The Kiel Canal in Germany connects ports on the Baltic Sea with the rest of the world and is the most-used artificial waterway in the world. Despite this fact, it generates a balance sheet loss. Revenues, which are mainly generated by the transit charge, do not cover its operating expenses. This...

Catching-up of East German productivity to West German levels has completely faded out since the mid l990s. The remaining productivity gap cannot be attributed to an inferior capital endowment. Instead, it appears to be the result of an inappropriate design of industrial policy which fostered...

I investigate the optimal role of carbon sequestration for mitigation in the presence of a ceiling on atmospheric carbon concentration and consider aspects that have so far only been analyzed in the context of a damage function to measure the consequences of climate change for society. I assume...

Accounting for socioeconomic and demographic variables as well as country specific effects, households’ willingness to pay for changes in climate is revealed using European data on reported life satisfaction. Individuals located in areas with lower average levels of sunshine and higher average...

Ocean acidification is increasingly recognized as a major global problem. Yet economic assessments of its effects are currently almost absent. Unlike most other marine organisms, mollusks, which have significant commercial value worldwide, have relatively solid scientific evidence of biological...

This paper provides a model-based assessment of local and global climate change impacts for the case of Yemen, focusing on agricultural production, household incomes and food security. Global climate change is mainly transmitted through rising world food prices. Our simulation results suggest...

In 2005, the European Emission Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) established a new commodity: the right to emit a ton of CO2 (EUA). Since its launch, the corresponding price has shown rather turbulent dynamics, including nervous reactions to policy announcements and a price collapse after a visible...

CO2 emissions from international shipping, which are currently unregulated, are predicted to rise from 2.7% today to 18% in 2050. International bunker fuel emissions have been excluded from any commitment in the Kyoto Protocol; the UNFCCC conference in Copenhagen also failed to bring about clear...

We analyse the influence of climate on average life satisfaction in 87 countries using data from the World Values Survey. Climate is described in terms of ‘degree-months’ calculated using an optimally-selected base temperature of 65°F (18.3°C). Our results suggest that countries with...