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| | Opportunities and Threats in Targeting Antimalarials for the AMFm: The Role of Diagnostics | | Christopher J.M. Whitty, Heidi Hopkins, Evelyn Ansah, Toby Leslie, Hugh Reyburn | | RFF Discussion Paper 08-41 | November 2008 | | Abstract: In malaria-endemic countries, people commonly assume they have malaria when sick and treat themselves accordingly. The Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm) will make effective drugs more available everywhere. If longstanding problems can be successfully addressed, the use of microscopy and rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria diagnosis alongside AMFm (though not necessarily directly part of it) could improve the management of both malaria and other febrile illness, as well as the cost-effectiveness of AMFm. In peripheral areas, RDTs are the only practical option, but available RDTs have limitations: all-or-none test results, variable heat stability, an inability to diagnose non-falciparum malaria and safety risks (especially HIV and hepatitis B) related to blood sampling. Of equal concern is that negative test results—meaning no malaria—are often ignored and patients treated anyway. R&D to solve technical problems and operational research on better ways to deploy RDTs and to make diagnosis count are needed. | | | | Incorporating Resource and Environmental Change in a Nation’s Economic Accounts: Roles for Earth Science Applications | | Joel Darmstadter | | IB 08-04 | November 2008 | | | | | | Understanding Errors in EIA Projections of Energy Demand | | Carolyn Fischer, Evan M Herrnstadt, Richard D. Morgenstern | | RFF Discussion Paper 07-54 | November 2008 | | Abstract: This paper investigates the potential for systematic errors in the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) widely used Annual Energy Outlook, focusing on the near- to midterm projections of energy demand as measured in physical quantities. Overall, based on an analysis of the EIA’s 22-year projection record, we find a fairly modest but persistent tendency to underestimate total energy demand by an average of 2 percent per year over the one- to five-year projection horizon after controlling for projection errors in gross domestic product, oil prices, and heating/cooling degree days.
For the 14 individual fuels/consuming sectors routinely reported by the EIA, we observe a great deal of directional consistency in the error patterns over time, ranging up to 7 percent per year. Electric utility renewables, electric utility natural gas, transportation distillate, and residential electricity all show significant biases, on average, across the full five year projection horizon examined. Projections for certain other fuels/consuming sectors have significant unexplained errors for selected time horizons.
Independent evaluation of this type can be useful for validating ongoing analytic efforts and for prioritizing future model revisions. | | | | Valuing Benefits from Ecosystem Improvements using Stated Preference Methods: An Example from Reducing Acidification in the Adirondacks Park | | David A. Evans, H. Spencer Banzhaf, Dallas Burtraw, Alan J. Krupnick and Juha Siikamaki | | Saving Biological Diversity | Robert A. Askins, Glenn D. Dreyer, Gerald R. Visgilio, Diana M. Whitelaw, eds. | New York: Springer | 2008 | | | | | | Valuing Benefits from Ecosystem Improvements using Stated Preference Methods: An Example from Reducing Acidification in the Adirondacks Park | | David A. Evans, H. Spencer Banzhaf, Dallas Burtraw, Alan Krupnick and Juha Siikamaki | | Saving Biological Diversity: Balancing Protection of Endangered species and Ecosystems | Robert A. Askins, Glenn D. Dreyer, Gerald R. Visgilio | New York: Springer | 2008 | | | | | | Negotiating Environment and Science | | Richard J. Smith | | RFF Press | February 2009 | | | Description: In this thought-provoking new book, career U.S. State Department negotiator Richard J. Smith offers readers unprecedented access to the details about some of the most complex and politically charged international agreements of the post Cold War era. During his nine years as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Smith led U.S. negotiations on many significant international agreements. In Negotiating Environment and Science, Smith presents first-hand, in-depth accounts of eight of the most high-profile negotiations in which he was directly involved.
