Johan Eyckmans

KU Leuven | ku leuven · Center for Economics and Corporate Sustainability

This paper introduces a generic hybrid methodology for assessing economic and environmental impacts along interconnected supply chain markets, considering both the material/product level and the market mechanisms that govern resource allocation. The methodology is illustrated by considering a competitive market and benevolent social planner variant...

The circular economy (CE) has gained prominence in recent years in government and business policies, as well as academic research. Yet, its alleged wholesomeness is increasingly questioned and few quantitative studies include both the outer (e.g. recycling) and inner circles (e.g. reduce or reuse), respectively the ex-ante least and most efficient...

Based on a survey of 2,106 individuals, this study aims to get a better understanding of the attitudes toward carsharing in Flanders, Belgium. Several drivers and barriers that influence household decisions to participate in a carsharing system are identified. An ordinal logit model reveals that highly educated, younger males with high ecological c...

Private car-use is a major contributor of greenhouse gases. Car-sharing is often hypothesised as a potential solution to reduce car-ownership, which can lead to car-sharing users reducing their car-use. However, there is a risk that car-sharing may also increase car-use amongst some users. Existing studies on the impacts of car-sharing on car-use a...

The COVID-19 pandemic induces the worst economic downturn since the Second World War, requiring governments to design large-scale recovery plans to overcome this crisis. This paper quantitatively assesses the potential of government investments in eco-friendly construction projects to boost the economy and simultaneously realise environmental gains...

The project has made substantial progress in different areas related to circular economy. First, it has enhanced our understanding of the circular economy concept by developing a novel theoretical framework to ground indicators. Second, extended input-output modelling tools have been developed and used to study the interlinkages within the Belgian...

The increasing focus on circular economy at the level of governments and policy requires the development of appropriate indicators to effectively monitor the progress towards the circular economy. Currently two very different types of indicator areas are under development: (i) monitoring frameworks based on macro indicators that summarize the progr...

The circular economy literature lacks unambiguous definitions. We argue that a convenient solution to this problem consists of defining the circular economy as a function of a metric, departing from a well-defined material flow and value system. In particular, we propose a metric that is derived from maximizing the value to society of materials use...

This paper analyses in a systematic way the effect of benefit and cost parameter heterogeneity on the stability and effectiveness of International Environmental Agreements. Compared to existing literature, we consider a more general form of heterogeneity, different functional forms and alternative collective decision making processes in coalitions...

Urgent solutions are needed in Europe to deal with construction and demolition waste (CDW). EU policy has contributed to significantly reducing the amount of CDW going to landfill, but most of the effort has been put in downcycling practices. Therefore, further policies are needed to stimulate high-quality recycling of CDW. The present paper presen...

Non-renewable resources include a large variety of deposits that have been formed by geological processes over millions of years. Although extraction of such resources provides benefits as employment and economic revenues, it also contributes to negative environmental externalities and it increases resource scarcity. An important policy question is...

Both landfill taxes and Enhanced Waste Management (EWM) practices can mitigate the scarcity issue of landfill capacity by respectively reducing landfilled waste volumes and valorising future waste streams. However, high landfill taxes might erode incentives for EWM, even though EWM creates value by valorising waste. Concentrating on Flanders (Belgi...

We report results from a comparison of numerically calibrated game theoretic integrated assessment models that explore the stability and performance of international coalitions for climate change mitigation. We identify robust results concerning the incentives of different nations to commit themselves to a climate agreement and estimate the extent...

Weight-based pricing systems for municipal solid waste collection and processing are increasingly popular in many European countries and regions. However, the impact on waste generation of such pricing schedules remains debated and depends strongly on the practical details of the system used. This article assesses the impact of a voluntary transiti...

In this paper, we empirically test the stability of valuation estimates of road traffic noise based on house prices. A hedonic valuation model is constructed and estimated for two separate housing markets in Belgium. We estimate noise depreciation sensitivity index (NDSIs) for different modelling choices for both markets separately, jointly and tak...

In order to stimulate recycling, a clever mix of policy instruments is needed because of the interacting external effects, the possibility of illegal disposal and imperfectly competitive markets. This chapter focuses on economic instruments like recycled content standards, taxes on virgin materials, waste disposal fees, recycling subsidies, deposit...

During the last decade waste management has been characterized by two main trends: the growth of international trade of waste materials and the introduction of extended producer responsibility (EPR) as a policy instrument. In this paper a two-country stylized model with imperfect competition in the recycling market is used to address two research q...

Het voorliggend rapport onderzoekt de haalbaarheid en mogelijke effecten van een eventuele invoering van recyclagecertificaten in Vlaanderen en focust hierbij op 3 specifieke cases. De vraag wordt gesteld of recyclagecertificaten kunnen ingezet worden om de recyclage van reststromen (of specifieke fracties ervan) te bevorderen ten opzichte van ande...

