This article considers measures of individual welfare change for projects that change the state distribution of prices and incomes. For a consumer whose preferences satisfy the expected utility hypothesis, we investigate whether there is an increasing function of the state-contingent...

Kaplow (1996) and others argue forcefully in favor of using the standard cost-benefit test alone, without any distributional concern, given “standard simplifying assumptions.” This paper, on the contrary, demonstrates that distributional weights, equal to the social marginal utility of...

This paper estimates the value of a statistical life from commercial Himalayan expeditions. Because deaths occur with a fair amount of regularity, fatality rates are calculated for each mountain trail and are, hence, disaggregated measures of risk. Also, since the marginal product of labor in...

We modify a method recently suggested by Martin Weitzman (2012) for determining a risk-adjusted social discount rate (SDR) term structure consistent with both the (augmented) Ramsey rule and the consumption-based CAPM. Using this approach we estimate SDR for transportation infrastructure...

This paper presents a brief literature review concerning the costs and benefits of electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, highlighting their advantages in terms of greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Even though electric and electro-hybrid vehicles must still overcome many cultural and...

This paper analyzes two indexes in order to capture the volatility inherent in El Niños Southern Oscillations (ENSO), develops the relationship between the strength of ENSO and greenhouse gas emissions, which increase as the economy grows, with carbon dioxide being the major greenhouse gas, and...

Methane is a greenhouse gas that gets far less public attention than carbon dioxide. This is entirely unwarranted. Being 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere, methane accounts for about one-sixth of all anthropogenic (i.e. human-induced) greenhouse gas...

In der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung steht Methan als Treibhausgas im Schatten von Kohlendioxid. Völlig zu Unrecht, denn mit einem Treibhauspotential, das etwa 25 mal größer als das von Kohlendioxid ist, macht es ein Sechstel der anthropogenen Treibhausgasemissionen aus. Unterschätzt wird Methan...

This paper provides new evidence on the role of non-market based ("command-and-control") regulations in relation to innovations in environmental technologies. While pricing is generally considered the first-best policy instrument, non-market regulations, such as technology standards and...