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Are clean technology and environmental quality conflicting policy goals?

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  • BRECHET, Thierry

    (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE and Louvain School of Economics, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium)

  • MEUNIER, Guy

    (INRA-UR, ALISS & Ecole Polytecnique, France)

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the effects of an environmental policy on the diffusion of a clean technology in an economy where firms compete on the output market. We show that the share of adopting firms is non-monotonic with the stringency of the environmental policy, and that the adoption of the clean technology may well increase the pollution level. We also compare the effects of an emission tax and tradable pollution permits on welfare, technology adoption, and pollution level. We show that, depending on the stringency of the policy, either the tax or the permits can yield a higher degree of technology adoption and pollution. Actually, technology adoption and environmental quality may be conflicting in discriminating among the instruments.

Suggested Citation

  • BRECHET, Thierry & MEUNIER, Guy, 2012. "Are clean technology and environmental quality conflicting policy goals?," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2012006, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cor:louvco:2012006
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    Cited by:

    1. Thierry Bréchet & Sylvette Ly, 2013. "The many traps of green technology promotion," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 15(1), pages 73-91, January.
    2. Lambertini, Luca & Poyago-Theotoky, Joanna & Tampieri, Alessandro, 2017. "Cournot competition and “green” innovation: An inverted-U relationship," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 116-123.
    3. Haiyang Xia & Tijun Fan & Xiangyun Chang, 2019. "Emission Reduction Technology Licensing and Diffusion Under Command-and-Control Regulation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 72(2), pages 477-500, February.
    4. Bouwe R. Dijkstra & Maria J. Gil‐Moltó, 2018. "Is emission intensity or output U‐shaped in the strictness of environmental policy?," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 20(2), pages 177-201, April.
    5. Perino, Grischa & Requate, Till, 2012. "Does more stringent environmental regulation induce or reduce technology adoption? When the rate of technology adoption is inverted U-shaped," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 456-467.
    6. Alfred Endres & Tim Friehe & Bianca Rundshagen, 2020. "Diffusion and adoption of advanced emission abatement technology induced by permit trading," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 22(5), pages 1313-1337, September.
    7. Zeng, Bingxin & Zhu, Lei & Yao, Xing, 2020. "Policy choice for end-of-pipe abatement technology adoption under technological uncertainty," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 121-130.
    8. Jana Stoever & John P. Weche, 2018. "Environmental Regulation and Sustainable Competitiveness: Evaluating the Role of Firm-Level Green Investments in the Context of the Porter Hypothesis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 70(2), pages 429-455, June.
    9. Inge M. Bijgaart & Sjak Smulders, 2018. "Does a Recession Call for Less Stringent Environmental Policy? A Partial-Equilibrium Second-Best Analysis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 70(4), pages 807-834, August.
    10. Mare Sarr & Joëlle Noailly, 2017. "Innovation, Diffusion, Growth and the Environment: Taking Stock and Charting New Directions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 66(3), pages 393-407, March.
    11. Casini, Paolo & Valentini, Edilio, 2019. "Emissions Markets with Price Stabilizing Mechanisms: Possible Unpleasant Outcomes," ES: Economics for Sustainability 291801, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) > ES: Economics for Sustainability.
    12. van den Bijgaart, Inge, 2016. "Essays in environmental economics and policy," Other publications TiSEM 298bee2a-cb08-4173-9fe1-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. Yue Zhu & Ziyuan Sun & Shiyu Zhang & Xiaolin Wang, 2021. "Economic Policy Uncertainty, Environmental Regulation, and Green Innovation—An Empirical Study Based on Chinese High-Tech Enterprises," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-19, September.
    14. Idrissa Sibailly, 2013. "On licensing and diffusion of clean technologies in oligopoly," Working Papers hal-00911453, HAL.
    15. Li, Shoude & Fu, Tong, 2022. "Abatement technology innovation, worker productivity and firm profitability: A dynamic analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    16. Gil-Moltó, Maria José & Varvarigos, Dimitrios, 2013. "Emission taxes and the adoption of cleaner technologies: The case of environmentally conscious consumers," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 486-504.
    17. Di Maria, Corrado & Smulders, Sjak, 2017. "A paler shade of green: Environmental policy under induced technical change," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 151-169.
    18. Lan, Jing & Munro, Alistair & Liu, Zhen, 2017. "Environmental regulatory stringency and the market for abatement goods and services in China," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 105-123.
    19. Wenjun Sun & Naoto Jinji, 2014. "The Effects of Emission Taxes on Pollution through the Diffusion of Clean Technology:The Presence of Green Consumers," Discussion papers e-14-014, Graduate School of Economics Project Center, Kyoto University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    innovation; technology adoption; environmental regulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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