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Workshop: Market Mechanisms and Incentives: Applications to Environmental Policy (2009-part 3)

Paper Number: EE-0523

Document Date: 04/29/2009

Author(s):  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Subject Area(s):

Economic Analysis, Benefit-Cost Analysis, Economic Incentives, Market Mechanisms, Climate Change

Keywords: Economic Analysis, Benefit-Cost Analysis, Economic Incentives, Market Mechanisms, Climate Change, Fuel Economy, Water Quality, Land Use, Distributional Impacts

Summary: 

The purpose of the Environmental Policy and Economics Workshop Series is to hold in-depth workshops on timely topics that will further the use of economics as a tool for environmental decision making. Both NSF/EPA grant recipients and researchers (from EPA, fellow Federal agencies, academia, and others) will be invited to attend and discuss their on-going research. Topics will be chosen based on relevance to current EPA issues and, more broadly, to issues of concern to the environmental economics community. These topics include exploration of innovations in economic research methods as well as how research will further environmental policy making and future environmental economic studies.

EPA's National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) and National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE) sponsored a one-day workshop to discuss research being conducted on market mechanisms and incentives. The workshop consisted of a series of presentations and discussions by researchers from the NCER Science To Achieve Results (STAR) grant program, NCEE, other EPA offices, and universities. There were presentations on the use of market mechanisms and incentives in the areas of fuel economy, water quality, land use and the distributional consequences of using market incentives. There was also a panel discussion on the role of market mechanisms and incentives to climate change.

Introductory Remarks: Julie Hewitt, Chief, Economic and Environmental Assessment Branch, Office of Water

Session I: Fuel Economy and Gasoline Prices

  • Imperfect Competition, Consumer Behavior, and the Provision of Fuel Efficiency in Vehicles, Carolyn Fischer, Resources for the Future
  • New Vehicle Characteristics and the Cost of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standard, Thomas Klier, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Joshua Linn, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Discussant: Gloria Helfand, University of Michigan, and EPA, Office of Transportation and Air Quality
  • Discussant: Winston Harrington, Resources for the Future
  • Questions and Discussion

Panel Discussion: Role of Market Mechanisms and Incentives to Climate Change

  • Moderator: Dick Morgenstern, Resources for the Future
  • Panelists: Joe Aldy, Special Assistant to the President for Energy and the Environment; David McIntosh, Senior Counsel in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations; Brian Murray, Duke University

Session II: Applications of Environmental Trading Programs

  • An Experimental Analysis of Compliance in Dynamic Emissions Markets: Theory and Experimental Design, John Stranlund, University of Massachusetts - Amherst, James Murphy, University of Alaska – Anchorage, and John Spraggon, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  • Can Markets for Development Rights Improve Land Use and Environmental Outcomes? Virginia McConnell, Elena Safirova, Margaret Walls, and Nick Magliocca, Resources for the Future
  • Discussant: Heather Klemick, EPA, National Center for Environmental Economics
  • Preliminary Findings and Observations on Ohio’s Great Miami River Water Quality Credit Trading Program, Richard Woodward, Texas A&M University
  • Discussant: Hale Thurston, EPA, National Risk Management Research Laboratory
  • Questions and Discussion

Session III: Winners and Losers in Cap and Trade

  • Paving the Way for Climate Policy: Compensation for Electricity Consumers and Producers Under a CO2 Cap and Trade Policy, Karen Palmer, Dallas Burtraw, and Anthony Paul, Resources for the Future
  • When Does Cap-and-Trade Increase Regulated Firms’ Profits?, Dave Evans, EPA, National Center for Environmental Economics; Ian Lange, University of Stirling; and Joshua Linn, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Discussant: Ann Wolverton, EPA, National Center for Environmental Economics
  • Discussant: Terry Dinan, Congressional Budget Office
  • Questions and Discussion

This workshop is part of the Environmental Policy and Economics Workshop Series.

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  • Market Mechanisms and Incentives: Applications to Environmental Policy (2009 - part 3) (PDF)(263 pp, 3 MB, 04/29/2009, EE-0523)
    The workshop consisted of a series of presentations and discussions by researchers from the NCER Science To Achieve Results (STAR) grant program, NCEE, other EPA offices, and universities. There were presentations on the use of market mechanisms and incentives in the areas of fuel economy, water quality, land use and the distributional consequences of using market incentives. There was also a panel discussion on the role of market mechanisms and incentives to climate change.