Akshaya Jha

Heartland – Environmental and Resource Economics Workshop at Illinois Environmental and Resource Economics Workshop at Illinois

The call for abstracts for the 15th Heartland Conference is now live!

Conference will take place Oct 25-26 at UofI.

Submit your environmental/resource papers by June 30, and spread the word!

More details in link.

Occasional Workshop The Environmental Markets Lab and Department of Economics at UC Santa Barbara  presents ​ The 22nd   Occasional Workshop in Environmental and Resource Economics!  This event provides researchers...

Behold! The 22nd Occasional Workshop in Environmental and Resource Economics at UC Santa Barbara.

October 24-25, 2025.

The only conference with elite talks AND walks by the beach.

Paper submissions due Friday, June 27.

#econsky

The 15th Heartland Environmental and Resource Economics Workshop at Illinois is coming up on Oct 25-26.

Submit your abstract by June 30! And spread the word.

More details & submission link here:

illinois.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

RFF Awards Grants to Fund Research on Major Federal Energy Laws Resources for the Future is pleased to award seven teams grants to analyze clean energy policies and programs developed under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Ac...

Big news! 💡 RFF has awarded grants to seven teams to research #cleanenergy policies and programs developed under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act.

Click below to learn more about the teams & their projects. 👇

www.rff.org/news/press-r...

📶 📉 A 2022 study found data sharing from US embassy monitors contributed to PM2.5 drops of 2-4 µg/m³ in the host countries

@andrealanauze.bsky.social
@akshayaj.bsky.social

Congratulations to Martin Gaynor, who has been honored with the Victor R… | Carnegie Mellon University - Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy | 43 comments Congratulations to Martin Gaynor, who has been honored with the Victor R. Fuchs Award for Lifetime Contributions to the Field of Health Economics by the… | 43 comments on LinkedIn

Thread: Obviously I'm very pleased at this recognition, but I'm sharing this for other reasons. 1st, many have the impression that people who have been successful professionally have walked a straight path - got the right degree, right 1st job, succeeded right away.

U.S. Embassies Halt Air Quality Monitoring Abroad Since 2008, embassies and other diplomatic posts had been publishing data about local air quality. In many countries, it was the only reliable source of such information.

US embassies halt air quality monitoring program.
"Since 2008, embassies and other diplomatic posts had been publishing data about local air quality. In many countries, it was the only reliable source of such information."

US Embassy air-quality tweets led to global health benefits | PNAS The World Health Organization estimates that over 90% of the world’s population is exposed to hazardous levels of local air pollution. Air pollutio...

Link to my paper with @andrealanauze.bsky.social: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

The US embassy air quality monitoring program substantially improved air quality in host cities and even saved the Department of State money via reductions in the hardship pay required to compensate employees for poor air quality at embassy sites. Very sad to see this program halted.

🚨New Predoc Posting Alert!🚨

@koenig-felix.bsky.social and I are looking to hire a full-time predoctoral fellow to work with us on projects about the economics of labor markets and the future work at @carnegiemellon.bsky.social

Please share and/or apply!

apply.interfolio.com/164383

#econ_ra

Interesting new study finds that large-scale solar adoption can *increase* fossil fuel plant profitability by softening competition at sunset. Implications for new markets which develop pricing models alongside more established ones.

#entrepreneurship #technology #energy

👇👇👇

Over 1,000 EPA Workers on Climate Change and More Could Be Fired ‘Immediately’ (Gift Article) A spokeswoman for Lee Zeldin, the new head of the agency, said the goal was to create an “effective and efficient” federal work force.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/c...

Thanks Casey!

3/3: Fossil-fuel units displaced by rooftop solar during the day must incur start-up costs or ramp up production to compete in the evening. Solar-induced decreases in competitiveness in the evening led to substantial increases in the aggregate rents earned by fossil-fuel units in WA.

2/3: In Western Australia (WA)---a setting with world-leading rooftop solar penetration rates---ignoring start and running costs and ramping constraints when constructing a competitive benchmark results in substantial over-estimates of the rents attributable to market power.

1/3: We develop a methodology to calculate dynamic competitive benchmark prices and output levels across the 24 hours of the day that accounts for unit-level ramping constraints and the recovery of fixed start-up and running costs.

Start-up Costs and Market Power: Lessons from the Renewable Energy Transition (February 2025) - Firms expect to recover the fixed costs required to start production by earning positive operating profits in subsequent periods. We develop a dynamic competitive benchmark that acco...

Gordon Leslie and I are thrilled to see this paper in print. A summary in three posts: www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

There is no fee for attending, and we will cover and arrange accommodation for invited speakers. Meals, snacks, and drinks will also be provided free of charge during the workshop!

Great paper from Akshaya Jha (@akshayaj.bsky.social) and Gordon Leslie looking at how conventional thermal power plants respond to the growing role of solar on the grid (and Australia has A LOT of rooftop solar). Really nice to see this coming out in the AER. 📈📉🔌💡

Abstract reads: There is a large literature documenting the adverse impacts of air pollution on human health. In contrast, there is a paucity of research studying the effects of air pollution on animal health. We fill this gap, utilizing five years of data on over seven million visits to veterinary practices across the United Kingdom. Leveraging within-city variation in daily monitor-measured air pollution levels, we find that increases in fine particulate matter (i.e., PM 2.5) lead to significant increases in the number of vet visits for both cats and dogs. In aggregate, these estimates indicate that reducing ambient PM 2.5 levels to a maximum of 5 micrograms per cubic meter as recommended by the World Health Organization would result in eighty thousand fewer vet visits each year (a 0.4% reduction).

Reducing pollution to meet the WHO standard would mean 80,000 fewer vet visits each year in the UK.

Large potential benefits - people really love their pets!

We spend a lot on them too: £10bn/yr in the UK and $120bn/yr in the US.

(with @akshayaj.bsky.social, Olivier Deschenes and Alan Radford)

Interested in doing a post-doc for two years in Environmental & Energy Economics or Climate Economics at Columbia University with @gwagner.com and me?

If so, please apply! Nov 1st deadline.

www.aeaweb.org/joe/listing....

Interested in a 2-year Columbia Climate School climate/energy econ post-doc with @rmetcalfe.bsky.social & me?

Apply by November 1 via www.aeaweb.org/joe/listing.... and please help us spread the word.

Cornell is hiring an environmental/energy/resource economist (open-rank).

Join our vibrant academic community working on the major sustainability challenges facing the world today... & have the option to make this part of your daily commute :)

Plz share!

academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/28657

I support the American Red Cross Support the American Red Cross today. Please visit our website to donate now. Financial donations of any size help fund our mission.

The Red Cross has a shelter at the basketball arena. I’m donating to them as soon as I get WiFi (the link isn’t working with 2 bars) www.redcross.org/donate/donat...

Opinion | One of the World’s Biggest Health Risks Is a Philanthropic Blind Spot Money to monitor air quality in some of the most polluted places in the world can lead to cleaner air and healthier populations.

Important piece on the lack of philanthropic activity devoted to improving air quality: www.nytimes.com/2024/09/19/o...
Thanks Christa for citing my work with @andrealanauze.bsky.social on the decreases in pollution from simply tweeting real-time information on air quality from US embassy monitors!