MdM SEMINAR SERIES - "Climate Change, Inequality and Time Use: Double-Dividend Approaches to Emission Reduction" by Juliet Schor

MDM SEMINAR SERIES

Title: "Climate Change, Inequality and Time Use: Double-Dividend Approaches to Emission Reduction"

Speaker: Juliet Schor, Boston College

Date: Monday, December 18th 2017

Time: 12 h

Venue: Z/022- Z/023

In this talk I will discuss a series of papers that look at two variables that have received little attention in the discussions of emissions reductions: domestic concentrations of income and wealth, and working hours. Many analyses of emissions have focused on GDP, but analyze how different components of GDP, as well as its distribution might affect emissions. Two variables in particular are of interest, working time and inequality. We find strong relationships between income and wealth inequality, time use and emissions at a variety of scales (global, OECD, and US cross-state). This line of research suggests the possibility of double-dividend policies that will reduce inequality, working hours, and emissions.

Biography 

Juliet Schor is currently Professor of Sociology at Boston College. Schor received her Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts and previously taught at Harvard University in the Department of Economics. Schor’s books include The Overworked American, The Overspent American, Sustainable Lifestyles and the Quest for Plenitude, and True Wealth.  Schor is a former Guggenheim Fellow, Radcliffe Fellow, and Brookings Institution fellow. Schor is currently researching drivers of climate emissions, the sharing economy and the future of work.