Bengt Kriström – författare

This book shows, we believe, the breadth and the complexity of issues that econo­ mists now tackle in their analysis of the connections between the ecosystem and the economic system. The book offers contributions to such disparate issues as the value of preserving the wolf in Sweden and the proper distribution of permits in an effective global warming treaty. Because these questions remain at the fore­ front of important resource allocation problems that need to be confronted, it is only appropriate that they are represented in a book that intends to paint a picture, albeit certainly incomplete, of the vibrant and progressing state of environmental economics. The contributions cover five areas of environmental economics: policy instru­ ments, cost-benefit analysis, cost-efficiency, contingent valuation and experimental economics. Each area is worthy of a book by itself, but here we have made a point of focusing on problems that seem directly applicable to the pressing policy issues of today. Thus, the contributors address topics that are directly relevant to interna­ tional and regional policy making, as well as those that are linked to development of supporting information systems (e.g. resource accounting). In addition, the con­ tributions seek to provide high-level applications of measurement techniques as well as pertinent critiques of these methods. The next section provides a summary overview of the book.

In a perfect market economy, the cost of raising another euro of tax revenue equals one. However, once distortionary taxes on goods and factors are introduced, the marginal cost of public funds, MCPF, typically deviates from one. Often it exceeds one, but one can also find cases where it falls short of one. This Element introduces the concept of the MCPF, sketches its history, and discusses a number of applications. It does this by undertaking economic evaluations of public sector projects involving a pure public good. An important distinction in the literature relates to where the government has access to lump-sum taxation versus where it must rely on changing a distortionary tax. These are often unit taxes or proportional taxes. Sometimes they are even introduced to alleviate a problem. An example is a tax on emissions of greenhouse gases. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Karl-Goran Maler's work has been a mainstay of the frontiers of environmental economics for more than three decades. This outstanding book, in his honour, assembles some of the best minds in the economics profession to confront and resolve many of the problems affecting the husbandry of our national environments.This book investigates many of the recent advances in economics, in terms of the management of natural resources and environments. The authors also concentrate on other important issues such as control theory for non-convex economic problems, duopoly theory, game theory, local public finance, patent races and population control. In addition, they investigate the difficulties involved in constructing environmental agreements, and detail the potential benefits of marrying together the disciplines of ecology and economics. As a whole, the book effectively illustrates both the power and limitations of economics to shed light on many of today's pressing environmental issues.The diverse range of topics and exceptional quality of the authors - including contributions by Nobel Laureates Kenneth J. Arrow and Robert M. Solow - will make this book essential reading for academics and advanced level students of environmental and resource economics, as well as natural scientists with an interest in resource allocation issues.

This important book sheds light on the ways in which modern tools of welfare economics can be used to assess the benefits and costs of resource conflicts involving hydropower. The chapters highlight key methodological issues in this area; ranging from the intersection between cost benefit analysis and behavioral economics, to the value of load balancing services provided by hydropower. The inclusion of insights from expert contributors from both sides of the Atlantic brings a unique and interesting range of viewpoints to the work.Several factors suggest that resource conflicts involving moving water are likely to be even more difficult to resolve today than they have been in the past. The contributors, top scholars in resource economics, consider a variety of issues through the lens of cost benefit analysis. In the first part of the book, they address specific cases and issues from North America and Europe. The book closes with a more general look at the topic.Academics and students interested in applied welfare economics, especially cost benefit analysis and energy economics, along with government officials in the energy environment nexus and private sector analysts will all find much of interest and value in this volume.Contributors include: J. Duffield, F. Forsund, N. Hanley, L. Hjalmarsson, P.-O. Johansson, Y. Ju, B. Kristrom, J. Loomis, E.M. Moore, B. Ranneby, V.K. Smith

This book presents research on a kind of water use conflicts that is becoming more and more common and important: How to best manage moving water in times of increasing demand for electricity as well as environmental services. How should decisions be made between water use for electricity generation or for environmental and recreational benefits? The authors develop a simple general equilibrium model of a small open economy which is used to derive a cost-benefit rule that can be used to assess projects that divert water from electricity generation to recreational and other uses (or vice versa). The cost-benefit rule is then applied to the specific case of a proposed change at a Swedish hydropower plant. The book provides a manual for the evaluation of river regulations which can easily be replicated in other studies.

Should more water be diverted to or from electricity generation? This timely question is addressed in this short volume. Two different approaches are introduced and compared: The first is a cost-benefit analysis, examining the case of re-regulating a Swedish hydropower plant in which water is diverted from electricity generation to the downstream dryway. The proposed scenario generates environmental and other benefits, but comes at a cost in terms of lost electricity. The second study introduces an approach very different from the one used in conventional cost-benefit analysis, and provides a set of measures designed so that most, if not all, affected parties will be better off. Thus, in contrast to a conventional cost-benefit analysis, which draws on hypothetical compensation measures, the new approach envisages actual compensation. Comparing two different theoretical frameworks on the basis of a real-world case, this study can be seen as a manual that can be used to evaluate reasonably small re-regulation of rivers.

