Shunsuke Managi

Environmental Regulations and Technological Change in the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry

Technological progress can play a key role in raising standards of living while improving environmental quality. Well-designed environmental regulations encourage innovation, while poorly designed regulations can inhibit progress. The Porter hypothesis goes further to suggest that tougher environmental regulations could spur innovation, leading to increased productivity of market outputs. We apply frontier production analysis to measure various components of total factor productivity within a joint production model, which considers both market and environmental outputs. We test the causality between technological innovation and environmental regulation and find support for a recast version of the Porter hypothesis. (JEL O38, L71)

Technological change and depletion in offshore oil and gas

Abstract This paper tests the hypothesis that technological change has offset depletion for offshore oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico using a unique micro-level data set from 1947–1998. The study supports the hypothesis that technological progress has mitigated depletion effects for our case study, but the pattern differs from the conventional wisdom for non-renewable resource industries. Contrary to the usual assumptions of monotonic changes in productivity or an inverted “U”-shaped pattern, we found that productivity declined for the first 30 years of our study period. But more recently, the rapid pace of technological change has outpaced depletion and productivity has increased rapidly, particularly in most recent 5 years of our study period. We also provide a more thorough understanding of different components of technological change and depletion.

Energy price-induced and exogenous technological change: Assessing the economic and environmental outcomes

In this paper, we distinguish between factor/output substitution and shifts in the production technology frontier. Our model includes the by-products of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions where the function requires the simultaneous expansion of good outputs and reductions in emissions. We estimate a directional output distance function for 80 countries over the period 1971-2000 to measure the exogenous and oil price-induced technological change. On average, we find substantial oil price-induced technological progress at the world level when long-term oil prices are rising, although the growth rate is more volatile in developed countries than in developing countries. The results also show that developed countries experience higher exogenous technological progress in comparison with developing countries, and the gap between the two has increased during the period of our study.

Input and output biased technological change in US agriculture

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) techniques are applied to a state-level data set to measure the total factor productivity in US agriculture over 1960–1996. Total factor productivity is decomposed into input and output biased technological change, efficiency change, and scale change, under both constant return to scale (CRS) and variable return to scale (VRS). Assumption of Hick neutral technological change is discussed. Technological change is found to be the result of efficient use of inputs much more than the effects of output capability increase.

Estimates of Lost Material Stock of Buildings and Roads Due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

This article describes research conducted for the Japanese government in the wake of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck eastern Japan on March 11, 2011. In this study, material stock analysis (MSA) is used to examine the losses of building and infrastructure materials after this disaster. Estimates of the magnitude of material stock that has lost its social function as a result of a disaster can indicate the quantities required for reconstruction, help garner a better understanding of the volumes of waste flows generated by that disaster, and also help in the course of policy deliberations in the recovery of disaster-stricken areas. Calculations of the lost building and road materials in the five prefectures most affected were undertaken. Analysis in this study is based on the use of geographical information systems (GIS) databases and statistics; it aims to (1) describe in spatial terms what construction materials were lost, (2) estimate the amount of infrastructure material needed to rehabilitate disaster areas, and (3) indicate the amount of lost material stock that should be taken into consideration during government policy deliberations. Our analysis concludes that the material stock losses of buildings and road infrastructure are 31.8 and 2.1 million tonnes, respectively. This research approach and the use of spatial MSA can be useful for urban planners and may also convey more appropriate information about disposal based on the work of municipalities in disaster-afflicted areas.

Do socially responsible investment indexes outperform conventional indexes

The question of whether more Socially Responsible (SR) firms outperform or underperform other conventional firms has been debated in the economic literature. In this study, using the Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) indexes and conventional stock indexes in the US, the UK and Japan, first and second moments of firm performance distributions are estimated based on the Markov Switching (MS) model. We find two distinct regimes (bear and bull) in the SRI markets as well as the stock markets for all the three countries. These regimes occur with the same timing in both types of market. No statistical difference in means and volatilities generated from the SRI indexes and conventional indexes in either region was found. Furthermore, we find strong comovements between the two indexes in both the regimes.

Luenberger and Malmquist productivity indices in Japan, 1955-1995

The Luenberger productivity index can simultaneously contract inputs and expand outputs, and is dual to profit maximization. The index is a generalization of the Malmquist productivity index, which is commonly used in productivity studies. Both the Luenberger and Malmquist productivity indices are applied to the prefectural level data in Japan over 1955–1995. If profit maximization assumption is more appropriate than revenue maximization, Malmquist productivity index overestimates productivity changes, since it provides nearly twice growth rate compared to the rate given by the Luenberger productivity index.

Environmental Information Provision, Market Valuation, and Firm Incentives: An Empirical Study of the Japanese PRTR System

The environmental performance of a listed firm could affect its level of investment in pollution prevention and its access to financial markets. Previous studies using Tobin’s q that explore market response to environmental performance do not distinguish between the impact of performance on investment and market response, which may mislead conclusions. To overcome this problem, we simultaneously estimate the functions of the intangible asset, the replacement cost, and the toxic chemical risk. We find that the Japanese financial market does not value risk associated with toxic chemical releases. Nevertheless, even without market valuation, firms increase investment to reduce pollution. (JEL D21, Q58)

Pollution, natural resource and economic growth: an econometric analysis

Theoretical arguments imply that an inverted U-shaped relationship may be quite plausible. It is still not clear from the empirical literature whether the relationship of income and environmental degradation is linear or inverted U-shaped. This paper utilises a more global representative sample, than previous EKC studies, and re-evaluates the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) of sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, forestry, mineral depletion, total suspended particulates, biochemical oxygen demand and nationally protected areas. Furthermore, detailed regional level analysis of carbon dioxide and pollution from agriculture are analysed using detailed disaggregated level data since it may not be reasonable to impose isomorphic EKCs if cross-sections vary in terms of resource endowments and infrastructure.

Environment and productivities in developed and developing countries: the case of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide.

We propose a productivity index for undesirable outputs such as carbon dioxide (CO(2)) and sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) emissions and measure it using data from 51 developed and developing countries over the period 1971-2000. About half of the countries exhibit the productivity growth. The changes in the productivity index are linked with their respective per capita income using a semi-parametric model. Our results show technological catch up of low-income countries. However, overall productivities both of SO(2) and CO(2) show somewhat different results.