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Computable general equilibrium (CGE) models are widely used by governmental organizations and academic institutions to analyze the economy-wide effects of events such as climate change, tax policies and immigration. This book provides a practical, how-to guide to CGE models suitable for use at the undergraduate college level. Its introductory level distinguishes it from other available books and articles on CGE models. The book provides intuitive and graphical explanations of the economic theory that underlies a CGE model and includes many examples and hands-on modeling exercises. It may be used in courses on economics principles, microeconomics, macroeconomics, public finance, environmental economics and international trade and finance, because it shows students the role of theory in a realistic model of an economy. The book is also suitable for courses on general equilibrium models and research methods and for professionals interested in learning how to use CGE models.

In the transport policy development process, four-step models are commonly used to estimate transport costs and flows based on representations of travel demands and networks. However, these models typically do not account for broader changes in the economy, which may significantly shift travel patterns in the case of larger transport projects. LUTI models are often applied to simulate changes in land-use patterns, and regional production function models have been used to estimate changes in production, but these methods rely on fixed economic parameters that may not capture the structural economic changes induced by large transport projects. In a separate line of development, computable general equilibrium (CGE) models, which simulate entire economies, have been increasingly applied to estimate the magnitude and distribution of economic impacts from transport improvements both spatially and through markets, including GDP and welfare. Some CGE models are linked with transport network models, but none incorporate detailed networks or generate a complete set of travel demands. This paper presents an integrated CGE and transport model that generates household and freight trips and simulates a detailed road network for different time periods, such that the transport submodel can be calibrated and run as a conventional transport model. The model provides a tool for the rapid strategic assessment of transport projects and policies when economic responses cannot be assumed to remain static. In the model, the CGE submodel simulates the behaviour of households and firms interacting in markets, where their behaviour takes trip costs into account. The model then generates trips as a derived demand from agent activities and assigns them to the road network according to user equilibrium, before feeding back trip costs to the CGE submodel. The model is then tested by simulating the WestConnex motorway project under construction in Sydney, with results showing significant increases in welfare for regions close to the improvements. Further development of the model is required to incorporate land-use and mode choice.

In recent years, food prices have been volatile worldwide. High and fluctuating food prices have led to riots in many low income countries, and have increased the world poverty population. Both developed and developing nations are rushing to buy farmland, even outside their own countries, for their future food security, which indicates that it has been more difficult to secure food supplies. This book addresses the issue of agricultural trade liberalisation by Japan, factors behind the world.

Oil prices fell from around $US110 per barrel in 2014 to less than $US50per barrel at the start of 2017. This put enormous pressure on government budgets within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The focus of GCC economic policies quickly shifted to fiscal reform, including the removal of domestic subsidies on energy products. In this paper, we use a dynamic Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to investigate the economic impact of the gradual removal of subsidies on refined petroleum and electricity, with specific reference to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Our study shows that removing subsidies eliminates a large distortion in the economy. This improves the efficiency of resource use, so that even though employment and capital in most years fall relative to baseline levels, real GDP rises. In addition, we show that fully-funded compensation payments offset the increases in energy prices, leaving economic welfare of the Saudi-national population little affected. Removing the energy subsidies leads to an improvement in the net volume of trade, while leading to a mixed outcome for industries.

The goal of limiting global temperature rise to “well below” 2 °C has been reaffirmed in the Paris Agreement on climate change at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21). Almost all countries submitted their decarbonization targets in their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and India did as well. India’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity of national GDP in 2030 by 33–35% compared to 2005. This paper analyzes how India’s NDC commitments compare with emission trajectories consistent with well below 2 °C and 1.5 °C global temperature stabilization goals. A top-down computable general equilibrium model is used for the analysis. Our analysis shows that there are significant emission gaps between NDC and global climate stabilization targets in 2030. The energy system requires significant changes, mostly relying on renewable energy and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. The mitigation costs would increase if India delays its abatement efforts and is locked into NDC pathways till 2030. India’s GHG emissions would peak 10 years earlier under 1.5 °C global temperature stabilization compared to the 2 °C goal. The results imply that India would need financial and technological support from developed countries to achieve emissions reductions aligned with the global long-term goal.

