall.
    16. William Nordhaus, 2015. "Climate Clubs: Overcoming Free-Riding in International Climate Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(4), pages 1339-1370, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Katinka Holtsmark & Katinka Kristine Holtsmark, 2024. "Can Revenue Recycling Kill Green Technology?," CESifo Working Paper Series 11510, CESifo.
    2. Emanuele Campiglio & Alessandro Spiganti & Anthony Wiskich, 2023. "Clean innovation and heterogeneous financing costs," Working Papers 2023: 07, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    3. Delfgaauw, Josse & Swank, Otto, 2024. "The political climate trap," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    4. Tsur, Yacov, 2025. "The diverse impacts of democracy on greenhouse gas emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    5. Ivehammar, Pernilla, 2014. "Valuing environmental quality in actual travel time savings – The Haningeleden road project in Stockholm," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 349-356.
    6. Xu, Qi & Liu, Kui, 2024. "Hero or Devil: A comparison of different carbon tax policies for China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    7. Balint, T. & Lamperti, F. & Mandel, A. & Napoletano, M. & Roventini, A. & Sapio, A., 2017. "Complexity and the Economics of Climate Change: A Survey and a Look Forward," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 252-265.
    8. Bernadeta Gołębiowska & Anna Bartczak & Mikołaj Czajkowski, 2020. "Energy Demand Management and Social Norms," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-20, July.
    9. Blomquist, Glenn C. & Coomes, Paul A. & Jepsen, Christopher & Koford, Brandon C. & Troske, Kenneth R., 2014. "Estimating the social value of higher education: willingness to pay for community and technical colleges," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(1), pages 3-41, January.
    10. Rik L. Rozendaal & Herman R. J. Vollebergh & Rik Rozendaal, 2021. "Policy-Induced Innovation in Clean Technologies: Evidence from the Car Market," CESifo Working Paper Series 9422, CESifo.
    11. Stefan Eriksson & Per Johansson & Sophie Langenskiöld, 2017. "What is the right profile for getting a job? A stated choice experiment of the recruitment process," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 803-826, September.
    12. Stern, Nicholas & Sivropoulos-Valero, Anna Valero, 2021. "Innovation, growth and the transition to net-zero emissions," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114385, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Jo, Ara & Miftakhova, Alena, 2024. "How constant is constant elasticity of substitution? Endogenous substitution between clean and dirty energy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    14. Nicholas Stern & Anna Valero, 2021. "Innovation, growth and the transition to net-zero emissions," CEP Discussion Papers dp1773, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    15. Desvousges, William H. & Gard, Nicholas & Michael, Holly J. & Chance, Anne D., 2018. "Habitat and Resource Equivalency Analysis: A Critical Assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 74-89.
    16. Fabre, Adrien & Fodha, Mouez & Ricci, Francesco, 2020. "Mineral resources for renewable energy: Optimal timing of energy production," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    17. Donald S. Kenkel & Sida Peng & Michael F. Pesko & Hua Wang, 2020. "Mostly harmless regulation? Electronic cigarettes, public policy, and consumer welfare," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(11), pages 1364-1377, November.
    18. Ahlheim, Michael & Schneider, Friedrich, 2013. "Considering Household Size in Contingent Valuation Studies," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79974, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    19. Aziz, Sonia & Pakhtigian, Emily L. & Akanda, Ali S. & Jutla, Antarpreet & Huq, Anwar & Alam, Munirul & Ashan, Gias U. & Colwell, Rita R., 2021. "Does improved risk information increase the value of cholera prevention? An analysis of stated vaccine demand in slum areas of urban Bangladesh," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    20. Joëlle Noailly & Roger Smeets, 2022. "Financing Energy Innovation: Internal Finance and the Direction of Technical Change," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 83(1), pages 145-169, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    green economy; climate change; social norms; climate policy; redistribution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:tin:wpaper:20240064. 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: Tinbergen Office +31 (0)10-4088900 (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/tinbenl.html .

    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.