scholarly journals Retrospective Evaluation of the Costs of Complying with Light-Duty Vehicle Surface Coating Requirements

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-64
Author(s):  
Ann Wolverton ◽  
Ann E. Ferris ◽  
Nathalie B. Simon
Keyword(s):  
Surface Coating ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Unit Cost ◽  
Hazardous Air Pollutants ◽  
Light Duty ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Light Duty Vehicle ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The U.S

This paper compares the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ex ante compliance cost estimates for the 2004 Automobile and Light-Duty Truck Surface Coating National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants to ex post evidence on the actual costs of compliance based on ex post cost data gathered from a subset of the industry via pilot survey and follow-up interviews. Unlike many prior retrospective studies on the cost of regulatory compliance, we use this newly gathered information to identify the key drivers of any differences between the ex ante and ex post estimates. We find that the U.S. EPA overestimated the cost of compliance for the plants in our sample and that overestimation was driven primarily by differences in the method of compliance rather than differences in the per-unit cost associated with a given compliance approach. In particular, the U.S. EPA expected facilities to install pollution abatement control technologies in their paint shops to reduce emissions of hazardous air pollutants, but instead these plants complied by reformulating coatings.

Negative-Emission Technologies and Patent Rights after COVID-19

Climate Law ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 225-265
Author(s):  
Joshua D. Sarnoff
Keyword(s):  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Private Funding ◽  
Compulsory Licensing ◽  
Patent Pools ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Patent Rights ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
The Cost ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Negative Emission Technologies

Abstract Governmental and particularly private funding has recently and dramatically expanded for both beccs and dac technologies. This funding and the associated research, development, and deployment efforts will generate intellectual property rights, particularly patent rights in nets. As with access to medicines, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted concerns that patent rights may incentivize RD&D at the cost of affordable access to the relevant technologies. Further, access may be restricted to particular countries based on sovereignty concerns to seek preferential supply agreements through up-front funding. As a result, nations will likely turn to controversial ex-post measures, such as compulsory licensing, to assure access and to control prices of the needed technologies. The same concerns with patent rights likely will affect RD&D of nets. Although international ex-ante measures exist (such as patent pools) which would help to minimize these concerns, such measures may not induce the requisite voluntary contributions, or may fail to materialize due to political disagreements. Focusing on both US law and international developments, this article proposes various ex-ante measures that can be adopted by national governments and private funders to minimize the likely forthcoming worldwide conflicts that will arise over balancing innovation incentives for, and affordable access to, patented nets.

Article II Treaties and Signaling Theory

2020 ◽  
pp. 123-142
Author(s):  
Curtis A. Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Signaling Theory ◽  
International Agreement ◽  
Freedom Of Choice ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Continued Use ◽  
The U.S

This chapter focuses on the treaty-making process set forth in Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which requires that presidents obtain the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate. Some scholars contend that, under modern law and practice, presidents can choose to conclude any international agreement by obtaining either ex ante authorization or ex post approval from a majority of Congress rather than obtaining the supermajority “advice and consent” of the Senate. If presidents in fact have this freedom of choice, there appears to be a puzzle: Why do they ever choose to use the Article II treaty process, which is more politically difficult than the executive agreement processes? To be sure, the use of the Article II process has been in decline, but the process is still used for some agreements, including in situations in which the process seems to make it more difficult for presidents to obtain approval of agreements that they support. A common answer to this puzzle is based on signaling theory: Using the Article II process, it is said, allows the president or the country to signal valuable information to potential treaty partners. This chapter argues that the signaling explanation is questionable and suggests that domestic legal and political factors better explain the continued use of the Article II process.

