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Analyzes & evaluates the reform in capital taxation recently introduced in Norway. User cost formulas are developed that capture the partial effect of taxation on the price of capital, & the social rate of return to real capital in 17 private industries is calculated. The differences between the pre- & postreform returns indicate the incentive effects of the reform. Discussed is the response to the reform in an applied general equilibrium model of the Norwegian economy. Welfare gain induced by the reform & the distribution of this gain between different groups of households are also presented. 7 Tables, 1 Figure, 36 References. Adapted from the source document.

Reforming environmentally harmful subsidies: How to counteract distributional impacts The report discusses the theoretical principles for an efficient environmental and distribution policy and offers a comprehensive survey of experiences from policy reforms in different countries. The reform survey forms a background to recommendations for implementation of sustainable policy reforms, taking care of environmental, economic and distributional concerns. It particularly brings in the Nordic experiences, both to enlighten the problems with environmentally harmful subsidies in these countries, and to discuss what can be learned from the experiences in a broader international context. The analysis has been carried out during the period October 2010 – May 2011. The study was carried out by Vista Analyse AS and commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers for the Environment.

Chongqing is a heavily polluted industrial megacity in China. We have estimated the environmental cost of water pollution in Chongqing. Limiting our inquiry to the resource cost, i.e. real resources spent or production possibilities foregone because of water pollution, our estimate equals 1.2 per cent of Chongqing gross product, with a subjective 95 per cent confidence interval of (0.9–1.5). Damage to agriculture constitutes the largest share of costs, 56 per cent, while damage to health and damage to industry make up 20 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively. The cost estimate of 1.2 per cent, which employs the human capital approach, is sensitive to the valuation of statistical lives. A calculation using willingness-to-pay for avoiding premature death sets the total cost at 4.3 per cent of Chongqing gross product.

This paper investigates the impact of structural adjustment policies on deforestation taking place when the agricultural frontier advances into forest reserves in Nicaragua. A computable general equilibrium model incorporating deforestation by squatters is used for policy simulations. The opportunity cost of migrating to the frontier does not simply depend on wage income opportunity, but also on market prices of basic grain which determine the capacity to consume beyond subsistence food-level given a certain real wage. Reducing public expenditures both conserves forests and enhances economic growth, while showing positive distributional effects. On the other hand, a strong conservation trend following a sales tax increase is driven by increasing poverty in rural areas. Noticeably, there are policies which initially intensify deforestation, but turn out to ease the pressure on forests over time. Rapid economic growth does not ensure less pressure on forest reserves.

Facing the mounting pressure on energy security and increasing environmental concerns about air pollution and climate change, the Chinese government set a mandatory goal of 20% reduction of energy intensity in its 11th Five-Year Plan period (FYP, 2006–2010). In this paper we use Shanxi province to illustrate how policies and measures are implemented in practice at a provincial level as a response to the National FYP issued by the central government. Local policies are described and their effects are analyzed. We compare reported energy saving achievements with our own estimates and conclude that the achievements in Shanxi probably have been substantial since the start of the 11th FYP period. The most important measures taken by provincial and local governments seem to be in the secondary sector, such as Top-200/Top-1000 program and phasing out outdated technologies. However, Shanxi has still a long way to go to achieve satisfactory energy use. Further improvement of energy intensity will require continuing efforts. Although many measures are necessary, improving the energy efficiency in heavy industries and reducing the dependence on these industries should be particularly effective. ; NOTICE: this is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in Energy Policy. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Energy Policy,39(7),(2011). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2011.03.085

In future agreements to cut greenhouse gases, a Chinese commitment will probably be essential. Committing for China is easier if the cost is low and the benefit to China is high. Using a new CGE-model of the Chinese economy we discuss the cost and benefit to China of taking on a climate commitment. We argue that a climate commitment gives significant ancillary benefits to China since associated particle and NOx-reductions improve public health and increase agricultural yields. The model of impact on agricultural yields is a novel feature of CGE-models. Comparing benefits to economic costs produces striking results. We find that China may reduce its CO2-emissions by 17.5 per cent without suffering a welfare loss. Half of the benefit originates in the novel agricultural model. We also discuss the distributional impact of a climate commitment. In general the distributional impact is not averse.

Facing the increasing environmental degradation locally and globally, the Chinese government set mandatory goals of 10% reduction of SO2 emission in its 11th Five-Year Plan period (FYP, 2006–2010). In this paper we use Shanxi province to illustrate how policies and measures are implemented in practice at a provincial level as a response to the National FYP issued by the central government. Local policies are described and their effects are analyzed. We find that the 11th FYP goal for SO2 pollution reduction in Shanxi has been surpassed. SO2 reduction from estimated baseline level was calculated for the FYP period in order to identify which sectors have had the largest reductions. Regarding SO2, we find that Flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) in power plants has been the most important, while either the FGD operation rate or the efficiency, or both, are much lower in practice than officially required. SO2 emission reduction from closing down outdated production capacity is small according to our estimates. This is due to the comparatively small use of coal in the units being closed down in Shanxi. Necessary steps to achieve the targets in the 12th FYP are briefly discussed ; "NOTICE: this is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in Environmental Developmen. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Environmental Development;4. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2012.09.002"