| FALL 2004 UMASS
Amherst Operations Research / Management Science Seminar Series |
| Date:
Friday, October 15, 2004 Time: 11:00 AM Location: Isenberg School of Management, Room 112 |
| Speaker: Professor Erin
Baker Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering University of Massachusetts at Amherst |
| Biography: Erin Baker is an
Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Industrial
Engineering at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She applies
operations research methods to environmental and energy economics and
policy. Professor Baker's current research program revolves around how
uncertainty impacts global climate change policy in a strategic
environment. Some questions she is addressing are: Is a technology
policy a useful hedge against uncertain catastrophic damages from
climate change? What is the impact of uncertainty on equilibrium
emissions if there is an uncertain threshold of emissions beyond which
damages are catastrophic? Her general interests include the economics of distributed generation, in particular analyzing the institutional barriers to adopting environmentally benign distributed generation technologies, and the interplay between energy and development in Africa. |
TITLE: Optimal Technology R&D in the Face of Uncertainty |
| Abstract: This talk explores optimal
R&D in response to uncertain climate change damages caused by the
buildup of greenhouse emissions. I consider this question from the
point of view of a social planner, and from a firm's point of view.
Using a microeconomic model we investigate whether an expected carbon
tax induces R&D into carbon-saving technological change. We
conclude that the relationship between a carbon tax and R&D can be
non-monotonic, and discuss which characteristics of the R&D program
and the firm impact optimal R&D response to a carbon tax. |
| This series is organized by the
UMASS Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter. Support for this series is
provided by the Isenberg School of Management, the Department of
Finance and Operations Management, and the John F. Smith Memorial Fund. For questions, please contact the INFORMS Student Chapter President, Ms. Tina Wakolbinger, wakolbinger@som.umass.edu |