Reinsurance Contracts and Adaptation Investment: A Preliminary Model
A Run on Oil: Climate Policy, Stranded Assets, and Asset Prices
I study the impact of uncertain climate policy on macroeconomic and asst pricing outcomes, with a particular focus on the oil sector. Using a dynamic, production based asset pricing model that follows standard Hotelling rule type outcomes when there is no climate impacts, I find that uncertain climate policy generates a run on oil, i.e., firms accelerate their oil extraction and exploration as temperatures increase due to fears of oil reserves becoming stranded. Furthermore, climate policy uncertainty causes an overall decrease in firms’ values as compared to the setting without uncertain policy because of the run on oil. Increased competition in the oil sector, modeled by moving from a monopolistic to an oligopolistic to a competitive setting, amplifies these outcomes. Empirical analysis provides evidence that observable market outcomes are consistent with the model predictions about how uncertainty climate policy influences the oil sector.
Can Health Departments Prevent Childhood Lead Poisoning?
The main response of public health departments to childhood lead poisoning is to investigate the homes of children who have been exposed. The goal of investigation is to find and control hazards to reduce subsequent exposure, but there are a number of obstacles to success ranging from tenant non-response to landlord non-compliance. In this paper, we use a unique reporting delay instrument to estimate the causal effect of health department investigations on lead exposure in Chicago.