This paper provides (for the nonspecialist) a highly streamlined discussion of the main issues, and controversies, in the design of climate mitigation policy. The first part of the paper discusses how much action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the global level is efficient under both the...

This article analyzes the costs and emissions characteristics of methanol vehicles. The cost-effectiveness of methanol-the cost per ton of reactive hydrocarbon emissions reduced-is calculated and compared to the cost-effectiveness of other hydrocarbon reduction strategies. Methanol is found to...

Economic analyses of nature must somehow define the “environmental commodities†to which values are attached. We articulate principles to guide the choice and interpretation of nonmarket commodities. We describe how complex natural systems can be decomposed consistent with...

This paper provides an exhaustive review of critical issues in the design of climate mitigation policy by pulling together key findings and controversies from diverse literatures on mitigation costs, damage valuation, policy instrument choice, technological innovation, and international climate...

Mandating emission control devices in new cars is only one of the most obvious steps to address the problem of vehicle emissions. Others range from taxes on gasoline and parking to incentives to scrap old cars or move businesses out of the cities. There are models to simulate the engineering...

Using results from two contingent valuation surveys conducted in Canada and the U.S., we explore the effect of a latency period on willingness to pay (WTP) for reduced mortality risk using both structural and reduced form approaches. We find that delaying the time at which the risk reduction...

We present the results of two contingent valuation surveys conducted in Hamilton, Canada and nation-wide in the US to elicit WTP for reductions in one's risk of death. We find that the Values of a Statistical Life implied by WTP are very similar across the two studies, and range from $930,000 to...

We present results for two contingent valuation surveys conducted in Hamilton, Canada and the US to elicit WTP for mortality risk reductions. We find similar Value of Statistical Life estimates across the two studies, ranging from USD 930,000 to USD 4.8 million (2000 US dollars). WTP increases...