Environmental policy: Monopoly, oligopoly, (shale) oil and climate change
Combustion of fossil fuels (oil, gas, and coal) contributes to climate change by generating carbon emissions. Because the effect of fossil fuels on climate change is not taken into account by the free market, government policy is needed to reduce carbon emissions. Optimal climate policy is simple, at least in theory: carbon emissions should be…
The mixed effects of Mixed Land Use: Impacts on firms in urban areas
A city is a thriving organism composed of high densities of people, mostly strangers, which live and interact in a complex series of direct and indirect exchanges. In the past urban policies often aimed to develop monofunctional neighbourhoods, where people and different types of jobs (e.g. manufacturing, business services and retail) were separated. However, in…
Mining causes bottlenecks but improves the business environment
The last two decades have witnessed an extraordinary expansion in global mining activity, an increasing share of which was concentrated in emerging markets. The world’s largest mines can nowadays be found in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This mining boom has reinvigorated the debate about the impact of mining on economic activity and welfare in…
Ethnic clustering in Dutch cities: Neighbourhood formation
Ethnic diversity in the Netherlands is increasing. Urban areas have traditionally been the most diverse. Growing ethnic diversity at the national and regional level does, however, not necessarily translate into multicultural neighbourhoods in cities. At the neighbourhood level, concentration of specific ethnic groups seems to be the more dominant trend. This evokes the question whether…
Social housing: Urban revitalisation programmes are effective
The quality of social housing leaves much to be desired, as a recent report by the NOS points out. There are plans to heavily invest in renovation of social housing. From 2007 to 2012, government and housing associations already invested more than 1 billion – in addition to the regular investments – in the 83 poorest…
Biofuel subsidies from the EU can be allocated more efficiently
Biofuels help reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. In their attempts to meet agreements on limiting greenhouse gas emissions, governments subsidize farmers to grow bioenergy crops. However, current ways of subsidizing farmers in the EU are not optimal. Conventional crops receive large amounts of funds, while upcoming technologies such as biofuel production receive relatively little…
Green tax incentives for company cars result in welfare losses
We all want to make the world a better place. Hence governments aim to help consumers to buy cars with lower CO2 emissions. One way of doing this is by reducing taxes on cars. Ideally, such a tax is directly linked to the actual CO2 emissions of the car because then the polluter pays for…
The congestion charge in London and its effects on office rents
Modern cities enjoy many benefits connected to dense population and proximity of firms, but also face negative effects of agglomeration. In an urban context, external effects of traffic like noise and air pollution, or traffic congestion are some of the most significant issues for policy makers. Inefficiencies arising from congested roads have sparked economic research…
Parking and car ownership: Will cheap parking spaces increase car ownership?
Many cities in Europa are congested. A high population density and historic city centres imply that there is little space left that can be used for parking.
Should we invest in renovating historic buildings?
In many countries, vast amounts of public money are invested to preserve historic buildings. In the Netherlands, for example, total public expenditures on renovation subsidies have been more than a billion euros since the 1970s.