This book presents research on a kind of water use conflicts that is becoming more and more common and important: How to best manage moving water in times of increasing demand for electricity as well as environmental services. How should decisions be made between water use for electricity generation or for environmental and recreational benefits? The authors develop a simple general equilibrium model of a small open economy which is used to derive a cost-benefit rule that can be used to assess projects that divert water from electricity generation to recreational and other uses (or vice versa). The cost-benefit rule is then applied to the specific case of a proposed change at a Swedish hydropower plant. The book provides a manual for the evaluation of river regulations which can easily be replicated in other studies.

This book shows, we believe, the breadth and the complexity of issues that econo­ mists now tackle in their analysis of the connections between the ecosystem and the economic system. The book offers contributions to such disparate issues as the value of preserving the wolf in Sweden and the proper distribution of permits in an effective global warming treaty. Because these questions remain at the fore­ front of important resource allocation problems that need to be confronted, it is only appropriate that they are represented in a book that intends to paint a picture, albeit certainly incomplete, of the vibrant and progressing state of environmental economics. The contributions cover five areas of environmental economics: policy instru­ ments, cost-benefit analysis, cost-efficiency, contingent valuation and experimental economics. Each area is worthy of a book by itself, but here we have made a point of focusing on problems that seem directly applicable to the pressing policy issues of today. Thus, the contributors address topics that are directly relevant to interna­ tional and regional policy making, as well as those that are linked to development of supporting information systems (e.g. resource accounting). In addition, the con­ tributions seek to provide high-level applications of measurement techniques as well as pertinent critiques of these methods. The next section provides a summary overview of the book.

Miljöekonomi behandlar de vanligaste frågeställningarna inom ämnet. Inledningsvis ges en översiktlig bild av ämnets framväxt och varför miljöekonomi är viktigt. Därefter behandlas resursfördelningsproblemet när det förekommer avvikelser från den perfekta marknadsekonomin i form av externa effekter och kollektiva varor. Boken behandlar och analyserar aktuella begrepp som ”grön BNP” och ”grön skatteväxling”. Vidare behandlas metodiken för att värdera miljöresurser i monetära termer, valet av styrmedel i miljöpolitiken, samt sambandet mellan miljö och ekonomisk tillväxt. Andra frågeställningar som behandlas är svårig­heterna med internationella avtal på miljöområdet samt de problem som kan uppstå för ett litet land som Sverige att föra en självständig miljöpolitik. I den andra upplagan har bland annat ett kapitel om klimatpolitik tillkommit och ett avsnitt om energieffektivisering. Vidare har nya exempel lagts till, data uppdaterats och hela texten bearbetats. Boken innehåller också exempel på hur läsaren kan replikera forskningsresultat via det fritt tillgängliga statistikpaketet R.Boken vänder sig till en bred grupp av läsare. Utvalda delar av boken passar till en kortare introduktionskurs i miljöekonomi utan några speciella förkunskapskrav. Boken kan även användas på fördjupningskurser i miljöekonomi och ger möjlighet till djuplodande analys av problemställningarna, vilket kräver förkunskaper i nationalekonomi.

Sverige har som klimatpolitiskt mål att fram till perioden 20082012 minska de svenska utsläppen av växthusgaser med 4 procent jämfört med nivån år 1990. Utsläppshandel är ett viktigt instrument för att nå detta mål. Utsläppshandeln har sin bakgrund i EU:s åtaganden under det s.k. Kyotoprotokollet, den internationella överenskommelse om att minska utsläppen av växthusgaser som trädde i kraft våren 2005. I systemet för handel med utsläppsrätter har ett tak satts för hur stora utsläppen av koldioxid får vara i vart och ett av EU:s medlemsländer. Varje anläggning som omfattas av systemet tilldelas ett bestämt antal utsläppsrätter. Har anläggningen mindre faktiska utsläpp än vad den tilldelats utsläppsrätter kan rätterna säljas på en marknad. Är utsläppen större måste rätter köpas. Hur svensk ekonomi påverkas av att Sverige når klimatmålet, givet att det finns ett system för handel med koldioxidutsläpp inom EU, analyseras av fil dr Martin Hill, ECON, och professor Bengt Kriström, Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet, Umeå. De finner att kostnaderna för nuvarande klimatmål kan bli betydande. Beräkningarna tyder också på att en omfattande strukturomvandling kommer att äga rum.

Hur kan klimatpolitiken göras effektivare, så att vi minskar utsläppen mer till en lägre kostnad än idag? Här analyserar författarna utformningen av en effektiv klimatpolitik genom att ställa två frågor: "Vad kostar en klimatpolitisk åtgärd?" och "Vad är det värt att genomföra denna åtgärd?" Deras genomgång av befintlig miljöekonomisk forskning mynnar ut i tre rekommendationer: renodla, effektivisera och modernisera. Bokens huvudslutsats är att Sverige kan göra mer i klimatpolitiken och få större utsläppsminskningar till en lägre kostnad jämfört med dagens ineffektiva politik. De statliga satsningarna på energieffektivisering är i allt väsentligt ett slöseri med skattemedel. Runar Brännlund och Bengt Kriström är båda professorer och biträdande forskningsledare vid CERE, SLU och Umeå universitet. Recension: Boken är av stort intresse för politiskt aktiva och utgör en intresseväckande debattbok. Bengt Magnusson Björksten, Btj