This thesis consists of four essays within the field of environmental economics. Computable General Equilibrium models have been used to assess the economic consequences of greenhouse gas policies. The focus is mainly on the Swedish economy, but the EU economies and the global economies are also analyzed in one essay each. The costs and effects of a unilateral Swedish decision to reduce carbon dioxide emissions are analyzed in essay I. The results of a unilateral reduction are compared to the results of an implementation of an EU multilateral agreement. The results indicate that if Sweden unilaterally decides to increase its CO2 tax, total EU CO2 emissions will increase, i.e. there will be a “carbon leakage effect”. Furthermore, an EU multilateral implementation of a CO2 tax will induce lower welfare (excluding environmental benefits) in Sweden, as compared to the situation where the same tax is unilaterally introduced.In the second essay we analyze the Swedish environmental goals conforming to the Kyoto Protocol, when simultaneously meeting national goals to alleviate acidification and eutrofication effects by reducing SO2 and NOx pollutants. We have found that when secondary benefits of measures aiming at reducing CO2 are taken into account, it may still be in the government’s interest to nationally decrease CO2, instead of engaging in seemingly low-cost trading. The principles for allocation emission permits are many, and in the third essay I focus on principles based on economic welfare theory. My main conclusion from these simulation exercises is that the distribution rule based on the different assumptions on social welfare function and some other more ad hoc distribution rules offers quite large changes in welfare, distributions of emission rights and contrary to earlier literature, I find that the initial distribution not only gives second-order effects but affects equilibrium prices and therefore, income.In the fourth essay I focus on how households’ demand for transport services can be improved in CGE-models. A differentiation between trip purposes and trip length, a complementary relationship between work journeys and labor supply, and a subdivision of households by density of population and income, influences the numerical results in a direction increasing the negative welfare effect of a carbon target, as compared to the non-extended model. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2004

Submitted by Andre Maitan (andremaitan@yahoo.com.br) on 2011-07-25T18:57:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese MPFE - André Raj Maitan - 93280.pdf: 894819 bytes, checksum: cd191610788a5e242005e02d0e272ee3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Isaura Hannickel (gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-07-25T19:18:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese MPFE - André Raj Maitan - 93280.pdf: 894819 bytes, checksum: cd191610788a5e242005e02d0e272ee3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Isaura Hannickel (gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-07-25T19:20:01Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese MPFE - André Raj Maitan - 93280.pdf: 894819 bytes, checksum: cd191610788a5e242005e02d0e272ee3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2011-07-25T19:28:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese MPFE - André Raj Maitan - 93280.pdf: 894819 bytes, checksum: cd191610788a5e242005e02d0e272ee3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-06-27 / Our target here is to understand how non observables factors on water heating choice can affect electricity usage by individual consumers. In order to understand this, we will apply a discrete/continuous model in order to understand the impact of household water heating system discrete choice on household electricity consumption, continuous choice. First it was used a LOGIT model as a way to understand which variables influence consumer discrete choice. Hereafter with Discrete model results we verified if consumer choice is relevant on electricity consumption intensity. Hausman method results demonstrated that if we do not specify discrete choice at continuous model, it will bring biased estimators to our model, this occurs due to the fact that discrete choice variable is significant and it helps to explain continuous model. Results show that we have roughly 10% differences on estimators when we ignore discrete choice. It’s important to note that this kind of miscalculation can bring a important difference on government investment decision. This work and the results obtained reinforced Dubbin and McFadden (1984) work that it was used as principal reference to this work. / O objetivo deste trabalho passa por entender o impacto dos fatores não observáveis na escolha do sistema de aquecimento de água na intensidade do consumo de eletricidade domiciliar. Para isto será aplicado um modelo discreto-contínuo para entender o efeito da escolha discreta do tipo de aquecimento de água domiciliar sobre o consumo de energia elétrica do mesmo domicílio, escolha contínua. Primeiramente foi usado um modelo LOGIT e por meio deste foram entendidos os fatores que influenciam a escolha discreta do consumidor. Com os resultados encontrados na escolha discreta, temos em um segundo momento que constatar se esta escolha é significante para a intensidade do consumo de energia elétrica. Os resultados obtidos usando o método de Hausmann demonstraram que ignorar este fator (escolha discreta) pode levar a estimadores viesados para a parte contínua do modelo, ou seja, a escolha discreta é significante e ajuda a explicar o consumo de energia elétrica domiciliar. Os resultados mostraram que temos diferenças de até 10% no estimador obtido quando ignoramos este fator. É importante notar que este tipo de falha no cálculo, pode trazer problemas na decisão e na quantidade de investimento de um país. Além disso, os resultados reforçaram e ratificaram o trabalho desenvolvido por Dubbin e McFadden (1984) que foram usados como base para o estudo.

