Who bears the costs of climate change? Evidence from Tunisia

In order to estimate the economic costs of climate change for Tunisia, this paper uses a combination of biophysical and economic models. In addition, the paper draws on the literature to complement the quantitative analysis with policy recommendations on how to adapt to the changing climate. The res...

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Main Authors: Wiebelt, Manfred, Al-Riffai, Perrihan, Breisinger, Clemens, Robertson, Richard D.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Project MUSE 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150574
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author Wiebelt, Manfred
Al-Riffai, Perrihan
Breisinger, Clemens
Robertson, Richard D.
author_browse Al-Riffai, Perrihan
Breisinger, Clemens
Robertson, Richard D.
Wiebelt, Manfred
author_facet Wiebelt, Manfred
Al-Riffai, Perrihan
Breisinger, Clemens
Robertson, Richard D.
author_sort Wiebelt, Manfred
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description In order to estimate the economic costs of climate change for Tunisia, this paper uses a combination of biophysical and economic models. In addition, the paper draws on the literature to complement the quantitative analysis with policy recommendations on how to adapt to the changing climate. The results bear out the expectation that climate change has a negative but weak overall effect on the Tunisian economy. Decomposing the global and local effects shows that global climate change may benefit the agricultural sector since higher world market prices for agricultural commodities are likely to stimulate export expansion and import substitution. Locally felt climate change, however, is likely to hurt the agricultural sector as lower yields reduce factor productivities and lead to lower incomes and higher food prices. The combined local and global effects are projected to be mostly negative and the costs will have to be carried mainly by urban and richer households. From a policy perspective, the results suggest that Tunisia should try to maximize the benefits from rising global agricultural prices and to minimize (or reverse) declining crop yields at home.
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spelling CGSpace1505742025-04-24T19:51:21Z Who bears the costs of climate change? Evidence from Tunisia Wiebelt, Manfred Al-Riffai, Perrihan Breisinger, Clemens Robertson, Richard D. economic distribution policies agricultural growth computable general equilibrium models climate change In order to estimate the economic costs of climate change for Tunisia, this paper uses a combination of biophysical and economic models. In addition, the paper draws on the literature to complement the quantitative analysis with policy recommendations on how to adapt to the changing climate. The results bear out the expectation that climate change has a negative but weak overall effect on the Tunisian economy. Decomposing the global and local effects shows that global climate change may benefit the agricultural sector since higher world market prices for agricultural commodities are likely to stimulate export expansion and import substitution. Locally felt climate change, however, is likely to hurt the agricultural sector as lower yields reduce factor productivities and lead to lower incomes and higher food prices. The combined local and global effects are projected to be mostly negative and the costs will have to be carried mainly by urban and richer households. From a policy perspective, the results suggest that Tunisia should try to maximize the benefits from rising global agricultural prices and to minimize (or reverse) declining crop yields at home. 2015-03 2024-08-01T02:52:23Z 2024-08-01T02:52:23Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150574 en https://hdl.handle.net/10419/100696 Limited Access Project MUSE Wiebelt, Manfred; Al-Riffai, Perrihan; Breisinger, Clemens; Robertson, Richard D. 2015. Who bears the costs of climate change? Evidence from Tunisia. Journal of Developing Areas 49(2): 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1353/jda.2015.0002
spellingShingle economic distribution
policies
agricultural growth
computable general equilibrium models
climate change
Wiebelt, Manfred
Al-Riffai, Perrihan
Breisinger, Clemens
Robertson, Richard D.
Who bears the costs of climate change? Evidence from Tunisia
title Who bears the costs of climate change? Evidence from Tunisia
title_full Who bears the costs of climate change? Evidence from Tunisia
title_fullStr Who bears the costs of climate change? Evidence from Tunisia
title_full_unstemmed Who bears the costs of climate change? Evidence from Tunisia
title_short Who bears the costs of climate change? Evidence from Tunisia
title_sort who bears the costs of climate change evidence from tunisia
topic economic distribution
policies
agricultural growth
computable general equilibrium models
climate change
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150574
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