International Environmental Agreements Ch19 Full Test Bank

Chapter 19

International Environmental Agreements

Multiple Choice Questions
 

1. The available enforcement mechanisms are ________ at the international level compared to national level.
A. much stronger
B. much weaker
C. essentially the same
D. absent

 Difficulty: Easy

 

2. International agreements regarding the use of natural resources _________________.
A. are relatively new and have only been in existence for the last half century
B. began when countries sought to agree on navigation rules to cover ocean passages
C. have been virtually non-existent
D. both A and C

Difficulty: Easy

 

3. International agreements come in several forms and environmental agreements have made use of each form. One such form is a convention, which is 
A. an agreement where countries define a problem and agree to address it, without specifying what actions will take place.
B. an agreement where countries define a problem and agree to address it, and detail some of the specific actions that will be undertaken.
C. an agreement where countries define a problem and agree to address it, and detail all of the specific actions that will be undertaken including the signatories and institutions that are responsible for that action.
D. an agreement entered into by only two countries.

Difficulty: Easy.
 

4. International agreements come in several forms and environmental agreements have made use of each form. One such form is a protocol, which is 
A. an agreement where countries define a problem and agree to address it, without specifying what actions will take place.
B. an agreement where countries define a problem and agree to address it, and detail some of the specific actions that will be undertaken.
C. an agreement where countries define a problem and agree to address it, and detail all of the specific actions that will be undertaken including the signatories and institutions that are responsible for that action.
D. an agreement entered into by only two countries.

Difficulty: Easy

 5. International agreements come in several forms and environmental agreements have made use of each form. One such form is a treaty, which is 
A. an agreement where countries define a problem and agree to address it, without specifying what actions will take place.
B. an agreement where countries define a problem and agree to address it, and detail some of the specific actions that will be undertaken.
C. an agreement where countries define a problem and agree to address it, and detail all of the specific actions that will be undertaken including the signatories and institutions that are responsible for that action.
D. an agreement entered into by only two countries.

Difficulty: Easy

 

6. Refer to the figure above. The graph represents a bilateral transboundary pollutant and the economics of reaching an agreement between two countries, Country A and Country B. MD_T represents total damages of A and B. The amount calculated by (MD_T -MD_A) represents
A. inefficiency.
B. emission not covered by a treaty.
C. the socially recognized amount of damages.
D. the damages experienced by a second party, Country B, from Country A’s emissions.

Difficulty: Moderate

7. Refer to the figure above. The graph represents a bilateral transboundary pollutant and the economics of reaching an agreement between two countries, Country A and Country B. MD_T represents total damages of A and B. If Country A were managing its emissions without regard to the externalities it produces in Country B it would
A. regard MAC as the appropriate damages curve.
B. regard MD_T as the appropriate damages curve.
C. regard point e₁ as the efficient level of emissions.
D. regard point e₂ as the efficient level of emissions.

Difficulty: Easy.

8. Refer to the figure above. The graph represents a bilateral transboundary pollutant and the economics of reaching an agreement between two countries, Country A and Country B. MD_T represents total damages of A and B. If Country A were managing its emissions with regard to the externalities it produces in Country B it would  
A. regard MAC as the appropriate damages curve.
B. regard MD_A as the appropriate damages curve.
C. regard point e₁ as the efficient level of emissions.
D. regard point e₂ as the efficient level of emissions.

Difficulty: Moderate

9. Refer to the figure above. The graph represents a bilateral transboundary pollutant and the economics of reaching an agreement between two countries, Country A and Country B. MD_T represents total damages of A and B. The added abatement costs for Country A to consider damages it causes in Country B and produce at the globally efficient level of emissions is
A. area (d + f ).
B. area (g + d + f ).
C. area (c + d + f ).
D. area (a + b + d + f ).

Difficulty: Moderate

10. Refer to the figure above. The graph represents a bilateral transboundary pollutant and the economics of reaching an agreement between two countries, Country A and Country B. MD_T represents total damages of A and B. The total reduction in damages when Country A considers damages it causes in Country B and produces at the globally efficient level of emissions is 
A. area (d + f ).
B. area (g + d + f ).
C. area (c + d + f ).
D. area (a + b + d + f ).

Difficulty: Moderate

11. Refer to the figure above. The graph represents a bilateral transboundary pollutant and the economics of reaching an agreement between two countries, Country A and Country B. MD_T represents total damages of A and B. The total reduction in damages accruing directly to Country A when it considers the damages it causes in Country B and produces at the globally efficient level of emissions is 
A. area (f ).
B. area (d + c ).
C. area (c + d + f ).
D. area (a + b + d + f ).

Difficulty: Moderate

12. The China-Australia Migratory Bird agreement would be considered a

A. bilateral agreement.

B. regional agreement.

C. multilateral agreement.

D. both B and C.

Difficulty: Easy

13. The Trail Smelter case of 1935 was an important case involving a British Columbian metal refinery that damaged farmlands in the United States. This case set an important international precedent referred to as
A. side payments.
B. the victim pays principle (VPP).
C. the polluter pays principle (PPP).
D. the Conference on the Human Environment (“earth summit”).

Difficulty: Easy

14. When two countries engage in an international agreement, they often invoke some element of ___________, which encourages compensation to a polluter who suffers a net financial loss when it limits its emissions to a socially efficient level that considers other damaged parties.
A. technology transfer
B. the victim pays principle (VPP)
C. the polluter pays principle (PPP)
D. the Conference on the Human Environment (“earth summit”)

Difficulty: Easy

15. When countries engage in multilateral agreements regarding pollutants that affect all of them (i.e. acid rain pollution resulting from SO₂ emissions), the agreements supply
A. global private goods with no opportunity for free riders.
B. global public goods and the possibility of free riders.
C. like benefits to all countries.
D. side payments.

