IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ctl/louvec/2008017.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Optimal firm behavior under environmental constraints

Author

Listed:
  • Raouf, BOUCEKKINE

    (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Department of Economics)

  • Natali, HRITONENKO
  • Yuri, YATSENKO

Abstract

The paper examines the Porter and induced-innovation hypotheses in a firm model where : (i) the firm has a vintage capital technology with two complementary factors, energy and capital; (ii) scrapping is endogenous; (iii) technological progress is energy-saving and endogenous trough purposive R&D investment; (iv) the innovation rate increases with R&D investment and decreases with complexity; (v) the firm is subject to emission quotas which put an upper bound on its energy consumption at any date; (vi) energy and capital prices are exogenous. Balanced growth paths are first characterized, and a comparative static analysis is performed to study a kind of long-term Porter and induced-innovation hypotheses. In particular, it is shown that tighter emission quotas do not prevent firms to grow in the long-run, thanks to endogenous innovation, but they have an inverse effect on the growth rate of profits. Some short-term dynamics are also produced, particularly, to analyze the role of initial conditions and energy prices in optimal firm behavior subject to environmental regulation. Among numerous results, we show that (i) firms which are historically “small” polluters find it optimal to massively pollute in the short run : during the transition, new and clean machines will co-exist with old and dirty machines in the productive sectors, implying an unambiguously dirty transition; (ii) higher energy prices induce a shorter lifetime for capital goods but they depress investment in both new capital and R&D, featuring a kind of reverse Hicksian mechanism.

Suggested Citation

  • Raouf, BOUCEKKINE & Natali, HRITONENKO & Yuri, YATSENKO, 2008. "Optimal firm behavior under environmental constraints," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2008017, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques.
    • Handle: RePEc:ctl:louvec:2008017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://sites.uclouvain.be/econ/DP/IRES/2008-17.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Feichtinger, Gustav & Hartl, Richard F. & Kort, Peter M. & Veliov, Vladimir M., 2008. "Financially constrained capital investments: The effects of disembodied and embodied technological progress," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(5-6), pages 459-483, April.
    2. Suresh P. Sethi, 2021. "Optimal Control Theory," Springer Texts in Business and Economics, Springer, edition 4, number 978-3-030-91745-6, June.
    3. Malcomson, James M., 1975. "Replacement and the rental value of capital equipment subject to obsolescence," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 24-41, February.
    4. Feichtinger, Gustav & Hartl, Richard F. & Kort, Peter M. & Veliov, Vladimir M., 2006. "Capital accumulation under technological progress and learning: A vintage capital approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(1), pages 293-310, July.
    5. Raouf Boucekkine & David de la Croix & Omar Licandro, 2006. "Vintage Capital," Economics Working Papers ECO2006/8, European University Institute.
    6. Boucekkine, Raouf & Germain, Marc & Licandro, Omar, 1997. "Replacement Echoes in the Vintage Capital Growth Model," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 333-348, June.
    7. Feichtinger, Gustav & Hartl, Richard F. & Kort, Peter M. & Veliov, Vladimir M., 2005. "Environmental policy, the porter hypothesis and the composition of capital: Effects of learning and technological progress," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 434-446, September.
    8. Xepapadeas, Anastasios & de Zeeuw, Aart, 1999. "Environmental Policy and Competitiveness: The Porter Hypothesis and the Composition of Capital," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 165-182, March.
    9. Boucekkine, Raouf & del Rio, Fernando & Licandro, Omar, 1999. "Endogenous vs Exogenously Driven Fluctuations in Vintage Capital Models," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 161-187, September.
    10. Segerstrom, Paul S, 2000. "The Long-Run Growth Effects of R&D Subsidies," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 277-305, September.
    11. R. M. Solow & J. Tobin & C. C. Weizsäcker & M. Yaari, 1971. "Neoclassical Growth with Fixed Factor Proportions," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: F. H. Hahn (ed.), Readings in the Theory of Growth, chapter 9, pages 68-102, Palgrave Macmillan.
    12. Richard R. Nelson & Edmond S. Phelps, 1965. "Investment in Humans, Technological Diffusion and Economic Growth," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 189, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    13. Richard G. Newell & Adam B. Jaffe & Robert N. Stavins, 1999. "The Induced Innovation Hypothesis and Energy-Saving Technological Change," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 941-975.
    14. Boucekkine, R. & Ruiz-Tamarit, J.R., 2008. "Special functions for the study of economic dynamics: The case of the Lucas-Uzawa model," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 33-54, January.
    15. N. Hritonenko & Yu. Yatsenko, 2005. "Turnpike and Optimal Trajectories in Integral Dynamic Models with Endogenous Delay," Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 109-127, October.
    16. Hart, Rob, 2004. "Growth, environment and innovation--a model with production vintages and environmentally oriented research," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 1078-1098, November.
    17. Krusell, Per, 1998. "Investment-Specific R&D and the Decline in the Relative Price of Capital," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 131-141, June.
    18. Chimeli, Ariaster B. & Braden, John B., 2005. "Total factor productivity and the environmental Kuznets curve," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 366-380, March.
    19. Carraro, Carlo & Siniscaico, Domenico, 1994. "Environmental policy reconsidered: The role of technological innovation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(3-4), pages 545-554, April.
    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. Kevin Spiritus & Etienne Lehmann & Sander Renes, "undated". "Optimal Taxation with Multiple Incomes and Types," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-000/IVI, Tinbergen Institute.
    2. AZOMAHOU, Théophile & BOUCEKKINE, Raouf & NGUYEN-VAN, Phu, 2009. "Promoting clean technologies under imperfect competition," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2009011, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    3. YATSENKO, Yuri & BOUCEKKINE, Raouf & HRITONENKO, Natali, 2008. "Estimating the dynamics of R&D-based growth models," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2008052, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    4. Théophile T. Azomahou & Raouf Boucekkine & Phu Nguyen-Vanc, "undated". "Promoting Clean Technologies: The Energy Market Structure Crucially Matters," Working Papers 2008_13, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    5. Mikael Linden, Matti Makela, and Jussi Uusivuori, 2013. "Fuel Input Substitution under Tradable Carbon Permits System: Evidence from Finnish Energy Plants 2005-2008," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    6. Brechet, Thierry & HRITONENKO, Natali & YATSENKO, Yuri, 2010. "Adaptation and mitigation in long-term climate policies," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2010065, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    7. Boucekkine, Raouf & Hritonenko, Natali & Yatsenko, Yuri, 2011. "Scarcity, regulation and endogenous technical progress," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 186-199, March.
    8. Alejandro Caparrós & Richard E. Just & David Zilberman, 2015. "Dynamic Relative Standards versus Emission Taxes in a Putty-Clay Model," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(2), pages 277-308.

