What do I have on the menu for today? A 2.5 hour introduction to economics class on the U.S. tax system (Chapter 12 in Mankiw), then a PhD dissertation defense (I'm the advisor--student will join the faculty at Mississippi State University in August) then a Master's thesis defense (I'm a committee member even though I haven't read the thing yet), then head coach of a 12 and under softball double-header (first games of the season--unsolicited updates forthcoming).
In case you're curious as to the type of work Master's and PhD students in Environmental Economics are doing, abstracts are included below the jump.
Master's Thesis: "An Econometric Analysis of the Adoption and Stringency of State Renewable Portfolio Standards"
Abstract: In recent years, three pressing issues have come to the forefront of public debate in America – climate change, national security, and economic progress. In each case, a stronger emphasis on renewable energy is often given as a potential solution. In this research, I specifically focus on renewable electricity and the policies that have been used to promote or require its use throughout the United States. One of the most widely used of these policies is a state renewable portfolio standard, which mandates a specified amount of electricity that must be renewable electricity. As of April 25, 2009, 30 states, as well as the District of Columbia, had enacted renewable portfolio standards with various levels of stringency. In this research, I consider factors that have influenced state level decisions to adopt renewable portfolio policies, and the stringency of the standards they have adopted. To accomplish this, in this thesis I develop two econometric models to determine what factors are influential in a state’s decision to adopt a renewable portfolio standard, as well as the stringency of the standard. The results show that six variables – retail electricity price, electricity generation from coal, per capita income, unemployment rate, Cook Partisan Voting Index, and year – are significant in determining if a state had a renewable portfolio standard in a given year, and seven variables – retail electricity price, electricity generation from coal, electricity generation from renewable energy, per capita income, unemployment rate, Cook Partisan Voting Index, and year – are significant in determining the stringency of a state’s standard. In other words, it is a combination of several different factors – state electricity markets, economic conditions, and politics – rather than simply one characteristic of the state, that appears to influence a state’s adoption of a renewable portfolio standard and the standard’s stringency.
PhD Dissertation: "Norms, Image, and Private Contributions to Public Goods: Implications for Public Goods Policy"
Abstract: This dissertation examines individual motivation to provide public goods and implications for public policy designed to influence private provision. It merges psychology and sociology with economics to develop a behavioral model in the context of an environmental issue. The model supposes that individuals have preference over their image of themselves as environmentally responsible people. This image is partially determined by norms they hold about how much to contribute to the public good. These norms, in turn, are influenced by policy-makers, for example through a mechanism such as environmental campaigns.
The first chapter lays out the conceptualization of norms used in the subsequent chapters. The main points are that I distinguish between descriptive norms, what “is” done, and injunctive norms, what “should” be done, and also between two sources of sanctioning for violating a norm: oneself and others.
The second chapter is an empirical analysis which makes some conclusions about the components of one’s environmental self-image. Survey data regarding contributions to a carbon offsetting program show that (1) the higher is one’s contribution, the higher is his self-image, and that (2) the higher is one’s injunctive norm of how much he thinks one should contribute, the lower is his self-image. This indicates that, depending upon the context, the norm itself should enter individuals’ utility functions. It is also shown that self-image itself increases after a contribution has been made, as opposed to individuals making a contribution that is consistent with a given self-image.
Chapter 3 combines everything together into a theoretical model in which policy-makers can allocate tax revenue between direct provision of a public good and influencing norms to try to increase private provision. An analytical analysis of efficiency and a simulation analysis of welfare effects are conducted. Depending upon individual preferences over private good consumption, public good consumption, and image, a positive investment in norm manipulation can increase social welfare.
