This dissertation is a collection of three economics essays on different aspects of carbon emission trading markets. The first essay analyzes the dynamic optimal emission control strategies of two nations. With a potential to become the largest buyer under the Kyoto Protocol, the US is assumed to be a monopsony, whereas with a large number of tradable permits on hand Russia is assumed to be a monopoly. Optimal costs of emission control programs are estimated for both the countries under four different market scenarios: non-cooperative no trade, US monopsony, Russia monopoly, and cooperative trading. The US monopsony scenario is found to be the most Pareto cost efficient. The Pareto efficient outcome, however, would require the US to make side payments to Russia, which will even out the differences in the cost savings from cooperative behavior. The second essay analyzes the price dynamics of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), a voluntary emissions trading market. By examining the volatility in market returns using AR-GARCH and Markov switching models, the study associates the market price fluctuations with two different political regimes of the US government. Further, the study also identifies a high volatility in the returns few months before the market collapse. Three possible regulatory and market-based forces are identified as probable causes of market volatility and its ultimate collapse. Organizers of other voluntary markets in the US and worldwide may closely watch for these regime switching forces in order to overcome emission market crashes. The third essay compares excess skewness and kurtosis in carbon prices between CCX and EU ETS (European Union Emission Trading Scheme) Phase I and II markets, by examining the tail behavior when market expectations exceed the threshold level. Dynamic extreme value theory is used to find out the mean price exceedence of the threshold levels and estimate the risk loss. The calculated risk measures suggest that CCX and EU ETS Phase I are extremely immature markets for a risk investor, whereas EU ETS Phase II is a more stable market that could develop as a mature carbon market in future years.

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Urban pluvial floods occur during extreme rain events and both occurrence and magnitude of these floods are expected to increase. Preserving or constructing green areas in urban areas has been shown to mitigate and control these floods. The common way to evaluate flood risks is to set up a rainfall-runoff model, but these studies are often case related and only investigate the soil characteristics for that specific case. Multiple studies have also stated that the difference between major and minor flooding effects is connected to the antecedent soil moisture content. This thesis attempts to investigate how different soil characteristics influencing infiltration affect the hydraulic response in two Swedish urban catchments and if antecedent soil moisture is a critical factor. To evaluate the hydraulic response, a two-dimensional surface runoff model of two different urban catchments was forced with a hyetograph of a CDS-rain with a return period of 100 years. The simulations were conducted with three different soil types for all urban green areas: clay, sandy loam and sand, and three different antecedent soil moisture contents for clay and sandy loam. Flood extent and discharge from catchment area was evaluated, as was flood depth and overland flow in 16 chosen evaluation points. The results showed that with decreasing infiltration rate of a soil and with increasing antecedent soil moisture content, the severity of the flood and discharge at the catchment outlet was increased. It was also concluded that soil type affects flood extent, flood depth, overland flow and discharge from catchment to a greater extent than antecedent soil moisture.

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This research paper is submitted to the Department of Geography in fulfillment of the requirements of Geography 4C6. / This study examined the trade area of a Hamilton restaurant in an attempt to determine the relevance of theoretical models in predicting trade areas based on delivery records. Through the use of four trade area models, a comparative study was devise for 'Chicago Style Pizza' restaurant. The findings were based on delivery records. Since delivery records were used, the distance factor that is used in most models is eliminated. The models that were used were a population demand, Market Penetration Model, Intervening Opportunity Model and a Spatial Interaction Model. The use of a Geographical Information System was used to predict surface demands for the Market Penetration Model and the Spatial Interaction Model. It was determined that classical models of trade area analysis had only a slight relevance in delimitating the trade areas of the store in question when compared to the actual trade area of 'Chicago Style' based on delivery records. / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)

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