Energy Economics and Finance Seminar
Event Summary
The seminar series in Energy Economics & Finance (EEF) is jointly organized by Wharton’s Business Economics and Public Policy Department, the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, and Wharton’s Business, Climate and Environment Lab. The scope of the seminar includes regulation and policy papers. The scope of the seminar also includes environmental and transportation issues, as long as there is a connection with energy. Sessions are biweekly on Mondays from 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Snacks, beer, and wine will be served after the seminar!
For Spring 2025, the seminar will be held in-person in the Kleinman Center Classroom (Fisher Fine Arts Building Room 306).
Find and add a Google Calendar version of the schedule on the BEPP seminar page.
To sign up for the seminar, please send your name, email, and affiliation to Dhivya Kaushik: dhivya@wharton.upenn.edu
Talk Title: Cows and Trees
ABSTRACT: The Brazilian Amazon plays a crucial role in regulating global climate and preserving biodiversity, yet it faces mounting pressures from deforestation driven by cattle ranching. The expansion of pastures, fueled by global beef demand, is shaped by the dual role of cattle as both consumption good and capital stock. This duality leads to nontrivial dynamic responses. To address this, we develop a structural model to examine how ranchers’ land use decisions respond to short- and long-term beef price changes, accounting for deforestation costs, herd dynamics, and price expectations. Using panel data from 2000–2020, the model estimates reveal that deforestation is inelastic to temporary shocks on beef prices but highly elastic to permanent price changes. We also show how conventional reduced-form regressions fail to distinguish between short- and long-run effects. Our findings highlight the importance of accounting for long-term dynamics in policy evaluations, particularly for interventions targeting deforestation and carbon emissions.
Eduardo Souza-Rodrigues
Associate Professor, University of TorontoEduardo Souza-Rodrigues is an associate professor of economics at the University of Toronto.
Spring Seminar Dates:
- 3/3: Paul Stainier, School of Social Policy and Practice
- 3/17: Jingyuan Wang, Yale
- 3/31: Steve Puller, Texas A&M
- 4/14: Shan Ge, NYU Stern
- 5/12: Eduardo Souza-Rodrigues, University of Toronto
