The main objective of this paper is to test the Porter hypothesis by assessing static and dynamic effects of environmental policy on productivity. According to the hypothesis, stringent environmental regulations have dynamic effects on firm performance, and these effects eventually generate...

Swedish environmental policy often emphasizes the importance of “taking the lead”. For example, Sweden has chosen a more ambitious climate policy target than required by the European Union (EU), namely a reduction of Swedish emissions of greenhouse gases by 40 percent by 2020 compared to the...

The objective of this paper is to analyze the rebound effect from increased efficiency in industrial use of energy in Sweden. Energy efficiency improvements can have sig-nificant micro- and macroeconomic effects that hampers the positive effect on real energy savings. To assess the size of the...

In 1992, Sweden introduced a producer responsibility ordinance which explicitly states that sorted out, collected waste paper must be material recycled. Another alternative could be to recover energy by incineration. Material recycling was prioritized, although there is no environmental...

How to significantly decrease carbon dioxide emissions has become one of the largest challenges faced by modern society. The standard recipe prescribed by most economists is to put a price on carbon, either through a tax or through emissions trading. Such measures can reduce emissions...

Under the Kyoto Protocol the European Union (EU) agreed to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases by 8 percent in comparison with the level in 1990. The Burden-Sharing Agreement (BSA) further redistributes the overall 8 percent reduction target among the EU Member States. The purpose of this...

This thesis deals with valuation of nonmarket goods using contingent valuation and consists of four papers and an introduction to the research area. Paper [I] examines the public benefits from preserving old-growth forest in the submountainous region in Sweden. Specifically, it analyzes a...

From the perspective of climate policy, a target for energy efficiency could imply costly overlapping regulation. We estimate, using a computable general equilibrium model of the Swedish economy, the potential economic cost of attaining the national 2020 energy intensity target by means of tax...

This paper estimates the public benefit of preserving 126 000 hectares of old-growth forest in the sub-mountainous region of Sweden through contingent valuation. The primary benefit of this in-situ conservation of biodiversity is the forest’s relative diversity and richness, which provides...