Annual Review of Resource Economics 

About: Annual Review of Resource Economics is an academic journal published by Annual Reviews. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Agriculture & Climate change. It has an ISSN identifier of 1941-1359. Over the lifetime, 323 publications have been published receiving 13211 citations.

Energy Efficiency Economics and Policy

Abstract: Energy efficiency and conservation are considered key means for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving other energy policy goals, but associated market behavior and policy responses have engendered debates in the economic literature. We review economic concepts underlying consumer decision making in energy efficiency and conservation and examine related empirical literature. In particular, we provide an economic perspective on the range of market barriers, market failures, and behavioral failures that have been cited in the energy efficiency context. We assess the extent to which these conditions provide a motivation for policy intervention in energy-using product markets, including an examination of the evidence on policy effectiveness and cost. Although theory and empirical evidence suggests there is potential for welfare-enhancing energy efficiency policies, many open questions remain, particularly relating to the extent of some key market and behavioral failures.

The Economics of Genetically Modified Crops

Abstract: Genetically modified (GM) crops have been used commercially for more than 10 years. Available impact studies of insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant crops show that these technologies are beneficial to farmers and consumers, producing large aggregate welfare gains as well as positive effects for the environment and human health. The advantages of future applications could even be much bigger. Given a conducive institutional framework, GM crops can contribute significantly to global food security and poverty reduction. Nonetheless, widespread public reservations have led to a complex system of regulations. Overregulation has become a real threat for the further development and use of GM crops. The costs in terms of foregone benefits may be large, especially for developing countries. Economics research has an important role to play in designing efficient regulatory mechanisms and agricultural innovation systems.

Agriculture for Development: Toward a New Paradigm

Abstract: The fundamental role that agriculture plays in development has long been recognized. In the seminal work on the subject, agriculture was seen as a source of contributions that helped induce industrial growth and a structural transformation of the economy. However, globalization, integrated value chains, rapid technological and institutional innovations, and environmental constraints have deeply changed the context for agriculture's role. We argue that a new paradigm is needed that recognizes agriculture's multiple functions for development in that emerging context: triggering economic growth, reducing poverty, narrowing income disparities, providing food security, and delivering environmental services. Yet, governments and donors have neglected these functions of agriculture with the result that agriculture growth has been reduced, 75% of world poverty is rural, sectoral income disparities have exploded, food insecurity has returned, and environmental degradation is widespread, compromising sustainability...

Oil Price Shocks: Causes and Consequences

Abstract: Research on oil markets conducted during the last decade has challenged long-held beliefs about the causes and consequences of oil price shocks. As the empirical and theoretical models used by economists have evolved, so has our understanding of the determinants of oil price shocks and of the interaction between oil markets and the global economy. Some of the key insights are that the real price of oil is endogenous with respect to economic fundamentals and that oil price shocks do not occur ceteris paribus. As a result, one must explicitly account for the demand and supply shocks underlying oil price shocks when studying their transmission to the domestic economy. Disentangling cause and effect in the relationship between oil prices and the economy requires structural models of the global economy including the oil market.

The Social Cost of Carbon

Abstract: This article surveys the literature on the economic impact of climate change. Different methods have been used to estimate the impact of climate change on human welfare. Studies agree that there are positive and negative impacts. In the short term, positive impacts may dominate, but these are sunk benefits that will obtain regardless of abatement policy. In the longer term, there are net negative impacts. Poorer people tend to be more vulnerable to climate change. Estimated aggregate impacts are not very large, but they are uncertain and incomplete. Estimates of the marginal impacts suggest that greenhouse gas emissions should be taxed and that the emission reduction targets announced by politicians are probably too ambitious. Estimates of the willingness to pay for climate policy suggest that lay people are probably more concerned than experts about the total impact of climate change, whereas lay people and experts agree on estimates of the incremental impact of carbon dioxide emissions.