New chapter published

Sustainability and resilience in tourism through carbon footprint assessment

GEAR Members María Ángeles Cadarso, María Ángeles Tobarra, Ángela García-Alaminos, Mateo Ortiz, Nuria Gómez, and Jorge Zafrilla have recently published a new book chapter entitled “The Input–Output Method for Calculating the Carbon Footprint of Tourism: An Application to the Spanish Tourism Industry” inside the book Advances of Footprint Family for Sustainable Energy and Industrial Systems, edited by J. Ren in the Green Energy and Technology Series in Springer International Publishing.

Tourism is an activity that represents a high share in GDP and employment in developed economies as the Spanish one (in which tourism contribution to GDP accounts for 12.3%), but also in developing areas. However, the sustainability of such activity is controversial because it is highly pollutant given its transport dependency. The pandemic crisis has struck tourism heavily, showing its high vulnerability too. Its recovery in the new normality shouldn’t constitute a return to the pre-pandemic situation, instead, it should be regarded as a chance to turn into a more sustainable and resilient activity. In this sense, this chapter calculates the carbon footprint of tourism for the Spanish economy in a pre-covid context and proposes it as a measure to evaluate monitor and establish strategies towards the reduction of the environmental impact of tourism.

The main results show that the carbon footprint of tourism in Spain accounts for 15% of the Spanish total emissions, which is above the global average (8%). In global terms, 29% of the total carbon footprint is imported, so it is, directly or indirectly, embodied in the global production chains. It is concentrated in some close European Union countries, China, BRIIAT, and the United States. At a sectoral level, the Spanish tourism carbon footprint is concentrated in some industries where emissions are mostly domestic (air transport, land transport, or retail trade).

We invite you to have a look at the chapter in this link: https://www.springerprofessional.de/en/the-input-output-method-for-calculating-the-carbon-footprint-of-/19368472

GEAR MEMBER WINS THE ALBACETE YOUNG RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC CULTURE PRIZE 2021

The GEAR researcher Mateo Ortiz was awarded the «Albacete Young Research and Scientific Culture Prize 2021» in the University Research category for his work on The carbon footprint of multinational enterprises and their potential to transfer climate policies and sustainable production patterns. This distinction has been awarded by the Albacete City Council and the Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, to stimulate scientific vocations and talent among young people under 30 years of age.

We are very proud and happy with this recognition to the young researchers of the GEAR group.

CONGRATS SANTACRUZ!!

Great news from GEAR!!

Santacruz Banacloche, under the supervision of María Ángeles Cadarso and Fabio Monsavle, has recently completed his Ph.D.!!

Santacruz has presented an insightful and diverse thesis that rests on the knowledge and work experiences acquired in CEPAL and CIEMAT, always well linked to a strong MRIO modelization storytelling.

The thesis, entitled “Análsiis de la sostenibilidad de las inversiones verdes en el camino hacia la transición energética y la descarbonización de la economía. La importancia de las cadenas globales de valor”, presents three peer reviewed publications that you can check following the next links:

Banacloche, S., Cadarso, M.Á., Monsalve, F., 2020. Implications of measuring value added in exports with a regional input-output table. A case of study in South America. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics 52, 130-140. LINK
Banacloche, S., Cadarso, M.A., Monsalve, F., Lechon, Y., 2020. Assessment of the sustainability of Mexico green investments in the road to Paris. Energy Policy 141, 111458. LINK
Banacloche, S., Herrera, I., Lechón, Y., 2020. Towards energy transition in Tunisia: Sustainability assessment of a hybrid concentrated solar power and biomass plant. Science of The Total Environment 744, 140729. LINK

Congratulations Santacruz, thank you for your hard work and your tenacity!!

See you soon!

NEW PUBLICATION IN SERIES – JOURNAL OF THE SPANISH ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION

Santiago J. Rubio from the University of Valencia and GEAR Group member Ángela García-Alaminos have recently published a new research article entitled “Emission taxes and feed-in subsidies in the regulation of a polluting monopoly” in SERIEs – Journal of the Spanish Economic Association.

The paper studies and compares the use of emission taxes and feed-in subsidies for the regulation of a monopoly that can produce the same good with a technology that employs a polluting input and a clean technology. First, it is showed that the efficient solution could be implemented combining a tax on emissions and a subsidy on clean output. The second-best tax and subsidy are also calculated through a two-stage policy game between the regulator and the monopoly, concluding that the second-best tax rate can be the Pigouvian tax, but only if the marginal costs of the clean technology are constant. A linear-quadratic specification of the model is also developed, allowing for a comparison of both policy instruments.

This work was awarded the “Young Researcher in Energy Economics Prize» by Red Eléctrica de España and the Spanish Association for Energy Economics in January 2020.

We hope you enjoy it!

ACCESS TO FULL PAPER: LINK

NEW PUBLICATION IN ECONOMIC SYSTEMS RESEARCH

GEAR Group members Ángela García-Alaminos, Mateo Ortiz, Guadalupe Arce, and Jorge Zafrilla have recently published a new research article in Economic Systems Research.

The paper, entitled “Reassembling social defragmented responsibilities: the indecent labour footprint of US multinationals overseas”, presents news insights about the social impacts embodied in multinational firms’ global value chains. Combining a socially extended MRIO model with three social indicators (forced labour, fatal and nonfatal occupational injuries) from the indecent labour database developed by Ángela García-Alaminos, we find that the activities of US multinationals foreign affiliates show increasing trends between 2009 and 2013 on indecent labour, contributing with 1.1%–1.3% of the global cases. United States affiliates located in India, China, and Brazil show the highest ratios per unit of value-added.

This work was awarded the “6^th Emilio Fontela Research Prize in Input-Output Analysis” by the Hispanic-American Input-Output Society (SHAIO) in September 2019.