Popp

David Popp

Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs, Syracuse University
Chapter Member: Central New York SSN, New York State SSN
Areas of Expertise:
  • Science & Technology
  • Economy
  • Environment & Energy

Connect with David

(315) 443-2482

About David

Popp is an economist with research interests in environmental policy and the economics of technological change. Much of his research focuses on the links between environmental policy and innovation, with a particular interest in how environmental and energy policies shape the development of new technologies that may be relevant for combating climate change. Popp is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Research Network Member in the Energy & Climate Economics Research Group of CESifo, and a co-editor for two journals: the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists and Environmental and Resource Economics.  He has served on the U.S. General Accounting Office Expert Panel on Climate Change Economics, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis, and the Advisory Committee of the Green Growth Knowledge Platform, and has consulted for the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Bank. 

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

The Future of Clean Energy Innovation in a Changing U.S. Policy Environment

SSN Key Findings Brief,

In the News

David Popp quoted in Lauren Fox, Phil Mattingly and Deirde Walsh, "With Just Days before a Potential Shutdown, Negotiations Continue on Must-Pass Spending Bill" CNN, March 19, 2018.
David Popp quoted in Anna Edney, "Durbin Sees ‘End of the Senate’ if Trump Gets Nuclear Option" Bloomberg News, January 21, 2018.
David Popp's research on the efficacy of carbon pricing in reducing GHG emissions and incentivizing low-cost clean innovation discussed in Dale Beugin, "Carbon Pricing and Innovation," Canada's Ecofiscal Commission Blog, October 26, 2016.
"Investing in Clean Tech Not Enough, Governments Need Optimal Policy," David Popp, Toronto Globe and Mail, August 2, 2016.
David Popp quoted on fossil fuel capacity in Lydia DePillis, "Why Renewables Still Need Fossil Fuels -- for Now" Houston Chronicle, July 25, 2016.
David Popp quoted on carbon pricing in Deborah Yedlin, "New C.D. Howe Report Addressing Innovation a Must-Read in Alberta" Calgary Herald, July 21, 2016.
David Popp quoted on carbon pricing and incentivizing clean technology in Geoffrey Morgan, "New C.D. Howe Report Addressing Innovation a Must-Read in Alberta" Financial Post, July 19, 2016.

Publications

"Economic Analysis of Scientific Publications and Implications for Energy Research and Development" Nature Energy 1, no. 4 (2016): 1-8.

Evaluates the effectiveness and potential of public energy R&D funding using data from academic publications.  

"ENTICE: Endogenous Technological Change in the DICE Model of Global Warming" Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 48, no. 1 (2004): 742-768.

Develops a model of climate policy to show how policy’s effect on new technology lowers cost.  

"Innovation and Climate Policy" Annual Review of Resource Economics 2 (2010): 275-298.

Reviews literature on environmental innovation and diffusion, with a focus on the implications of this research for climate policy.

"Induced Innovation and Energy Prices" American Economic Review 92, no. 1 (2002): 160-180.

Uses patent data to estimate the relationship between higher energy prices and new energy technologies.  Both demand-side factors, such as higher energy prices, that spur innovative activity by increasing the value of new innovations, and supply-side factors, such as scientific advancements that make new innovations possible.  

"Renewable Energy Policies and Technological Innovation: Evidence Based on Patent Counts" (with Nick Johnstone and Ivan Hascic). Environmental and Resource Economics 45, no. 1 (2010): 133-155.

Demonstrates how the types of policies used affect the development of renewable energy technologies.  Because firms will focus on those technologies closest to market, market-based policy incentives provide less incentive for research on longer-term needs.