We use recent developments in the empirics of comparative case studies to analyze the effect of binding emission targets under the Kyoto Protocol on the development of CO2 emissions of seven major Annex B countries. In particular, we investigate whether committing to a specific greenhouse gas...

We analyze the adjustment of housing prices after an exogenous shock. Using continuous records of the housing market around a major European airport (ZRH, Switzerland) and an unexpected change in flight regulations induced by the neighboring country Germany, we find that apartment rents take...

Implementing a project, like a nationwide nuclear waste disposal, which benefits all involved agents but brings major costs only to the host is often problematic. In practice, revelation issues and redistributional concerns are significant obstacles to achieving stable agreements. We address...

Les questions de justice sociale prennent une place prépondérante dans les préoccupations des Québécois. À l'instar du débat social, notre réflexion sur la tarification des services d'eau au Québec place en son centre le principe d'équité. Les recommandations générales que nous y...

Allocating property rights on an open access resource which has been freely exploited in the past is often very problematic. Involved agents typically rely on one of two competing principles to determine future allocation. The first priority principle, "first in time, first in rights" favors the...

It has long been recognized that the quality of property rights greatly impacts the economic development of a country and the use of its natural resources. Since Long [13], the conventional wisdom has been that ownership risk induces a firm to overuse the stock of a resource. However, the...

Most natural commons are subject to discontinuities and threshold effects, so their gradual depletion may result in a sudden irreversible loss of the associated ecological services. Yet, it is often impossible to locate these thresholds with certainty. We analyze this context using a variant of...

Most natural commons are subject to discontinuities and threshold effects, so their gradual depletion may result in a sudden irreversible loss of the associated ecological services. Yet, it is often impossible to locate these thresholds with certainty. We analyze this context using a variant of...

À l'approche du budget 2010-2011, le gouvernement du Québec devrait envisager de scinder en deux la taxe sur l'essence, d'avoir recours à des péages à tarifs modulés pour lutter contre la congestion routière et de rendre plus transparente l'utilisation des fonds perçus par l'imposition...