Europe 2020 tried to overcome the failures of the Lisbon Strategy. Goals set by the European commission were allowed to be adapted to take account of the starting position and the preferences of member countries ("national ownership"), the monitoring process was improved and the coordination...

Public financial institutions (PFIs) are well-positioned to act as a key leverage point for governments’ efforts to mobilise private investment in low-carbon projects and infrastructure. The study identifies the tools, instruments and approaches used by five PFIs to directly support and...

It is expected that binding biophysical constraints have the potential to slow growth and impede the improvement of other key macroeconomic variables. Using a DYNK (Dynamic New Keynesian) model of the EU27, we study two different environmental policy options and evaluate their impact on...

Per capita carbon emissions are an important concept in international negotiations of climate policies and also in future projections of aggregate carbon emissions. This paper argues that the convergence studies on per capita carbon emissions in the literature are theoretically biased because...

This paper analyses the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated government responses on the environment. It uses large-scale modelling to investigate the impact of sectoral and regional shocks to the economy until 2040. These detailed economic impacts are linked to a range of...

This volume was prepared by Thomas Steinwachs while he was working at the ifo Center for International Economics. It was completed in September 2018 and accepted as a doctoral dissertation by the Department of Economics at the University of Munich (LMU). It is a collection of four self-contained...

Countries have pledged to stabilize global warming at a 1.5 to 2°C increase. Either target requires reaching net zero emissions before the end of the century, which implies a major transformation of the economic system. This paper reviews the literature on how policymakers can design climate...

Understanding the global energy network and the developments of energy efficiency is key to advance energy regulation and fight climate change. We develop a global panel dataset on energy usage inventories based on territorial production, final production and consumption over 1997-2014. We apply...

The European Union (EU) has redefined the energy sphere in Europe over the last three decades. Transnational policies targeting liberalization and integration, energy efficiency, renewables, carbon pricing, and energy security have led to major steps forward in terms of a more secure,...

"Natural" disasters" have negative consequences for the affected areas, including significant economic impacts. Using a sample of European NUTS-3 regions over the period 2003-17, this paper examines the impact of disasters on regional economic growth and the influence of the quality of regional...