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on Energy Economics |
| By: | Ben Hunt |
| Keywords: | Oil prices , Monetary policy , Oil crisis , Economic models , |
| Date: | 2005–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:05/215&r=ene |
| By: | Alfredo Baldini |
| Keywords: | Business cycles , Venezuela, Republica Bolivariana de , Fiscal policy , Oil sector , |
| Date: | 2005–12–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:05/237&r=ene |
| By: | Arne Wiig |
| Abstract: | What are the responsibility of oil companies in resource rich countries? Do they take these responsibilities? Based on a utilitarian perspective and theories of the resource curse, we discuss the oil companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) when a resource rich country such as Angola lacks accountable public institutions. We also analyse the type of responsibility oil companies take and factors driving corporate social responsibility. From undertaking a survey among oil service fi rms operating in Angola, we have found that, in practice, policy on the corporate social responsibility of oil companies is mainly driven by economic incentives (it is good for business), rather than by ethical considerations. |
| Keywords: | Oil Corporate social responsibility Ethics Angola |
| JEL: | M14 L71 D63 |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chm:wpaper:wp2005-8&r=ene |
| By: | Ronald Ripple (Department of Economics, Macquarie University); Imad Moosa (Department of Economics and Finance, La Trobe University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of the maturity of the futures contact used as the hedging instrument on the effectiveness of futures hedging. For this purpose, daily and monthly data on the WTI crude oil futures and spot prices are used to work out the hedge ratios and the measures of hedging effectiveness resulting from using the near-month contract and those resulting from the use of a more distant (six-month) contract. The results show that futures hedging is more effective when the near-month contract is used. They also reveal that hedge ratios are lower for near-month hedging. Some explanations are presented for these findings. |
| Date: | 2005–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mac:wpaper:0513&r=ene |
| By: | Saqib Rizavi; Delia Velculescu |
| Keywords: | Oil revenues , Trinidad and Tobago , Fiscal policy , |
| Date: | 2005–10–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:05/197&r=ene |
| By: | Machiel Mulder; Gijsbert Zwart |
| Abstract: | This report analyses the welfare effects of two major components of the Dutch gas-depletion policy: the offtake guarantee for small-fields gas and the cap on production from the Groningen field. We conclude that the benefits of offtake guarantee currently may outweigh the costs, but a further development of the gas market would reverse this picture. The cost of the offtake guarantee is that it gives operators reduced incentives to respond optimally to short-term changes in market conditions compared to a competitive market. Regarding the cap on Groningen (42.5 bcm per year), we find that this measure is inefficient when the cap is binding, i.e. restricting the production from the Groningen field. The costs of capping Groningen production follow from shifting returns to the future. The benefits of this measures consist of slightly positive effects on small-fields production and positive benefits for security of supply. |
| Keywords: | gas depletion; gas market; gas policy; competition; cost-benefit analysis |
| JEL: | L3 L5 L95 Q3 Q4 |
| Date: | 2006–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:docmnt:110&r=ene |
| By: | Machiel Mulder; Gijsbert Zwart |
| Abstract: | The NATural GAS model is an integrated model of the European wholesale gas market providing long-run projections of supply, transport, storage and consumption patterns in the model region, aggregated in 5-year periods, distinguishing two seasons (winter and summer). Model results include levels of investment in the various branches, output and consumption, depletion of reserves and price levels. The NATGAS model computes long-term effects of policy measures on future gas production and gas prices in Europe. NATGAS is an equilibrium model describing behaviour of gas producers, investors in infrastructure (pipeline, LNG capacity, as well as storage), traders and consumers. NATGAS covers the main European demand regions, including the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. Moreover, it covers the main origins of supply on the European market, such as Russia, Norway, Algeria, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and LNG. In this memorandum, we first discuss the theoretical background as well as the model specifications. Afterwards, we describe the data we used, present some results and assess validity by computing sensitivities and comparing with current developments. |
| Keywords: | gas market modelling; European gas market; equilibrium model; natural resources |
| JEL: | C3 C5 Q3 Q4 |
| Date: | 2006–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:memodm:144&r=ene |
| By: | Machiel Mulder; Gijsbert Zwart |
