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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
The Future of Clean Energy Innovation in a Changing U.S. Policy Environment
In the News
Publications
Evaluates the effectiveness and potential of public energy R&D funding using data from academic publications.
Develops a model of climate policy to show how policy’s effect on new technology lowers cost.
Reviews literature on environmental innovation and diffusion, with a focus on the implications of this research for climate policy.
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.
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.