The negotiations Smith covers are wide-ranging and include the London agreement to amend the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the international space station agreement, the U.S.-Soviet (eventually, U.S.-Russian) agreement on scientific cooperation, the U.S.-Canada acid rain agreement, the negotiations in Sofia, Bulgaria that established a first link between human rights and the environment, and a contentious confrontation with Japan over driftnet fishing. Smith chronicles the development of these negotiations, the challenges that emerged (as much within the U.S. delegations as with the foreign partners), and the strategies that led to substantive treaties.
Smith infuses his narrative with unique historical insight as well as astute observations that can guide U.S. strategies toward productive international agreements in the future. His book also highlights the shift in diplomatic focus over the past 25 years from arms control and other security-related agreements to international and trans-boundary agreements that address global environmental threats and promote cooperative approaches in science and technology.
Written for an audience with a general interest in environmental issues as well as international
relations, Negotiating Environment and Science will also be an important resource for historians, political scientists, and students in international law and diplomacy.
| | The Emergence of Land Markets in Africa | | Stein T. Holden, Keijiro Otsuka, and Frank M. Place, editors | | Environment for Development | November 2008 | | | Description: This book is the first systematic attempt to address emerging land markets and their implications for poverty, equity, and efficiency across a number of African countries. The high incidence of poverty and the need for increased agricultural productivity remain acute in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa, where a lack of secure land rights and a growing scarcity of land relative to the size of the population are becoming increasingly critical issues. Indeed, land issues in the region are high on the international policy agenda. Yet our knowledge about land tenure security and other rural factor markets (such as labor, oxen, manure, purchased inputs, and credit) is far from adequate to formulate sensible policies.
The case studies in the book show that, while land markets and especially informal markets have been rapidly emerging in densely populated parts of Africa—and have generally been to the benefit of the poor--their functions remain imperfect. This is due to policy-induced tenure insecurity and the fragmentation of agricultural land. Applying rigorous quantitative analyses, the book provides a basis for taking into account the role of land markets in national land policies. All too often, the authors argue, land policies have been extreme, either prohibiting all land transactions or giving unrestricted freehold rights to a small elite at the expense of the poor. From the long experience in Asia, it is known that such policies are detrimental to both production efficiency and equity of land use. The authors argue that future policies in Africa should work with the markets. Regulations should be imposed only with careful testing that they are having the intended effects.
The Emergence of Land Markets in Africa is a resource for teaching in developed and developing countries, as it provides both comprehensive reviews of the literature and detailed case studies. It is intended to facilitate the dialogue between researchers and policymakers, as well as inspire researchers to go further in their investigations and build an even stronger basis for good policies.
The Emergence of Land Markets in Africa is the first publication in the new Environment for Development (EfD) book series. EfD books focus on research and applications in environmental and natural resource economics as they are relevant to poverty reduction and environmental problems in developing countries. The EfD book series is part of the EfD initiative.(www.environmentfordevelopment.org )
About the Environment for Development Initiative
The Environment for Development (EfD) initiative supports poverty alleviation and sustainable development through the increased use of environmental economics in the policymaking process. The EfD initiative is a capacity-building program focusing on research, policy advice, and teaching. The editor of the series is Thomas Sterner, Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Gothenberg.
The EfD is managed by the Environmental Economics Unit of the University of Gothenburg. Financial support is provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The six EfD centers in Central America, China, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, and Tanzania are hosted by universities or academic institutions in each respective region or country. Resources for the Future and RFF Press are partners in EfD through research collaboration, communications support, and publications, including the EfD book series. (www.environmentfordevelopment.org) | | Smog Check | | Douglas S. Eisinger | | RFF Press | May 5, 2009 | | | Description: When a new federal regulatory program conflicts with an existing state-level system, whose approach should prevail? During the 1990s, the federal government sought to implement the Clean Air Act Amendments and resolve previous problems that it had with compliance. This lead to an intense conflict between U.S. EPA regulators and the state of California. The disagreement involved a federally mandated auto emissions program with centralized testing and California’s existing program that was implemented through local garages (service stations)—a program that was popularly called “Smog Check.” The dispute over Smog Check grew into a clash that had national significance and was further complicated by a recession, the politics of a gubernatorial election, a transition between presidential administrations, and California’s possible loss of nearly $1 billion in federal funds if the state failed to comply with EPA mandates.
