Essays on public goods provision under uncertainty: Incomplete markets, hyperbolic discounting, and alienable emission permits

The following chapters deal with the general topic of public goods provision under uncertainty. Uncertainty presents interesting challenges for planners trying to maximize social welfare. Among the most important of these is the challenge of finding an acceptable method for discounting the future benefits from public investments in the presence of uncertainty. Economic theory normally relies on the presence of markets to help determine the value of goods. In the instance of public goods provision, there are many reasons to believe that the markets for valuing the future provision of a public good may be missing. The first two chapters of the dissertation take up the topic of deducing the value of a public good with incomplete markets. The third chapter also deals with the topic of public goods provision under uncertainty, but in the context of an alienable emission permit program for controlling a negative externality.