Life cycle analysis (LCA) is the standard approach used to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) bene... more Life cycle analysis (LCA) is the standard approach used to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits of biofuels. However, it is increasingly recognized that LCA results do not account for some impacts-including land use changes-that have important implications on GHGs. Thus, an alternative accounting system that goes beyond LCA is needed. In this paper, we contribute to the literature by laying out the basics of a system-wide accounting (SWA) method that takes into account all potential changes in GHGs resulting from biofuel expansion. We applied both LCA and SWA to assess the GHG impacts of ethanol based on Iowa corn. Growing corn in rotation with soybeans generated 35% less GHG emissions than growing corn after corn. Based on average corn production, ethanol's GHG benefits were lower in 2007 than in 2006 because of an increase in continuous corn in 2007. When only additional corn was considered, ethanol emitted about 22% less GHGs than gasoline. Results from SWA varied with the choice of baseline and the definition of geographical boundaries. Using 2006 as a baseline and 2007 as a scenario, corn ethanol's benefits were about 20% of the emissions of gasoline. If we expand geographical limits beyond Iowa, but assume the same emission rates for soybean production and land use changes as those in Iowa, then corn ethanol generated more GHG emissions than gasoline. These results highlight the importance of boundary definition for both LCA and SWA.
Biofuel subsidies in the United States have been justified on the following grounds: energy indep... more Biofuel subsidies in the United States have been justified on the following grounds: energy independence, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, improvements in rural development related to biofuel plants, and farm income support. The 2007 energy act emphasizes the first two objectives. In this study, we quantify the costs and benefits that different biofuels provide. We consider the first two objectives separately and show that each can be achieved with a lower social cost than that of the current policy. Then, we show that there is no evidence to disprove that the primary objective of biofuel policy is to support farm income. Current policy favors corn production and the construction of corn-based ethanol plants. We find that favoring corn happens to be the best way to remove land from food and feed production, thus providing higher commodity prices and income to farmers and landowners. Next, we calculate two sets of alternative biofuel subsidies that are targeted to meeting income transfer objectives and either greenhouse gas emission reductions or fuel energy reductions. The first of these assumes that greenhouse gas emissions and high crop prices are joint objectives, and the second assumes that fuel independence and high crop prices are the joint objectives. Finally, we infer the social willingness to pay for biofuel services. This, in turn, allows us to propose a subsidy schedule that maintains (inferred) social preferences and provides a higher incentive for farmers to choose production of cellulosic materials. This is particularly relevant since the 2007 energy act sets a renewable fuels standard that relies heavily on cellulosic biofuel but does not specify a higher "per gallon" incentive to producers.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict constitutes a prominent example of a long-lasting political conf... more The Israeli-Palestinian conflict constitutes a prominent example of a long-lasting political conflict which has major consequences for the livelihoods of the people on both sides. The agricultural sectors of the Palestinian and Israeli economies are tightly connected. However, various security measures occasionally implemented in consequence of the political conflict between Israelis and Palestinians strongly inhibit the movement of people and commodities. In order to obtain evidence on the impacts of such abrupt trade impediments on price dynamics, we estimate a vector error correction model in state space form employing the Kalman filter. The time-varying cointegration parameters suggest that the security measures indeed impacted price interdependencies on a short-term scale.
Life cycle analysis (LCA) is the standard approach used to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) bene... more Life cycle analysis (LCA) is the standard approach used to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits of biofuels. However, it is increasingly recognized that LCA results do not account for some impacts-including land use changes-that have important implications on GHGs. Thus, an alternative accounting system that goes beyond LCA is needed. In this paper, we contribute to the literature by laying out the basics of a system-wide accounting (SWA) method that takes into account all potential changes in GHGs resulting from biofuel expansion. We applied both LCA and SWA to assess the GHG impacts of ethanol based on Iowa corn. Growing corn in rotation with soybeans generated 35% less GHG emissions than growing corn after corn. Based on average corn production, ethanol's GHG benefits were lower in 2007 than in 2006 because of an increase in continuous corn in 2007. When only additional corn was considered, ethanol emitted about 22% less GHGs than gasoline. Results from SWA varied with ...
