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Workshop on Energy and Environmental Research

UH Mānoa is particularly strong in energy, environment and resource policy, which often requires interdisciplinary research. This workshop is organized by UHERO and facilitates interaction among faculty and graduate students in UHERO, Economics, Engineering, NREM, DURP, SOEST and more. We also hope to draw participation from visitors and professional economists and policy analysts around the State. Work in progress is strongly encouraged!

Seminars will take place at the Miller Room. The seminar can also be attended online via Zoom on Mondays from 12:00pm – 1:15pm. Subscribe to the WEER mailing list to receive the Zoom link and further information on upcoming sessions.

Class Credit:
Graduate students can obtain ECON 696 credit from Professor Roberts.

Spring 2024

Date

Speaker

Title

Abstract

February 12

Anders Dugstad
(Postdoctoral scholar, Natural Resource and Envrionmental Management)

The Impact of Choice Architecture on Preferences for Environmental Goods: An Experimental Study of Attribute Translations and Signposting

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The Impact of Choice Architecture on Preferences for Environmental Goods: An Experimental Study of Attribute Translations and Signposting

Anders Dugstad
Abstract: (View Paper)
This study explores the concept of choice architecture and attribute translations in high-stake public management. Attribute translations refer to various ways attributes of private and public goods can be described or measured. These translations capture different utility and disutility aspects and assist decision-makers in aligning their preferences with potentially overlooked objectives and personal values. Attribute translations function as cognitive cues or signposts that remind decision-makers of their objectives. However, limited research exists on the prevalence and implications of signpost effects, especially for the public good provision. We present a novel formalized theoretical framework that motivates hypotheses regarding attribute translations as a choice architectural tool on decision-makers’ preferences. Furthermore, we report findings from a large-scale experiment that empirically examines the impact of manipulating the representation of a key contextual attribute. Our analysis demonstrates that attribute translations can activate congruent objectives and lead to predictable shifts in preference expressions. Additionally, individuals with strong pre-existing personal values that align with a specific attribute translation exhibit a more pronounced shift, indicating increased salience and influence of congruent objectives in decision-making. We further find that experimental variation in the presentation of attribute translations have impacts on choice certainty and stochasticity in decision-makers’ choices. These findings highlight the importance of investigating choice architecture and attribute translations to inform crucial public management and policy decisions. However, further research is needed to generalize these effects.

February 19

Holiday: President’s Day

February 26

Sarah Johnston
(University of Wisconsin at Madison)

An Empirical Analysis of the Interconnection Queue

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An Empirical Analysis of the Interconnection Queue

Sarah Johnston
Abstract: (View Paper)
Generators applying to connect to the U.S. power grid go through an interconnection queue. Most wind and solar generators that begin the process do not complete it. Using new data, we find that a long queue increases the average waiting time, and high interconnection costs are a key factor in a generator’s decision to withdraw. We develop and estimate a dynamic model of the queue and quantify the effects of policy reforms. Our simulations indicate that reducing waiting times can significantly increase completions. An alternative queuing mechanism can therefore increase completed capacity by removing certain generators to reduce congestion. A flat entry fee has a similar effect. We also quantify the effects of reforming how interconnection costs are assessed. These policy reforms lead to a substantial reduction in carbon emissions.

March 4

Michael Roberts
(UH Manoa)

A CO2 Abatement Cost Function for the U.S. Electricity Sector

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A CO2 Abatement Cost Function for the U.S. Electricity Sector

Michael Roberts
Abstract:
We use Switch, a high-resolution, open-source model of the electricity sector of the continental United States, to devise least-cost power systems under CO2 emissions targets ranging from current emissions to zero emissions, in each case assuming electricity demand grows by more than two-thirds to meet emerging demand from electric vehicles and electrification of heat by 2050. The results characterize an abatement cost function for decarbonizing the electricity sector, which is central to decarbonization efforts. We then explore how a range of critical or controversial factors shift the abatement cost curve, including (a) limited transmission expansion, (b) a change in interest rates, (c) limited but efficient demand response, (d) restrictions on solar, wind, and battery use, (e) and restrictions on nuclear power. While we have not yet completed solving all scenarios at this stage, we will present preliminary findings for many of them and elicit feedback for other factors we might consider. The results should paint a holistic picture of the overall costs of the decarbonization challenge as well as the tradeoffs associated with different decarbonization pathways.