    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. Boucekkine, Raouf & Hritonenko, Natali & Yatsenko, Yuri, 2011. "Scarcity, regulation and endogenous technical progress," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 186-199, March.
    2. Raouf Boucekkine & David De la Croix & Omar Licandro, 2011. "Vintage Capital Growth Theory: Three Breakthroughs," Working Papers 565, Barcelona School of Economics.
    3. Kredler, Matthias, 2014. "Vintage human capital and learning curves," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 154-178.
    4. Théophile T. Azomahou & Raouf Boucekkine & Phu Nguyen-Vanc, "undated". "Promoting Clean Technologies: The Energy Market Structure Crucially Matters," Working Papers 2008_13, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    5. Raouf Boucekkine & Natali Hritonenko & Yuri Yatsenko, 2011. "Sustainable growth under pollution quotas: optimal R&D, investment and replacement policies," Working Papers halshs-00632887, HAL.
    6. Raouf Boucekkine & David Croix & Omar Licandro, 2004. "MODELLING VINTAGE STRUCTURES WITH DDEs: PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS," Mathematical Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(3-4), pages 151-179.
    7. Fabrice Collard & Omar Licandro, 2020. "The neoclassical model and the welfare costs of selection," Discussion Papers 2020/03, University of Nottingham, Centre for Finance, Credit and Macroeconomics (CFCM).
    8. Raouf Boucekkine & Giorgio Fabbri & Patrick-Antoine Pintus, 2011. "On the optimal control of a linear neutral differential equation arising in economics," Working Papers halshs-00576770, HAL.
    9. Théophile, AZOMAHOU & Raouf, BOUCEKKINE & Phu, NUYEN VAN, 2003. "Energy consumption, technological progress and economic policy," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2003025, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    10. Feichtinger, Gustav & Hartl, Richard F. & Kort, Peter M. & Veliov, Vladimir M., 2008. "Financially constrained capital investments: The effects of disembodied and embodied technological progress," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(5-6), pages 459-483, April.
    11. BOUCEKKINE, Raouf & FABBRI, Giorgio & PINTUS, Patrick, 2012. "On the optimal control of a linear neutral differential equation arising in economics," LIDAM Reprints CORE 2449, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    12. Steinbuks, Jevgenijs & Neuhoff, Karsten, 2014. "Assessing energy price induced improvements in efficiency of capital in OECD manufacturing industries," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 340-356.
    13. Hritonenko, Natali & Yatsenko, Yuri, 2010. "Technological innovations, economic renovation, and anticipation effects," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(6), pages 1064-1078, November.
    14. Feichtinger, Gustav & Hartl, Richard F. & Kort, Peter M. & Veliov, Vladimir M., 2005. "Environmental policy, the porter hypothesis and the composition of capital: Effects of learning and technological progress," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 434-446, September.
    15. AZOMAHOU, Théophile & BOUCEKKINE, Raouf & NGUYEN-VAN, Phu, 2009. "Promoting clean technologies under imperfect competition," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2009011, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    16. Yu. Yatsenko & N. Hritonenko, 2007. "Network economics and optimal replacement of age-structured IT capital," Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research (GOR);Nederlands Genootschap voor Besliskunde (NGB), vol. 65(3), pages 483-497, June.
    17. Omar Licandro, 2015. "Firm Dynamics in the Neoclassical Growth Model," Discussion Papers 2015/17, University of Nottingham, Centre for Finance, Credit and Macroeconomics (CFCM).
    18. Feichtinger, Gustav & Hartl, Richard F. & Kort, Peter M. & Veliov, Vladimir M., 2006. "Anticipation effects of technological progress on capital accumulation: a vintage capital approach," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 143-164, January.
    19. Bruno de Oliveira Cruz & Raouf Boucekkine, 2006. "Technological Progress and Investment Microeconomic Foundations and Macroeconomic Implications," Discussion Papers 1170, Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada - IPEA.
    20. Cagri Saglam & Vladimir M. Veliov, 2008. "Role of Endogenous Vintage Specific Depreciation in the Optimal Behavior of Firms," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 4(3), pages 381-410, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    matching problem; von Neumann-Morgenstern stable sets; farsighted stability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C71 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Cooperative Games
    • C78 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory

    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:ctl:louvec:2008017. 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: Virginie LEBLANC (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iruclbe.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.