Session 3 Technical Change
a) Energy-saving technical change – micro-evidence What is the micro-evidence about the extent of energy-saving technical change? Describe methods that have been used and the results. How does (should) energy saving technical change respond changes in the price of fossil fuel?
Some possibly useful reading:
Popp, 2001, The effect of new technology on energy consumption, Resource and Energy Economics, 23
b) Energy-saving technical change – macro-theory and evidence How can we model energy saving technical change using an aggregate production function, and how can such a formulation be used to obtain macro evidence in the form of a series for energy-saving technical change? How might “endogenous” energy-saving technical change be modeled?
Some possibly useful reading:
Hassler, Krusell, Olofsson 2010, Energy saving technical change, mimeo
c) “Green” technology What is usually meant by “Green Technology”. What is its quantitative importance? Describe different approaches to modeling green technology. How might a rapid development of it influence the use of fossil fuel? Is there a Green paraxdox”
Some possibly useful reading:
Acemoglu, Aghion, Bursztynx, Hemous, 2010, “The Environment and Directed Technical Change”, mimeo
Gars, Carbon Taxing and Alternative Energy - Complements Rather than Subsititutes, mimeo
Sinn, Public Policies against Global Warming, CESifo Working Paper No. 2087, August 2007
Sinn, Pareto Optimality in the Extraction of Fossil Fuels and the Greenhouse Effect: A Note, CESifo Working Paper No. 2083, August 2007