| Abstract: | This memorandum analyses the fundamental characteristics of the natural gas market and its consequences for government policies. In the past, the European gas market was dominated by state-owned monopolists but since the start of the liberalisation, privatisation and re-regulation in the early 1990s, the market has fundamentally changed. Nevertheless, governments are still involved in the gas industry, not only in gas exporting countries such as Russia, but also in a country like the Netherlands where the government has imposed a cap on production from the main gas field (Groningen) as well as owns shares in the main wholesale trader (Gasunie Trade & Supply) which has the obligation to accept all gas offered by producers on the small fields. In the main report of this project we present a cost-benefit analysis of the Dutch gas-depletion policy. In this memorandum we explore the natural-gas market more broadly, looking for factors why government intervention may be needed using the welfare-economic approach according to which government intervention should be based on the presence of market failures. After a brief description of the main characteristics of the gas industry, we systematically analyse sources of market failures, such as geopolitical factors, economies of scale and externalities, and finally go into the question which policy options may be chosen to address those market failures. |
| Keywords: | gas depletion; natural resources; market failures; government policy |
| JEL: | Q3 Q4 D6 L5 |
| Date: | 2006–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:memodm:143&r=ene |
| By: | Mali Chivakul; Robert C. York |
| Keywords: | Fiscal policy , Ghana , Fiscal management , Fiscal reforms , Energy , Public sector , Private sector , |
| Date: | 2006–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:06/24&r=ene |
| By: | Joseph Doucet; Stephen Littlechild |
| Abstract: | The Federal Power Commission pioneered the use of negotiated settlements in the early 1960s as a means of coping with an increased workload and backlog. Legal scholars have emphasized the importance of settlements in coping with the regulatory load, and in saving time and money, albeit with some concern about transparency and the treatment of non-unanimous settlements. More recently, however, they suggest that settlements better serve the needs of the parties, allow greater flexibility and innovation, and can achieve results that lie beyond traditional regulatory authority. Recent economic research has indicated the high proportion of regulatory cases dealt with by settlements in the US and Canada and confirmed that settlements are not simply a more efficient way of doing the same thing as regulation. Rather, they involve considerable innovation, notably the introduction of price caps and other incentive mechanisms that otherwise would not have been likely or even possible. |
| Keywords: | negotiated settlements, regulation, innovation |
| JEL: | L51 L97 L94 L95 |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:0622&r=ene |
| By: | Jean-Michel Glanchant; François Lévêque |
| Abstract: | Like in the US, the EU “internal electricity market” remains unfinished and its construction can stall, fracturing into “national blocks” separated by permanent “border effects”. This is exactly what this paper seeks to avoid in the expected life of the current European Commission (2005-2009). It identifies the critical factors: national and EU market designs, industry structure and competition policy, deeper regional cooperation between TSOs and Regulators. It suggests 8 priority actions and 12 secondary improvements to sustain the dynamics of the construction of an EU set of open r egional markets with limited “border effects”, and explains the rationale for these recommendations. |
| Keywords: | European Policy, European Electricity Market, Electricity Market Design, Electricity Regulation |
| JEL: | L51 L52 L94 Q48 |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:0623&r=ene |
| By: | Karsten Neuhoff; Rick Sellers |
| Abstract: | This paper outlines the benefits, obstacles and options for governments to support international markets for technology development. International markets for new energy technologies offer greater scope, thereby increasing the incentives and opportunities for technology improvements. As the market is supported by more independent governments, the confidence of technology developers and producers that future markets for their products will exist is increasing, thus enabling capital access and inducing R&D investment and exploration of improved production processes. The bigger markets also allow for international competition, thus allowing for the application of the best available technology. The government challenge to induce sufficient RD&D remains and with international markets the benefits and costs of national governments free-riding on international effort needs to be addressed. Finally, we discuss how international co-operation can be used to evolve the energy system in such a way that it can integrate new technologies at minimum cost. |
| Keywords: | Energy technology, Research and development, Deployment |
| JEL: | Q42 L94 D92 |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:0624&r=ene |
| By: | Alexandrine Jamin (CES-CERMSEM); Antoine Mandel (CES-CERMSEM) |
| Abstract: | Each Party of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change must achieve quantified green-house gases emission reduction. one of the major policy instrument to be used to comply with these commitments is the opening of an emission allowances market. This paper analyzes, in the general equilibrium framework, the effects of the opening of such a market on the economic equilibrium. |
| Keywords: | General Equilibrium Theory, emission allowances, general pricing rules, sensitivity. |
| JEL: | D59 Q58 |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:wpsorb:b06003&r=ene |
| By: | Olivier ROUSSE; Benoît SEVI |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to examine portfolio management of emission allowances in the US Sulfur Dioxide Emissions Allowance Trading Program, to determine whether utilities have a real motive to bank when risk increases. We test a theoretical model linking the motivation of the firm to accumulate permits in order to prepare itself to face a risky situation in the future. Empirical estimation using data for years 2001 to 2004 provides evidence of a relationship between banking behavior and uncertainty the utility is facing with. |
| Keywords: | Emissions Trading, Permits Banking, Acid Rain Program Uncertainty, Risk Aversion, Prudence. |
| JEL: | D81 G11 Q28 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mop:credwp:06.63&r=ene |
| By: | Alison Stegman (Department of Economics, Macquarie University) |
| Abstract: | In late 2003 and early 2004 the Economic Society of Australia surveyed the Heads of Economics Departments in Australia to determine their views on three main issues: student standards, major factors affecting these standards, and policy implications. This paper describes the main results of the survey, reviews the conduct and value of this kind of survey, and discusses policy implications for economics in universities. Most respondents considered that student standards have declined and that the main causes include lower entry standards, high student-staff ratios, and a declining culture of study. However some respondents argued that standards are multi-dimensional and that people may properly attach different weights to different attributes. Strong processes assuring anonymity to respondents minimized strategic responses, but may not have eliminated them entirely. However, these views are based largely on experience rather than evidence and a major finding of this paper is the need for more evidence on standards and on the factors that influence them. Most respondents favour a decentralised university-based approach to dealing with these issues, contending that centralised accreditation is inappropriate and that market forces would promote quality issues. In the writer's view, externally set and assessed exams as part of university examination procedures would lift standards and send out improved market signals. |
| Keywords: | Emissions, distribution dynamics, convergence, stochastic kernel |
| JEL: | C10 C14 Q54 |
| Date: | 2005–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mac:wpaper:0505&r=ene |
| By: | El Hadji Fall (CES-EUREQua) |
| Abstract: | We propose an ethical viewpoint based on the possibility of the realization of the worst-case scenario in order to reduce future generations risks in terms of discounting. Applied to the question of conservation of a renewable resource, we show that an economy, where the social planner takes into account the possibility that at an uncertain date the discount rate could change to its minimum possible value, could lead to a better conservation of the resource and modify the position of the sacrificed generations. Finally, our model suggests to apply the lowest possible discount rate immediately for long term environmental projects. |
| Keywords: | Discounting, environment, uncertainty, preservation of natural resources, intergenerational equity. |
| JEL: | O4 Q2 D80 |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:wpsorb:v06005&r=ene |
| By: | Cesare Dosi; Michele Moretto |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses the timing of spontaneous environmental innovation when second-mover advantages, arising from the expectation of declining investment costs, increase the option value of waiting created by investment irreversibility and uncertainty about private payoffs. We then focus on the design of public subsidies aimed at bridging the gap between the spontaneous time of technological change and the socially desirable one. Under network externalities and incomplete information about firms' switching costs, auc- tioning investment grants appears to be a cost-effective way of accelerating pollution abatement, in that it allows targeting grants instead of subsidizing the entire industry indiscriminately |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubs:wpaper:ubs0406&r=ene |
| By: | Laura Marsiliani (University of Durham); Thomas I Renstrom (University of Durham and CEPR) |
| Date: | 2005–09–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mmf:mmfc05:38&r=ene |