This thesis uses innovative approaches to analyse energy policy interventions aimed at enhancing the environmental sustainability of energy use as well as its consequential welfare implications. First, we examine the relationship between energy efficiency improvement and CO2 emissions at the macro level. We use the Index Decomposition Analysis to derive energy efficiency by separating out the impact of shifts in economic activity on energy intensity. We then employ econometric models to relate energy efficiency and CO2 emissions accounting for non-economic factors such as consumers lifestyle and attitudes. The applications for 13 OPEC and 30 OECD countries show that at the country-group and individual country level, increase in energy intensity for OPEC is associated with both deteriorations in energy efficiency and shifts towards energy-intensive activities. The model results suggest that the reduction in energy efficiency in general go in tandem with substantial increases in CO2 emissions. The decline in energy intensity for OECD can be attributed mainly to improvements in energy efficiency which is found to compensate for the impact on CO2 emissions of income changes. The results confirm the empirical relevance of energy efficiency improvements for the mitigation of CO2 emissions. The method developed in this chapter further enables the separate assessment of non-economic behavioural factors which according to the results exert a non-trivial influence on CO2 emissions. Secondly, having empirically confirmed the relationship between energy efficiency improvements and CO2 emission at the macro level in Chapter 2, we investigate potential underlying drivers of energy efficiency improvements taking into account potential asymmetric effects of energy price change in Chapter 3. This is crucial for designing effective and efficient policy measures that can promote energy efficiency. In addition to the Index Decomposition Analysis used to estimate the economy-wide energy efficiency in Chapter 2, we also use Stochastic Frontier Analysis and Data Envelop Analysis as alternative methods. The driving factors are examined using static and dynamic panel model methods that account for both observed and unobserved country heterogeneity. The application for 32 OECD countries shows that none of the three methods leads to correspondence in term of ranking between energy efficiency estimates and energy intensity at the country level corroborating the criticism that energy intensity is a poor proxy for energy efficiency. The panel-data regression results using the results of the three methods show similarities in the impacts of the determinants on the energy efficiency levels. Also, we find insignificant evidence of asymmetric effects of total energy price but there is proof of asymmetry using energy specific prices. Thirdly, in Chapter 4 we offer an improved understanding of the impacts to expect of abolishing fuel price subsidy on fuel consumption, and also of the welfare and distributional impacts at the household level. We develop a two-step approach for this purpose. Key aspect of the first step is a two-stage budgeting model to estimate various fuel types elasticities using micro-data. Relying on these estimates and the information on households expenditure shares for different commodities, the second step estimates the welfare (direct and indirect) and distributional impacts. The application for Nigeria emphasises the relevance of this approach. We find heterogeneous elasticities of fuel demand among household groups. The distributional impact of abolishing the kerosene subsidy shows a regressive welfare loss. Although we find a progressive loss for petrol, the loss gap between the low- and high-income groups is small relative to the loss gap from stopping kerosene subsidy, making the low-income groups to suffer a higher total welfare loss. Finally, from the highlighted results, we draw the following concluding remarks in chapter 5. Energy efficiency appears a key option to mitigate CO2 emissions but there is also a need for additional policies aiming for behavioural change; energy specific prices and allowing for asymmetry in analysing the changes in energy efficiency is more appropriate and informative in formulating reliable energy policies; the hypothesis that only the rich would be worse-off from fuel subsidy removal is rejected and the results further suggest that timing of the fuel subsidy removal would be crucial as a higher international oil price will lead to higher deregulated fuel price and consequently, larger welfare loss.

