IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/enreec/v55y2013i1p47-70.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental Abatement and the Macroeconomy in the Presence of Ecological Thresholds

Author

Listed:
  • 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

Suggested Citation

  • 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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10640-012-9613-z
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10640-012-9613-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fabien Prieur, 2009. "The environmental Kuznets curve in a world of irreversibility," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 40(1), pages 57-90, July.
    2. Xepapadeas, Anastasios, 2005. "Economic growth and the environment," Handbook of Environmental Economics, in: K. G. Mäler & J. R. Vincent (ed.), Handbook of Environmental Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 23, pages 1219-1271, Elsevier.
    3. Karl-Göran Mäler & Anastasios Xepapadeas & Aart de Zeeuw, 2003. "The Economics of Shallow Lakes," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 26(4), pages 603-624, December.
    4. Marten Scheffer & Steve Carpenter & Jonathan A. Foley & Carl Folke & Brian Walker, 2001. "Catastrophic shifts in ecosystems," Nature, Nature, vol. 413(6856), pages 591-596, October.
    5. Wirl, Franz, 2004. "Sustainable growth, renewable resources and pollution: Thresholds and cycles," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1149-1157, March.
    6. A. Bovenberg & Ben Heijdra, 2002. "Environmental Abatement and Intergenerational Distribution," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 23(1), pages 45-84, September.
    7. ,, 2009. "Foundations of Modern Macroeconomics Text & Manual Set," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 2, number 9780199564392.
    8. Menahem E. Yaari, 1965. "Uncertain Lifetime, Life Insurance, and the Theory of the Consumer," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 32(2), pages 137-150.
    9. Mäler, Karl-Göran & Li, Chuan-Zhong, 2010. "Measuring sustainability under regime shift uncertainty: a resilience pricing approach," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(6), pages 707-719, December.
    10. Janssen, Marco A. & Anderies, John M. & Walker, Brian H., 2004. "Robust strategies for managing rangelands with multiple stable attractors," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 140-162, January.
    11. Muradian, Roldan, 2001. "Ecological thresholds: a survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 7-24, July.
    12. Bovenberg, A. Lans & Heijdra, Ben J., 1998. "Environmental tax policy and intergenerational distribution," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 1-24, January.
    13. Arrow, Kenneth & Bolin, Bert & Costanza, Robert & Dasgupta, Partha & Folke, Carl & Holling, C.S. & Jansson, Bengt-Owe & Levin, Simon & Mäler, Karl-Göran & Perrings, Charles & Pimentel, David, 1996. "Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 104-110, February.
    14. Heijdra, Ben J., 2017. "Foundations of Modern Macroeconomics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 3, number 9780198784135.
    15. Heijnen, P. & Wagener, F.O.O., 2008. "Managing the environment and the economy in the presence of hysteresis and irreversibility," CeNDEF Working Papers 08-13, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Center for Nonlinear Dynamics in Economics and Finance.
    16. Ranjan, Ram & Shortle, James, 2007. "The environmental Kuznets curve when the environment exhibits hysteresis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 204-215, October.
    17. K. G. Mäler & J. R. Vincent (ed.), 2003. "Handbook of Environmental Economics," Handbook of Environmental Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    18. W.A. Brock & D. Starrett, 2003. "Managing Systems with Non-convex Positive Feedback," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 26(4), pages 575-602, December.
    19. Costanza, Robert, 1995. "Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 89-90, November.
    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. 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.

    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. Ben J. Heijdra & Pim Heijnen, 2009. "Environmental Policy and the Macroeconomy under Shallow-Lake Dynamics," CESifo Working Paper Series 2859, CESifo.
    2. Heijnen, P. & Wagener, F.O.O., 2013. "Avoiding an ecological regime shift is sound economic policy," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 1322-1341.
    3. Mathieu-Bolh, Nathalie, 2017. "Can tax reforms help achieve sustainable development?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 135-163.
    4. Pautrel, Xavier, 2012. "Environmental Policy, Education And Growth: A Reappraisal When Lifetime Is Finite," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(5), pages 661-685, November.
    5. Polasky, Stephen & de Zeeuw, Aart & Wagener, Florian, 2011. "Optimal management with potential regime shifts," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 229-240, September.
    6. Ben J. Heijdra & Pim Heijnen, 2021. "Reversible Environmental Catastrophes with Disconnected Generations," De Economist, Springer, vol. 169(2), pages 211-252, May.
    7. Dmitry Gromov & Thorsten Upmann, 2021. "Dynamics and Economics of Shallow Lakes: A Survey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-16, December.
    8. Crépin, Anne-Sophie & Biggs, Reinette & Polasky, Stephen & Troell, Max & de Zeeuw, Aart, 2012. "Regime shifts and management," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 15-22.
    9. Quaas, Martin F. & van Soest, Daan & Baumgärtner, Stefan, 2013. "Complementarity, impatience, and the resilience of natural-resource-dependent economies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 15-32.
    10. Johannus Janmaat, 2012. "Fishing in a Shallow Lake: Exploring a Classic Fishery Model in a Habitat with Shallow Lake Dynamics," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 51(2), pages 215-239, February.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. Elke Moser & Andrea Seidl & Gustav Feichtinger, 2014. "History-dependence in production-pollution-trade-off models: a multi-stage approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 222(1), pages 457-481, November.
    14. Brand, Fridolin, 2005. "Ecological resilience and its relevance within a theory of sustainable development," UFZ Reports 03/2005, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ).
    15. Derissen, Sandra & Quaas, Martin F. & Baumgärtner, Stefan, 2011. "The relationship between resilience and sustainability of ecological-economic systems," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 1121-1128, April.
    16. George Halkos & Iacovos Psarianos, 2016. "Exploring the effect of including the environment in the neoclassical growth model," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 18(3), pages 339-358, July.
    17. Ranjan, Ram & Shortle, James, 2007. "The environmental Kuznets curve when the environment exhibits hysteresis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 204-215, October.
    18. Thomas Bassetti & Nikos Benos & Stelios Karagiannis, 2013. "CO 2 Emissions and Income Dynamics: What Does the Global Evidence Tell Us?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 54(1), pages 101-125, January.
    19. Baumgärtner, Stefan & Quaas, Martin F., 2009. "Ecological-economic viability as a criterion of strong sustainability under uncertainty," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 2008-2020, May.
    20. repec:dgr:rugsom:99c63 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Nguyen-Van, Phu & Pham, Thi Kim Cuong, 2013. "Endogenous fiscal policies, environmental quality, and status-seeking behavior," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 32-40.

    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

    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:kap:enreec:v:55:y:2013:i:1:p:47-70. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.