Reports of disappearing glaciers, shrinking arctic ice, rising sea levels, stronger hurricanes, a... more Reports of disappearing glaciers, shrinking arctic ice, rising sea levels, stronger hurricanes, and unprecedented European heat waves combined with an inexorable buildup in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels is increasing pressure on governments to respond with new greenhouse gas initiatives. California and other states are providing policy leadership in the United States. Of particular interest to the biofuels industry is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s January 2007 executive order that requires a 10 percent reduction in the carbon content of California’s transportation fuels by 2020. In contrast to federal renewable fuel standards, which mandate levels of use of biofuels, California’s fuel standard does not tell fuel suppliers (oil companies) how they should meet the new requirements. Alternative fuels will have to compete in terms of cost and carbon content. Only those fuels that can reduce carbon content at reasonable cost will be included in California fuel blends. Given that e...
Imposing military security measures as a consequence of violent conflict may lead to depressing e... more Imposing military security measures as a consequence of violent conflict may lead to depressing economic effects for all parties involved. One implication is the limited ability to conduct trade, which in turn brings about welfare losses to the economic agents involved and may threat livelihoods and food security. This paper focuses on the consequences of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, as a prominent example, on bilateral agricultural trade and price dynamics. For this purpose, we consider high-frequency wholesale price data and data on movement restrictions (complete closures) which were imposed by the Israeli Defense Forces in the West Bank between May 2007 and December 2008. In particular, we study the price dynamics of cucumbers and apples, two crops which play an important role for bilateral trade. The spatial and temporal price relationships are assessed using a cointegration framework. Specifically, we use a novel multivariate exogenous regimeswitching vector error correcti...
A rich body of literature suggests that there is an inverse relationship between wind power penet... more A rich body of literature suggests that there is an inverse relationship between wind power penetration rate and electricity market prices, yet it is unclear whether these observations are generalizable. Therefore, in this paper we seek to characterize analytically market conditions that give rise to this inverse relationship. To this purpose, we expand a theoretical framework to facilitate flexibility in modelling the structure of the electric industry with respect to the degree of market concentration and diversification in the ownership of wind power capacity. The analytical results and their attendant numerical illustrations indicate that it is not always that wind energy depresses electricity prices. This is likely to occur when the number of firms is large enough, the ownership of wind energy is sufficiently diversified, or most often a combination of the two. Importantly, our study defines the circumstances in which the question who invests in wind power capacity is crucial f...
As these lines were written, the Covid-19 pandemic crisis was continuing to threaten countries ar... more As these lines were written, the Covid-19 pandemic crisis was continuing to threaten countries around the globe. The worldwide consensus that physical distancing is an effective instrument for mitigating the spread of the virus has led policymakers to temporarily limit the freedom of movement of people between and within countries, cities, and even neighborhoods. These public health-related restrictions on human mobility yielded an unprecedented fragmentation of international and national food distribution systems. Focusing on food retailing - usually being modestly oligopolistic - we take a micro-economic perspective as we analyze the potential consequences this disruption has for the physical as well as for the economic access of households to food at the local level. As the mobility constraints implemented substantially reduced competition, we argue that food retailers might have been tempted to take advantage of the implied fragmentation of economic activity by exploiting their ...
Violent political conflict has been documented to have comprehensive adverse effects on economic ... more Violent political conflict has been documented to have comprehensive adverse effects on economic activity and, thus, substantially harm social welfare. As conflict escalations are often reported to fragment economic space, we suggest an empirical framework which allows for estimating changes in the size of markets often split by frontlines. This approach uses a differentiated goods oligopoly model to separate effects of conflict intensity on consumer demand, costs of trade, market size, and market structure. We combine daily sales of apples in Hebron-one of the focal points of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict-and variables quantifying complementary aspects of conflict intensity. Conflict is found to suppress demand and affect competition more significantly than it increases costs of trading. Simulations indicate a 15% reduction in total daily consumption during conflict of high intensity while a pacification would yield a 20% welfare gain. This empirical framework allows disentangling the effects of conflict on food markets. The results suggest that relief policies should consider alleviating effects of fragmentation of economic space, e.g., by ensuring humanitarian corridors.
