Advancing Methods to Identify the Distribution of Economic Effects from Environmental Protection

Zintellect is offering a postgraduate research internship at the U.S. EPA's National Center for Environmental Economics in Washington, DC. The role involves improving methodologies to assess the economic impacts of environmental policies, focusing on the distribution of costs and benefits across households. The position is full-time for 12 months, with a monthly stipend and potential travel reimbursement for presenting research. Health insurance proof is required.
A postgraduate research training opportunity is currently available at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Policy (OP) National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE) in Washington, DC.

The participant will engage on a research project that will improve methodologies to assess the benefits, costs and economic impacts of environmental policies. Analysis of major regulations traditionally focuses on estimating the overall costs and benefits of a policy to society. The distribution of those costs and benefits across society, as assessed in an economic impact analysis, is also of great interest but such analyses face a number of methodological and empirical challenges. The difficulties in assessing the distributional outcome of environmental policies, in part, stems from the numerous ways in which costs and benefits can ultimately affect the wellbeing of households. For example, costs of complying with regulations may be passed through to consumers via higher prices, but may also be borne by the workers and owners of firms subject to the regulations. For owners this may be in the form of a lower return on investment, while for workers this may be in the form of lower wages, reduced hours, or layoffs. The regulations may also stimulate economic activity in other sectors that provide goods and services required for pollution abatement. The benefits of environmental regulation are also often not experienced uniformly across the population, as they are influenced by factors such as housing and work locations, type of work, age, and health status.

The participant will be involved in a project to develop improved approaches to tracing out the distribution of key impacts of environmental regulations across households, with the aim of providing a clearer understanding of the economic impacts of these policies. The participant will be mentored by an NCEE economist.

This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and EPA. The appointment is full time for 12 months and may be renewed upon recommendation of EPA and contingent on the availability of funds. The participant will receive a monthly stipend. Funding may be made available to reimburse the participant’s travel expenses to present the results of his/her research at scientific conferences. No funding will be made available to cover travel costs for pre-appointment visits, relocation costs, tuition and fees, or participant’s health insurance. The participant must show proof of health and medical insurance. The participant does not become an EPA employee.

The mentor for this project is Charles Griffiths (griffiths.charles@epa.gov). The desired start date is June 26, 2017, but is flexible.