Erik Gawel

Source:
Gawel, E.: Internalisierung durch das Ordnungsrecht - eine ökonomische Betrachtung, in: Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, Vol. 19 (1996), pp. 521-540.

Summary:

Internalization of external diseconomies is usually thought to be achieved by market-oriented instruments of environmental policy. Since considerable improvements are made in identifying and evaluating social costs, the question of internalization for policy purposes raises once again. Facing the fact that traditional command-and-control measures of environmental policy cannot be substituted totally by economic instruments this paper analyzes the capacity of standard policy to attain internalization goals . It is shown that command-and-control policy can be seen as an implicit internalization strategy that is evaluated in comparison with incentive-based approaches of evironmental policy.

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1997

Source:
Gawel, E.: Ökonomische Analyse von Genehmigungsverfahren im Umwelt- und Technikrecht. Eine methodische Problemskizze (= Economic Analysis of Application Procedures for Pollution Control Authorizations - A Sketch on Methodological Problems), in: Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 216 (1997), pp. 74-91.

Summary:

For a long time, now, application procedures for pollution control authorizations are criticized with regard to their required period. Just recently, it was suggested to create more flexibility in application procedures in order to allow an operator of an installation (as proposer) to obtain a certificate of authorization ealier but at a lower level of effectiveness, e. g. at a higher risk of following variation orders. The papers analyzes the economic structure of the application process of administrative law and evaluates the flexibility argument by pointing out some legal implications as well.

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1998

Source:
Gawel, E.: Das Elend der Stoffstromökonomie. Eine Kritik, in: Applied Economics Quarterly, Vol. 44 (1998), pp. 173-206.

Summary:

For the critique of traditional environmental policy and its scientific background is on the increase the question arises whether the deficiencies widely emphasized are due to shortcomings of the economic theory itself. Therefore, the paper evaluates the new approach of material flow analysis (dematerialisation approach) as part of Ecological Economics concerning its efficiency and feasibility for environmental policy. Furthermore, the material flow theory's claim to provide a new environmental economics is considered critically. It is argued that dematerialisation approaches raise severe methodological problems and do not yet fulfil the standards required for an efficient and rational environmental management. The material flow analysis, however, may be useful as corrective, not yet as substitute for the traditional neoclassical analysis of environmental problems.

Source:
Gawel, E. : Akzeptanzprobleme von Zertifikaten, in: Bonus, H. (Ed): Umweltzertifikate - der steinige Weg zur Marktwirtschaft (= ZAU Special Issue 9/98), Berlin: Analytica 1998.

Summary:

The implementation obstacles to tradable discharge permits are largely due to their lack of sufficient acceptance among political and administrative actors, interest groups and scientific advisors. The paper provides a survey concerning the most relevant aspects of acceptability deficiencies: individual and group interests, aspects of morality and psychologic determinants of behavior as well as information gaps and the unsufficient suitability of license markets for environmental practice. It is suggested here that political economy reasons may be the most important obstacle to the feasibility of permit markets. At the same time, though, market opposition for norma-tive reasons and doubts about the ecological and economic market performance, up to now, have been underestimated by economists. In view of this genuine "acceptance deficiency" of market objections on the part of economic theory itself the paper offers some options to improve the consent given by the public and non-economists with special respect to the economic theory¹s own responsability for the implementation prospects of market arrangements.

Gawel, E.: Notwendigkeit und Konzeption einer Ökologisierung kommunaler Benutzungsgebühren, in: Betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung und Praxis (BFuP), 50. Jg. (1998).

Zusammenfassung:

Die drängenden kommunalpolitischen Umweltprobleme in den Entsorgungsbereichen "Abfall" und "Abwasser" legen auch eine Indienstnahme der traditionellen Benutzungsgebühren für umweltpolitische Lenkungszwecke nahe. Entsprechende politische Forderungen nach einer Umgestaltung der Gebühren zu kommunalen Umweltlenkungsabgaben stoßen jedoch vor allem rechtswissenschaftlich, aber auch kommunalpolitisch auf erhebliche Skepsis und Ablehnung, die sowohl die konzeptionellen Grundlagen als auch die konkreten Auswirkungen ökologischer Gebührengestaltung betreffen. Der Beitrag unterstreicht die Notwendigkeit einer lenkungspolitisch aktiven Gebührenpolitik für eine nachhaltige kommunale Ressourcenwirtschaft, stellt entsprechende Konzeptionen für "ökologisierte" Gebührengestaltungen vor und erörtert die hieran in der aktuellen Diskussion geübte Kritik. Dabei wird für eine pragmatische und die geäußerten Besorgnisse berücksichtigende Umgestaltung des Gebührenwesens plädiert, die auch Änderungen im Kommunalabgabenrecht einschließt.

Gawel, E. : Das beschleunigte Immissionsschutzrecht des Bundes. Eine ökonomische Evaluierung der Beschleunigungsnormen im BImSchG nach der 5. Novelle, in: Zeitschrift für angewandte Umweltforschung (ZAU).

Summary:

In 1996, the German Federal Immission Control Act, once again, was amended by norms intending a speeding up and simplification of authorization procedures to consider immission plants. This amendment has to be seen in connection with an extensive deregulation offensive in German environmental law of proceedings during the last decade. Deregulation approaches for authorization procedures have fiercly been critisized by environmental jurisprudence for reasons of assumed environmental quality impacts. This article analyzes the effects of speeding up measures in immission control authorization procedures from an institutional economics' point of view. It is shown that, despite several shortcomings in detail, summary proceedings in immission control as realized in the 5th amendment are largely misjudged by the critique. Rather, they must be evaluated as means of optimization of application procedures.

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1999

Gawel, E. / Schneider, F.: Implementation Problems of Eco-Taxation: A Political-Economy Analysis.

Summary:

The aim of this contribution is to make clear, with the help of the New Political Economy, which chances there are for an ecologisation of the tax-system. A core element of the analysis is an overview of the interests of important political actors concerned with introducing of ecological taxes, thus e. g. the question of transparency of ecologically oriented tax-policy for voters and from the point-of-view of politicians that are interested in being re-elected. At the same time the interest groups (lobbies) and the interests pursued by the public administration are seen from this angle. Finally some considerations on possible strategies to overcome the blockade against ecological tax policy are made.