Renewable energy technologies including wind are promoted and deployed in the U.S. to meet growin... more Renewable energy technologies including wind are promoted and deployed in the U.S. to meet growing electricity demand, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and thus to mitigate the climate change impacts of domestic electricity production and consumption. In 2016 wind turbines provide about 8% of total capacity and 6% of electricity generation in the US (EIA 2017). The rapid development of wind power has been supported by technological improvement and reduced costs, renewable electricity policies including federal production tax credits and state renewable portfolio standards, and increased transmission capacity for integrating wind generation into grid. The Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) transmission project was initiated by Texas, the top wind power state in the country, in 2005. The purpose of CREZ is to bring the wind power generated in windy West Texas to the other parts of the state with relatively high power consumption. The CREZ project costed about $6.8 billion and 3,600 miles of high-voltage transmission lines were constructed over the period of 2010-2013 adding 50% more capacity into the electric grid operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). The CREZ project well illustrates the importance of expanding transmission infrastructure for the development of renewable energy. It also provides an excellent case study for understanding the economic impacts and, more importantly, the value of transmission lines, which is the focus of the current study. The crucial role of and social benefits brought by expanding transmission facility are well recognized in the literature. In a deregulated market, by connecting geographically separate markets, additional transmission capacity not only relieves congestion, but also enhance competition and discourage the exercise of market power (Borenstein et al. 2000). Transmission constraint actively changes market conditions and consequently price and its variation (Birge et al. 2014). Davis et al. (2016) documents the significant impact of binding transmission constraint, which is induced by a nuclear power plant closure, on generation cost when the lost generation was met by plants with higher marginal cost. Relaxing transmission constraint was found to greatly increase market surplus and reduce local market power in Indian electricity market (Ryan 2013). Wolak (2015) quantifies the competitiveness benefits of a transmission expansion policy in Alberta, Canada, resulting from lower wholesale market prices. There is a small but growing body of literature pertaining to integration of electricity market. For example, using PJM interconnection as example, Mansur and White (2012) provides empirical evidence suggesting that an organized electricity wholesale market substantially improved market efficiency by facilitating information sharing and encouraging trade. Various empirical methods are employed to investigate integration of regional electricity markets, including, Principal Component Analysis (Zachmann 2008), GARCH and DCC models (Higgs 2009), and common factor approach, (Apergis et al. 2017). With the development of CREZ transmission lines, the regional markets of ERCOT, North (hereafter denoted
ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to explore the mechanism through which a reform in envir... more ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to explore the mechanism through which a reform in environmental education (EE) programs affects pupils’ relation to the environment. We surveyed 589 pupils aged 9–12 years in three types of Israeli elementary school: regular schools, schools that implement an EE program (designated “green schools”), and schools that implement a more intensive EE program (designated “persistent green schools”). Analyzing the results obtained from our questionnaire, we found that both EE programs had a positive effect on environmental attitudes. Importantly, however, only persistent green schools showed a direct positive effect on environmental behavior. In addition, we assessed the influences of various demographic and other factors on pupils’ relation to the environment. Of note, we found that students who spent their leisure time watching TV or engaging with other electronic media expressed less concern about the environment.
In 2005, the State of Israel established a new classification—renewing kibbutzim. This study exam... more In 2005, the State of Israel established a new classification—renewing kibbutzim. This study examines the relationship between the extent of privatization and the various forms of demographic growth that were permissible under the new classification and their impact on the perceived sustainability of the kibbutz in these communal communities. We collected data at the kibbutz level via interviews with community managers and at the individual level through questionnaires among community members in 19 kibbutzim. We employed the “nearest neighbor” methodology to create pairs who were demographically eligible for a before and after comparison. Although our results about perceived sustainability suggest that kibbutzim across the board have overcome the struggle to survive and have been able to recover, unlike commonly assumed, changes they adopted in the direction of more privatization and diversified statuses are clearly correlated with smaller increases in levels of perceived sustainability. Our findings may offer lessons for wider sociological questions concerning processes of privatization and stratification.