The attempt of abolishing fuel subsidy to alleviate the rising pressure on public finances would pose a threat to the performance of the sectors. This study, therefore, intends to identify the impact of abolishing the subsidies on domestic producers in Malaysia using a Lofgren-based computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. The findings show that the fuel subsidy abolition leads to a significant fall in the level of production, and consequently decreases output allocation for domestic and export markets. Sectors which use relatively large amounts of oil products in production would most likely be hit harder. Besides simulating the impact of abolishing the fuel subsidies, two supplementary regimes (reallocating the extra savings to the agricultural sector to assist the rural poor and transferring direct cash to those who are in need) are incorporated to deal with the decelerating growth in domestic production. Interestingly, raising agricultural investment is found to be more favourable in terms of better performance in the growth of the sector. Thus, it is advisable to include improvement of farming practices in designing policy measures. This study can further serve as a guideline in upgrading the existing subsidy abolition to ensure the performance of the sectors is wholly satisfactory.

This study assesses the economic and environmental impacts of Japan’s nuclear power scenarios and examines the implications for renewable energy. To assess nuclear power scenarios, we use the following three scenarios: “new policy scenario” of the International Energy Agency as a reference; a 40-year operational time limit of nuclear power plants; and no restart of nuclear power plants. For all scenarios, renewable energy with feed-in tariffs is considered. In addition, to assess the impact on the international competitiveness of Japanese industry, we construct a multi-regional, recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium model based on version 8.1 of the Global Trade Analysis Project database. Compared to the reference scenario, the other two scenarios increase CO 2 emissions through an increase in fossil fuel electricity generation and decreases Japan’s real gross domestic product, although renewable energy supply also increases. In particular, a nuclear power phase-out negatively impacts Japan’s energy-intensive and trade-exposed sectors. However, our model does not consider externalities from fossil fuel usage and nuclear risk. The results of this simulation study represent the first step in answering important questions on energy policy but further research on externalities of fossil fuel and nuclear power usage should be conducted.

This paper describes the methodology and main results from an overall assessment on future achievement of sustainable development goals. The proposed approach consists of a model-based, looking forward composite sustainable development index—FEEM sustainability index—projected to the future. It represents a first experiment to reproduce the future dynamics of sustainable development indicators over time and worldwide and to assess future sustainability under different scenarios. The assessment presented here is relevant under different viewpoints. First, it has a very broad nature in terms of both geographical coverage and meaningfulness: it considers the multi-dimensional structure of sustainable development by combining relevant indicators belonging to economic, social and environmental pillars for the whole world. Second, the modelling framework to compute future trends of indicators relies upon a recursive-dynamic computable general equilibrium model. This is an ideal tool to look simultaneously at the development of many indicators, their potential interactions and trade-offs, and more in general to the consequences of economic development and/or policies aiming to increase performance in one or more indicators; it allows measuring the overall sustainability under alternative scenarios, across countries and over time. Finally, regarding the construction of the composite indicator, the application of fuzzy measures and Choquet integral increases substantially the model capability allowing taking into account the interactions that exist among the three main pillars of sustainability and the considered indicators.

We developed a spatial computable general equilibrium model of South Korea to assess the spatial spillover effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on South Korea’s regional economic growth patterns. The model measures a wide range of economic losses, including human health costs at the city and county level, through an analysis of regional producers’ profit maximization on the supply side and regional households’ utility maximization on the demand side. The model’s findings showed that if the level of spatial interaction decreases by 10% as a result of social distancing policies, the national gross domestic product drops by 0.815–0.864%. This loss in economic growth can be further decomposed into 0.729% loss in agglomeration effect, 0.080–0.130% loss in health effect associated with medical treatment and premature mortality, and 0.005% loss in labor effect. The results of the models and simulations shed light on not only the epidemiological effects of social distancing interventions, but also their resultant economic consequences. This ex-ante evaluation of social distancing measures’ effects can serve as a guide for future policy decisions made at both the national and regional level, providing policymakers with the tools for tailored solutions that address both regional economic circumstances and the spatial distribution of COVID-19 cases.

The problem of how to evaluate investments in airports has now been studied for over 50 years. This paper analyzes the use of different methods like cost–benefit analysis (CBA), economic impact analysis (EIA), and computable general equilibrium (CGE) models to address the question. It assesses the strength and weaknesses of each method, and it discusses which methods have been used in different countries. The paper argues that the CBA approach and the newer CGE modeling approach address the policy issue well and that both methods are appropriate, although improvements are possible, especially in the newer aspects of evaluation. Furthermore, more data intensive CGE models are able to analyze broader aspects of the evaluation question for which CBA has had difficulty. EIA does not address the problem satisfactorily, and it misleads air transport policy. But this evaluation contrasts sharply with practice. EIA has been extensively used to decide on airport investment. CGE approaches are very promising, though further work is needed for them to reach their full potential. This paper pays particular attention to the relationship between CBA and CGE in airport investment evaluation and also the possible role of wider economic benefits (WEBs) of aviation in evaluation.