{"title":"Do economists think about climate change and inequality? Semantic analysis and topic modeling of top five economics journals","authors":"Hassan El Tinay, Juliet B. Schor","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108548","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108548","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While there has been a call for economics to engage with the challenges of climate change, many have voiced concerns that the discipline has failed to seriously deal with the relationship between climate change and inequality. In this paper, we use computational methods – including bibliometric analysis, semantic analysis, and topic modeling – to identify a) the extent to which the core of the discipline of economics has dealt with the question of climate change and b) how engagement with climate change has been framed, especially with respect to varying forms of inequality – intergenerational, domestic, and global. As a proxy for the core of mainstream economic thought, we work with publications from the top five economic journals – <em>American Economic Review</em> (AER), <em>Econometrica</em> (ECMA), <em>The Journal of Political Economy</em> (JPE), T<em>he Quarterly Journal of Economics</em> (QJE), and <em>The Review of Economic Studies</em> (ReStud) – from 1975 to 2023. We find that over this period, these journals have cumulatively only published 25 unique research articles on the topic of climate change, and we also find that those publications reflected a lack of engagement with the role and consequences of domestic and global inequality in dynamics of climate change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"232 ","pages":"Article 108548"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143519812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pollinator declines, international trade and global food security: Reassessing the global economic and nutritional impacts","authors":"Arndt Feuerbacher","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108565","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108565","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The decline in biodiversity is threatening the provision of vital ecosystem services such as animal-mediated pollination services. While about 17 % of the global crop production value depends on pollination services, these crops make up an even larger share—28 %—of global agricultural trade. This reflects their strong international demand and higher tradability compared to other agricultural commodities. Hence, global trade needs to be considered when assessing how pollinator population declines affect the availability of micronutrient-rich foods and economic welfare in net-importing and exporting regions. This paper critically reviews and extends a global partial equilibrium model covering about 120 edible crops across 22 regions while also capturing international trade. The replication efforts reveal significant methodological and empirical flaws in an earlier, comparable study. Most recent bioeconomic data on crop yield dependence on pollination services are used to simulate a global pollinator collapse. Crop prices are projected to rise by 30 %, leading to a global welfare loss of 729 billion USD, or 0.9 % of global GDP and 15.6 % of global agricultural production value used for human food in 2020. The revised model also reports substantial declines in food production and micronutrient availability such as an 8 % reduction in global Vitamin A availability. These estimates by far surpass previous estimates that were based on earlier bioeconomic data. The findings highlight the critical need for more robust modeling frameworks to inform policy decisions regarding the sustainability of agri-food systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"232 ","pages":"Article 108565"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143509887","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The skill requirements of the circular economy","authors":"Duygu Buyukyazici , Francesco Quatraro","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108559","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108559","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In response to global challenges related to resource scarcity and environmental concerns, the circular economy (CE) has emerged as a transformative model focused on resource efficiency and waste reduction. As the discourse around the CE intensifies, understanding the skill requirements of the CE becomes imperative for effective policy-making, workforce development, and regional competitiveness. This paper addresses the scarcity of quantitative methods on this aspect and proposes a conceptual and empirical framework to identify, analyse, and monitor the skill requirements of the CE through a comprehensive and reproducible approach based on relative skill advantage, skill relatedness, and skill complexity measures. Accordingly, it identifies the essential and complementary skills within the CE by constructing unique skill spaces and documents their regional variation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"232 ","pages":"Article 108559"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143510890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The benefits of less: The effect of sufficiency gain framing on sufficiency behavior","authors":"Manuel Suter , Simon Rabaa , Andrea Essl","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108561","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108561","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sufficiency strategies aimed at reduced production and consumption levels have a high potential to help combat environmental issues. There is limited knowledge on how to promote voluntary sufficiency behaviors at the individual level. In an online experiment with participants from the United States (<em>n</em> = 1317), we examine the effect of providing information about different sufficiency benefits to nature, society, or the individual on sufficiency behavior. Sufficiency behavior was measured by participants' decision between an Amazon voucher and donating to an organization that fosters sufficiency projects. The results show that the individual sufficiency gain framing leads to a significantly higher amount of Amazon voucher waived compared to a neutral control group. Informing about individual sufficiency benefits, such as more free time and better mental health, may be fruitful in promoting sufficiency behavior.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 108561"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143463374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Environmental resource extraction and poverty: Comparative evidence from rural Thailand and Vietnam","authors":"Eva Seewald, Alexander Oetjen, Trung Thanh Nguyen","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108564","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108564","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This analysis aims to: (i) identify the factors associated with environmental resource extraction using a Heckman model, (ii) examine the correlation between environmental resource extraction and poverty using an endogenous switching regression, and (iii) analyse the difference in the correlation between poverty and environmental resource extraction among household groups using unconditional quantile regression. Panel data from three survey waves of more than 10,000 rural households in 2010, 2013, and 2016 are used for the analysis. The results reveal that in both countries, a higher education level of household adults and having non-farm self-employment are associated with less environmental resource extraction, while having a larger household size and being an ethnic minority are associated with more environmental resource extraction. Switching from extraction to non-extraction is associated with a decrease in poverty. However, the effect is larger in Vietnam than in Thailand. Therefore, promoting non-farm employment and rural education is recommended in both countries. For Vietnam, developing rural road systems is also beneficial, but special attention should be paid to the disadvantageous position of ethnic minorities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"232 ","pages":"Article 108564"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143463521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Guanghui Jiang , Wenqin Ji , Yaya Tian , Yu Luo , Wenqiu Ma