Subsidizing energy-efficient technologies is considered by energy and environmental organizations... more Subsidizing energy-efficient technologies is considered by energy and environmental organizations to be one of the most effective policies for decreasing energy consumption. In the transportation sector such policies are becoming ever more popular, and have been implemented in a considerable number of countries in recent years. Because these policies promote energy-efficient cars with lower usage costs, they may rebound and increase the distances traveled by households that have switched to energy-efficient cars. From an econometric perspective, a subsidization policy can be used as a valid instrument to identify the households' choice of energy efficiency levels of the cars they own. This identification, in turn, can be utilized to account for endogeneity in the estimation of a rebound effect. The present study uses a natural experiment setting of such a policy implemented in Israel in 2009. The empirical results indicate a fairly large average rebound effect of 40%. The results also indicate that while the policy indeed encouraged the purchase of energy-efficient cars, households that bought a new or used car during the surveyed period did not generate a rebound effect of a different magnitude compared with other households that did not. We discuss the implications of our findings.
Biofuel subsidies in the United States have been justified on the following grounds: energy indep... more Biofuel subsidies in the United States have been justified on the following grounds: energy independence, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, improvements in rural development related to biofuel plants, and farm income support. The 2007 energy act emphasizes the first two objectives. In this study, we quantify the costs and benefits that different biofuels provide. We consider the first two objectives separately and show that each can be achieved with a lower social cost than that of the current policy. Then, we show that ...
The objective of this study was to explore the mechanism through which a reform in environmental ... more The objective of this study was to explore the mechanism through which a reform in environmental education (EE) programs affects pupils' relation to the environment. We surveyed 589 pupils aged 9-12 years in three types of Israeli elementary school: regular schools, schools that implement an EE program (designated "green schools"), and schools that implement a more intensive EE program (designated "persistent green schools"). Analyzing the results obtained from our questionnaire, we found that both EE programs had a positive effect on environmental attitudes. Importantly, however, only persistent green schools showed a direct positive effect on environmental behavior. In addition, we assessed the influences of various demographic and other factors on pupils' relation to the environment. Of note, we found that students who spent their leisure time watching TV or engaging with other electronic media expressed less concern about the environment.
Many studies assessing national policy reforms in education focus on the likelihood of acquiring ... more Many studies assessing national policy reforms in education focus on the likelihood of acquiring an advanced education and the associated returns in the labor market. In this paper, the authors investigate the impact of the Israeli Academic Colleges Law that was designed to promote the acquisition of higher education among all segments of the Israeli population. They found that this law, in fact, contributed to making higher education accessible more to the Israeli Arab minority than to the rest of the population. In addition, they demonstrate that the influence of the law on improving access to higher education is reflected in the increase in the earning potential of Israeli Arabs.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the standard approach used to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) be... more Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the standard approach used to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits of biofuels. However, the need for the appropriate use of LCA in policy contexts is highlighted by recent findings that corn-based ethanol may actually increase GHG emissions. This is in contrary to most existing LCA results. LCA estimates can vary across studies due to heterogeneities in inputs and production technology. Whether marginal or average impacts are considered can matter as well. Most important of all, LCA is product-centered. The determination of the impact of biofuels expansion requires a system wide approach (SWA) that accounts for impacts on all affected products and processes. This paper presents both LCA and SWA for ethanol based on Iowa corn. LCA was conducted in several different ways. Growing corn in rotation with soybean generates 35% less GHG emissions than growing corn after corn. Based on average corn production, ethanol's GHG benefits were lower in 2007 than in 2006 because of an increase in continuous corn in 2007. When only additional corn was considered, ethanol emitted about 22% less GHGs than gasoline. SWA was applied to two simple cases. Using 2006 as a baseline and 2007 as a scenario, corn ethanol's benefits were about 20% of the emissions of gasoline. If geographical limits are expanded beyond Iowa, then corn ethanol could generate more GHG emissions than gasoline. These results highlight the importance of boundary definition for both LCA and SWA.