The debate over Smog Check ended when EPA finally granted California, and the rest of the nation, greater regulatory flexibility. Fundamental to the Smog Check controversy were questions about federal versus state authority as well as battles between colorful personalities. In his new book, Smog Check, Douglas S. Eisinger presents these struggles in fascinating, first-hand detail. Eisinger, an EPA official at the time of this conflict, probes deeply into the issues and explores broader questions including: when does it become imperative for agencies to bargain with one another, when should regulatory flexibility and performance-based regulations be favored over command and control approaches, what should be done when decisions need to be made in the face of scientific disagreement about both the scope of a problem and the effectiveness of different solutions? He concludes the book with commentary from other former EPA officials who were witnesses or participants in the Smog Check controversy.
Smog Check is engaging reading for students interested in intergovernmental relations and regulatory reform. It provides insight for policy professionals involved in environmental
protection whenever it involves coordination between federal and state or local agencies.
| | Determining the Extent of Market and Extent of Resource for Stated Preference Survey Design Using Mapping Methods | | Shalini Vajjhala, Anna Mische John, David A. Evans | | RFF Discussion Paper 08-14 | October 2008 | | Abstract: Determining the appropriate survey population and the commodity to be valued are among the most fundamental design decisions for stated preference (SP) surveys. However, often little information is available about who in the population holds measurable value for the resource (the extent of the market)and their perceptions regarding the scope of the resource to be valued (the extent of the resource. In this paper, we present a novel approach using cognitive mapping interview techniques to shed light on these design questions. The method also provides ancillary information that assists in the interpretation of information collected during focus groups and through SP survey administration. The approach was developed and tested as part of an ongoing study on environmental degradation associated with acidification in the Southern Appalachian Mountain region. Although damage from acidification in the study region is broad, it is not clear whether residents of this region care, in both a use and nonuse sense, about resources in their states of residence, in neighboring states, on public lands, or more broadly across the region. From a pilot study, we found that participants show a significant home-state preference in the number and size of natural areas that they value within the larger Southern Appalachian Mountain region. However, this preference is not strong enough to suggest that the market for improving these resources is solely constrained to residents of the state in which the resource is located. | | | | Does Disclosure Reduce Pollution? Evidence from India’s Green
Rating Project | | Nicholas E Powers, Allen Blackman, Thomas P. Lyon, Urvashi Narain | | RFF Discussion Paper 08-38 | October 2008 | | Abstract: Public disclosure programs that collect and disseminate information about firms’ environmental performance are increasingly popular in both developed and developing countries. Yet little is known
about whether they actually improve environmental performance, particularly in the latter setting. We use detailed plant-level survey data to evaluate the impact of India’s Green Rating Project (GRP) on the environmental performance of the country’s largest pulp and paper plants. We find that the GRP drove significant reductions in pollution loadings among dirty plants but not among cleaner ones. This result comports with statistical and anecdotal evaluations of similar disclosure programs. We also find that plants located in wealthier communities were more responsive to GRP ratings, as were single-plant firms. | | | | Consumption, Happiness, and Climate Change | | Mark A Cohen, Vandenbergh P. Michael | | RFF Discussion Paper 08-39 | October 2008 | | Abstract: In this article, we explore the implications of this literature for understanding the relationship between climate change policies and consumption. We identify a number of ways in which accounting for
the implications of the new happiness literature could lead to laws and policies that influence consumption in ways that increase the prospects for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in developed and
developing countries. We do not examine every nuance of the growing happiness literature, but we provide a brief introduction and observations that we hope will stimulate further efforts by academicians and policymakers. | | | | A History of the Outdoor Recreation Review Commissions | | George Siehl | | RFF Discussion Paper 08-44 | October 2008 | | Abstract: Since the end of World War II, recreation has become increasingly important socially and economically in the United States, so much so that it became a focus of federal policy beginning in 1958.
