Keith Williges

Keith Williges

PhD candidate / scientist

Publications

CITES and the Zoonotic Disease Content in International Wildlife Trade

Published in Environmental and Resource Economics, 2020

Using descriptive statistics, this paper shows that in the last decades, the volume and pattern of internationally traded wildlife has changed considerably and, with it, the zoonotic pathogens that are traded. In an econometric analysis, we give evidence that an international environmental trade agreement could be used to limit the spread of zoonotic pathogens and disease. More specifically, combining zoonotic disease data with wildlife trade data from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife and Fauna (CITES), we show that making trade requirements more stringent leads to a decrease in the number of animals traded and, incidentally, also the number of zoonotic diseases that are traded.

Recommended citation: Borsky, S., Hennighausen, H., Leiter, A., and Williges, K. 2020. CITES and the Zoonotic Disease Content in International Wildlife Trade. Environmental and Resource Economics 76 (4), 1001-1017.

The practice of climate change policy evaluations in the European Union and its member states: results from a meta-analysis

Published in Sustainable Earth, 2019

This article presents the main findings from a meta-analysis of how climate change mitigation policy evaluations have been undertaken in the European Union (EU) and six of its Member States: Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece and the United Kingdom. It aims to provide insights into how policy evaluations are carried out and how those practices might be improved.

Recommended citation: Fujiwara, N., van Asselt, H., Böβner, S., Voigt, S., Spyridaki, N., Flamos, A., Alberola, E., Williges, K., Türk, A, ten Donkelaar, M. 2019. The practice of climate change policy evaluations in the European Union and its member states: results from a meta-analysis. Sustainable Earth 2 (1), pp. 1-16.

The economy-wide effects of large-scale renewable electricity expansion in Europe

Published in Renewable Energy, 2019

We quantify the macroeconomic effects of a large-scale expansion of wind and photovoltaics (PV) in Europe, employing a global multi-regional multi-sectoral computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, with special emphasis on electricity market integration costs.

Recommended citation: Bachner, G., Steininger, K.W., Williges, K., and Tuerk, A. 2019. The economy-wide effects of large-scale renewable electricity expansion in Europe: the role of integration costs. Renewable Energy, 134, pp. 1369-1380.

Towards an assessment of adaptive capacity of the European agricultural sector to droughts

Published in Climate Services, 2017

We assess a new method for assessing adaptive capacity (AC) at a sectoral level and operationalize AC measurement based on an sustainable livelihoods approach to assess the ability of the European agricultural sector to adapt to extreme droughts.

Recommended citation: Williges, K, Mechler, R., Bowyer, P., and Balkovic, J., 2017. Assessing adaptive capacity and vulnerability of the European agricultural sector to droughts under 2° C of global warming. Climate Services, 7, pp. 47-63.

Operationalizing iterative risk management under limited information: Fiscal and economic risks due to natural disasters in Cambodia

Published in International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2015

Recommended citation: Mochizuki, J., Vitoontus, S., Wickramarachichi, B., Hochrainer-Stigler, S., Williges, K., Mechler, R., Sovann, R. 2015. Operationalizing iterative risk management under limited information: Fiscal and economic risks due to natural disasters in Cambodia. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 6(4), pp. 321-334.