As professor of environmental
economics in Gothenburg,
Thomas Sterner has during the
last 18 years built up a unit for
environmental economics with three
professors, a dozen PhDs and about
two dozen graduate students.
The unit gives a unique PhD program
in environmental economics, funded
by Sida, a master program and runs
a large number of other research
and teaching activities.

Thomas Sterner’s main research interests lie in the design of policy instruments. He has studied a number of different applications ranging from energy and climate, through natural resource management such as fisheries to issues relating to industrial and transport pollution. Sterner was recently invited speaker at the Interparliamentary conference at the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm 6–7 September 2009: The Economics of Climate Change and Sustainable Public Finances, where he spoke on The Design of Policy Instruments for a Climate Policy in a Changing and Diversified World.

Thomas Sterner teaches PhD and undergraduate courses in environmental and resource economics and is also active in a number of boards and has received several award/honours for instance:

• President of European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists 2008-2009, Past President 2010-2011.
• Myrdal Prize 2008 has been awarded to Thomas Sterner and Martin Persson for their article "Konsensus i förändring - Klimatekonomi efter Stern", in Ekonomisk Debatt nr 4, 2008. (This article is based on the following article: Thomas Sterner and Martin Persson, (2008),“An Even Sterner Report”: Introducing Relative Prices into the Discounting Debate, Review of Environmental Economics and Policy,  vol 2, issue 1.)
• Editorial board of Resources and Energy Economics 2006-
• Fellow of the Centre for Advanced Study; Norwegian Academy 2005-6.
• Board member of the IVM at the VU in Amsterdam.
• Member of the Board of Academic advisors to the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, CCAP of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
• Member of the High-Level network of leading economists (organized by DG Environment and the EEA in Copenhagen).
• Pedagogical prize of Göteborg University, 2003, Environmental Economics.
• University Fellow at the Resources for the Future since 2001
• Board member of the Local Investment Programs (LIP) of the Ministry of the environment, 2002-5
• Research Advisory Committee for SANDEE, the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics, 1999- .
• External Examiner for environmental economics in the AERC, African Economic Research Consortium, 2000- 
• Myrdal Prize 2008 has been awarded to Thomas Sterner and Martin Persson for their article "Konsensus i förändring - Klimatekonomi efter Stern", in Ekonomisk Debatt nr 4, 2008. This article is based on the following article: Thomas Sterner and Martin Persson, (2008),“An Even Sterner Report”: Introducing Relative Prices into the Discounting Debate, Review of Environmental Economics and Policy,  vol 2, issue 1.

For Further Details: See complete cv 

Latest books:

Environmental Taxation in Practice, published by Ashgate

Choosing Environmental Policy, Comparing Instruments and Outcomes in the United States and Europe, RFF Press

Policy Instruments for Environmental and Natural Resource Management 
published by Resources for the Future  NEW: Chinese Edition


Selected articles:

Coria, J. and T Sterner, (2010), “Tradable Permits in Developing Countries: Evidence From Air Pollution in Chile”, The Journal of Environment and Development”, (forthcoming)

Garcia, J H., R Bluffstone, T Sterner (2009): Corporate Environmental Management in Transition Economies: The Case of Central and Eastern Europe,  Czech Journal of Economics and Finance, 59(5):410-425.

Svedäng H.,  J. Stål , T. Sterner, &  M. Cardinale, (2010) “Consequences of subpopulation structure on fisheries management: cod (Gadus morhua) in the Kattegat and Öresund (North Sea)”, Reviews in Fisheries Science, (forthcoming).

Sterner,T. and Lozada, A. (2009), " The Income Distribution Effects of Fuel Taxation", Gaceta de Economica INE-ITAM,

Sterner,T “In defence of sensible economics”, in Solow,R. & Touffut eds, Changing Climate, Changing Economy, Cournot Centre for Economic Studies, Edward Elgar, 2009.  Click to see a video in French from the presentation at the Centre Cournot of the chapter "In Defence of Sensible Economics" December 2008.

Sterner,T and D Burtraw, “Climate Change Abatement: Not "Stern" Enough?”, in Parry and Day, eds. “100 Policy Commentaries on Environmental, Energy, Urban and Public Health Problems: Volume 1”, RFF Press

Sterner,T. B Turnheim, (2009), “Innovation and diffusion of Environmental Technology: Industrial NOX abatement in Sweden under Refunded Emission Payments”, Ecological Economics

Är bensinskatten regressiv?, Hanna Ahola, Emanuel Carlsson och Thomas Sterner, Ekonomisk Debatt 2/2009 (pdf)

Kateregga, E. and T. Sterner (2009), Lake Victoria Fish Stocks and the Effects of Water Hyacinth" Journal of Environment and Development, March, Vol 18:1 pp 62-78. pdf

Mendelsohn R, T Sterner, M Persson and J P Weyant, “Comments on Simon Dietz and Nicholas Stern's Why Economic Analysis Supports Strong Action on Climate Change: A Response to the Stern Review's Critics”, Review of Environmental Economics and Policy Vol 2:2 pp 309-313,DOI 10.1093/reep/ren012

Jorge H Garcia, Shakeb Afsah and Thomas Sterner, (2008), “Which Firms are More Sensitive to Public Disclosure Schemes for Pollution Control? Evidence from Indonesia’s PROPER Program”, Environmental Resource Economics, Volume 42, Issue2 (2009), Page 151. pdf version

An Even Sterner Report: Introducing relative Prices into the Discounting Debate, a comment on the Stern Review, with Martin Persson, Feb 2007 pdf version

"Which Firms are More Sensitive to Public Disclosure Schemes for Pollution Control? Evidence from Indonesia’s PROPER Program”, Jorge H Garcia, Shakeb Afsah and Thomas Sterner, (2008),  Environmental Resource Economics, (accepted and forthcoming).

