Impact Assessment of Environmental Investment (2013-2015) in the Moravian-Silesian Region on the National Economy
Abstract
The growing demand for clean air has led at the European Union level to stricter legislation, implementation of emission ceilings, best available technology (BAT) and integrated permits (IPPC). With respect to preservation of industry, these restrictive instruments are accompanied by an opportunity to obtain subsidies from operational programmes in the case of implementation of measures beyond the mandatory requirements.
The Moravian-Silesian Region is one of the regions worst affected by high air pollution; a significant part of the OP ENV funds was allocated there as environmental investment. Besides a reduction in the air pollutant emissions, the implementation of the supported measures also has economic impacts.
The objective of the paper is an assessment of the economic and social impacts of the environmental investment using input-output modelling. Among other things, it follows from the paper that the implementation of environmental measures worth CZK 5.1 billion in the Moravian-Silesian Region induced an additional production in the Czech Republic in 2013-2015 of CZK 9.7 billion.
The impact of the investment was assessed also based on gross added value, generated profits of contractors, and additional demand for workforce in 2014-2015 in form of full-time contracts. The investment was burdened by a high degree of imports because the technologies used are not manufactured in the Czech Republic.