本研究包括3個研究議題。第1個議題旨為估算不同部門別（包括農業、工業、服務業與運輸業）的能源燃燒產生CO2排放之組成因素的貢獻量，係藉由拉氏指數法和算術平均迪氏指數法之加法型態，拆解5種不同的因素（包括：碳密集度、部門結構、能源密集度、人口及經濟規模等），觀察其對於CO2排放變動之影響。本文採用台灣1992-2008年的各部門別的資料作為分析的基礎，研究結果顯示，以上部門的經濟規模對於CO2排放的貢獻呈現巨幅的正向效果；人口因素則呈現微幅的正向或負向的影響；而碳密集度對於CO2排放減量有正面的影響，並發現此乃是構成改善能源結構並導致CO2排放減量的最重要因素；能源密集度因素的影響，除服務業以外，其餘部門均呈現負向影響，此一結果顯示，大部分部門要進一步改善其能源效率頗為困難，是以未來致力於減排的努力，應著重於使用乾淨能源，尤其是以再生能源作為替代能源 (Liaskas et al., 2000)；此外，值得注意的是，部門結構因素對於大部分的產業，如農業、工業和運輸業的CO2排放減量有正向的影響，據此可推論，我國的部門結構已漸趨向於低耗能產業（如服務業）發展。另外，本文採用近似不相關迴歸模型，探討各項政策工具（如環境稅、進口關稅）與經濟變數（如貿易條件及時間趨勢等）透過以上5種不同的組成因素，對於CO2排放變動的影響效果作一分析，其實證結果可供決策者制定減排政策的參考。 第2個議題係為建立節能減排的有效政策工具，須先詳實掌握各項政策工具對節能減排與經濟成長的影響，乃深入回顧相關文獻之理論與實證方法，據以建立適合台灣的3E聯立模型，並進行實證分析，藉以推估多項政策工具（如環境稅、關稅等及能源價格等）與經濟變數（如貿易條件、所得等）對於節能減排與GDP的影響。實證分析結果顯示，台灣之能源消費、CO2排放、及GDP對於各項政策工具與經濟變數之彈性不僅各異其趣，而且有些彈性並非固定不變，可隨時間經過動態調整。 第3個議題係利用台灣1992-2008年之農業、工業、服務業與運輸業等部門別的panel data，仿照Battese and Coelli (1995)提出之隨機邊界(Stochastic Frontier Analysis, SFA)模型，建構隨機生產邊界函數 (stochastic production frontier function)與隨機能源需求函數 (stochastic energy demand frontier function)，利用最大概似法估算出各部門的GDP與能源需求之隨機邊界與技術效率 (technical efficiency, TE)，並據此實證結果提出政策建議。 / The thesis includes 3 issues of research. The first research aims at identifying the factors that have influenced change in the level of various sectors (agriculture, industry, service and transport) CO2 emissions from energy use. By means of both Laspeyres index method and the arithmetic mean weight scheme expressed separately in the additive form, the observed changes are analyzed into five different factors: CO2 intensity, structural change, sectoral energy intensity, sectoral employing population and output level. The application study refer to 4 sectors of Taiwan between 1992 and 2008. The obtained decomposition results indicate that the examined sectors the value calculated for the output level effect present the highest value appearing positive contribution of CO2, and the contribution from population is slightly increased or decreased, while CO2 intensity has beneficially influenced the reduction of CO2 emissions, as well as the improvement of fuel mix found to be the most important factor that lead to the reduction of emissions. In most of the examined sectors for the energy intensity factor present positive effect on CO2 emissions, the only exception is service sector showing negative impact on CO2 emissions, which can be stated as Liaskas et al. (2000) that as further improvements in energy efficiency in most sectors become more difficult, efforts to reduce CO2 emissions will be predominantly directed towards the use of clean energy forms and especially towards the deployment of renewable energies. It also should be noted that structural change has positively influenced the abatement of CO2 emissions for the most sectors such as agriculture, industry and transport. We conclude it shifts towards less energy-intensive service sector, due to have negative influenced the observed decrease in CO2 emissions for higher energy use sectors (industry and transport) and agriculture,. In this article, we also use a seemingly unrelated regression to further investigate the policy tools how to change in CO2 emissions level by the five different factors. The results indicate that policymakers may reduce emissions considerably through various policy instruments. The second issue focuses on initiating effective policy to save energy and reduce emission, one needs to reasonably capture the potential impacts of various policy instruments on energy consumption, CO2 emission and economic growth, the second research, after extensively reviewing the literature, builds a locally ideal empirical model that facilitates the estimation of various policy elasticities. The empirical results indicate that policy elasticities may not only differ from one to the others, but also change dynamically, implying the 3E impacts of some policy instruments might be weakening over time. The main goal of the third article is to provide a detailed analysis of productivity and efficiency measurement for panel data on four different sectors from Taiwan over the period 1992-2008. We use a stochastic frontier model set by Battese and Coelli (1995) to build a stochastic production frontier function and a stochastic energy demand frontier function, which are estimated by maximum likelihood to obtain a stochastic frontier of GDP and energy demand, as well as technical efficiency. On this empirical results, we suggest that policymaker may simultaneously make top-down policies (green tax reform, increasing environmental tax etc.) and bottom-up policies (fuel price in line with prices of gas in global markets) to increase energy efficiency in different sectors.

