Adaptation to Climate Change: Commitment and Timing Issues

Breton, M.; Sbragia, L.

Abstract

We study the impact of timing and commitment on adaptation and mitigation policies in the context of international environmental problems. Adaptation policies present the characteristics of a private good and may require a prior investment, while mitigation policies produce a public good. In a stylized model, we evaluate the impact of strategic commitment and leadership considerations when countries with different attitudes towards environmental cooperation coexist. We obtain equilibrium abatement and adaptation levels and environmental costs under partial cooperation for various timing and leadership scenarios. Crucially, global environmental costs suffered by countries are found to be greater when adaptation measures can be used strategically.

Citation

Breton, M., & Sbragia, L. (2017). Adaptation to Climate Change: Commitment and Timing Issues. Environmental and Resource Economics, 68(4), 975-995. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-016-0056-9

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 22, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Aug 3, 2016
• Publication Date: 2017-12
• Deposit Date: Mar 22, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 23, 2017
• Journal: Environmental and Resource Economics
• Print ISSN: 0924-6460
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-1502
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 68
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 975-995
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-016-0056-9
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1390379