The ICMS-Ecológico is a fiscal transfer mechanism from states to municipalities, implemented in the early 1990's in Brazil, to reward municipalities for the creation and management of protected areas. This paper investigates the efficiency of this mechanism by testing for the presence of...

We build a benchmark framework to study optimal land use, encompassing land use activities and environmental degradation. We focus on the spatial externalities of land use as drivers of spatial patterns : even if land is immobile by nature, location's actions affect the whole space through...

We develop a new methodology to estimate the elasticity of urban costs with respect to city population using French land price data. Our preferred estimate, which handles a number of estimation concerns, stands at 0.041. Our approach also yields a number of intermediate outputs of independent...

We develop a new methodology to estimate the elasticity of urban costs with respect to city population using French land price data. Our preferred estimate, which handles a number of estimation concerns, stands at 0.041. Our approach also yields a number of intermediate outputs of independent...

The expansion of crop and pastures to the detriment of forests results into an increase in atmospheric CO2. A first obvious cause is the loss of forest biomass and soil carbon during and after conversion. A second, generally ignored cause, is the reduction of the residence time of carbon when...

In the economic literature it is generally found that trade openness affects environment through various channels. While the mechanisms through which trade is associated with pollution are largely investigated theoretically and empirically, the role played by each trade component has not yet...