Modelling the impact of "sustainability" policies in Scotland

Completed

Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Environmental, social and economic impacts)

Basic and strategic applied research

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (Geography and Environmental Studies)
SOCIAL SCIENCES (Economics and Econometrics)
SOCIAL SCIENCES (Sociology)

Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Environmental dimensions)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Other sociological economical and environmental impact of energy)

Professor P McGregor
Economics
University of Strathclyde

Standard

ESRC

01 May 2002

30 April 2003

12 months

£42,570

No relevance to Underpinning Sectors

Scotland

ESRC Energy

Professor P McGregor, Economics, University of Strathclyde

Professor N Hanley, Stirling Management School, University of Stirling
Professor K Swales, Economics, University of Strathclyde

Objectives not supplied

Our main objective in this project is to develop a modelling framework that allows identification of the economic, social and environmental impacts of policies intended to improve the sustainability of economic development. For example, policies aimed at increasing resource productivity and/or reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. In order to model the implementation and impacts of such policies, the project involves developing an existing multi-sectoral regional CGE model of the Scottish economy (as an empirical example of a UK regional economy) in a number of ways. These include • Incorporating a detailed and flexible treatment of energy-use and renewable and non-renewable resources. • Linking, where it is appropriate to do so, emissions of a wide range of pollutants directly to energy-use. • Allowing for technological change in resource use. • Disaggregating the household sector by broad income band to facilitate tracking of income-distributional effects of policies. In terms of policy-relevant model outputs, the project also involves building a number of ‘sustainability indicators’ into the framework. These include a number of individual indicators already proposed by policymakers in the UK (e.g. emissions of key pollutants) alongside two composite ‘indices of sustainability’, namely Genuine Savings and Green Net National Product

12/09/11