Since that time, two national commissions, the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission and the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors, were established to bring to the president and the Congress findings and recommendations on the nation's policies to ensure continued availability of recreation opportunities for America. Now, twenty years since the last review, there is interest in addressing anew the policy initiatives needed at this time. This paper provides an overview of the two Commissions and outlines some considerations to address today. | | | | Does Disclosure Reduce Pollution? Evidence from India’s Green Rating Project | | Nicholas E Powers, Allen Blackman, Thomas P. Lyon, Urvashi Narain | | RFF Discussion Paper EfD 08-27 | October 2008 | | Abstract: Public disclosure programs that collect and disseminate information about firms’ environmental erformance are increasingly popular in both developed and developing countries. Yet little is known about whether they actually improve environmental performance, particularly in the latter setting. We use detailed plant-level survey data to evaluate the impact of India’s Green Rating Project (GRP) on the environmental performance of the country’s largest pulp and paper plants. We find that the GRP drove significant reductions
in pollution loadings among dirty plants but not among cleaner ones. This result comports with statistical and anecdotal evaluations of similar disclosure programs. We also find that plants located in wealthier communities were more responsive to GRP ratings, as were single-plant firms. | | | | Taxes, Permits, and the Diffusions of a New Technology | | Jessica Coria | | RFF Discussion Paper EfD 08-26 | October 2008 | | Abstract: This study looks at the effects of the choice between taxes and permits on the pattern of adoption of a new (pollution) emissions abatement technology. It uses a dynamic setting, where the regulator
observes the arrival and initial use of the technology and determines the optimal ex-post amount of emissions before firms start to adopt the technology.
In the model here, the adoption benefits and costs depend on the number of firms that are already using the technology. Thus, each firm decides the optimal date to adopt the technology, considering its benefits and costs, as well as the advantage they will gain over their rivals, producing a sequence of adoption that is “diffused” into the industry over time.
With this framework, the study shows that when the output demand is elastic, auctioned permits induce an earlier diffusion than taxes and thus provide the largest benefit to social welfare. | | | | Environmental Policy, Fuel Prices, and the Switch to Natural Gas in
Santiago, Chile | | Jessica Coria | | RFF Discussion Paper EfD 08-28 | October 2008 | | Abstract: In this study, I analyze the role of environmental policies and energy cost savings in the switch to natural gas by stationary sources in Chile. According to the data, most of the switching was induced by the lower cost of natural gas, although environmental policies played a small role and showed that sources were more sensitive to the cost of energy than to environmental regulation. | | | | Is There a Link between Common Property Forest Management and Private Tree Growing? Evidence of Behavioral Effects from Highland Ethiopia | | Alemu Mekonnen, Randy Bluffstone | | RFF Discussion Paper EfD 08-29 | October 2008 | | Abstract: This paper attempts to analyze the correlates of (1) aggregated and disaggregated indices of common property forest management (CPFM) as perceived by households, and (2) the decision to grow trees and the
number of trees grown with the objective of looking at the effect of CPFM. We used data collected in 2007 from a sample of rural households in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. While the CPFM indices we used varied across households, the overall CPFM index and its two sub-indices (management tools and institutional characteristics)
showed a generally low level of management. We observed significant differences in the nature of management of community forests across sites, mainly driven by population size, population density, and size of forests. The results also showed that the overall management of community forests, as reflected by the overall CPFM index
