• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.33-47
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• 2004

Even though the price of extracted but unprocessed coal has been available in Korea, the use of it as scarcity index would be inappropriate because of price subsidy. Following Halvorsen and Smith(1984), Kim and Lee(2002) derived estimates of the shadow price of unextracted coal by estimating the restricted cost function and differentiating with respect to the quantity of coal extracted. In Korea, however, due to the limited data the capital prices have been computed inconsistently case by case without relying on the robust formula like the Christensen-Jorgenson methodology used in US, which could result in biased estimators of the restricted cost function. In the paper the shadow prices of the resources in situ are obtained by measuring an input distance function defined by Shephard (1970), which requires only the data on the quantities of inputs and output. Empirical results for the Korean coal mining industry show that these shadow prices as a coal scarcity have increased fast by approximately three times in comparisons with those obtained by Kim and Lee.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.43-65
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• 2014

In this paper, we test for allocative efficiency of productive inputs including electricity and measure the divergence between the actual and optimal level of electricity for the chemical products, which is a relatively highly electricity-intensive sector in Korean manufacturing industries, by estimating a shadow cost function. Supposing cost minimization subject to market prices was achieved, we derive the price elasticities of demand for each input and simulate the impact of a 10% increase in power rate on its demand and supply price by estimating jointly a cost function with an inverse supply relation. The null hypothesis of allocative efficiency of inputs is rejected over the period 1982-2006. On average, electricity is used more than optimal level by 98% per year. The demand for electricity decreases by 11.4%, and supply price, on average, falls by 0.08%, other things being equal.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.339-362
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• 2018

In this paper, we simulate the contribution of an increasing renewable energy to demands for fossil fuels and power supply price by estimating a cost function for the Korean electric power generation sector. Since the renewable energy is a composite input, it is not feasible to compute the price index for renewable energy due to data limit. We estimate a restricted cost function, which is derived by minimizing the costs of fossil fuels conditional on the quantity of renewable energy set to its optimal level, jointly with supply relation. In particular, derivation of the shadow price of renewable energy would make it possible to analyze potential costs incurred by power plants.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.267-289
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• 1995

석탄에 대한 아황산가스 규제가 발전산업에 미치는 제반 효과들을 측정하기 위해서는 생산요소의 왜곡된 분배로 인한 생산비용의 증가 또한 고려하여 암묵요소가격을 이용한 일반비용함수를 추정해야 한다. 아황산가스 규제를 포함한 여러 형태의 규제하에서 생산요소간의 한계기술대체율이 시장가격율과 일치하지 않음으로써 기업들의 생산비용최소화는 이루어지지 않기 때문이다. 1975년부터 1990년까지의 표본기간동안 아황산가스 규제로 인하여 미국 석탄발전소들의 생산비용이 평균적으로 6.1% 증가되었고 아황산가스를 추가적으로 1톤 저감하는데 드는 한계비용을 배출량몫 가중평균치로 측정하면 규제를 받은 기업들은 평균적으로 매년 539달러를 소비하였다. 생산요소인 자본과 노동 그리고 저유황석탄의 수요량은 평균적으로 5.8%, 5.2%, 그리고 29.6% 각각 증가된 반면 고유황석탄 수요량은 0.7% 감소되었으며 규제를 받은 기업들의 연 생산성은 평균적으로 1.52% 감소되었다.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.45-57
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• 1996

공기업(公企業)이 정부의 수익성사업이나 국가기간사업을 독점적으로 수행함에 있어 야기되는 X-비효율성 및 기술혁신의 결여, 사기업(私企業)의 경우와 달리 이윤극대화라는 단일 목적만을 추구할 수 없는 공기업(公企業)의 경영여건, 노사분규로 인한 요소사용비율의 변화, 그리고 각종 정부규제등 여러 제약된 여건하에서 생산요소의 비효율적 배분으로 인하여 생산비용의 최소화가 이루어지고 있다고는 볼 수 없다. 본 연구에서는 공기업(公企業)을 대상으로 실증적으로 시장가격의 함수인 암묵가격(暗默價格)(shadow price)을 설명변수로 사용하는 일반비용함수(一般費用函數)(generalized cost function)를 추정한 후, 효율성검정을 실시하여 생산비용의 최소화여부를 알아본다. 한국 전기업의 '88년 '93년의 2년간 10개 시 도별 자료를 사용하여 효율성검정을 실시한 결과, 생산비용의 최소화는 이루어지고 있지 않음을 알 수 있었다. 생산의 비효율성으로 인하여 비용은 평균 27.4% 증가되었으며 자본과 노동은 각각 적정수준보다 평균 10.6%, 2.1% 만큼 적게 사용된 반면, 연료는 255% 만큼 필요 이상으로 사용되었다.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.453-472
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• 2014

