Daniel C. Matisoff

Kindred spirits or intergovernmental competition? The innovation and diffusion of energy policies in the American states (1990–2008)

The innovation of environmental policies and their subsequent diffusion throughout the American states has been the subject of significant academic attention. Using an event history analysis, a traditional geographic model for policy diffusion is tested against a model where states learn from peer groups, defined by political culture. There is evidence for state learning within peer groups but less support for diffusion across state borders. Policy characteristics, environmental conditions, economic resources, and political constraints and opportunities are tested as drivers of differences in policy adoption. More than any other factor, politics and political culture explains the adoption of energy and climate-change policies. These results also suggest that restricted models that test geographical mechanisms of policy diffusion likely omit important characteristics that are correlated across states, leading to biased findings regarding the geographical state diffusion models in the extant literature.

Spatial Effects in Energy-Efficient Residential HVAC Technology Adoption

If your neighborhood adopts greener, energy-efficient residential heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, will your proenvironmental behavior become contagious, spilling over into adjacent neighborhoods’ HVAC adoptions? Objective data on more than 300,000 detailed single-family house sale records in the Greater Chicago area from 1992 to 2004 are aggregated to census block-group neighborhoods to answer that question. Spatial lag regression models show that spatial dependence or “contagion” exists for neighborhood adoption of energy-efficient HVACs. Specifically, if 625 of 726 homes in a demonstration neighborhood upgraded to green HVAC, data of this study predict that at least 98 upgrades would occur in adjacent neighborhoods, more than doubling their baseline adoption rates. This spatial multiplier substantially magnifies the effects of factors affecting adoption rates. These results have important policy implications, especially in the context of new standards for neighborhood development, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) or Low-Impact Development standards.

Policy Monitor—Green Buildings: Economics and Policies

This article presents an overview of green building economics and policies through a survey of theoretical and empirical evidence concerning green building practices. We define green building policy as policies that affect the entire life of the building, from design and construction to operation and deconstruction. We examine the economics of green buildings in the United States, with particular emphasis on market failures in the building sector such as information problems and externalities. We also discuss how policy instruments are used to address these market failures. We present original data on the types and potential impacts of these policy instruments in the United States, along with a brief review of international green building programs. We conclude by describing challenges for the empirical study of green buildings and priorities for future research and policy in this area.

Making Cap-and-Trade Work: Lessons from the European Union Experience

With a new administration in Washington and a new consensus that carbon dioxide emissions are causing catastrophic climate change, it is becoming clear that the United States will soon adopt some form of market-based regulation scheme. Though many would argue that the United States should have instituted a regulatory scheme years ago, the country will reap one distinct advantage from having a late start: the ability to learn from the European Unions ambitious efforts to tackle the problem of industrial carbon emissions for nearly five years. There are many ways that governments and other regulating bodies can regulate and control industrial carbon emissions, but two of the main methods are the traditional “command and control” strategy in which government sets unwavering limits on how much carbon each business can emit, and a system of “tradable emissions permits”—sometimes called cap and trade—in which a government sets an emissions limit, or cap, for each business or industry and issues permits that correspond to the allowed emissions amounts. Businesses within the system can buy and sell emissions permits to each other, enabling those who need and can afford to emit more carbon to do so without the overall limit being exceeded.

Characteristics of Voluntary Behavior in the Neighborhood Commons The Case of Dog Parks

The neighborhood commons, and dog parks in particular, provide a good laboratory to explore the drivers of voluntarism and trust, as well as the situational and demographic correlates that promote or inhibit voluntarism. This analysis connects a central theme of Ostrom’s work on institutions for overcoming social dilemmas to the literature on voluntary actions and the health of small communities. Survey results from more than 500 users of 14 dog parks in the Atlanta area are examined to understand how variation in park and user characteristics predict variation in individual contributions to the commons, including pro-social attitudes and behavior and dispute resolution behavior. Our analysis shows how institutions foster community commons, which are correlated with both voluntarism and the voluntary enforcement of norms on users. These results from a study in the field contribute to a growing literature that explores the circumstances for successful voluntary supply and maintenance of public goods.

For what it's worth: evaluating revealed preferences for green certification

In a case study that examines the outcomes of a flexible information-based policy, we observe how organizations obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. We use a regression discontinuity analysis to identify practices used to upgrade certification tiers. This analysis reveals preferences for green certification strategies and, we argue, intimates the perceived motivations for green certification. We distinguish practices that potentially confer private gains through returns to efficiency and productivity investments, from practices that only provide public benefits. Data show that organizations strategically certify to avoid high-cost resource use, appeal to key stakeholders, and communicate building and organization quality. Builders upgrading to the highest tiers are more likely to deploy practices with private gains. Results suggest a willingness to extend short time horizons associated with energy-efficiency investments in exchange for marketing benefits. Our discussion notes the capacity for certifications to mitigate market barriers associated with the energy-efficiency gap.

Let sleeping bats lie: Analyzing institutional adaptation to environmental regulatory change through Adaptive Management theory

Employing a case of a state transportation agency, we examine how complex institutions which integrate outsourcing within a bureaucratic process adapt to environmental regulatory changes. In 2012, two endangered species of bats were located outside of their established ranges in northern Georgia. These discoveries required the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to comply with a new set of federal regulations relating to those species when developing its projects. This article examines how GDOT adapted to new and unforeseen regulations in the face of environmental uncertainty. Using archival and interview data, we describe how GDOT engaged in Adaptive Management (AM) to internalize environmental changes (i.e. sufficiently stabilize the situation so that the project can get back on track). We also examine the role of outsourcing in bureaucratic agencies as an avenue for AM and suggest extending the AM model to describe mediating actors in the adaptive process. Furthermore, we investigate the impact adaptation had on project outcomes by analyzing 81 bridge projects, which are most susceptible to these environmental shocks, from a sample of 429 transportation projects using multivariate regression. We show that GDOT engaged in initial decision-making, iterative learning, and collaboration through a multi-tiered communication structure. We then present evidence supporting the narrative that these strategies helped it mitigate the impact of subsequent environmental shocks and improve project outcomes over time through adaptation.

Climate research priorities for policy-makers, practitioners, and scientists in Georgia, USA

Climate change has far-reaching effects on human and ecological systems, requiring collaboration across sectors and disciplines to determine effective responses. To inform regional responses to climate change, decision-makers need credible and relevant information representing a wide swath of knowledge and perspectives. The southeastern U. S. State of Georgia is a valuable focal area for study because it contains multiple ecological zones that vary greatly in land use and economic activities, and it is vulnerable to diverse climate change impacts. We identified 40 important research questions that, if answered, could lay the groundwork for effective, science-based climate action in Georgia. Top research priorities were identified through a broad solicitation of candidate research questions (180 were received). A group of experts across sectors and disciplines gathered for a workshop to categorize, prioritize, and filter the candidate questions, identify missing topics, and rewrite questions. Participants then collectively chose the 40 most important questions. This cross-sectoral effort ensured the inclusion of a diversity of topics and questions (e.g., coastal hazards, agricultural production, ecosystem functioning, urban infrastructure, and human health) likely to be important to Georgia policy-makers, practitioners, and scientists. Several cross-cutting themes emerged, including the need for long-term data collection and consideration of at-risk Georgia citizens and communities. Workshop participants defined effective responses as those that take economic cost, environmental impacts, and social justice into consideration. Our research highlights the importance of collaborators across disciplines and sectors, and discussing challenges and opportunities that will require transdisciplinary solutions.