Life cycle analysis (LCA) is the standard approach used to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) bene... more Life cycle analysis (LCA) is the standard approach used to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits of biofuels. However, it is increasingly recognized that LCA results do not account for some impacts-including land use changes-that have important implications on GHGs. Thus, an alternative accounting system that goes beyond LCA is needed. In this paper, we contribute to the literature by laying out the basics of a system-wide accounting (SWA) method that takes into account all potential changes in GHGs resulting from biofuel expansion. We applied both LCA and SWA to assess the GHG impacts of ethanol based on Iowa corn. Growing corn in rotation with soybeans generated 35% less GHG emissions than growing corn after corn. Based on average corn production, ethanol's GHG benefits were lower in 2007 than in 2006 because of an increase in continuous corn in 2007. When only additional corn was considered, ethanol emitted about 22% less GHGs than gasoline. Results from SWA varied with the choice of baseline and the definition of geographical boundaries. Using 2006 as a baseline and 2007 as a scenario, corn ethanol's benefits were about 20% of the emissions of gasoline. If we expand geographical limits beyond Iowa, but assume the same emission rates for soybean production and land use changes as those in Iowa, then corn ethanol generated more GHG emissions than gasoline. These results highlight the importance of boundary definition for both LCA and SWA.
Biofuel subsidies in the United States have been justified on the following grounds: energy indep... more Biofuel subsidies in the United States have been justified on the following grounds: energy independence, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, improvements in rural development related to biofuel plants, and farm income support. The 2007 energy act emphasizes the first two objectives. In this study, we quantify the costs and benefits that different biofuels provide. We consider the first two objectives separately and show that each can be achieved with a lower social cost than that of the current policy. Then, we show that there is no evidence to disprove that the primary objective of biofuel policy is to support farm income. Current policy favors corn production and the construction of corn-based ethanol plants. We find that favoring corn happens to be the best way to remove land from food and feed production, thus providing higher commodity prices and income to farmers and landowners. Next, we calculate two sets of alternative biofuel subsidies that are targeted to meeting income transfer objectives and either greenhouse gas emission reductions or fuel energy reductions. The first of these assumes that greenhouse gas emissions and high crop prices are joint objectives, and the second assumes that fuel independence and high crop prices are the joint objectives. Finally, we infer the social willingness to pay for biofuel services. This, in turn, allows us to propose a subsidy schedule that maintains (inferred) social preferences and provides a higher incentive for farmers to choose production of cellulosic materials. This is particularly relevant since the 2007 energy act sets a renewable fuels standard that relies heavily on cellulosic biofuel but does not specify a higher "per gallon" incentive to producers.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict constitutes a prominent example of a long-lasting political conf... more The Israeli-Palestinian conflict constitutes a prominent example of a long-lasting political conflict which has major consequences for the livelihoods of the people on both sides. The agricultural sectors of the Palestinian and Israeli economies are tightly connected. However, various security measures occasionally implemented in consequence of the political conflict between Israelis and Palestinians strongly inhibit the movement of people and commodities. In order to obtain evidence on the impacts of such abrupt trade impediments on price dynamics, we estimate a vector error correction model in state space form employing the Kalman filter. The time-varying cointegration parameters suggest that the security measures indeed impacted price interdependencies on a short-term scale.
Life cycle analysis (LCA) is the standard approach used to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) bene... more Life cycle analysis (LCA) is the standard approach used to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits of biofuels. However, it is increasingly recognized that LCA results do not account for some impacts-including land use changes-that have important implications on GHGs. Thus, an alternative accounting system that goes beyond LCA is needed. In this paper, we contribute to the literature by laying out the basics of a system-wide accounting (SWA) method that takes into account all potential changes in GHGs resulting from biofuel expansion. We applied both LCA and SWA to assess the GHG impacts of ethanol based on Iowa corn. Growing corn in rotation with soybeans generated 35% less GHG emissions than growing corn after corn. Based on average corn production, ethanol's GHG benefits were lower in 2007 than in 2006 because of an increase in continuous corn in 2007. When only additional corn was considered, ethanol emitted about 22% less GHGs than gasoline. Results from SWA varied with ...
Reports of disappearing glaciers, shrinking arctic ice, rising sea levels, stronger hurricanes, a... more Reports of disappearing glaciers, shrinking arctic ice, rising sea levels, stronger hurricanes, and unprecedented European heat waves combined with an inexorable buildup in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels is increasing pressure on governments to respond with new greenhouse gas initiatives. California and other states are providing policy leadership in the United States. Of particular interest to the biofuels industry is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s January 2007 executive order that requires a 10 percent reduction in the carbon content of California’s transportation fuels by 2020. In contrast to federal renewable fuel standards, which mandate levels of use of biofuels, California’s fuel standard does not tell fuel suppliers (oil companies) how they should meet the new requirements. Alternative fuels will have to compete in terms of cost and carbon content. Only those fuels that can reduce carbon content at reasonable cost will be included in California fuel blends. Given that e...
Imposing military security measures as a consequence of violent conflict may lead to depressing e... more Imposing military security measures as a consequence of violent conflict may lead to depressing economic effects for all parties involved. One implication is the limited ability to conduct trade, which in turn brings about welfare losses to the economic agents involved and may threat livelihoods and food security. This paper focuses on the consequences of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, as a prominent example, on bilateral agricultural trade and price dynamics. For this purpose, we consider high-frequency wholesale price data and data on movement restrictions (complete closures) which were imposed by the Israeli Defense Forces in the West Bank between May 2007 and December 2008. In particular, we study the price dynamics of cucumbers and apples, two crops which play an important role for bilateral trade. The spatial and temporal price relationships are assessed using a cointegration framework. Specifically, we use a novel multivariate exogenous regimeswitching vector error correcti...
A rich body of literature suggests that there is an inverse relationship between wind power penet... more A rich body of literature suggests that there is an inverse relationship between wind power penetration rate and electricity market prices, yet it is unclear whether these observations are generalizable. Therefore, in this paper we seek to characterize analytically market conditions that give rise to this inverse relationship. To this purpose, we expand a theoretical framework to facilitate flexibility in modelling the structure of the electric industry with respect to the degree of market concentration and diversification in the ownership of wind power capacity. The analytical results and their attendant numerical illustrations indicate that it is not always that wind energy depresses electricity prices. This is likely to occur when the number of firms is large enough, the ownership of wind energy is sufficiently diversified, or most often a combination of the two. Importantly, our study defines the circumstances in which the question who invests in wind power capacity is crucial f...
As these lines were written, the Covid-19 pandemic crisis was continuing to threaten countries ar... more As these lines were written, the Covid-19 pandemic crisis was continuing to threaten countries around the globe. The worldwide consensus that physical distancing is an effective instrument for mitigating the spread of the virus has led policymakers to temporarily limit the freedom of movement of people between and within countries, cities, and even neighborhoods. These public health-related restrictions on human mobility yielded an unprecedented fragmentation of international and national food distribution systems. Focusing on food retailing - usually being modestly oligopolistic - we take a micro-economic perspective as we analyze the potential consequences this disruption has for the physical as well as for the economic access of households to food at the local level. As the mobility constraints implemented substantially reduced competition, we argue that food retailers might have been tempted to take advantage of the implied fragmentation of economic activity by exploiting their ...
Violent political conflict has been documented to have comprehensive adverse effects on economic ... more Violent political conflict has been documented to have comprehensive adverse effects on economic activity and, thus, substantially harm social welfare. As conflict escalations are often reported to fragment economic space, we suggest an empirical framework which allows for estimating changes in the size of markets often split by frontlines. This approach uses a differentiated goods oligopoly model to separate effects of conflict intensity on consumer demand, costs of trade, market size, and market structure. We combine daily sales of apples in Hebron-one of the focal points of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict-and variables quantifying complementary aspects of conflict intensity. Conflict is found to suppress demand and affect competition more significantly than it increases costs of trading. Simulations indicate a 15% reduction in total daily consumption during conflict of high intensity while a pacification would yield a 20% welfare gain. This empirical framework allows disentangling the effects of conflict on food markets. The results suggest that relief policies should consider alleviating effects of fragmentation of economic space, e.g., by ensuring humanitarian corridors.
