Cluster for Research in Environment, Trade and Energy (CRETE)

Leader: Professor Matthew Cole

The cluster’s focus is on empirical and theoretical aspects of the economics of the environment, international trade and energy. Specific attention is given to the interactions between these fields of economics and the policy implications that result. Work within the cluster has been funded by bodies including the European Union, the Economic and Social Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Leverhulme Trust and also contributes to the output of the University’s Institute for Energy Research and Policy.

Staff

Tom Allen
Tom Allen's research is in the area of political economy, in particular the political economy of trade policy. His research has dealt with issues such as the choice of trade policy as a source of government revenue in developing countries and the use of informative advertising by interest groups.

Matthew Cole
Globalisation and the environment. More specifically, the impact of trade, economic growth and investment flows on the environment and the role played by differences in environmental regulations. Of particular interest are firm and industry level studies of economy-environment interactions, often in developing countries, together with spatial analyses of pollution patterns.

Corrado Di Maria
Technological change and the environment, exhaustible resource economics, environmental policy, migration and development. The main focus of Corrado’s research is on the interaction between policies and the process of economic development, especially as refers to environmental outcomes. Corrado’s recent work deals with environmental policy and its effects on technological change, with the way climate policy modifies the use of exhaustible resources, with migration policies and the growth performance of developing countries, and with the way economies and firms have responded to the introduction of emissions trading in the EU.

Robert J R Elliott
Economics of globalisation and international business.  More specifically empirical international trade, firm heterogeneity, environment, development and labour economics under the broad umbrella of the economics of globalisation.  Topics include: Economics of China and East Asia, the environment, pollution, regulations and industrial restructuring, geographical specialisation and spatial economics, conceptual, methodological and empirical analysis of intra-industry trade, the relationship between trade structure and labour market adjustment, multinationals and foreign direct investment, international business and economics of immigration.

Michael Henry
Empirical analyses of productivity and labour market effects of trade and investment liberalisation in developed and developing countries, both at the macro and microeconomic levels.  Additionally, the utilisation of household level data to investigate issues such as youth unemployment; poverty and inequality; and the evaluation of Conditional Cash Transfer programmes.

Toby Kendall
Toby’s work deals with theoretical aspects of international trade and foreign direct investment. Recent work has focused on the choice between greenfield investment and international mergers and acquisitions, the effects of regional integration on this choice and public policy towards FDI.

Marianna Koli
Marianna's research interests are in applied economics, specifically in development economics, public finance, political economy and the economics of crime. She joined the Department of Economics in January 2011 and currently teaches Applied Economics and IT Skills as well as Quantitative Methods.

David J Maddison
David's work deals with economic valuation especially of climate change impacts; environment and health; transport and the environment; the economics of subjective wellbeing; and applied spatial econometrics.

Tom Murray 
Tom is an applied econometrician in the fields of environmental economics and happiness economics. More specifically,  his research tests empirically the amenity value of the climate using environmental valuation techniques including self-reported happiness scales. Further research interests include in the potential roles of self-reported happiness in public policy objectives. 

Cillian Ryan
Cillian's recent work had focused two key strands; 1. The theory of trade induced mergers and the impact of globalization and the implications for competition regulation and 2. Trade in Financial Services and the influence of the GATS and BASEL II. Cillian also works on Business Cycles in theory and practice.

Iain Staffell
Iain works on the SuperGen FlexNet project, looking at the economic challenges of creating a flexible, 'thinking' electricity network for the UK.  He designs models for scheduling the operation of power stations and transmission of electricity around the country, and how these will be affected by investment in intermittent renewables, increasing carbon and fuel prices, and alternative market and pricing rules.

Xiaoyu Tian 
Tian works primarily on the determinants and effects of trade and FDI. Her recent research focuses on the dynamics of quantity and quality in international trade. In particular, the mechanisms by which firms break into foreign markets and the impact of “entry” on growth, further entry and exit, as well as the interactive effects between exporting, quality and intermediate goods.

PhD students

*Supervisors in brackets.