March 18

Spring Break

March 25

Anna E. Russo
(MIT)

Additionality and Asymmetric Information in Environmental Markets: Evidence from Conservation Auctions

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Additionality and Asymmetric Information in Environmental Markets: Evidence from Conservation Auctions

Anna E. Russo
Abstract: (View Paper)
Market mechanisms aim to deliver environmental services at low cost. However, this objective is undermined by participants whose conservation actions are not marginal to the incentive — or “additional” — as the lowest cost providers of environmental services may not be the highest social value. We investigate this potential market failure in the world’s largest auction mechanism for ecosystem services, the Conservation Reserve Program, with a dataset linking bids in the program’s scoring auction to satellite-derived land use. We use a regression discontinuity design to show that three of four marginal winners of the auction are not additional. Moreover, we find that the heterogeneity in counterfactual land use introduces adverse selection in the market. We then develop and estimate a joint model of multi-dimensional bidding and land use to quantify the implications of this market failure for the performance of environmental procurement mechanisms and competitive offset markets. We design alternative auctions with scoring rules that incorporate the expected impact of the auction on bidders’ land use. These auctions increase efficiency by using bids and observed characteristics to select participants based on both costs and expected additionality.

April 1

Abigail Ostriker
(Harvard)

The Effects of Floodplain Regulation on Housing

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The Effects of Floodplain Regulation on Housing

Abigail Ostriker
Abstract: (View Paper)
We investigate the effects of housing regulations designed to correct a wedge between privately- and socially-optimal construction in areas at risk of flooding in Florida. Using a spatial regression discontinuity around regulatory boundaries and an event study around the policy’s introduction, we document that floodplain regulation reduces new construction in high-risk areas and increases the share of newly-built houses that are elevated. Embedding these effects in a model of residential choices with elastic housing supply, we find that the policy reduces expected flood damages by 60%. One-quarter of this reduction is driven by relocation of new construction to lower-risk areas, and three-quarters is driven by elevation of houses remaining in risky areas. However, this second-best policy achieves at best about one-tenth of possible welfare gains because of poor targeting. It overcorrects in many areas, inducing more consumers to elevate and relocate than is socially-optimal, while still allowing inefficiently-high construction in the riskiest places. By contrast, a flexible corrective tax on flood risk would achieve substantial welfare gains of more than $2,700 per newly-developed house.

April 22

Steven Dundas
(Oregon State University)

The Value of Time-Varying Measures of Natural Capital in Coastal Housing Markets

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The Value of Time-Varying Measures of Natural Capital in Coastal Housing Markets

Steven Dundas
Abstract:
Climate change is driving sea level rise and increasing erosion in populated coastal areas. This research aims to understand the value of landscape features and risks, and the tradeoff in preferences housing market participants are willing to make to inform climate adaptation and land-use policies on developed shorelines. Using a single housing market in the U.S. Pacific Northwest with significant spatial variation in coastal features, we examine how beaches and dunes capitalize in housing prices given different approaches to measuring the physical dimensions of the landscape. Prior work in this area has largely focused on barrier islands on the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern coasts of the U.S. with limited measurement of landscape features, often using beach width measured at a single point in time matched to sales over long time horizons. Given the dynamic nature of coastline features, we use parcel-level observed and simulated geophysical measurements, relying on information from LiDAR data and a probabilistic climate emulator based on total water level observations and predictions, to generate metrics including a time-varying measure of beach width. A key finding is that using a static or time-invariant measure of beach width in a hedonic model has potential to significantly underestimate the value of beaches relative to a time-varying measurement. We also estimate marginal effects of dune height, dune width, armoring policy, and other landscape features that will inform an interdisciplinary land-use model optimizing the landscape for ecosystem service provision under future climate scenarios.

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