Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/95874
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
CAWM Discussion Paper No. 66
Publisher: 
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Centrum für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (CAWM), Münster
Abstract: 
The public management of stock pollutants is an intertemporal problem; today's optimal choice takes the behavior of future governments into account. If a government expects a successor with different environmental preferences - for instance, if Conservatives expect green successors - it must choose strategically. I model this interaction in a two-period game in which the government of each period chooses consumption as a flow variable that adds to a stock of pollution. In this setting, I analyze how the prospect of losing political power changes the incumbent's policy choice. It is shown that both the prospect of a more conservative or of a greener successor reduce present consumption. This implies that losing power in the future makes a conservative government choose a compromise policy today - which may explain why in some countries, conservative governments seem to adopt green policies. By contrast, the expected loss of power makes a green government choose a policy that appears as a radicalization of their position.
Subjects: 
Stock Pollution
Political Economy of Environmental Policy
Time Inconsistency
Strategic choice of stock variables
Sequential Game
Partisan Politicians
Ideological Preferences
Green Parties
JEL: 
Q58
D72
C72
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
379.86 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.