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112. Environmental regulation in a transitional political system: delegation of regulation and perceived corruption in South Africa
- Author:
- Pedro Naso
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
- Abstract:
- I study the economic motivations behind a reduction in the discretionary power of environmental regulators, and the impact that such reduction has on perceived corruption in South Africa. I examine the transition from the Air Pollution Protection Act of 1965 to the Air Quality Act of 2005, a change from full to partial delegation of regulation. By constructing a principal-agent model, I argue that this transition might have occurred because of an increase in the dispersion of rent-seeking motivations of public agents. This happens because, from the principal’s perspective, the possible harm— loose pollution control and misappropriation of environmental fines— generated by corrupt agents is greater than the potential benefits brought by diligent agents. In my empirical analysis, I use diff-indiffs models for a two-period panel with 191 South African firms to show that the regulatory change decreased treated firms’ perceived corruption, but did not improve other institutional quality measures.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, Environment, Regulation, and Pollution
- Political Geography:
- Africa and South Africa
113. Impacts of legal and regulatory institutions on economic development
- Author:
- Pedro Naso
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
- Abstract:
- Since the second half of the 20th century, with the contributions of Coase, Williamson and North, the economic literature has emphasised the role of institutions in explaining differences in economic performance. According to the most diffused view, countries with good institutions will invest more in physical and human capital, will use productive factors in a more efficient way, and will achieve greater income level. But what are good institutions? And how should governments implement them? Answers to these questions have proven to be difficult mainly because of two characteristics of institutions: (i) institutional functioning is complex: the way institutions affect economic agents’ incentives is dependent on these agents’ individual preferences and the way they interact, which are difficult to predict; and (ii) they are context specific – the same institution in different contexts might result in a different economic outcome.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, Environment, Regulation, and Economic Policy
- Political Geography:
- Africa, South Africa, and Sierra Leone
114. Climate Change, Carbon Politics, and Kenya’s Democratic Future
- Author:
- Jacqueline M. Klopp and Abdullahi Boru Halakhe
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Carbon politics is playing out in oil-producing African countries with lethal consequences. Countries like Nigeria, Angola, Sudan, and South Sudan are conflict-ridden and economically unequal, and, as climate change concerns clash with new fossil fuel-driven development efforts, carbon politics is taking on ever-greater significance. While the scramble for fossil fuels could increase authoritarianism as it spreads in East Africa, an ecologically-driven imperative to address climate change could reinforce stronger democratic institutions.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Oil, Natural Resources, and Democracy
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Sudan, Nigeria, Angola, East Africa, and South Sudan
115. Let the Pacific Islands Co-Design Solutions to Climate Change
- Author:
- Fale Andrew Lesa
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Beyond the palm trees and crystal-blue waters of a South Pacific paradise lies an ecosystem on the brink of collapse. But for native Samoans like myself, this is hardly a surprise. Subtle changes to the local environment have been appearing for decades now. First, the Samoan community noticed differences in the soil quality (making it harder to grow crops), the fresh water supply, local fisheries, and eventually even personal safety, with natural disasters becoming ever more frequent and far more fatal. Agriculture and tourism are the two largest industries, and fears of an impending climate crisis could threaten the backbone of our economy, denying future generations much needed growth and development. Climate justice—like its sister, social justice—is underpinned by the idea that the poorest of the poor, and the most remote, are the first to lose. In the Pacific, these communities are predominantly indigenous.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Natural Resources, Water, and Justice
- Political Geography:
- Asia-Pacific, Samoa, and Oceans
116. The Battle Heats Up: Climate Issues in the 2020 US Presidential Election
- Author:
- Arnault Barichella
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI)
- Abstract:
- Environmental issues have frequently enjoyed bipartisan support in American history: the Clean Air Act was enacted in 1963 under Democratic President Johnson, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in 1970 under Republican President Nixon. This began to change in the 1980s under President Reagan, due to the rise of neoliberal economic theories pioneered by Republicans. Conservatives increasingly viewed environmental regulations as economic impediments. Partisanship on this issue then accelerated throughout the 1990s and 2000s, subject to the influence of powerful lobbying groups. President Bush Jr. refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, actively promoted fossil fuels, and his administration attempted to cast doubt about the science of climate change. Climate partisanship somewhat abated during the 2008 and 2012 Presidential elections, since both McCain and Romney were ‘moderate’ Republicans.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Elections, Legislation, Donald Trump, and Barack Obama
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
117. Offshore Wind Power Floating in its Industrial and Technological Dimension
- Author:
- Michel Cruciani
- Publication Date:
- 07-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI)
- Abstract:
- Europe has become a frontrunner in fixed offshore wind. Can this success story be replicated with floating offshore wind, a technology that would lift the sea depth constraint and thus open up wider market opportunities? This research study looks at the main success factors for this emerging industry.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Electricity, Renewable Energy, and Wind Power
- Political Geography:
- France and European Union
118. China’s Quest for Blue Skies: The Astonishing Transformation of the Domestic Gas Market
- Author:
- Sylvie Cornot-Gandolphe
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI)
- Abstract:
- China’s gas industry has been moving into a new era. China’s natural gas demand has skyrocketed amid a state campaign that encourages coal-to-gas switching. In just two years, China added 75 billion cubic meters (bcm) to global gas demand, the equivalent of the UK gas market, the second largest European market. Despite steadily rising, Chinese gas production has not been able to cope with such a huge increase in demand and gas imports have also surged.
- Topic:
- Security, Climate Change, Energy Policy, Gas, and Renewable Energy
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
119. What Will Become of South East Asia?
- Author:
- Giulia Sciorati
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
- Abstract:
- Despite being frequently overlooked crushed as it is in the midst of great Asian powers, South East Asia recently found a new space in the international system. And this space already attracted the attention of the old and the new great powers that orbit around the region. Other than Asian powers like China and Japan, the United States are currently joined by Australia in an attempt to find a role in the promising markets of South East Asia. Competition for supremacy in the area is in fact paralleled to a quest for the control of the maritime routes that cross the region. At the same time, in the past few years, many South East Asian states have been subjected to power transitions that have remodeled the political architecture of the region as a whole. South East Asia thus is at the verge of a new momentum that witnesses radical changes in the region’s internal power relations and external balance of power. In addition, South East Asian states are diplomatically entwined within the Association for South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), an organization that is not dispensed from the reform wave that currently invests the region.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Radicalization, Geopolitics, and Trade
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Southeast Asia
120. The European Union-Russia-China energy triangle
- Author:
- Georg Zachmann
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Bruegel
- Abstract:
- We argue that energy relations between the EU and Russia and between China and Russia influence each other. We analyse their interactions in terms of four areas: oil and gas trading, electricity exchanges, energy technology exports and energy investments. We discuss five key hypotheses that describe the likely developments in these four areas in the next decade and their potential impact on Europe: 1. There is no direct competition between the EU and China for Russian oil and gas 2. China and the EU both have an interest in curbing excessive Russian energy rents 3. The EU, Russia and China compete on the global energy technology market, but specialise in different technologies 4. Intercontinental electricity exchange is unlikely 5. Russia seems more worried about Chinese energy investments with strategic/political goals, than about EU investments We find no evidence of a negative spillover for the EU from the developing Russia-China energy relationship. But, eventually, if these risks – and in particular the risk of structural financial disintermediation – do materialise, central banks would have various instruments to counter them.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Oil, and Europe Union
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, and Europe