Understanding the Improbable: A Survey of Fat Tails in Environmental Economics

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc N. Conte ◽  
David L. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Economics ◽  
Resource Economics ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Fat Tails ◽  
Disaster Impacts ◽  
Empirical Tests ◽  
Optimal Environmental Policy ◽  
Natural Disaster Impacts

We survey the growing literature on fat-tailed distributions in environmental economics. We then examine the theoretical and statistical properties of such distributions, focusing especially on when these properties are likely to arise in environmental problems. We find that a number of variables are fat tailed in environmental economics, including the climate sensitivity, natural disaster impacts, spread of infectious diseases, and stated willingness to pay. We argue that different fat-tailed distributions arise from common pathways. Finally, we review the literature on the policy implications of fat-tailed distributions and controversies over their interpretation. We conclude that the literature has made great strides in demonstrating when fat tails matter for optimal environmental policy. Yet, much is less well understood, including how alternative policies affect fat-tailed distributions, the optimal policy in a computational economy with many fat-tailed problems, and how to account for imprecision in empirical tests for fat tails. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Social Epidemiology: Past, Present, and Future

2022 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana V. Diez Roux
Keyword(s):  
Social Epidemiology ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Social Production ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
Social Causes

In a context where epidemiologic research has been heavily influenced by a biomedical and individualistic approach, the naming of “social epidemiology” allowed explicit emphasis on the social production of disease as a powerful explanatory paradigm and as critically important for interventions to improve population health. This review briefly highlights key substantive areas of focus in social epidemiology over the past 30 years, reflects on major advances and insights, and identifies challenges and possible future directions. Future opportunities for social epidemiology include grounding research in theoretically based and systemic conceptual models of the fundamental social drivers of health; implementing a scientifically rigorous yet realistic approach to drawing conclusions about social causes; using complementary methods to generate valid explanations and identify effective actions; leveraging the power of harmonization, replication, and big data; extending interdisciplinarity and diversity; advancing emerging critical approaches to understanding the health impacts of systemic racism and its policy implications; going global; and embracing a broad approach to generating socially useful research. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Public Health, Volume 43 is April 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Inflation Inequality: Measurement, Causes, and Policy Implications

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Jaravel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Interest Rates ◽  
Optimal Taxation ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date

Does inflation vary across the income distribution? This article reviews the growing literature on inflation inequality, describing recent advances and opportunities for further research in four areas. First, new price index theory facilitates the study of inflation inequality. Second, new data show that inflation rates decline with household income in the United States. Accurate measurement requires granular price and expenditure data because of aggregation bias. Third, new evidence quantifies the impacts of innovation and trade on inflation inequality. Contrary to common wisdom, empirical estimates show that the direction of innovation is a significant driver of inflation inequality in the United States, whereas trade has similar price effects across the income distribution. Fourth, inflation inequality and non-homotheticities have important policy implications. They transform cost-benefit analysis, optimal taxation, the effectiveness of stabilization policies, and our understanding of secular macroeconomic trends—including structural change, the decline in the labor share and interest rates, and labor market polarization. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Economics, Volume 13 is August 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Is Food Addictive? A Review of the Science

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley N. Gearhardt ◽  
Erica M. Schulte
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Food Addiction ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Refined Carbohydrates ◽  
Addictive Potential

As ultraprocessed foods (i.e., foods composed of mostly cheap industrial sources of dietary energy and nutrients plus additives) have become more abundant in our food supply, rates of obesity and diet-related disease have increased simultaneously. Food addiction has emerged as a phenotype of significant empirical interest within the past decade, conceptualized most commonly as a substance-based addiction to ultraprocessed foods. We detail ( a) how approaches used to understand substance-use disorders may be applicable for operationalizing food addiction, ( b) evidence for the reinforcing potential of ingredients in ultraprocessed foods that may drive compulsive consumptions, ( c) the utility of conceptualizing food addiction as a substance-use disorder versus a behavioral addiction, and ( d) clinical and policy implications that may follow if ultraprocessed foods exhibit an addictive potential. Broadly, the existing literature suggests biological and behavioral parallels between food addiction and substance addictions, with ultraprocessed foods high in both added fat and refined carbohydrates being most implicated in addictive-like eating. Future research priorities are also discussed, including the need for longitudinal studies and the potential negative impact of addictive ultraprocessed foods on children. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Nutrition, Volume 41 is September 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Resource Management Under Catastrophic Threats

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yacov Tsur ◽  
Amos Zemel
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Resource Economics ◽  
Dynamic Regime ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Economic Literature ◽  
Number Of Publications ◽  
Change Problem

We survey the rapidly growing economic literature on environmental catastrophes and the various approaches developed to address the hovering threats. Various theoretical descriptions of catastrophic occurrences are classified with respect to the uncertain conditions that trigger the events, the postoccurrence dynamic regime, and the form of the inflicted damage. We show that variations in each of these characteristics strongly affect the ensuing optimal response to the threats. The basic setup is then extended in several dimensions, allowing the modeler to consider more realistic formulations of catastrophic scenarios. Recent efforts to incorporate catastrophic events within large-scale numerical schemes to study the global climate change problem are reviewed. The number of publications in this vein increases in tandem with the growing number of disasters reported globally and their scale of damage, reflecting the growing concern that this phenomenon portends environmental collapse. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Environmental Benefit-Cost Analysis: A Comparative Analysis Between the United States and the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph E. Aldy ◽  
Giles Atkinson ◽  
Matthew J. Kotchen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Resource Economics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Environmental Benefit ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Benefit Cost