  • Yan Cen (Elliott, Cole)
  • Yun Ham (Maddison, Elliott)
  • Sener Salci (Maddison)
  • Meng Tong (Elliott, Horsewood)
  • Liyun Zhang (Elliott, Horsewood)

Visitors

Jo Lindley
University of Surrey, UK

Toshi Okubo
Keio University, Japan

Sjak Smulders 
Tilburg University

Eric Strobl
Ecole Polytechnique, Paris

Publications

*Selected pubulications for the current REF period. 

backhouse
Author(s)  Journal articles 

Cole, M.A., R.J.R. Elliott and J. Zhang (2011)

"Growth, FDI and the Environment: Evidence from Chinese Cities." Journal of Regional Science, 51(1), 121-138.
Cole, M.A., R.J.R. Elliott and J. Zhang (2009)   "Corruption, Governance and FDI Location in China: A Province-level Analysis." Journal of Development Studies, 45(9), 1494-1513. 
Cole, M.A., R.J.R Elliott and J. Lindley (2009)  "Dirty Money: is there a Wage Premium for Working in a Pollution Intensive Industry?" Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 39(2), 161-180. 
Cole, M.A. and P.G. Fredriksson (2009)  "Institutionalized Pollution Havens." Ecological Economics, 68(4), 925-1274.

banerjee
Author(s)  Journal articles 
Di Maria, C. and B. Anderson (2011)  "Abatement and Allocation in the Pilot Phase of the EU ETS." Environmental and Resource Economics, 48(1), 83-103. 
Di Maria, C. and P. Stryszowski (2009)  "Migration, Human Capital Accumulation and Economic Development." Journal of Development Economics, 90(2), 306-313. 
Di Maria, C. and E. van der Werf (2008) "Carbon Leakage Revised: Unilateral Climate Policy under Directed Technical Change." Environmental and Resource Economics, 39, 55-74. 
Di Maria, C. and S. Valente (2008) "Hicks meets Hotelling: the Direction of Technical Change in Capital-Resource Economies." Environment and Development Economics, 13(06): 691-717. 

Barassi
Author(s)  Journal articles 
Cole, M.A., R.J.R. Elliott and T. Okubo (2010) "Trade, Environmental Regulations and Industrial Mobility: an Industry-Level Study of Japan." Ecological Economics, 69(10), 1995-2002. 
Cole, M.A., R.J.R. Elliott and J. Zhang (2009)  "Corruption, Governance and FDI Location in China: A Province-level Analysis." Journal of Development Studies, 45(9), 1494-1513.
Cole, M.A., R.J.R Elliott and J. Lindley (2009)  "Dirty Money: is there a Wage Premium for Working in a Pollution Intensive Industry?" Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 39(2), 161-180.
Elliott, R.J.R. and J.K. Lindley (2008)  "Immigrant Wage Differentials, Ethnicity and Occupational Clustering." Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, 171(3), 645-671. 

ercolani
Author(s)        Journal articles 
Girma, S., M. Henry, R. Kneller and C.R. Milner (forthcoming)             "Threshold and Interaction Effects in the Openness-Productivity Growth Relationship: the Role of Natural Barriers", Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics. 
Henry, M, R. Kneller and C.R. Milner (2009)   "Trade, Technology Transfer and National Efficiency in Developing Countries." European Economic Review, 53(2), 237-254. 
Görg, H., M. Henry, E. Strobl and F. Walsh (2009)    "Multinational Companies, Backward, Linkages and Labour Demand Elasticities." Canadian Journal of Economics, 42(1), 332–348.
Görg, H., M. Henry and E. Strobl (2008)  "Grant Support and Exporting Activity." Review of Economics and Statistics, 90(1), 168-174. 

ercolani m
Author(s)  Journal articles 
Maddison, D. and K. Rehdanz (forthcoming)  "Climate and Life Satisfaction." Ecological Economics.                         
Rehdanz, K. and D. Maddison (2009)  "The Amenity Value of Climate to Households in Germany." Oxford Economic Papers, 61, 150-167. 
Maddison, D. (2009)  "A Spatio-temporal Model of Farmland Values." Journal of Agricultural Economics, 60(1), 171-189.
Rehdanz, K. and D. Maddison (2008) "Local Environmental Quality and Life-satisfaction in Germany." Ecological Economics, 64(4), 787-797.

            


Working papers

*Selected discussion papers by cluster members for the current REF period.

2010

 

2011
Numbers  Discussion paper titles  Author(s) 
10-29                               Local Exposure to Toxic Releases: Does Ethnic Diversity Matter?  Matthew A Cole, Robert J R Elliott and Khemrutai Khemmarat 
10-3 2                              The Stochastic Convergence of CO2 Emissions: A Long Memory Approach  Marco R Barassi, Matthew A Cole and Robert J R Elliott

2009

2010 papers
Numbers  Discussion paper title  Author(s) 
09-13   Dirty Money: Is there a Wage Premium for Working in a Pollution Intensive Industry?