This paper discusses the implications of climate change for official transfers from rich countries (the North) to poor countries (the South). The concern is no longer just about poverty alleviation (i.e. income in the South), but also about global emissions and resilience to climate risk. Another implication is that traditional development transfer...

In this paper we report results from a comparison of numerically calibrated game theoretic integrated assessment models that explore stability and performance of international coalitions for climate change mitigation. Specifically, by means of this ensemble of models we are able to identify robust results concerning incentives of nations to commit...

Although the UN and EU focus their climate policies on the prevention of a 2 degrees C global mean temperature rise, it has been estimated that a rise of at least 4 degrees C is more likely. Given the political climate of inaction, there is a need to instigate a bottom-up approach so as to build domestic support for future climate treaties, empower...

This paper presents an integer programming (IP) model for solving an online energy supply game. Instead of a traditional approach in which students are given a problem statement and asked to develop an IP model, both the problem and data are hidden in the game. The energy supply game can be used to illustrate many mathematical programming concepts...

This paper explores the socio-economics of Enhanced Landfill Mining (ELFM). A conceptual framework including performance drivers is presented. Technology (Waste-to-Energy (WtE) and Waste-to-Material (WtM) technologies), regulation (subsidies, taxes, allowances…) and markets (energy, material prices and input costs) determine the economic performanc...

This chapter makes use of and combines concepts from coalition theory and applied integrated assessment modeling to provide some insights for climate governance. The chapter first identifies the key issues discussed in the debate on climate architectures and desirable features for future climate agreements. Then, the chapter analyze how coalition t...

Governments and co-operations are aware of the fact that more sustainable consumption and production practices are required. Efforts are being made to produce less waste while increasing the recycling ratio. Concurrently, it is of importance to place landfilling in a sustainable context. The present paper discusses a novel concept where a landfill...

This paper explores the socio-economics of Enhanced Landfill Mining (ELFM). A conceptual framework including performance drivers is presented. Technology (Waste-to-Energy (WtE) and Waste-to-Material (WtM) technologies), regulation (subsidies, taxes, allowances…) and markets (energy, material prices and input costs) determine the economic perform...

This paper presents an Integer Programming (IP) model for solving an online energy supply game. Instead of a traditional approach in which students are given a problem statement and asked to develop an IP model, both the problem and data are hidden in the game. Next to developing IP modeling skills, students also become familiar with the properties...

In this paper we set up a two-stage theoretical model of consumers’ demand and municipalities’ pricing policy for residual municipal solid waste collection and processing. Local policy makers set the local residual municipal solid waste price in order to maximize welfare in the municipality net of waste disposal costs, potential perks and political...

We study the impact of some local policies aimed at municipal solid waste (MSW) reduction on the cost efficiency of MSW collection and disposal. We explicitly account for differences between municipalities in background conditions by using a bootstrapped version of the Data Envelopment Analysis methodology in combination with a matching technique....

In this paper we estimate the external cost caused by odor from an animal waste processing facility in Flanders using new odor measures based on field measurements. We compare three different ways of incorporating odor nuisance indicators into the model: distance to the odor source, continuous odor measures, and a dummy variable approach comparable...

We propose a class of sharing rules for the distribution of the gains from cooperation for partition function games with externalities. We show that this class of sharing rules is characterized by three axioms: coalitional efficiency, additivity and anonimity which are adapted to the context of partition function games. The sharing rules stabilize,...

We study the impact of some local policies aimed at municipal solid waste (MSW) reduction on the cost efficiency of MSW collection and disposal. We explicitly account for differences between municipalities in background conditions by using a bootstrapped version of the Data Envelopment Analysis methodology in combination with a matching technique....

We consider a firm with the following characteristics: (i) it has a vintage capital technology with two complementary factors, capital and an input subject to quota; (ii) scrapping of obsolete capital is endogenous; (iii) technological progress allows to save the regulated input, and is endogenous through purposive R&D investment; (iv) the innovati...

We analyze stability of self-enforcing climate agreements based on a data set generated by the CLIMNEG world simulation model (CWSM), version 1.2. We consider two new aspects which appear important in actual treaty-making. First, we consider a sequential coalition formation process where players can make proposals which are either accepted or count...

Op 29 november begint in Cancún in Mexico, de jaarlijkse klimaattop van de Verenigde Naties. Na de mislukking van de conferentie in Kopenhagen vorig jaar, zijn de verwachtingen een pak minder hoog gespannen deze keer. Voor de meeste waarnemers zal de top van Cancún al een succes zijn als de afspraken van vorig jaar geconsolideerd worden. Dit Leuven...

Local policy makers in Flanders often claim that an important fraction of waste presented at their municipal recycling centres originates from nearby municipalities. If neighbouring municipalities charge significantly different prices at their recycling centres, residents indeed have an incentive to present their waste at the cheapest location. As...

Better slag valorisation is part of improving the sustainability of steel, stainless steel and non-ferrous metal production. Besides, it can improve the sustainability of other products and production processes as well. Several slag valorisation routes were studied in the past but not much high value applications are implemented yet due to technica...

Strategic market behavior by permit sellers will harm the European Union (EU) as it is expected to become a large net buyer of permits in a follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. In this paper, we explore how the EU could benefit from making permit trade agreements with non-EU countries. These trade agreements involve permit sales requirement,...

We investigate how moral concerns about permit trading affect an endogenous pollution permit trading equilibrium, where governments choose non-cooperatively the amount of permits they allocate to domestic industries. Politicians may feel reluctant to allow permit trading and/or may prefer that abatement is undertaken domestically because of moral c...

In this paper we analyze the allocation of allowances to Belgian industry during the first phase of EU ETS. Overall, Belgian industry was allocated long during phase 1 but there are marked differences between the regions. Allocations in Flanders were on average less generous than in the other regions and especially the power sector in Flanders has...

We investigate how moral concerns about permit trading affect an endogenous pollution permit trading equilibrium, where governments choose non-cooperatively the amount of permits they allocate to domestic industries. Politicians may feel reluctant to allow permit trading and/or may prefer that abatement is undertaken domestically because of moral c...

Leading economists offer theoretical, quantitative, and policy perspectives on climate policy. Debates over post-Kyoto Protocol climate change policy often take note of two issues: the feasibility and desirability of international cooperation on climate change policies, given the failure of the United States to ratify Kyoto, and the very limited in...

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of statistical techniques to evaluate the effectiveness of voluntary policy instruments for waste management. The voluntary character of these instruments implies that latent characteristics, unobserved by the analyst, might influence the subscription decision and might lead to biased estimates of...

The literature suggests that Russia and Ukraine may become large sellers of greenhouse gas emissions permits under the Kyoto Protocol and might exploit their market power to maximize trading profits. The EU countries taken together will probably be net buyers of permits. For any given global target for emission, participation by developing countrie...

In this paper we analyze the negotiation strategy of the European Union regarding the formation of an international climate agreement for the post-2012 era. We use game theoretical stability concepts to explore incentives for key players in the climate policy game to join future climate agreements. We compare a minus 20 percent unilateral commitmen...

In this paper we analyze the negotiation strategy of the European Union regarding the formation of an international climate agreement for the post-2012 era. We use game theoretical stability concepts to explore incentives for key players in the climate policy game to join future climate agreements. We compare a minus 20 percent unilateral commitmen...

We analyze important forces that hamper the formation of successful self-enforcing agreements to mitigate global warming from an economic point of view. The analysis combines two modules: (a) an integrated assessment model that captures the feedback between the economy, environmental damages and the climate system and (b) a game theoretic model tha...

Economic theories of managing renewable resources, such as fisheries and forestry, traditionally assume that individual harvesters are perfectly rational and thus able to compute the harvesting strategy that maximizes their discounted profits. The current paper presents an alternative approach based on bounded rationality and evolutionary mechanism...

The environmental costing model (Milieu-Kosten-Model or MKM in Dutch) is a tool for assessing cost-efficiency of environmental policy. The present paper describes the modelling methodology and illustrates it by presenting numerical simulations for selected multi-sector and multi-pollutant emission control problems for Flanders. First, the paper sit...

We propose a class of sharing schemes for the distribution of the gains from cooperation for coalition games with externalities. In the context of the partition function, it is shown that any member of this class of sharing schemes leads to the same set of stable coalitions in the sense of d’Aspremont et al. (1983). These schemes are “almost ideal”...

The CLIMNEG World Simulation (CWS) model is introduced here for simulating cooperative game theoretic aspects of global climate negotiations. The CWS model is derived from the seminal RICE model by Nordhaus and Yang (1996). We first state the necessary conditions that determine Pareto e#cient investment and emission abatement paths under alternativ...

We combine the newest concepts of non-cooperative coalition theory with a computable general equilibrium model close to the seminal RICE-model of Nordhaus and Yang (1996) to determine stable coalition structures in a global warming game. We consider three coalition games that allow for the formation of multiple coalitions. The coalition games repre...

We analyze with an integrated assessment model of climate change the formation of international environmental agreements (IEAs) by applying the widely used concept of internal& external stability and several modifications of it. We relax the assumptions of a single agreement and open membership rule. It turns out that regional agreements are superi...

Economic theories of managing renewable resources, such as fisheries and forestry, traditionally assume that individual harvesters are perfectly rational and thus able to compute the harvesting strategy that maximizes their discounted profits. The current paper presents an alternative approach based on bounded rationality and evolutionary mechanism...

This paper can be downloaded without charge at: The Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei Note di Lavoro Series Index: http://www.feem.it/web/activ/_activ.html Social Science Research Network Electronic Paper Collection: http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=XXXXXX The opinions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the position of Is Kyoto Fatally...

First, this article uses standard welfare economics to illustrate the market failure and policy coordination problems caused by transboundary pollution problems in general and global warming in particular. Secondly, a brief overview is given of the main results obtained by empirical modelling exercises that combine both cost and damage estimates fo...

The CLIMNEG world simulation (CWS) model is introduced here for simulating cooperative game theoretic aspects of global climate negotiations. The CWS model is derived from the seminal RICE model by Nordhaus and Yang [Am. Econ. Rev. 86 (1996) 741]. We first state the necessary conditions that determine Pareto efficient investment and emission abatem...

In this paper we introduce the CLIMNEG World Simulation #CWS# model for simulating cooperative game theoretic aspects of global climate negotiations. The model is derived from the seminal RICE model by Nordhaus and Yang #1996#. We #rst state the necessary conditions that determine optimal investment and emission abatement paths under alternative co...

This paper investigates the coalitional stability of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on the emissions of greenhouse gases. Unlike conventional coalition stability tests we assume that potential deviators are farsighted in the sense of Chwe #1994# and takeinto account possible subsequent deviations by the remaining players. In the empirical part of the pape...

Combustion of fossil fuels causes carbon emissions which contribute to global climate change. But combustion processes are also responsible for sulphur emissions and sulphate aerosols o#set part of the global warming problem since they increase locally the albedo of the Earth's atmosphere. However, sulphate aerosols contribute to the regional acidi...

In this paper we investigate emission trading within the EU and, more specifically, some proposals to impose ceilings on emission trading. We compare different proposals put forward by the EU negotiators at the international level in the framework of the Kyoto Protocol and apply them to intra-EU greenhouse gasses emission trading. It turns out that...

In this paper we investigate the EU Burden Sharing Agreement on the distribution of the Kyoto emission reduction target over the EU member states. We use an inverse welfare optimum approach to compute the implicit weights making the Burden Sharing Agreement a welfare optimum for the EU. This methodology enables us to visualise the efficiency-equity...

Combustion of fossil fuels causes carbon emissions which contribute to global climate change. But combustion processes are also responsible for sulphur emissions and sulphate aerosols offset part of the global warming problem since they increase locally the albedo of the Earth's atmosphere. However, sulphate aerosols contribute to the regional acid...

Uniform effort sharing rules for transfrontier pollution problems, like the popular equal percentage reduction arrangement, do not result in a cost efficient allocation of emission abatement efforts. In addition, they may violate voluntary participation constraints if the uniform effort level is decided upon by means of ordinary majority vote. In c...

For a very general class of pollution control models involving strictly quasi-concave utility functions over consumption and environmental quality and strictly convex emission abatement cost functions, a proportional cost sharing mechanism is presented inspired by the ratio equilibrium introduced by7. It is shown that the proportional solution yiel...

The authors analyze the international aspects of the greenhouse problem. The equity versus efficiency trade-off is examined by reducing the set of instruments to the allocation of abatement efforts over countries without the possibility of side payments. The traditional cost-effective allocation of abatement efforts is no longer necessarily optimal...

In this paper we investigate how moral considerations, modelled as identity effects, affects an endogenous pollution permit trading equilibrium, in which governments choose in a non-cooperative way the amount of permits they allocate to their domestic industries. Politicians might feel reluctant to allow unlimited permit trading and/or may prefer t...

Economists advocate tradable emission quota as an ideal policy instrument to tackle environmental externalities because they would allow separating efficiency from equity considerations. An efficient allocation of abatement efforts is ensured by the operation of a competitive permit market; equity objectives can be pursued by the choice of a suitab...

This book deals with climate change and energy problems and is the result of research cooperation within the unit Energy, Transport and Environment at the Center of Economic Studies of the K.U.Leuven. The research unit consists of academics and researchers of the K.U.Leuven Association (HUBrussel and Faculty of Economics and Business – K.U.Leuven)....

Recent heeft de federale overheid beslist om op termijn alle kerncentrales te sluiten. De kans is groot dat de discussie hierover de komende maanden weer oplaait. Wij pleiten er voor om deze discussie niet uit te weg te gaan en om alle productietechnologieën voor elektriciteit met hun "juiste prijs" te confronteren. Een dergelijk -meer intelligent...