Renewable energy technologies including wind are promoted and deployed in the U.S. to meet growin... more Renewable energy technologies including wind are promoted and deployed in the U.S. to meet growing electricity demand, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and thus to mitigate the climate change impacts of domestic electricity production and consumption. In 2016 wind turbines provide about 8% of total capacity and 6% of electricity generation in the US (EIA 2017). The rapid development of wind power has been supported by technological improvement and reduced costs, renewable electricity policies including federal production tax credits and state renewable portfolio standards, and increased transmission capacity for integrating wind generation into grid. The Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) transmission project was initiated by Texas, the top wind power state in the country, in 2005. The purpose of CREZ is to bring the wind power generated in windy West Texas to the other parts of the state with relatively high power consumption. The CREZ project costed about $6.8 billion and 3,600 miles of high-voltage transmission lines were constructed over the period of 2010-2013 adding 50% more capacity into the electric grid operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). The CREZ project well illustrates the importance of expanding transmission infrastructure for the development of renewable energy. It also provides an excellent case study for understanding the economic impacts and, more importantly, the value of transmission lines, which is the focus of the current study. The crucial role of and social benefits brought by expanding transmission facility are well recognized in the literature. In a deregulated market, by connecting geographically separate markets, additional transmission capacity not only relieves congestion, but also enhance competition and discourage the exercise of market power (Borenstein et al. 2000). Transmission constraint actively changes market conditions and consequently price and its variation (Birge et al. 2014). Davis et al. (2016) documents the significant impact of binding transmission constraint, which is induced by a nuclear power plant closure, on generation cost when the lost generation was met by plants with higher marginal cost. Relaxing transmission constraint was found to greatly increase market surplus and reduce local market power in Indian electricity market (Ryan 2013). Wolak (2015) quantifies the competitiveness benefits of a transmission expansion policy in Alberta, Canada, resulting from lower wholesale market prices. There is a small but growing body of literature pertaining to integration of electricity market. For example, using PJM interconnection as example, Mansur and White (2012) provides empirical evidence suggesting that an organized electricity wholesale market substantially improved market efficiency by facilitating information sharing and encouraging trade. Various empirical methods are employed to investigate integration of regional electricity markets, including, Principal Component Analysis (Zachmann 2008), GARCH and DCC models (Higgs 2009), and common factor approach, (Apergis et al. 2017). With the development of CREZ transmission lines, the regional markets of ERCOT, North (hereafter denoted
ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to explore the mechanism through which a reform in envir... more ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to explore the mechanism through which a reform in environmental education (EE) programs affects pupils’ relation to the environment. We surveyed 589 pupils aged 9–12 years in three types of Israeli elementary school: regular schools, schools that implement an EE program (designated “green schools”), and schools that implement a more intensive EE program (designated “persistent green schools”). Analyzing the results obtained from our questionnaire, we found that both EE programs had a positive effect on environmental attitudes. Importantly, however, only persistent green schools showed a direct positive effect on environmental behavior. In addition, we assessed the influences of various demographic and other factors on pupils’ relation to the environment. Of note, we found that students who spent their leisure time watching TV or engaging with other electronic media expressed less concern about the environment.
In 2005, the State of Israel established a new classification—renewing kibbutzim. This study exam... more In 2005, the State of Israel established a new classification—renewing kibbutzim. This study examines the relationship between the extent of privatization and the various forms of demographic growth that were permissible under the new classification and their impact on the perceived sustainability of the kibbutz in these communal communities. We collected data at the kibbutz level via interviews with community managers and at the individual level through questionnaires among community members in 19 kibbutzim. We employed the “nearest neighbor” methodology to create pairs who were demographically eligible for a before and after comparison. Although our results about perceived sustainability suggest that kibbutzim across the board have overcome the struggle to survive and have been able to recover, unlike commonly assumed, changes they adopted in the direction of more privatization and diversified statuses are clearly correlated with smaller increases in levels of perceived sustainability. Our findings may offer lessons for wider sociological questions concerning processes of privatization and stratification.
