Jörg Peters

Biodiesel: A New Oildorado?

Guaranteeing tax reductions and exemptions, the European governments intend to increase the share of biofuels in total EU fuel consumption to 5.75% by 2010. The financial support of this EU objective is frequently justified by expected positive environmental impacts, most notably the mitigation of climate change, and by favorable employment effects in the agricultural sector. This paper investigates the environmental and economic implications of the support of rapeseed-based biodiesel as a substitute for fossil diesel.Based on a survey of recent empirical studies, we find that the energy and greenhouse gas balances of this environmental strategy are clearly positive.Yet, its overall environmental balance is currently far from being unequivocally positive. Most importantly, biodiesel is not a cost-efficient emission abatement strategy. Thus, for the abatement of greenhouse gases,we recommend more efficient alternatives based on both renewable and conventional technologies.

Rural Electrification and Fertility - Evidence from Cote d'Ivoire

Abstract Using household-level survey data from Côte dIvoire, this paper investigates the determinants of fertility with a particular focus on the effect of electrification. Based on a Poisson regression model, our analysis suggests a highly significant relationship between fertility and electricity, but one that is only revealed when the model distinguishes between rural and urban areas. Specifically, we find a positive association between electricity and fertility for urban households, contrasted by a negative relationship for rural households. This dichotomy is suggested to reflect the influences of electricity in facilitating child care, offset by its modernising impacts through the provision of information.

Fuel Efficiency and Automobile Travel in Germany: Don’t Forget the Rebound Effect!

The improvement of energy efficiency is often asserted to be one of the most promising options to reduce both the usage of energy and associated negative externalities, such as carbon dioxide emissions (CO2). Ever since the creation of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards in 1975, this assertion has been a mainstay of energy policy in the United States. In recent years, it has also found increasing currency in Europe, as attested to by the voluntary agreement negotiated in 1999 between the European Commission (EC) and the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, stipulating the reduction of average emissions to a target level of 140 g CO2/km by 2008. The EC is additionally considering legislation that would set a target of 120 g CO2/km by 2012.

Television and contraceptive use in Indonesia - A weak signal?

In recent years, rural electrification and access to television have spread throughout the developing world. The values and cultural norms embodied in television programming have potentially profound implications for influencing behaviour, including reproductive decisions. After replicating Westhoff and Koffman’s (2011) finding of a positive correlation between television ownership and contraception using pooled Indonesian data, we proceed to estimate a fixed-effects model. The coefficient on television loses its significance while other policy relevant variables retain theirs. We conclude that the growing corpus of cross-sectional evidence on a link between television and contraception should be interpreted cautiously. JEL-Classification: J13, O12, O33