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Lunch seminar with Professor Bård Harstad, University of Oslo

Join Misum and SITE for a lunch seminar with Prof. Bård Harstad, Professor in Economics at the University of Oslo, on international trade and environmental conservation.

About the speaker

 

Bård Harstad is Professor in Economics at the University of Oslo since 2011. He is currently the Editor of the Review of Economic Studies and is a former Editor of the Journal of the European Economic Association. Prof. Harstad’s research focuses on developing the theory and political economics of environmental economics and international cooperation. He is the Principal Investigator in the project “Environmental Exploitation of Political Economics” which received a 5-year European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant in 2022, his third ERC grant.

 

In this Misum-SITE seminar, Prof. Harstad will discuss his working paper Trade and Trees.

Paper abstract

How can trade agreements be designed to motivate environmental conservation? I develop a model that combines trade-specific investments (e.g., deforestation) with negative environmental externalities. Traditional trade agreements raise investments and reduce conservation, so the conservation value lowers the gains from trade. However, if countries can negotiate a contingent trade agreement (CTA), where default tariffs vary with changes in the production capacity (e.g., forest cover), all negative results are reversed. A simple calibration suggests that growth and liberalization can cause Brazil’s agricultural area to expand by 27%, but this expansion can be avoided if the EU and the US offer a CTA.

 

The seminar takes place in person at the Stockholm School of Economics, Wednesday, May 3 from 12:00 to 13:00 in Room Torsten. A light lunch will be provided. Please register here to participate. 

For any questions, contact Misum Stakeholder Engagement Manager Andreea Preluca (andreea.preluca@hhs.se).

Header image by Marcelo Perez del Carpio / Climate Visuals Countdown

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