Meeting the Challenge: A Stochastic Assessment of the U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy Standards

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parisa Bastani ◽  
John B. Heywood ◽  
Chris Hope
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Economy ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Corporate Average Fuel Economy ◽  
Passenger Cars ◽  
Policy Model ◽  
Light Duty ◽  
Stochastic Transport ◽  
Light Trucks ◽  
Light Duty Vehicle ◽  
The U.S

The U.S. Department of Transport and EPA have recently proposed further regulation of the light-duty vehicle corporate average fuel economy and GHG emissions for model years 2017 to 2025. Policy makers are setting more stringent targets out to 2025 in a context of significant uncertainty. These uncertainties need to be quantified and taken into account systematically when evaluating policies. In this paper, a stochastic technology and market vehicle fleet analysis is carried out, using the STEP (Stochastic Transport Emissions Policy model), to assess the probability of meeting the proposed CAFE targets in 2016 and 2025, and identify factors that play key roles in the near and midterm. Our results indicate that meeting the proposed targets requires (a) aggressive technological progress rate and deployment, (b)aggressive market penetration of advanced engines and powertrains, (c) aggressive vehicle downsizing and weight reduction, and (d) a high emphasis on reducing fuel consumption. Three scenarios are examined to assess the likelihood of meeting the proposed targets. The targets examined here, 32.5 and 34.1 mpg in 2016 and 44 and 54.5 mpg in 2025, are reduced from the nominal CAFE values after allowing for the various credits in the proposed rulemaking. The results show that there is about a 42.5% likelihood of the passenger cars average fuel economy falling below 32.5 mpg and a 5.3% likelihood of it exceeding 34.1 mpg in 2016, and about a 4% chance of it exceeding 44 mpg in 2025, under the plausible-ambitious scenario. Under the EPA/DOT preferred alternative scenario, the likelihood of passenger cars average fuel economy meeting or exceeding 34.1 mpg in 2016 and 44 mpg in 2025 increases to about 74% and 34.5% respectively. The probability of meeting these combined CAFE targets drops to less than 1% in both near and mid terms, once light trucks are included in the mix. This analysis quantifies the probability of meeting the targets therefore to enable risk-based contingency planning, and identifies key drivers of uncertainty where further strategic research is needed.

scholarly journals Evaluation of efficiency of the Common Measures – measures for land accessibility, implemented within land consolidation

2011 ◽  
Vol 57 (No. 10) ◽  
pp. 500-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Papoušek
Keyword(s):  
Land Consolidation ◽  
Ecological Stability ◽  
Rural Roads ◽  
Financial Flows ◽  
Investment Projects ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
General Benefit ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Cost

By the means of Land Consolidation is understood, in accord with law No. 139/2002 Coll., spending of funds on land consolidations and land offices, provided the accessibility of grounds in public interest. Land consolidations also ensure the conditions for improvement of the ecosystem, protection and reclamation of land resources, waterway management and the increase of the ecological stability of landscape. All mentioned measures are collectively called the Common Measures, rural roads being one of the most significant of these measures as far as the ground accessibility is concerned. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Central Land Office (MZe, ÚPÚ) statistics, for instance in 2008, over 707.4 million CZK was spent on the common measures projects from the public funds. Of this sum, 82 per cent was spent on financing of the land accessibility projects – rural roads and objects on them. The Cost & Benefit Analysis (CBA) method was applied. The analysis explains step by step what benefits the investment projects bring and to whom, as well as what and from whom it takes something away. Thus defined effects and impacts are aggregated, converted into financial flows and included in the calculation of criteria indicators. These calculations enable to make decision whether the concerned project is in its consequences generally contributive. There is a difficulty in the method – it is applied ex-ante, which usually leads to the exaggerated input parameters, which may be significantly affected by a number of variable effects (time factor, socio-economic impacts, inflation rate, etc.). The ex-post application of the method cannot be objectively used due to the absence of the statistically processed input data for the analysis. Such data must be collected during the operational period of the realized investments. This is caused by the fact that these analyses consider lifetime of these investments in terms of 25–30 years. The ÚPÚ statistics, however, say that the operational period of most of realized common measures has not reached one half of their lifetime yet. The ex-ante analysis enables to evaluate the possible difficulty and the general benefit of projects, including their impact on the broad spectrum of subjects.  