Dans la plupart des pays, les hommes sont plus enclins que les femmes à voter pour des partis d’extrême droite. Ce mémoire contribue à notre compréhension de ce gender gap en analysant le vote pour l’extrême droite lors des dernières élections européennes dans 22 pays, en utilisant les données l’European Election Voter Study (2019). Dans un premier temps, nous adoptons une approche exploratoire en analysant dans quelle mesure les indicateurs socio-économiques et les positions idéologiques contribuent à expliquer cet écart. Nous nous concentrons ensuite sur les facteurs contextuels en testant deux explications tirées de la littérature. En nous appuyant sur une collecte de données originale, nous cherchons d'abord à évaluer si une plus grande représentation des femmes parmi les élus d’extrême droite entraine davantage de femmes à voter pour ces partis. Nous cherchons ensuite à vérifier si les femmes sont plus portées à voter pour des partis d’extrême droite moins extrême, en utilisant les données du Chapel Hill Expert Survey (2019). Les résultats montrent que 38% du gender gap dans le vote d'extrême droite est expliqué par les différences entre les positions des hommes et des femmes dans l’opinion publique, tandis que les indicateurs socio-économiques ont une contribution négligeable. Nous montrons également que l'effet positif du positionnement idéologique sur l'échelle gauche-droite sur le vote d’extrême droite est plus faible pour les femmes. De plus, le fait d'être en faveur de l'intervention de l'État dans l'économie motive le vote d’extrême droite uniquement chez les femmes. Sur le plan contextuel, nous montrons que plus la position des partis d’extrême droite est extrême en ce qui concerne l'intervention de l'État dans l'économie, plus le gender gap augmente. / In most countries, men are more likely to vote for radical right parties than women. This thesis contributes to our understanding of this – yet to be explained – gender gap. For doing so, I look at the radical right votes in the last European elections in 22 countries, using data from the European Election Voter Study (2019). In a first step, I take an exploratory approach and systematically analyze whether and to what extent socio-economic indicators and issue positions contribute to this gender gap. I then focus on contextual factors by testing two explanations drawn from the literature. Relying on original data, I first assess whether a greater representation of women among radical right elected officials motivates more women to vote for these parties. I then test whether women are more drawn to less extreme radical right parties, using data from the Chapel Hill Expert Survey (2019). The results suggest that 38% of the gender gap in voting for radical right parties is explained by differences in men’s and women’s issue positions while the contribution of socio-economic indicators is negligible. I also show that the positive effect of ideological placement on the left-right scale on radical right voting is weaker for women. Furthermore, being in favour of state intervention in the economy motivates radical right voting only for women. On the contextual level, I find that the more extreme the stance of radical right parties is regarding state intervention in the economy, the greater the gap becomes.

