Plenary lectures
Thursday, June 23 - 11:10 - 12:15 / F 30 and F 7
Keynote lecture
Through Scarcity to Prosperity: A Theory of the Transition to Sustainable Growth - Pietro Peretto, Duke University
In his talk, Pietro Peretto integrates fertility choice and exhaustible resource dynamics in a tractable model of endogenous technological change. The analysis shows that, under the right conditions, the in- terdependence of population, resources and technology produces a transition from unsustainable resource-based growth to sustainable knowledge-based growth that consists of three phases: (1) an initial phase where agents build up the economy by exploiting exhaustible natural resources to support population growth; (2) an intermediate phase where agents turn on the Schumpeterian engine of endogenous innovation in response to population-led market expansion; (3) a terminal phase where growth becomes fully driven by knowledge accumulation and no longer requires growth of physical inputs. The last phase is crucial: not only economic growth no longer requires growth of physical inputs, but technological change also compensates for the exhaustion of the natural resource stock.
Friday, June 24 - 11:15 - 12:15 / F 30 and F 7
Keynote lecture
Towards Effective Implementation of Environmental Regulations: Learnings from India - Rohini Pande,Harvard University,
An effective global response to climate change must build on local action in emerging economies. This talk considers the case of India and argues that successful environmental regulation will require investment in two elements of state capacity: robust and transparent information systems and regulatory mechanisms that correctly align the incentives of local actors. Drawing from a recent empirical literature, this talk will describe the impacts of such investments in state capacity and the political economy forces at work.
Saturday, June 25 - 11:00 - 12:05 / F 30 and F 7
David Pearce Lecture
In honor of the late David Pearce this series of lectures has the objective of giving a prominent space within the conference to the presentation of high quality work on the application of environmental economics to real policy making. We are very proud to welcome Prof. Dr. Liski as this year’s presenter.
Pricing Carbon: Lessons from Theory - Matti Liski, Aalto University
The monetization of social costs arising from current emissions is essential for the determination of optimal policies on climate change mitigation. Environmental economists have made considerable progress in computing a price for carbon. The lecture puts emphasis on a few first principles that can structure and simplify the practical attempts to come up with numerical estimates to be used in policymaking. I show that carbon pricing can be conceptualized through a simple rule, in the spirit of Taylor rule in macroeconomics. The rule consolidates and clarifies a set of results, and provides a neutral language for striking a balance between competing views. I argue that the rule can be extended to include climate change “unknowns”, and that such unknowns are not necessarily detrimental to the traditional ways of thinking about the carbon price in the coming decades. Finally, the climate policy rule can also cover strategic interactions across space and time. The policy rule is detailed enough for a quantitative assessment of the optimal carbon price path and thus comparable with the computational approaches.