The Cost of Local Government Structural Reorganisation in Great Britain during the 1990s

10.1068/c0063 ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Chisholm
Keyword(s):  
Structural Change ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Transition Costs ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Official Data

When the structure of local government in Great Britain was reorganised during the 1990s, considerable emphasis was placed by the government on the financial savings which would accrue to offset the costs incurred in making the changes. Previous work examined these expectations and found clear evidence that the ex ante estimates of transition costs given to the Westminster parliament were serious underestimates, and that the expected savings had not, at that time, materialised. This work was done at a time when it was known that some of the official data on transition costs would not be complete until after the close of the 2000/01 financial year. The author's primary purpose is to place on record what may be regarded as the final estimates of the transition costs in England, Scotland, and Wales. In addition, comparisons between the ex ante estimates of the costs of structural change and the ex post evidence concerning actual costs are updated. The discrepancy between these is such as to confirm the need for some form of independent scrutiny of new legislation at the time when it is being considered in parliament, to ensure that decisions are taken in the light of realistic assessments of the costs and benefits of proposed enactments.

3 Executive Agreements and Political Commitments

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley Curtis A
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Substantial Growth ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
The Status ◽  
Executive Agreements ◽  
Political Commitments ◽  
Domestic Law ◽  
The U.S

This chapter considers the status in the U.S. legal system of “executive agreements”—that is, international agreements concluded by the United States outside of the senatorial advice-and-consent process specified in Article II of the Constitution. After describing the substantial growth during the twentieth century in the number of executive agreements, the chapter discusses the different types of these agreements: executive agreements concluded pursuant to authorization in a prior treaty; ex ante congressional–executive agreements concluded with prior authorization from Congress; ex post congressional–executive agreements concluded with congressional approval after they are negotiated; and sole executive agreements concluded by the president. The chapter also discusses the extent to which executive agreements are interchangeable with Article II treaties for purposes of domestic law, with respect to the preemption of state law, displacement of federal statutes, and federalism limitations. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the growing phenomenon of non-binding political commitments.

scholarly journals Ex-post IR Dynamic Auctions with Cost-per-Action Payments

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiran Shen ◽  
Zihe Wang ◽  
Song Zuo
Keyword(s):  
Common Knowledge ◽  
Incentive Compatibility ◽  
Individual Rationality ◽  
Incentive Compatible ◽  
Dynamic Auctions ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Ad Auctions ◽  
The Cost ◽  
General Reduction

Motivated by online ad auctions, we consider a repeated auction between one seller and many buyers, where each buyer only has an estimation of her value in each period until she actually receives the item in that period. The seller is allowed to conduct a dynamic auction but must guarantee ex-post individual rationality. In this paper, we use a structure that we call credit accounts to enable a general reduction from any incentive compatible and ex-ante individual rational dynamic auction to an approximate incentive compatible and ex-post individually rational dynamic auction with credit accounts. Our reduction obtains stronger individual rationality guarantees at the cost of weaker incentive compatibility. Surprisingly, our reduction works without any common knowledge assumption. Finally, as a complement to our reduction, we prove that there is no non-trivial auction that is exactly incentive compatible and ex-post individually rational under this setting.

Information and the Cost of Capital: An Ex Ante Perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 817-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter O. Christensen ◽  
Leonidas E. de la Rosa ◽  
Gerald A. Feltham
Keyword(s):  
Rational Expectations ◽  
Cost Of Capital ◽  
Public Disclosure ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Recent Discussion ◽  
Equilibrium Prices ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT: Recent articles have demonstrated that increased public disclosure can decrease firms’ cost of capital. The focus has been on the impact of information on the cost of capital subsequent to the release of the information (the ex post cost of capital). We show that the reduction in the ex post cost of capital is offset by an equal increase in the cost of capital for the period leading up to the release of the information (the preposterior cost of capital). Thus, within the class of models framing the recent discussion, there is no impact on the ex ante cost of capital covering the full time span of the firm. The extent to which information is made publicly or privately available affects the timing of the resolution of uncertainty and when the information is reflected in equilibrium prices, but there is no impact on initial equilibrium prices. Within a noisy rational expectations equilibrium, rational investors may actually benefit from a higher ex post cost of capital.

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