This paper presents an assessment of the relative efficacy of three key instruments; baselines, trade ratios, and limits; which are under policy discussion in the design of carbon offset programs. Efficiency and distributional considerations are both present in choosing between them. We analyze...

Ideally, carbon offset programs issue each project a number of offset credits equal to the number of reductions in carbon emissions it achieves. Realistically, any one project likely receives more or less offset credits than the emissions it reduces. Therefore, the net emissions impact of offset...

Incorporating carbon offsets in the design of cap-and-trade programs remains a controversial issue because of its potential unintended impacts on emissions. At the heart of this discussion is the issue of crediting of emissions reductions. Projects can be correctly, over- or under-credited for...

Recent studies that compare the efficiency and distributional impacts of alternative instruments to curb sprawl typically ignore what to do with the revenues from anti-sprawl policies, such as development taxes. This paper extends first-best analysis of development taxes aimed at preserving land...

We examine the effects of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) on ambient concentrations of PM10 in the United States between 1990 and 2005. Consistent with prior literature, we find that non-attainment designation has no effect on the average monitor in non-attainment counties, after...

This paper evaluates the welfare effects of in-situ slum upgrading and relocation programs using data for 5,000 households in Mumbai, India. We estimate a model of residential location choice in which households value the ethnic composition of neighborhoods and employment accessibility in...

This is an author-produced, peer-reviewed version of this article. The final, definitive version of this document can be found online at Journal of Environmental Economics and Management published by Elsevier. Copyright restrictions may apply. DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2008.12.004

In recent years there has been much discussion of the difference between Inequality and Polarization. The vast literature on inequality is held to miss out key features of distribution change, which are better described as changes in the polarization. Axioms have been proposed which capture some...