Post-conference Workshop: The Economics of Inequality and the Environment

September 21-24, 2020

Local Contact: Jasper Meya (iDiv, Uni Leipzig), Moritz Drupp (Uni Hamburg)

Organizers: Jasper Meya, Martin Quaas (University of Leipzig, and iDiv), Moritz Drupp (University of Hamburg), Linus Mattauch (University of Oxford), Lutz Sager (Georgetown University)

Background and Aims

Sustainability requires trade-offs in allocating both natural and man-made resources within and across generations, as evidenced by high levels of pollutant emissions and resource depletion. Economists are proposing a number of policy instruments to address related market failures, which are receiving increasing attention. At the same time, there is a renewed interest in the causes and consequences of economic inequality, both from policy-makers and researchers. These two issues—environmental policy and economic inequality—are related: While economic inequality influences environmental appraisal and policy, environmental policy and the loss of environmental services may in turn have important distributional consequences.

Against this backdrop, the Post-Conference Workshop will explore links between environmental policy and economic inequality. It seeks to delineate lessons for environmental policy, to identify knowledge gaps for further research, and to contribute towards building a research community on the inequality-environment nexus. Discussions will be motivated by the following guiding questions: (1) How does the distribution of environmental outcomes affect economic inequality? (2) How do environmental policies impact economic inequality? (3) How does economic inequality affect environmental outcomes? (4) How does economic inequality affect environmental policy appraisal?

Format and Submissions

The Post-Conference Workshop will bring together a focused group of approximately 25 participants. The workshop is set in a peaceful location in Woltersdorf, close to Berlin, situated between two lakes and next to a forest reserve and will thus provide a stimulating environment for productive discussions. Besides keynote lectures, there will be 30-minute slots for regular presentations and egg timers for a few junior participants.

Paper submissions are welcome until March 15, 2020 to jasper.meya[at]idiv.de.

Keynote Speakers

Confirmed keynote speakers include Ottmar Edenhofer (TU Berlin, PIK, and MCC), Ben Groom (LSE), Geoffrey Heal (Columbia Business School), and Roberton C. Williams III. (University of Maryland, RFF, and Climate Leadership Council).

Please find further information in the workshop program.