             
Matthew A. Cole, Robert J.R. Elliott, Joanne K Lindley 
09-14 Corruption, Governance and FDI Location in China: A Province-level Analysis  Facundo Albornoz, Matthew A. Cole, Robert J.R. Elliott and Marco G. Ercolani 
09-15  Growth, Foreign Direct Investment and the Environment: Evidence from Chinese Cities  Matthew A. Cole, Robert J.R. Elliott and Jing Zhang 
09-16  Firm Heterogeneity, Origin of Ownership and Export Participation  Matthew A. Cole, Robert J.R. Elliott and Supreeya Virakul 
                           


2008

2009 papers
Numbers  Discussion paper title  Author(s) 
08-03  In Search of Environmental Spillovers  Manfred Kerber and Colin Rowat 
08-06  Corruption, Governance and FDI Location in China: A Province-level Analysis  Matthew A. Cole, Robert J.R. Elliott and Jing Zhang 


Research grants

*Selected research grants held by cluster members from 2002 onwards.

Source: British Academy 
Title: Skills for Innovation and Growth
Researcher(s): Corrado Di Maria (PI) 
Amount: £7,260 
Period: 2011 to 2013

Source: European Commission Jean Monnet Multilateral Research Group
Title: EU-East Asia Relations in the Emerging Multi-polar World
Researcher(s): Cillian Ryan, with Maastricht University, University of Melbourne, Renmin University of China, Kobe University (Japan) and the Pusan National University (South Korea)
Amount: €80,000
Period: 2011

Source: ESRC 
Title: The Dynamics of International Trade: Sequencing, Experimenting and Quality
Researcher(s): Robert Elliott (PI), Facundo Albornoz-Crespo
Amount: £73,524
Period: June 2010 to November 2011

Source: The Leverhulme Trust
Title: Industrial Activity and the Environment: A Spatial Analysis
Researcher(s): Matthew Cole (PI), Robert Elliott, David Maddison and Marco Barassi
Amount: £70,000Period: June 2010 to June 2012

Source: ESRI, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan
Title: Environmental Policy and its Effects on Technology Diffusion: Theory and Lessons from Europe
Researcher(s): Corrado Di Maria and Frank Convery
Amount: €45,000 
Period: 2008 to 2009

Source: European Commission
Title: The Impact of EU-Mercosur Trade Liberalisation on the EU Financial Services Sector – Sustainability Impact Assessment Study on EU-Mercosur Trade Negotiations
Researcher(s): Cillian Ryan, Victor Murinde
Amount: €150,000
Period: 2008

Source: EU 
Title: CIRCE (a project concerned with migration and climate change in the EU)
Researcher(s): David Maddison 
Amount: €100,000 
Period: December 2007 to March 2011

Source: RoI EPA – Science, Technology, Research & Innovation for the Environment (STRIVE) Programme
Title: The EU Emission Trading Scheme and the Greening of Technology
Researcher(s): Corrado Di Maria (PI) Amount: €80,000
Period: 2007 to 2010

Source: APREC, Paris (France)
Title: Ex-post Analysis of the EU ETS
Researcher(s): Corrado Di Maria (PI) 
Amount: €89,000 
Period: 2007 to 2009

Source: European Commission: Jean-Monnet Action Project 
Title: Financial Market Integration, Structural Change, FDI and Economic Growth in the EU 25
Researcher(s): Cillian Ryan with Wuppertal, Budapest and Madrid
Amount: €120,000 
Period: 2006 to 2008

Source: The Leverhulme Trust 
Title: Globalisation and the Environment: Causes, Consequences and Policy Implications 
Researcher(s): Matthew Cole and Robert Elliott
Amount: £98,000 
Period: June 2004 to June 2007

Source: European Commission: Jean-Monnet Action Project 
Title: European Union and ASEAN: Historical Dimensions, Comparative Analysis and Politico-Economic Dynamics
Researcher(s): Cillian Ryan with Wuppertal, Birmingham, Chulalongkorn (Thailand)
Amount: €150,000 
Period: 2004 to 2005

Source: ESRC 
Title: Globalisation, Competitiveness and the Environment: A UK and European Perspective 
Researcher(s): Matthew Cole (PI) and Robert Elliott
Amount: £40,000 
Period: September 2002 to April 2004

Events

Past Event

Date: 2-3 December 2008
Title: PhD Workshop in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics