Can directed technical change be used to combat climate change? We construct new firm-level panel data on auto industry innovation distinguishing between dirty (internal combustion engine) and clean (e.g. electric and hybrid) patents across 80 countries over several decades. We show that firms...

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is expected to stimulate the North-South transfer of climate-friendly technologies. This paper provides an assessment of the technology transfers that take place through the CDM using a unique data set of 644 registered projects. It provides a detailed...

Die europäische Union gehört bisher zu den Vorreitern beim Klimaschutz. Ein internationaler Vergleich zeigt, dass es mittlerweile eine Reihe von weiteren Ländern gibt, die ebenfalls eine aktive Energie- und Klimapolitik verfolgen. Sie investieren zunehmend in erneuerbare Energien,...

Using patent data from 66 countries for the period 1990-2003, we characterize the factors which promote or hinder the international diffusion of climate-friendly technologies on a global scale. Regression results show that technology-specific capabilities of the recipient countries are...

Climate Change ; Mitigation Technologies ; Patent Data

We develop and implement a new method for identifying wasted subsidies, and use it to provide systematic evidence on the misallocation of carbon offsets in the Clean Development Mechanism—the world’s largest carbon offset program. Using newly constructed data on the locations and...

This policy note investigates whether the current level of public support to environment-friendly technologies is sufficient to allow European countries to respond to the multiple challenges posed by climate change and other environmental concerns. We first lay out the justifications for...