This volume was prepared by Rahel Aichele while she was working at the ifo Institute. It was completed in December 2012 and accepted as a doctoral thesis by the Department of Economics at the University of Munich. It includes five self-contained chapters. The chapters investigate how, in a...

The world currently stands witness to increasing energy demand mainly because of population growth and improvements in the standard of living. This causes highly negative environmental constraints since energy production, especially from conventional energy sources, is a very intense polluter....

A number of empirical studies have been carried out to assess the impact of sustainable development assistance (SDA) and aid on environmental quality in poor countries, but these studies have been characterized by weak theoretical anchor. It is against this background that this paper provides a...

New environmental technologies (environmental/eco-innovations) are often regarded as potential job creators—in addition to their positive effects on the environment. Environmental regulation may induce innovations that are accompanied by positive growth and employment effects. Recent empirical...

Methane is a greenhouse gas that gets far less public attention than carbon dioxide. This is entirely unwarranted. Being 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere, methane accounts for about one-sixth of all anthropogenic (i.e. human-induced) greenhouse gas...

In the course of current climate negotiations, the world is watching the United States in particular. Together with China, the U.S. is by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Real progress in protecting the global climate requires substantial action on America's part. The U.S. has the...