Emerging Environmental Problems, Irreversible Remedies, and Myopia in a Two Country Setup

As development proceeds, the demand for environmental protection increases. We study optimal investment decision rules when protection investments are irreversible and indivisible. We show that myopia (focusing on one particular outlay without considering investments that are to come later in the sequence or are to be made by another jurisdiction) does not lead to errors in timing but greatly simplifies decision analysis. In a two country setup where each outlay benefits both countries, we also find that the equilibrium time sequence that arises when both countries must take turns to invest is also an equilibrium when the order is endogenous.
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