Faculty Spotlight: Roberton Williams
Nature and economics have become interconnected. Due to the dynamics and complexity of this union, environmental economics has emerged as an important field of study, particularly for issues related to the costs and benefits of environmental policies in air pollution, water quality, toxic substances, fossil fuels, waste, and climate change.
For University of Maryland (UMD) Professor Roberton Williams, economics is instinctual, having heard discussions from his father, an economist and professor. As a youth, he sometimes found himself sitting in the back of his father’s classroom doodling while his father engaged students in discussions. Although it was interesting, he resisted the subject during high school and into college. “My interests were diverse and I still had not settled into a field in my freshman year, I shied away from economics since it was something that was too familiar seeing my father work in this field. I later understood that economics was at the center of all of my interests,” he said. Williams’ considered various fields of study, ultimately pursuing a career in environmental economics.
So what do environmental economists do? They establish the direct link between economics and the ecological system, using tools and analysis to determine potential outcomes of environmental problems. Like the Greek god Hermes, they are “the messengers” of cause and effect that remind us that for each human action, there is a carbon footprint, and a long-term effect. Economics itself stems from the Greek words, “oiko nomia” which means, “managing the household.” Oiko nomia related directly to how well households managed their resources and contributed to society. Therefore, it was not unusual for Greek gentlemen when speaking to each other to ask, “How is your oiko nomia?”
In his first year at Harvard, Williams began to notice that a good majority of the freshman class was taking economics. He decided to take the course as well. He credits his professor at Harvard for giving him a strong interest in the subject. “Had I had a worse professor, I may not have been as interested. It seemed like everyone at Harvard was involved in some form of discussion about economics,” he said. After finishing his undergraduate degree at Harvard and graduating magna cum laude in 1994, Williams continued his education at Stanford University, receiving a Ph.D., in Economics in 1999.
Before specializing in environmental economics, Williams considered other areas of concentration such as public policy and urban economics. But working on projects dealing with the environment fueled his initial interest further. “From a personal perspective, I have an interest in the environment and it’s a growing branch of economics. I’d like to continue my work focusing on environmental taxation and offer a positive direction to how environmental economic causes will be viewed and policies developed,” he states.
Williams’ research in environmental taxation has contributed to models on proposed taxation policies, in particular, the impact of a carbon tax for revenues which can affect consumption. From his findings, Williams says a carbon tax will do more for the environment and cost the economy less. “There are three advantages to a carbon tax over other taxes to raises revenues: there’s incentives to reduce consumption, there’s incentives for all means of reducing emissions, and it’s a transparent and simpler form of tax.”
Williams has co-authored several publications including, The Impacts of a US Carbon Tax Across Income Groups and States, which looks at models dealing with the carbon tax impact; and Getting to an Efficient Carbon Tax: How the Revenue Is Used Matters, which introduces a new modeling framework focused on federal tax policy and how alternative forms of revenue sources can affect the economy. According to Williams, research verifies that with tax consistency, a carbon tax may represent U.S. revenues of $160 to $3.6 trillion over the next decade. How these revenues will be used, however, plays a key role in how well the carbon tax policy will perform, and how it is distributed will determine whether the policy leaves households worse off or better off.
His desire to work in a location that was rapidly expanding in the field of environmental economics lead to his current position at UMD’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (AREC). “AREC is one of the first departments to offer agriculture and environmental economics. After my wife and I decided to move to the East Coast, we knew that being in the Washington, DC metro region was important for us. I found that teaching at UMD helped me to better understand economics and fueled energy to my research. I also wanted to engage policymakers. Being here provides a greater opportunity to collaborate and influence policies that are being considered on the Hill. From a personal perspective, my parents live in the area and having them close to us and their 14-month old grandson was a big incentive to relocate,” Williams states.
The carbon tax trade-off has various goals, such as generating revenues for the government while promoting economic growth and enhancing the environment. As consumers, who can really tell us how to spend our money in a way that is most beneficial? Probably only we can. But experts can remind us that there is a cause and effect to our actions, and that’s why we need environmental economists like Professor Roberton Williams.
So how is your carbon footprint? Or as the Greeks would say, “How is your oiko nomia?”