Subsidizing energy-efficient technologies is considered by energy and environmental organizations... more Subsidizing energy-efficient technologies is considered by energy and environmental organizations to be one of the most effective policies for decreasing energy consumption. In the transportation sector such policies are becoming ever more popular, and have been implemented in a considerable number of countries in recent years. Because these policies promote energy-efficient cars with lower usage costs, they may rebound and increase the distances traveled by households that have switched to energy-efficient cars. From an econometric perspective, a subsidization policy can be used as a valid instrument to identify the households' choice of energy efficiency levels of the cars they own. This identification, in turn, can be utilized to account for endogeneity in the estimation of a rebound effect. The present study uses a natural experiment setting of such a policy implemented in Israel in 2009. The empirical results indicate a fairly large average rebound effect of 40%. The results also indicate that while the policy indeed encouraged the purchase of energy-efficient cars, households that bought a new or used car during the surveyed period did not generate a rebound effect of a different magnitude compared with other households that did not. We discuss the implications of our findings.
Biofuel subsidies in the United States have been justified on the following grounds: energy indep... more Biofuel subsidies in the United States have been justified on the following grounds: energy independence, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, improvements in rural development related to biofuel plants, and farm income support. The 2007 energy act emphasizes the first two objectives. In this study, we quantify the costs and benefits that different biofuels provide. We consider the first two objectives separately and show that each can be achieved with a lower social cost than that of the current policy. Then, we show that ...
The objective of this study was to explore the mechanism through which a reform in environmental ... more The objective of this study was to explore the mechanism through which a reform in environmental education (EE) programs affects pupils' relation to the environment. We surveyed 589 pupils aged 9-12 years in three types of Israeli elementary school: regular schools, schools that implement an EE program (designated "green schools"), and schools that implement a more intensive EE program (designated "persistent green schools"). Analyzing the results obtained from our questionnaire, we found that both EE programs had a positive effect on environmental attitudes. Importantly, however, only persistent green schools showed a direct positive effect on environmental behavior. In addition, we assessed the influences of various demographic and other factors on pupils' relation to the environment. Of note, we found that students who spent their leisure time watching TV or engaging with other electronic media expressed less concern about the environment.
Many studies assessing national policy reforms in education focus on the likelihood of acquiring ... more Many studies assessing national policy reforms in education focus on the likelihood of acquiring an advanced education and the associated returns in the labor market. In this paper, the authors investigate the impact of the Israeli Academic Colleges Law that was designed to promote the acquisition of higher education among all segments of the Israeli population. They found that this law, in fact, contributed to making higher education accessible more to the Israeli Arab minority than to the rest of the population. In addition, they demonstrate that the influence of the law on improving access to higher education is reflected in the increase in the earning potential of Israeli Arabs.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the standard approach used to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) be... more Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the standard approach used to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits of biofuels. However, the need for the appropriate use of LCA in policy contexts is highlighted by recent findings that corn-based ethanol may actually increase GHG emissions. This is in contrary to most existing LCA results. LCA estimates can vary across studies due to heterogeneities in inputs and production technology. Whether marginal or average impacts are considered can matter as well. Most important of all, LCA is product-centered. The determination of the impact of biofuels expansion requires a system wide approach (SWA) that accounts for impacts on all affected products and processes. This paper presents both LCA and SWA for ethanol based on Iowa corn. LCA was conducted in several different ways. Growing corn in rotation with soybean generates 35% less GHG emissions than growing corn after corn. Based on average corn production, ethanol's GHG benefits were lower in 2007 than in 2006 because of an increase in continuous corn in 2007. When only additional corn was considered, ethanol emitted about 22% less GHGs than gasoline. SWA was applied to two simple cases. Using 2006 as a baseline and 2007 as a scenario, corn ethanol's benefits were about 20% of the emissions of gasoline. If geographical limits are expanded beyond Iowa, then corn ethanol could generate more GHG emissions than gasoline. These results highlight the importance of boundary definition for both LCA and SWA.
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Papers by Ofir Rubin