Essays in environmental economics
This thesis consists of three chapters that investigate environmental policy questions from an empirical point of view. Chapter 1 examines the trustworthiness of official air pollution data sources for Beijing when compared to similar data from the US Embassy in Beijing. Using a statistical regulari...
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| Format: | doctoral thesis |
| Status: | Published version |
| Publication Date: | 2017 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | CBUC, CESCA |
| Repository: | TDR. Tesis Doctorales en Red |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/402830 |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10803/402830 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Environmental economics Air pollution China Economia del medi ambient Contaminació del aire Xina 33 |
| Summary: | This thesis consists of three chapters that investigate environmental policy questions from an empirical point of view. Chapter 1 examines the trustworthiness of official air pollution data sources for Beijing when compared to similar data from the US Embassy in Beijing. Using a statistical regularity, I find that the official data likely suffered from misreporting until the end of 2012. From 2013 onwards, however, misreporting appears to have stopped. Chapter 2 evaluates China's main air pollution control policy to study the effects of environmental regulation when institutions are weak. I find that the policy was ultimately successful in reducing air pollution, but that those effects only set in once the Chinese government started appropriate air pollution monitoring. Moreover, I quantify the efficiency of different policy instruments to control air pollution in China and find that - in contrast to the United States - a market-based solution and a technology mandate for scrubbers are nearly identical. Finally, Chapter 3 studies whether nudges can help consumers align intention and action when choosing their electricity contract. Using a survey experiment, we find that only a default nudge had a statistically and economically significant effect on consumers' decision to contract renewable energy. |
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