Adaptation to Climate Change: Commitment and Timing Issues

Michèle Breton () and Lucia Sbragia
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Michèle Breton: HEC Montréal
Lucia Sbragia: Durham University Business School

Environmental & Resource Economics, 2017, vol. 68, issue 4, No 7, 975-995

Abstract: Abstract We study the impact of timing and commitment on adaptation and mitigation policies in the context of international environmental problems. Adaptation policies present the characteristics of a private good and may require a prior investment, while mitigation policies produce a public good. In a stylized model, we evaluate the impact of strategic commitment and leadership considerations when countries with different attitudes towards environmental cooperation coexist. We obtain equilibrium abatement and adaptation levels and environmental costs under partial cooperation for various timing and leadership scenarios. Crucially, global environmental costs suffered by countries are found to be greater when adaptation measures can be used strategically.

Keywords: Adaptation; Climate change; Leadership; Mitigation; Strategy; Timing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10640-016-0056-9

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