Difficulty: Easy

16. Often countries are negotiating many international issues at the same time that they are considering agreements regarding environmental issues. If they are trying to establish a reputation as ________, their position on an environmental issue may seem inconsistent with self interest.
A. free riders
B. hard bargainers
C. command and control advocates
D. protectors of the public good

Difficulty: Easy

17. In order for multinational agreements to be socially efficient, they need to
A. apply the same emission reduction goals to each country.
B. apply emission reduction goals according to the equiproportional principle.
C. apply emission reduction goals according to the equimarginal principle.
D. apply emission reduction goals according to per capital emissions.

Difficulty: Easy

Cost effectiveness in International Agreements

18. Refer to the figure above. Suppose that both Countries A and B receive the same benefit from a decrease in emissions. Both are currently emitting at the uncontrolled level. A uniform reduction of 50 percent would
A. cost society area (b + c + d + e).
B. not represent efficiency because there are differences in abatement costs.
C. be equivalent to the results from a transferable discharge program.
D. cost Country B more than Country A.

Difficulty: Easy

19. The Montreal Protocol is considered successful because
A. it found wide agreement among the nations of the world.
B. it created conditions that satisfied both developed and developing nations.
C. it provided a model for future international agreements.
D. all of the above.

Difficulty: Easy

20. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is 
A. a unilateral agreement requiring phase-out and consumption freezes of ozone depleting substances.
B. a bilateral agreement requiring phase-out and consumption freezes of ozone depleting substances.
C. a multilateral agreement requiring phase-out and consumption freezes of ozone depleting substances.
D. none of the above.

Difficulty: Easy

21. The Montreal Protocol has been _______ and ozone-depleting substances have _______.
A. unsuccessful; remained stable
B. unsuccessful; increased
C. successful; remained stable
D. successful; declined

Difficulty: Easy

22. As a partial result of the Montreal Protocol, scientists predict that the hole in the ozone will be substantially_____ by _________. 
A. increased; 2070
B. diminished; 2070
C. increased; 2030
D. diminished; 2030

Difficulty: Easy

Government Imposed Production Limitations on the CFC Market

23. Refer to the figure above. Without government intervention, the market depicted would produce ______ units of CFCs at a price of ______. 
A. q₁; p₁
B. q₁; p₂
C. q₂;p₁
D. q₂;p₂

Difficulty: Easy

24. Refer to the figure above. With government imposing restrictions on total production of q₂ , the market depicted would produce ______ units of CFCs at a price of ______. 
A. q₁; p₁
B. q₁; p₂
C. q₂;p₁
D. q₂;p₂

Difficulty: Easy

25. If the government wishes to redistribute the excess profits associated with the quantity restriction (q₂), it needs to institute a tax of __________ per unit of CFC. 
A. a
B. (p₂-p₁)
C. p₁
D. both A and B.

Difficulty: Easy

26. With government imposing restrictions on total production of CFC, the industries that produce products affected by the restriction will experience 
A. higher marginal costs.
B. reduced prices for their products.
C. steeper demand curves.
D. excess profits.

Difficulty: Easy

27. Similar to the programs for eliminating the use of leaded gasoline, the Montreal Protocol employs ____________ as a mechanism for countries that are unable to meet required production cutbacks.
A. emission standards
B. technology standards
C. trade allowances of emission reduction credits
D. command and control policy

Difficulty: Easy

28.  Provisions of the Montreal Protocol include
A. requirements for individual countries to phase out the production and consumption of designated substances.
B. a multilateral fund where contributions from industrialized countries are used to support the activities from developing countries toward achieving controls assigned in the agreement.
C. a provision for trade restrictions, banning trade in the designated substances between signatories and nonsignatories.
D. all of the above.

Difficulty: Easy

29. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that for every 1 percent increase in UV_B radiation, basal-cell and squamous-cell cancer cases increase by 1 and 2 percent respectively. This is called 
A. sensitivity analysis.
B. a dose-response relationship.
C. ecosystem response.
D. vigorous response.

Difficulty: Easy

30. Initially, in order to reduce the damages associated with CFCs, manufacturers began using
A. hydrofluorocarbons, which do not cause environmental damage.
B. hydrofluorocarbons, which cause less environmental damage.
C. hydrofluorocarbons, which cause more environmental damage.
D. equipment that limited the environmental impacts of CFCs.

Difficulty: Easy

31. The “Paris Agreement” refers to

A. an agreement on carbon emissions goals for people living and visiting Paris

B. an agreement of over 100 countries to subsidize electric vehicle use to reduce global warming

C. an agreement for countries in Europe to set a goal to reduce global warming

D. an agreement on reducing global warming that allows countries to join or leave the agreement.

32. A key feature of the Paris Agreement is that

A. countries follow uniform goals

B. countries set their own goals

C. countries negotiate goals bilaterally

D. countries follow a top-down rather than a bottom-up protocol

33. If a bi-lateral international agreement partially moves to a victim pays principled (VPP) for a given level of emissions, the marginal abatement costs for the victim

A. increase

B. decrease

C. do not change

D. cannot be determined

34. In an international agreement, when one country sacrifices (A) to benefit another country (B), this usually is an indication that

A. MAC_A > MD_A

B. MAC_B > MD_B

C. MAC_A = MAC_B

D. MD_A = MD_B

35. Transactions costs associated with international agreements

A. are negative with consensus decision rules

B. are negative with majority decision rules

C. are positive with majority and consensus decision rules

D. do not apply to majority and consensus decision rules