Abstract
Alan Turing’s 1950 paper, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” contains much more than its proposal of the “Turing Test.” Turing imagined the development of what we today call AI by a process akin to the education of a child. Thus, while Turing anticipated “machine learning,” his prescience brings to the foreground the yet unsolved problem of how humans might teach or shape AIs to behave in ways that align...
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"Game Theory and Climate Diplomacy" (with Anders Fremstad), Ecological Economics 85 (2013): 177-187
Abstract
Starting with the “New Periodic Table” (NPT) of 2×2 order games introduced by Robinson and Goforth (2005), we provide an exhaustive treatment of the possible game-theoretic characterizations of climate negotiations between two players (e.g., Great Powers or coalitions of states). Of the 144 distinct 2×2 games in which the players have strict ordinally ranked...
"Organizational Structure and the Behavior of Firms: Implications for Integrated Assessment" (with Catherine Dibble and Keyvan Amir-Atefi) Climatic Change 48, 2001
Abstract
Existing climate/economy models typically treat production through the assumptions that firms maximize profits and that inputs are transformed to outputs according to a neoclassical production function. Yet these assumptions are at variance with some of the known empirical features of business behavior. One of the most...
"Cutting Carbon Emissions at a Profit (Part I): Opportunities for the U.S." (with Florentin Krause, J. Andrew Hoerner, and Paul Baer) Contemporary Economic Policy 20, 2002
Abstract
This article identifies and corrects shortcomings in recent modeling studies on the economics of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. The major assessments of the Kyoto Protocol --- by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Clinton White House Council...
"Economic Analysis, Environmental Policy, and Intergenerational Justice in the Reagan Administration: The Case of the Montreal Protocol" International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics 3, 2003
Abstract
Economic arguments played a significant role in the decision by the Reagan Administration to lead the international effort to protect the stratospheric ozone layer from depletion caused by certain otherwise useful industrial chemicals....
"Descriptive or Conceptual Models? Contributions of Economics to the Climate Policy Debate" International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics 5, 2005
Abstract
Economists have brought two distinct modeling styles to the debate on climate policy. Some attempt to forecast the effects of policy decisions by constructing models that purport to be ‘‘descriptive’’ of the global economic system. The alternative approach is a ‘‘conceptual’’ focus on key elements...
"Equity Effects of Alternative Assignments of Global Environmental Rights" (with Paul Niemann) Ecological Economics 56, 2006
Abstract
Through a thought experiment in which members of different generations trade with each other in a virtual market, we examine the effects of alternative assignments of global environmental rights on prices, interest rates, and the global distribution of income. The model is "semi-calibrated" to current and projected levels of the output...
"Economics of 'essential use exemptions' for metered-dose inhalers under the Montreal Protocol" (with Catherine S. Norman) Journal of Environmental Management 85, 2007
Abstract
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer has led to rapid reductions in the use of ozone-depleting substances worldwide. However, the Protocol provides for ‘‘essential use exemptions’’ (EUEs) if there are no ‘‘technically and economically feasible’’ alternatives....
"Distribution of Emissions Allowances as an Opportunity" Climate Policy 7, 2007
Abstract
Much of the debate on climate policy in the USA focuses on the gain or loss to the macroeconomy of alternative policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the economy is made up of multiple individuals, not a single representative agent. This article reports the results of alternative ways of distributing emissions allocations across citizens. Macroeconomic...