The average value of a particular class of agricultural exports varies widely across different destinations. This raises the question: in the event of a supply shock, such as the implementation of the Emissions Trading Scheme, can farmers offset higher costs by raising their average prices by...

This paper surveys the existing literature on diffusion of environmentally beneficial technology. Overall, it confirms many of the lessons of the larger literature on technology diffusion: diffusion often appears slow when viewed from the outside; the flow of information is an important factor in...

This research takes a closer look at the effects of climate change on New Zealand agriculture and on the wider economy, including indirect international effects such as changes in the prices of goods exported from and imported to New Zealand, as well as carbon prices and policies. Economic loss...

Without effective developing country participation in climate mitigation it will be impossible to meet global concentration and climate change targets. However, developing countries are unwilling and, in many cases, unable to bear the mitigation cost alone. They need huge transfers of resources...

Motu and partners were contracted by the World Bank through its Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR) initiative to “Draft a proposal for the implementation in Chile of a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading System (ETS)”. The specific objective in the terms of reference is to “Propose a...

There are many choices within the design of an emissions trading system. In this paper we focus on one specific aspect – the point of regulation for the energy sector. This choice affects transaction costs; comprehensiveness, and hence the amount of emissions covered and the extent to which...

As part of international climate change policy, voluntary opt-in programs to reduce emissions in unregulated sectors or countries have spurred considerable discussion. Since any regulator will make errors in predicting baselines, adverse selection will reduce efficiency since participants will...

Under the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, foresters can obtain carbon units as their forests sequester carbon. If they sell these units as they are earned, the units must be repurchased when the forest is harvested, exposing foresters to price risk. This paper examines the way forward...

We examine effects of urban passenger rail upgrades to Auckland’s Western Line. The upgrades, and associated urban renewal projects, were announced in mid-2005. International experience indicates that the anticipated benefits of the upgrades should be factored into people’s location and...

Declining water quality as a result of increased nutrient leaching is a serious and growing concern, both internationally and in New Zealand. Water pollution issues have traditionally been addressed with command-and-control type regulation, but market-based nutrient trading schemes are becoming...