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Consumption-based environmental impact trends for the Swedish economy have been generated and analysed in order to determine their levels compared to official production-based data, and to determine whether or not the Swedish economy has decoupled growth in domestic final demand from worldwide environmental impact. Three energy resources (oil, coal and gas use, as well as their aggregate fossil fuel use) and seven emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O, SO2, NOx, CO and NMVOC, as well as the aggregate CO2 equivalents) were studied. An augmented single-regional input–output model has been deployed, with world average energy and emission intensities used for products produced abroad. A new method for updating input–output tables for years missing official input–output tables, was also developed. For each of the resources and the emissions, two time series were generated based on two different revisions of Swedish national accounts data, one for the period 1993–2003, the other for the period 2000–2005. The analysis uses a recently revised time series of environmental data from the Swedish environmental accounts, as well as recently published global environmental data from the IEA and from the EDGAR emissions database (all data from 2010 or later). An index decomposition analysis was also performed to detect the various components of the time series. For fossil fuels consumption-based data don't differ much from production-based data in total. For the greenhouse gases there is a clear increase (CO2eq emissions increase approximately 20 % from 1993–2005, mainly driven by an increase in CH4 emissions), resulting from increased emissions abroad due to the increased demand for imported products. This suggests Sweden has not decoupled economic growth from increasing greenhouse gas emissions – contrary to what the slightly decreasing official production-based UNFCCC data say. For the precursor gases (SO2, NOx, CO and NMVOC), emissions are generally decreasing, with the exception of SO2 and NOx which increase in the second time series. For all emissions studied, consumption-based data lie at much higher levels than the official production-based UNFCCC data. However, further research is needed regarding the resolution of the data of the energy use and the emissions generated abroad by the Swedish domestic final demand. Also, extension of the time series and of the environmental parameters to such things as material use is needed to find out with more certainty to what extent Swedish growth has been sustainable or not. / I den här studien har konsumtionsbaserade tidsserier på svensk fossilbränsleanvändning och på svenska utsläpp av luftföroreningar tagits fram i avsikt att jämföra dessa med de officiella produktionsbaserade tidsserierna. Syftet har varit att avgöra om det svenska samhällets påverkan på resurser och miljö ur ett konsumtionsperspektiv har minskat eller ökat över tiden, och framförallt om en frikoppling har skett mellan den svenska ekonomiska tillväxten och den påverkan Sverige har på miljön i Sverige och utomlands. Tre fossila bränslen (olja, kol, gas samt aggregatet fossila bränslen) och sju luftföroreningar (CO2, CH4, N2O, SO2, NOx, CO och NMVOC samt aggregatet CO2-ekvivalenter) har analyserats. En enkelregional input–output-modell har tagits fram, utökad med globala medelintensiteter för den produktion som sker utanför Sverige. En ny metod har också utvecklats för att generera input–output-tabeller för år där officiella sådana tabeller saknas. För samtliga energiresurser och luftföroreningar, upprättades två stycken tidsserier, baserat på två olika revisioner av ekonomiska data från nationalräkenskaperna. Den första tidsserien täcker åren 1993–2003, och den andra åren 2000–2005. Miljödata togs från nyligen reviderade tidsserier från de svenska miljöräkenskaperna samt från IEA och den internationella luftföroreningsdatabasen EDGAR (alla data reviderade 2010 eller senare). En komponentanalys utfördes också, för att identifiera olika bidragande komponenter i tidsserierna. Vad gäller fossila bränslen i sin helhet, uppstår ingen markant skillnad mellan konsumtionsbaserade och produktionsbaserade data. Vad gäller växthusgaserna kan en klar ökning urskiljas (20 procents ökning av CO2-ekvivalenter mellan 1993–2005; CH4-utsläppen har där bidragit mest), vilket beror på stigande utsläpp utomlands orsakade av ökad efterfrågan på importerade produkter. Detta antyder att den svenska tillväxten ännu inte frikopplats från ökade utsläpp av växthusgaser, vilket står i motsats till den minskning i utsläpp som de officiella produktionsbaserade siffrorna från UNFCCC-rapporteringen redovisar. För övriga luftföroreningar (SO2, NOx, CO och NMVOC), sker i allmänhet en minskning, förutom för SO2 och NOx som ökar i den andra tidsserien. Samtliga luftföroreningar ligger vidare på en betydligt högre nivå jämfört med UNFCCC-rapporteringen. Mer detaljerade studier behövs dock på den energiförbrukning och de utsläpp som svensk slutlig användning för med sig utomlands. Tidsserierna behöver också förlängas och fler miljövariabler som t.ex. materialanvändningen behöver studeras för att kunna dra säkrare slutsatser kring i vilken utsträckning som den svenska tillväxten har varit hållbar eller ej.