In this paper we use annual time series data from 1960 to 2008 to estimate the long run price and income elasticities underlying energy demand in Ireland. The Irish economy is divided into five sectors: residential, industrial, commercial, agricultural and transport, and separate energy demand...

This paper proposes and analyzes a stationary equilibrium model for a competitive industry which endogenously determines the carbon price necessary to achieve a given emission target. In the model, firms are identified by their level of technology and make production, entry, and abatement...

In actual environmental policy, the design of actual pollution emission taxes differs significantly with the optimal Pigovian tax. In particular, earmarking prevails and actual taxes are usually combined with regulation. Furthermore tax rates are generally too low to significantly influence...

In this paper, the reaction of firms to the introduction of environmental charges in a given industry is analysed. Firms may decide either to relocate their plants abroad or to adopt a new environmental-friendly technology. The latter can be either developed by investing in R&D or obtained by...

This paper focuses on the link between the group co-operation and the unilateral commitment behaviour of some countries in the presence of global environmental problems. As we consider that this last behaviour occurs when bargaining failed, we call it a precautious commitment. We also show that...

This paper analyses environmental fiscal policy within a two-sector endogenous growth model with elastic labour supply. Pollution is modelled as a side product of production. The framework allows us to analyse the consequences of an environmental tax on the economic dynamics. Both transitional...

Policy makers and analysts are often faced with situations where it is unclear whether market-based instruments hold real promise of reducing costs, relative to conventional uniform standards. We develop analytic expressions that can be employed with modest amounts of information to estimate the...

Optimal climate policy is studied in a Ramsey growth model with exhaustible oil reserves, an infinitelyelastic supply of renewables, stock-dependent oil extraction costs and convex climate damages. Weconcentrate on economies with an initial capital stock below that of the steady state of the...

Using an applied general equilibrium model, we explore the impacts of uniform reduction targets, a uniform carbon tax, and permit trading in the Annex 1 countries for the period 2000-2020. Next, we assess the impacts of enlarging the A-1 coalition to the globe, and allow for global permit...

The carbon emissions abatement, undertaken by some countries, may induce other countries to increase their own emissions. This effect, known as "carbon leakage", may be due to rather different mechanisms. The simplest case is when outside countries do not change their environmental policies and...