In 2022, food prices increased rapidly, prompting this investigation into how the price shock has impacted consumer behavior. Previous studies have found that price shocks affect low- income households with children the most. A switch to more calorie-dense food and a decreased consumption of snacks. This study aims to estimate the price elasticity of various food products and to identify how the elasticities differ among various types of households. The elasticities are calculated using OLS regression on receipt data from Coop. Results show that household variables, including income level, presence of children, shopping location, and organic product preferences, significantly impact the price elasticity of food products. Low-income households without children, living outside major cities and their suburbs, have a higher price elasticity, meaning these shoppers are more sensitive to price changes. The same tendencies were observed for all products even though the exact parameters could only be proven for a third of the products. The findings have important implications for understanding how price changes affect consumer behavior and can inform food policy decisions. / Under 2022 ökade livsmedelspriserna kraftigt, vilket inspirerade denna undersökning av hur prischocken har påverkat konsumenternas beteende. Tidigare studier visar att prischocker har störst påverkan på låginkomsthushåll med barn. Även en övergång till mer kaloririk mat och en minskad konsumption av snacks har observerats. Syftet med denna studie är att uppskatta priselasticiteten för olika livsmedel och identifiera hur elasticiteten skiljer sig åt mellan olika typer av hushåll. Elasticiteterna beräknas med hjälp av en OLS-regression på kvittodata från Coop. Resultaten visar att hushållsvariabler, inklusive inkomstnivå, barn i hushållet, varans inköpsplats och val av ekologiska produkter, påverkar priselasticiteten för livsmedel markant. Hushåll med låg inkomst utan barn, som bor utanför större städer och deras förorter, har en högre priselasticitet, vilket innebär att dessa kunder är mer priskänsliga. Samma tendenser observerades för alla produkter även om de exakta parametrarna endast kunde bevisas för en tredjedel av produkterna. Resultaten har viktiga implikationer för förståelsen av hur prisförändringar påverkar konsumentbeteenden och kan även informera livsmedelspolitiska beslut.

世界各國面對垃圾量隨時間而逐漸上升的情形，原本皆視為必然趨勢，因此不斷地提供垃圾服務的供給來滿足家戶需求，以求達到均衡，這可說是「需求創造供給」。但是，一旦供給不足，在缺乏價格機能調節下，均衡將不復存在，於是降低家戶對垃圾服務需求的政策始被提出並被採行。另有一些研究則是瞭解人對環境的認知、態度與行為之間的關連性，許多研究發現其間關係為對環境知識瞭解愈詳細並傾向於新生態典範者，其行為表現就愈環保且較有積極的垃圾減量的行為，此為除了實施降低家戶對垃圾服務需求政策外另可同時進行的方向。 台灣目前已採用隨水量徵收垃圾清除處理費來反應各縣市政府在處理垃圾時的成本，不過因為此收費方式不是依垃圾量的多寡來收取，且家戶通常在繳交水費時無特別察覺到此筆費用，因此不會有付了清除費的感受，所以台灣近年來有幾個都市採行了減少家戶對垃圾服務需求方面的政策。此類政策大多分為兩種，一為行政命令式的強制回收；另一則是隨垃圾量收取垃圾費。台中市自民國88年7月1日首先實施「強制垃圾分類」，台北市則於民國89年7月1日實施「垃圾費隨袋徵收」制度，而今年1月1日，高雄市也採行了與台中市相同的政策，藉此來提高資源回收量、降低垃圾量。 本研究以一代表性家戶追求最大化效用，但受限於居住地的垃圾管理政策之條件，用比較靜態方式來分析在「無任何降低家戶對垃圾服務需求的政策」、「強制垃圾分類」、「垃圾費隨袋徵收」相異制度下，對家戶的垃圾源頭減量行為及垃圾丟棄量、非法傾倒量、資源回收量的影響。結果只有「隨袋徵收」具源頭減量效果，但是非法傾倒量也最多。若家戶只能以非法傾倒或合法丟棄兩種方式來處理垃圾時，那麼台中市、高雄市不會有非法傾倒的情形，但是台北市一定會有。而如果家戶只能在非法傾倒、從事回收間做抉擇，則台中市、高雄市會比台北市願意多做分類工作。至於若只有合法丟棄與回收間兩種可能性時，則要視其分類不完善的預期罰金與垃圾袋費用孰高來決定兩種制度下何者的回收量較高。 實證分析則得到對環境及垃圾管理認知、態度與日常環保行為愈正向者，其家戶會多花點兒心力於垃圾分類且垃圾量也較少。實施「強制垃圾分類」與「隨袋徵收」的地區，回收時間有顯著性地增加。但是對於減少垃圾容量，「隨袋徵收」才有顯著性的效果。本研究純粹探討制度不同對家戶減量行為的效果，而無分析不同政策的成本面，因此，環保單位應就欲達目的擇一適合的垃圾管理政策。 / The amount of household solid waste that is constantly rising with time has been an inevitable trend. In order to reach the equilibrium, the governments all over the world initially supply the solid waste disposal services freely to fulfill the demand. However, once the cost of supply has grown to such an extent that supply falls short, the equilibrium will be impossible to reach. Thus, many governments have changed the policy of providing free disposal service and developed alternative approaches to lower household’s demand for the service. In the meantime, some researches have studied the links between human perceptions, value, attitude and behavior toward the environment. Much of the research points to the fact that, the more detailed knowledge of the environment people hold, the more of New Environment Paradigm (NEP) they are, the more likely they are to actively reduce their waste and promote green behavior. This is one other route we can take to reduce household demand of solid waste services. The waste disposal fee is charged according to the amount of water used by the household to cover the cost of waste collection and disposal in Taiwan. However, this charge scheme doesn’t relate the fee paid by a household to the amount of waste the household discard, and most households are thereby indifferent to the payment of waste fee. In recent years, several cities have undertaken alternative policy schemes to reduce the household demands for waste disposal service. These schemes mainly come in two ways：one is to charge fees according to the quantity of waste generated; the other is to enforce the mandatory recycling law. Since July 1st, 1999, Tai-Chung City has required households to separate the waste into recyclable and disposable while Taipei City had chosen the latter fashion - waste fee per bag since July 1st, 2000. Kaohsiung City, on the other hand, has performed the same scheme as Tai-Chung City beginning January 1st, 2001. This study first develops a theoretical model of household disposal decision under different waste management policies：“no policy”, “required waste separation and recycling”, and “fee per-bag”. The household can choose among various options, including waste reduction, recycling, regular garbage collection and illegal dumping (or burning). The model shows that the “fee per-bag” is the only effective solution to source reduction; however, it induces the most illegal garbage dumping among the three schemes. In fact, the incidents of illegal dumping did not take place in Tai-Chung or Kaohsiung cities but was found in Taipei City. When households can only choose between recycling and illegal dumping, then Tai-Chung and Kaohsiung city dwellers are more likely to do more separation and recycling work than Taipei’s. As for when only regular garbage collection and waste separation and recycling are available as in Tai-Chung and Kaohsiung cities, the households’ likelihood to recycle depends on the expected fines of incomplete separation. Empirical result shows that when people have more knowledge about the environment and waste management policy, greener attitude towards environment, they tend to put more effort into waste separation and recycling, and their waste generated will be less than other households. The time people spend to separate waste increases significantly in those areas that apply “required waste separation” and “fee per-bag” programs. “Fee per-bag” has resulted in the largest decreases in the volume of the garbage.