Environmental policy and technological change
Abstract
The relationship between technological change and environmental policy has received
increasing attention from scholars and policy makers alike over the past ten years.
This is partly because the environmental impacts of social activity are significantly
affected by technological change, and partly because environmental policy interventions
themselves create new constraints and incentives that affect the process of technological
developments. Our central purpose in this article is to provide environmental economists
with a useful guide to research on technological change and the analytical tools that
can be used to explore further the interaction between technology and the environment.
In Part 1 of the article, we provide an overview of analytical frameworks for investigating
the economics of technological change, highlighting key issues for the researcher.
In Part 2, we turn our attention to theoretical analysis of the effects of environmental
policy on technological change, and in Part 3, we focus on issues related to the empirical
analysis of technology innovation and diffusion. Finally, we conclude in Part 4 with
some additional suggestions for research.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10271Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1023/A:1015519401088Publication Info
Jaffe, AB; Newell, RG; & Stavins, RN (2002). Environmental policy and technological change. Environmental and Resource Economics, 22(1-2). pp. 41-69. 10.1023/A:1015519401088. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10271.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Richard G. Newell
Adjunct Professor
Dr. Richard G. Newell is the President and CEO of Resources for the Future (RFF),
an independent, nonprofit research institution that improves environmental, energy,
and natural resource decisions through impartial economic research and policy engagement.
From 2009 to 2011, he served as the administrator of the US Energy Information Administration,
the agency responsible for official US government energy statistics and analysis.
Dr. Newell is an adjunct professor at Duke University, where he

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