In this paper I study the optimal control path for a (capital or pollution) stock which accumulates time with a lag to its control. It is shown that the optimal control path is non-monotonic and cyclical in general, but it is monotonic if the objective function is additively separable in the...

Proponents of vehicle buy back programs maintain the earlier retirement of older vehicles will reduce pollution, increase income for lower-income households and stimulate the automobile industry. This paper provides a brief assessment of costs and benefits of vehicle buy-back programs. There are...

One of the lessons we have learned during our industrialization process is that the garbage we left behind would trip up someone else. In other words, it is not possible to smooth over cracks any more. The home owner has already surpassed her limits; tired and exhausted, but we are still getting...

Nutrient pollution is one of the leading causes of surface water quality impairment in the US and globally. This paper highlights three important considerations for recent policies that target the use of phosphates in household and commercial products. First, US production of phosphates for...

Yes, they matter. To reply to this question, we assess the impact of energy efficiency and renewable energy policies on six different air pollutants: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxides (N2O), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur...

This paper examines the application of quasi-experimental methods in environmental economics. We begin with two observations: i) standard quasi-experimental methods, first applied in other microeconomic fields, typically assume unit-level treatments that do not spill over across units; (ii)...

We explore the dynamic interaction between housing prices and air quality in a growing economy with changing preferences using panel vector auto-regression. Using Chinese data, we document robust evidence that better air quality is rewarded by the market with higher housing prices and that...

The circular economy (CE), in which wastes from one activity or process are reused as resources for others, is beginning to take hold as a development strategy. CE models can preserve resources, create jobs, add economic value, minimize waste, and curb greenhouse gas emissions, yet few...