This paper examines which firms from a heterogeneous pool are more likely to join together and form a research joint venture (RJV). It differs from previous contributions as it introduces a set of realistic hypotheses on the characteristics of research co-operation and information sharing....

According to the recent literature, heterogeneity across households does not invalidate debt neutrality in the long-run. The doctrinal view is at odds with the layman's view, on the basis of which government debt, by altering the intragenerational distribution of resources, may exert permanent...

This paper analyses some of the economic issues involved in the diffusion of modern intermodal technologies and the impact of intermodality on the functions performed by nodes in transportation networks. Two simple economic models are presented: the first considers why an intermodal transport...

This paper examines the link between pollution and income. It shows how income inequality affects environmental policies and therefore pollution. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis proposes that there is an inverted U-shape relation between environmental degradation and income per...

Collective environmental agreements (CEAs) refer to agreements negotiated between a group of polluting firms and a public regulatory body. The article analyses some potential problems with CEAs. First, we study free-riding. We show how the incentive constraint imposed by moral hazard determines...

The paper models the combined use of taxation and voluntary agreements when there is asymmetric information between the regulator and industry on the firms' actual emissions. The model incorporates the following features: 1) the regulator does not know the firm's special production...

The paper reconsiders the Porter hypothesis in an offer/counter-offer bargaining model, in which a welfare-maximising regulator and an industry representative negotiate over which regulatory instrument to apply with which stringency. The possibility to contest planned regulation in the political...

This paper examines the rationale for the different tax treatment of gasoline and diesel cars currently observed in Europe. First, we analyse possible justifications for a different tax treatment: pure tax revenue considerations, externality cons0iderations and constraints on the tax instruments...

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...