{"title":"Compact and livable? Identifying and managing the relationships between intensive land use and urban livability: Evidence from 337 cities in China","authors":"Guanghui Jiang , Wenqin Ji , Yaya Tian , Yu Luo , Wenqiu Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108562","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108562","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Intensive land use (ILU) has an important impact on urban livability, necessitating an elucidation of their interaction to formulate rational urban development policies and enhance residents' well-being. Here, we explore the interaction between ILU and urban livability using an integrated framework. Based on panel data from 337 cities in China (2002−2022), we applied the coupling coordination degree model, the binary spatial autocorrelation model, and the nonlinear spatial Durbin model (SDM). Our findings indicate that the direct impact of ILU on urban livability follows an N-shaped curve, that is, urban livability exhibits an up-down-up trend as ILU increases. ILU also exerts an N-shaped spatial spillover effect on the urban livability of neighboring cities. Moreover, the adaptation between ILU and urban livability has improved over the study period, although the national adaptation level remains relatively low. Eastern China shows higher adaptation levels compared to western regions. These results suggest that local governments should integrate the adaptation relationship between ILU and urban livability into ILU assessment indicators to ensure sustainable urban development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"232 ","pages":"Article 108562"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143463519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tobias Riepl , Anke Schaffartzik , Simon Grabow , Selim Banabak
{"title":"Living well with the foundational economy: Assessing the spatial accessibility of foundational infrastructures in Vienna and the relationship to socio-economic status","authors":"Tobias Riepl , Anke Schaffartzik , Simon Grabow , Selim Banabak","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108558","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108558","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Foundational infrastructures play a vital role for providing a good life for all within planetary boundaries. In this article, we employ a spatial understanding of accessibility to assess the access to five foundational infrastructures (healthcare, care, education, culture, nature) for Vienna's 250 census districts. Based on government statistics and OpenStreetMap data, we develop the Foundational Accessibility Indicator and study how accessibility intersects with spatially explicit socio-economic variables, as covered by the Social Status Index. We find strong spatial disparities with regard to the accessibility of foundational infrastructures in Vienna, with high access for most infrastructures in the city center and partially the west, but poor access in the south and east of the city. There is a significant, positive, moderate correlation between the average access to foundational infrastructures and socio-economic status in Vienna, meaning that people of higher status tend to enjoy higher access than people with lower status. In the discussion, we contextualize our results, critically reflect our approach and draw implications for retrofitting foundational infrastructures. We conclude by highlighting the broader implications of our findings for accessibility research for living well within planetary limits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"232 ","pages":"Article 108558"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143463520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Coordinating on good and bad outcomes in threshold games – Evidence from an artefactual field experiment in Cambodia","authors":"Esther Schuch , Tum Nhim , Andries Richter","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108547","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108547","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The tendency to cooperate in social dilemma situations strongly depends on how the decision is framed. Cooperation levels are higher in decisions that involve doing something good to others, rather than avoiding harm. This insight mostly comes from linear public goods games. We conduct a threshold public goods game – framed as a public good or public bad – that requires players to coordinate on a threshold. We find that the level of cooperation and group success in reaching the threshold are higher in a positive than a negative frame. We find the role of beliefs to be salient, as players hold more optimistic beliefs about contributions of others in the negative frame. Generally, contributions exceed the best-response, but are not sufficient to close the gap between the too optimistic beliefs and actual contributions in the negative frame. Hence, contributions and group success are lower in the public bad game.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"232 ","pages":"Article 108547"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143437612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marta García-Velasco Garzás , María J. Ruiz-Fuensanta
{"title":"Analysing the expansion of the circular economy in the European Union: How important is the regional context?","authors":"Marta García-Velasco Garzás , María J. Ruiz-Fuensanta","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108560","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108560","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>It is widely acknowledged that the progress towards a Circular Economy (CE) model in the European Union (EU) necessitates the cooperation of all levels of government. Nevertheless, empirical research predominantly adopts a national standpoint, disregarding the role of regions. Employing a multilevel model and spatial econometric methods, we examine the factors influencing the expansion of CE in EU regions, considering both regional and national aspects. The findings indicate that the expansion of CE endeavours in the EU mainly depends on regional factors. The regional knowledge base favours the expansion of CE-related business, while national public policies fail to promote them.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 108560"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143429778","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Who pays for the ‘pandemic era’ of rising infectious disease in animal production? Emerging questions and dilemmas for states, society, and academia","authors":"Rebecca Leigh Rutt, Niels Vasconcellos Nielsen, Henning Otte Hansen","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108550","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108550","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Unprecedented avian influenza (AI) outbreaks are causing colossal ecological and socio-economic consequences. The economic costs of managing AI risks and impacts are also swelling – a burden that falls partly upon the public sector in many industrialized countries. Yet, clear figures on these costs of AI management - particularly as born by the public sector - are hard to come by and/or generally unknown. We posit that public support to manage AI, such as of monitoring, research, planning and outbreak response, can be considered as another agricultural subsidy, and thus constitutes a topic of public concern. We present the results of an assessment of the public costs of responding to AI in Denmark, a country with substantial animal agriculture and a site of worsening HPAI outbreaks especially since 2020. This contribution issues several contributions: i) insight into a cost-mapping of AI management - the difficulty of which is important in itself, ii) a call for similar inquiry elsewhere, particularly across the EU given common veterinary and financial frameworks, and iii) critical questions for subsequent research that follow such rising costs and their implications - which are pertinent to many countries struggling against more widespread and pernicious infectious disease with pandemic potential.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 108550"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143421799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}