”Konsensus i Förändring- Klimatekonomi efter Stern”, Martin Persson och Thomas Sterner, Ekonomisk Debatt, 2008 May.

Are demand elasticities affected by politically determined tax levels? with  Flood, L. and N Islam Applied Economics Letters, Accepted October 2007. working paper version

Innovation and Diffusion of Environmental Technology, Industrial NOx  Abatement in Sweden under Refunded Emission Payments, Thomas Sterner and Bruno Turnheim, RFF DP 0802, pdf version

Corporate environmental management in transition economies: The case of Central and Eastern Europe, , with J Garcia and R Bluffstone, Sept 2006 pdf version

Output and Abatement Effects of Allocation Readjustment in Permit Trade, with A. Müller, Climatic Change, RFF DP 06-49, Oct 2006 pdf version 

Disconting and relative prices, with M. Hoel, Climatic Change, DOI 10.1007/s10584-007-9255-2, March 2007, pdf version

Public Disclosure of Industrial Pollution, The PROPER approach for Indonesia?, with J. Garcia and S. Afsah, Environmental and Development Economics, 2007, pdf version

Fuel Taxes: An important instrument for climate policy, Energy Policy, Vol. 35, Issue 6; June 2007, pdf version

Quick fixes for environmental problems: part oft he solution, or part of the problem?, with M. Troell, J. Vincent, S. Aniyar, S. Barrett, W. Brock, S. Carpenter, K. Chopra, P. Ehrlich, M. Hoel, S. Levin, K-G Mäler, J. Norberg, L. Pihl, T. Söderqvist, J. Wilen and A. Xepapadeas, Environment, Vol. 48, N. 10, pp20-27, Dec 2006, pdf version

Explaining Environmental Management in Central and Eastern Europe, with R, Bluffstone, Comparative Economic Studies, Vol. 48. N. 4, pp 619-640, Dec 2006, pdf version

Unobserved Diversity, Depletion and Irreversibility, The importance of subpopulations for Manangement of cod stocks, Ecological Economics, Vol. 61, Issue 2-3, pp 566-574, March 2007 pdf version

Indicators for an invasive species: Water Hyacinths in Lake Victoria, with E. Kateregga, Ecological Indicators, Vol. 7, Issue 2, pp 362-370, April 2007 pdf version 

Refunded Emission Payments - a hybrid instrument with some attractive properties, with L. H. Isaksson, Ecological Economics, Vol. 57. N. 1, pp 93-106, 2006 pdf version 

Monitoring and Enforcement: Is Two-Tier Regulation Robust?, with V. Katuria, Ecological Economics, Vol. 57(3), pp 477-93, 2006 pdf version 

The political of refunded Emission Payments, with P. G. Fredriksson, Economic Letters, Vol. 87, N. !, pp 113-119, 2005 pdf version

FORMAS-article Growth and Climate Impact: the Need for Controls pdf version

A Net Loss: Policy Instruments for Commercial Cod Fishing in Sweden, with Henrik Svedäng, Ambio, vol 34, No 2, March 2005 pdf version 

Public Discosure of Industrial Pollution: The PROPER Approach for Indonesia? with Jorge García López and Shakeb Afsah, Resources for the Future, September 2004, Discussion Paper 04-34  pdf version   

A Bioeconomic Model of Community Incentives for Wildlife Management Before and After Campfire with Fischer, C. and E Muchapondwa, RFF Working Paper 2005:05 pdf version

Political Economy Obstacles to Fuel Taxation, with Henrik Hammar and Åsa Löfgren, Energy Journal, ISSN0195-6574, July 2004, Vol 25(3). pdf version

Environmental Taxes in Europe, (2003) Public Finance and Management, 3(1), pp 117-42, ISSN Number 1523-9721, with Gunnar Köhlin, see http://www.spaef.com/PFM_PUB/index.html or http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=461537

How to Promote Prevention – Economics Incentives, Legal Regulations or Both?, Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, June 2003, with K Torén, see file:///M|/eudora/attach/Entrez-PubMed.htm

Monitoring and Enforcement: Is Two-Tier Regulation Robust? with Vinish Kathuria, Ecological Economics, Forthcoming  pdf version

Discounting and distributional considerations in the context of Global Warming, with C. Azar, Ecological Economics, Vol. 19, pp 169-184 (November 1996)  pdf version

Factor Demand and Substitution in a Developing Country: Energy use in Mexican Manufacturing, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Vol. 91, No. 4, pp 723-739 pdf version