Global economic integration, technology diffusion and climate change

This thesis is a collection of research papers examining global economic integration, technology diffusion and climate change and their interactions and policy implications. Chapter 1 theoretically analyzes the effect of changes in regional production costs on the inter-regional allocation of intermediate good production in case of Cournot competition. Chapter 2 shows the possibility of a poverty trap with respect to North-South capital mobility and technology diffusion by setting up a theoretical dynamic macro model. Chapter 3 indicates according to an econometric analysis that energy savings via foreign direct investment in developing countries are statistically not robust and significant. Chapter 4 suggests based on a computational general equilibrium analysis that carbon based import tariffs are more effective as a menace towards China than for saving CO2 emissions. Chapter 5 estimates based on an interdisciplinary assessment that health risks and costs due to heat stress might strongly increase in the absence of effective mitigation and adaptation measures until 2100 in Germany.