Analyzing the effects of carbon emissions trading, which is scheduled to be introduced in Korea in 2015, requires an accurate assessment of $CO_2$ abatement costs by both industries and firms. Firms faced with regulatory constraints are unlikely to minimize their production costs due to rising production costs caused by allocative inefficiency of inputs. The use of a distance function would results in underestimation of $CO_2$ abatement costs, because it fails to capture the allocative distortion costs. Recognizing the disadvantage of the previous approach, first, this paper tests for allocative efficiency of input for the Korean steel industry over the period 1990-2010, then derives the marginal $CO_2$ abatement costs by applying a cost function approach. The hypothesis of allocative efficiency in inputs is rejected and the steel industry pays an annual average cost of 92,000 won in removing an additional ton of $CO_2$ over the sample period.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.673-692
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• 2006

In order to test for the dynamic optimality condition for the use of nonrenewable resource, it is necessary to estimate the shadow value of the resource in situ. In the previous literatures, a time series for in situ price has been derived either as the difference between marginal revenue and marginal cost or by differentiating with respect to the quantity of ore extracted the restricted cost function in which the quantity of ore is quasi-fixed. However, not only inconsistent estimates are likely to be generated due to the nonmalleability of capital, but the estimate of marginal revenue will be affected by market power. Since firms will likely fail to minimize the cost of the reproducible inputs subject to market prices under realistic circumstances where imperfect factor markets, strikes, or government regulations are present, the shadow in situ values obtained by estimating the restricted cost function can be biased. This paper provides a valid methodology for checking the dynamic optimality condition for a nonrenewable resource by using the input distance function. Our methodology has some advantages over previous ones: only data on quantities of inputs and outputs are required; nor is the maintained hypothesis of cost minimization required; adoption of linear programming enables us to circumvent autocorrelated errors problem caused by use of time series or panel data. The dynamic optimality condition for domestic coal mining does not hold for constant discount rates ranging from 2 to 20 percent over the period 1970~1993. The dynamic optimality condition also does not hold for variable rates ranging from fourth to four times the real interest rate.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.59-79
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• 2006

In this paper, we analyse the comparative competitiveness of the 10 major logistic hub cities in China. First, using the input distance function, we calculated the technical efficiencies and the opportunity costs of the transport infra structure investments. Then, based on not only these supply side factors but also demand side, the overall comparative competitiveness by cities are analyzed. Our main findings are as follows: early developed, larger cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen are technically efficient but their opportunity costs of the additional transport investments are higher than the other cities. We also found that overall competitiveness of these larger and leading logistic hub cities are dominant over the small and newly developed logistic cities.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.459-479
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• 2013

To assess the feasibility of 'low carbon, sustainable growth' policy pursued of the Chinese government, this paper first measures technical efficiency, $CO_2$ shadow prices, and indirect Morishima elasticity of substitution between capital and energy for 24 of manufacturing sectors in Beijing and Chongqing, in which China launched pilot carbon emissions trading scheme, by estimating the input distance function. Based on these results, then the potential for $CO_2$ reduction, cost savings from emissions trading, and the effectiveness of capital investment in reducing $CO_2$ are compared across industries and provinces. In 2010, manufacturing industries in Beijing and Chongqing could potentially reduce the largest $CO_2$ emissions, amounting 5.2 and 17 million tons, respectively, by achieving 100% technical efficiency. While, on average, Chongqing has a comparative advantage in the cost savings from carbon trading over Beijing, Beijing is more likely to reduce $CO_2$ by expanding capital investment.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.77-98
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• 2013

China, the world's largest $CO_2$ producer, is likely to be obligated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the post-Kyoto protocol. This paper estimates a Shephard input distance function for the Chinese fossil-fueled power generation sector to measure the shadow price of $CO_2$ emissions, technical efficiency, and indirect Morishima elasticities of substitution between inputs. Empirical results show that, on average, it costs approximately 3.2 US dollars per year to reduce $CO_2$ emissions by one ton over the period 1981-2009. This finding indicates that Chinese power sector is expected to benefit from selling emission permits to other countries such as Korea and Japan, given that our estimate for China is lower than the ones previous literatures estimated for the power sector in these countries. The maximum attainable average $CO_2$ reduction potential amounts to approximately 25 million tons per year by improving technical efficiency. Capital is substitutable with both coal and oil and capital is relatively more readily substituted for these fuels.