Pollution control under a possible future shift in environmental preferences

Bruno Nkuiya () and Christopher Costello

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2016, vol. 132, issue PB, 193-205

Abstract: We examine how the possibility of a future shift in environmental preferences affects optimal pollution emissions. For example, is a more stringent carbon cap called for if excessive carbon emissions today may trigger a shift toward greener preferences in the future? In contrast to the related literature, which largely focuses on regime shifts in damages, not preferences, we find that the possibility of a shift in environmental preferences can induce higher, or lower, optimal current emissions. This hinges on an economically interesting interplay between the magnitude of the possible shift, whether the shift is endogenous, and the magnitude of environmental damages. This helps reconcile the tension between the conservationists’ view of pollution reduction (to reduce damage and lessen the likelihood of regime shift) and the traditional economic rationale emphasizing risk and discounting.

Keywords: Pollution stock; Regime shift; Abrupt event; Dynamic analysis; Uncertainty; Environmental awareness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C61 D81 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268116301007
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:132:y:2016:i:pb:p:193-205

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2016.05.021

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization is currently edited by Houser, D. and Puzzello, D.

More articles in Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().