The United States and United Kingdom have long-standing traditions in the use of environmental benefit-cost analysis (E-BCA). While there are similarities between how E-BCA is utilized, there are significant differences too, many of which mirror ongoing debates and recent developments in the literature on environmental and natural resource economics. We review the use of E-BCA in both countries across three themes: ( a) the role of long-term discounting, ( b) the estimation and use of carbon valuation, and ( c) the estimation and use of the value of a statistical life. In each case, we discuss how academic developments are (and are not) translated into practical use and draw comparative lessons. We find that, in some cases, practical differences in E-BCA can be overstated, although in others these seem more substantive. Advances in the academic frontier also raise the question of when and how to update practical E-BCA, with very different answers across our themes. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

From Torrents to Trickles: Irrigation's Future in Africa and Asia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Ringler
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Agricultural Intensification ◽  
Resource Economics ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Rural Employment ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Consumptive Water

Irrigation has been a key component of agricultural intensification and transformation in Asia and has the potential to take on the same role in Sub-Saharan Africa. Irrigation has contributed to increased food production, lower food prices, higher rural employment, and overall agricultural and economic growth. At the same time, irrigation—through its large consumptive water use—has contributed to water depletion, degradation, and pollution; moreover, it has benefitted richer farmers more than poorer farmers. This article reviews the contributions and challenges of irrigation and identifies a series of measures to increase the sustainability and equity of irrigation going forward. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Directed Technical Change in Labor and Environmental Economics

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hémous ◽  
Morten Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Economics ◽  
Labor Economics ◽  
Technical Change ◽  
Economic Incentives ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Green Technologies ◽  
Directed Technical Change ◽  
Slow Development ◽  
Balanced Growth Path

It is increasingly evident that the direction of technological change responds to economic incentives. We review the literature on directed technical change in the context of environmental economics and labor economics, and we show that these fields have much in common both theoretically and empirically. We emphasize the importance of a balanced growth path and show that the lack of such a path is closely related to the slow development of green technologies in environmental economics and to growing inequality in labor economics. We discuss whether the direction of innovation is efficient. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Economics, Volume 13 is August 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Small Steps with Big Data: Using Machine Learning in Energy and Environmental Economics

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew C. Harding ◽  
Carlos Lamarche
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Environmental Economics ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Machine Learning Techniques ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Applications Of Machine Learning ◽  
Media Data

This article reviews recent endeavors to incorporate big data and machine learning techniques into energy and environmental economics research. We find that novel datasets, from high frequency smart meter data to satellite images and social media data, are already used by researchers. At the same time most of the analyses rely on traditional econometric techniques. Nevertheless, we find applications of machine learning models that address the high dimensionality of the data and seek out new and better strategies for estimating heterogenous treatment effects. We provide an introduction to the main themes in machine learning, which are likely to be of use to economists in energy and environmental economics, and illustrate them using a real data example derived from an energy efficiency program evaluation. We provide the data and code in order to stimulate further research in this area. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Endogenous Retroviruses Drive Resistance and Promotion of Exogenous Retroviral Homologs

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elliott S. Chiu ◽  
Sue VandeWoude
Keyword(s):  
Immune Modulation ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Viral Evolution ◽  
Endogenous Retroviruses ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Biological Functions ◽  
Self Tolerance ◽  
Vertebrate Hosts ◽  
Insight Into

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) serve as markers of ancient viral infections and provide invaluable insight into host and viral evolution. ERVs have been exapted to assist in performing basic biological functions, including placentation, immune modulation, and oncogenesis. A subset of ERVs share high nucleotide similarity to circulating horizontally transmitted exogenous retrovirus (XRV) progenitors. In these cases, ERV–XRV interactions have been documented and include ( a) recombination to result in ERV–XRV chimeras, ( b) ERV induction of immune self-tolerance to XRV antigens, ( c) ERV antigen interference with XRV receptor binding, and ( d) interactions resulting in both enhancement and restriction of XRV infections. Whereas the mechanisms governing recombination and immune self-tolerance have been partially determined, enhancement and restriction of XRV infection are virus specific and only partially understood. This review summarizes interactions between six unique ERV–XRV pairs, highlighting important ERV biological functions and potential evolutionary histories in vertebrate hosts. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Animal Biosciences, Volume 9 is February 16, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Advancing Socioeconomic Rights Through Interdisciplinary Factfinding: Opportunities and Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Knuckey ◽  
Joshua D. Fisher ◽  
Amanda M. Klasing ◽  
Tess Russo ◽  
Margaret L. Satterthwaite
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Science Volume ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Socioeconomic Rights ◽  
Human Rights Movement

The human rights movement is increasingly using interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, mixed-methods, and quantitative factfinding. There has been too little analysis of these shifts. This article examines some of the opportunities and challenges of these methods, focusing on the investigation of socioeconomic human rights. By potentially expanding the amount and types of evidence available, factfinding's accuracy and persuasiveness can be strengthened, bolstering rights claims. However, such methods can also present significant challenges and may pose risks in individual cases and to the human rights movement generally. Interdisciplinary methods can be costly in human, financial, and technical resources; are sometimes challenging to implement; may divert limited resources from other work; can reify inequalities; may produce “expertise” that disempowers rightsholders; and could raise investigation standards to an infeasible or counterproductive level. This article includes lessons learned and questions to guide researchers and human rights advocates considering mixed-methods human rights factfinding. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Law and Social Science, Volume 17 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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