and its two sub-indices, had a positive association with the decision to grow trees on-farm as well as the number of trees grown. These results suggest that households that perceive a more strict management are more likely to grow trees on their farm and that those which do grow trees grow more trees. A strong correlation between the different CPFM indices suggests that households perceived the components of CPFM as being similar and hence these components were, in this case, indistinguishable. | | | | Fast Track Land Reform and Agricultural Productivity in Zimbabwe | | Precious Zikhali | | RFF Discussion Paper EfD 08-30 | October 2008 | | Abstract: In the year 2000, the government of Zimbabwe launched the Fast Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) as part of its ongoing land reform and resettlement program. It seeks to address the racially skewed land distribution pattern inherited at independence in 1980. This paper used data on beneficiaries of the program and a control group of communal farmers to investigate the program’s impact on the agricultural productivity of its beneficiaries. The data revealed significant differences between the two groups, not only in household and parcel characteristics, but also in input usage. The results suggest that FTLRP beneficiaries are more productive than communal farmers. The source of this productivity differential was found to lie in differences in input usage. In addition, we found that FTLRP beneficiaries gained a productivity advantage not only from the fact that they used more fertilizer per hectare, but also from attaining a higher rate of return from its use. Furthermore we found evidence that soil conservation, among other factors, had a significant impact on productivity. Our results also confirmed the constraints imposed on agricultural productivity by poverty,suggesting that policies aimed at alleviating poverty will have a positive impact on agricultural productivity. | | | | Does Relative Income Matter for the Very Poor?: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia | | Alpaslan Akay, Peter Martinsson | | RFF Discussion Paper EfD 08-31 | October 2008 | | Abstract: We studied whether relative income has an impact on subjective well-being among extremely poor people. Contrary to the findings in developed countries, where relative income has shown a significant and negative impact on subjective well-being, we cannot reject the
hypothesis that relative income has no impact on subjective well-being in rural areas of northern Ethiopia. | | | | Estimating Returns to Soil and Water Conservation Investments: An Application to Crop Yield in Kenya | | Wilfred Nyangena, Gunnar Kohlin | | RFF Discussion Paper EfD 08-32 | October 2008 | | Abstract: Productivity gains from soil and water conservation (SWC) have empirical support in research stations. Previous empirical results from on-farm adoption of SWC are, however, varied. This study
investigated the impact of soil conservation investment on farm productivity in three regions in Kenya. Using plot-level survey data, we focused on land productivity on plots with and without SWC. We tested the overall soil conservation hypothesis that increased SWC is beneficial for yield, as well as more specific hypotheses that SWC affects levels of inputs, returns from these inputs, and crop characteristics. The results showed a mixed picture where plots without SWC generally have higher yield values per hectare. However, plots with SWC are significantly steeper and more eroded than plots
without SWC. A more careful analysis of a two-stage random effects–switching regression estimation comparing three SWC technologies to plots without SWC indicated that SWC increased the returns
from degraded plots and sometimes from other inputs. A simulation exercise based on these estimations also showed that, in most cases, adoption has been beneficial for those who have done it and would be
beneficial for those who have not. | | | | Integrating EJ into Federal Policies and Programs: Examining the Role of Regulatory Impact Analyses and Environmental Impact Statements | | Shalini Vajjhala, Amanda Van Epps, Sarah Jo F Szambelan | | RFF Discussion Paper 08-45 | October 2008 | | Abstract: Following Executive Order 12898 in 1994, federal agencies have taken a variety of steps to incorporate environmental justice (EJ) into their programs and practices. Two scales at which these efforts are critical are regulatory design and enforcement. This study evaluates Regulatory Impact Analyses (RIAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) across three federal agencies (the
Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency) to compare the extent to which EJ is addressed at these two scales, across agencies, and over time. By
searching agency documents for key EJ variables, such as site, population, and impact characteristics, we develop a framework to determine if RIAs and EISs include sufficient information to identify
disproportionate impacts of proposed regulations or projects on minority and low-income communities. Results of this analysis reveal that EJ issues are noted more frequently in all three agencies’ EISs over time, but few RIAs or EISs contain enough data to assess whether EJ impacts are significant. | | | |
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