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on Regulation |
| By: | Lundin, Erik (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Tangerås, Thomas (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | Horizontal shifts in bid curves observed in wholesale electricity markets are consistent with Cournot competition. Quantity competition reduces the informational requirements associated with evaluating market performance because the markups of all producers then depend on the same inverse residual demand curve instead of one for each firm. We apply the model to the day-ahead market of the Nordic power exchange, Nord Pool, for the years 2011–2013. Results suggest that mark-ups were 8–11 percent. We find some support for the hypothesis that the division of Sweden into price areas in 2011 increased the exercise of market power. |
| Keywords: | Cournot competition; Market design; Market performance; Nord Pool; Walrasian auction; Wholesale electricity market |
| JEL: | D22 D40 D43 D44 |
| Date: | 2017–11–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1191&r=reg |
| By: | Nolte, André |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of the introduction of a new mass medium on criminal activity in Germany. The paper asks the question of whether highspeed internet leads to higher/lower sex crime offences and murder. I use unique German data on criminal offences and broadband internet measured at the municipality level to shed light on the question. In order to address endogeneity in broadband internet availability, I follow Falck et al. (2014) and exploit technical peculiarities at the regional level that determine the roll-out of high-speed internet. In contrast to findings for Norway (Bhuller et al., 2013), this paper documents a substitution effect of internet and child sex abuse and no effect on rape incidences. The effects on murder increase under the instrumental variable approach however remain insignificant. Overall, the estimated net effects might stem from indirect effects related to differences in reporting crime, a matching effect, and a direct effect of higher and more intensive exposure to extreme and violent media consumption. After investigating the potential channel, I do find some evidence in favor of a reporting effect suggesting that the direct consumption effect is even stronger. Further investigation of the development of illegal pornographic material suggests that the direct consumption channel does play a significant role in explaining the substitution effect. |
| Keywords: | Crime,Broadband Internet,Media |
| JEL: | K42 H40 L96 C26 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:17050&r=reg |
| By: | Kažukauskas, Andrius (CERE and the Department of Economics, Umeå University); Broberg, Thomas (CERE and the Department of Economics, Umeå University); Jaraite, Jurate (CERE and the Department of Economics, Umeå University) |
| Abstract: | A large body of literature shows that the provision of social comparisons can cause households to reduce residential energy and water use. In this paper, we carry out a field experiment that contributes to this literature in two important ways. First, we study a social comparison treatment that is continuous and communicated via pre-installed in-home displays, which are salient and updated in real time. Second, we estimate the effects of provision of social comparisons on two distinguished resources – electricity and water – in the same experimental setting. We find that, on average, our social comparison reduces daily residential energy consumption by 6.7 percent but has no effect on overall residential water use. The electricity savings are impersistent and occur in the evening hours, which only slightly overlap with peak hours. We argue that electricity conservation due to social comparisons is driven by short-run changes in households’ electricity saving behavior. |
| Keywords: | Consumer economics; Electricity; Field experiment; Real-time displays; Comparison information; Water |
| JEL: | D12 D83 L94 Q41 |
| Date: | 2017–11–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2017_008&r=reg |
| By: | Marianna Marino; Pierpaolo Parrotta; Giacomo Vallettaz |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the effect of deregulation on innovation in the electricity sector using a sample composed of 31 OECD countries. Exploiting sharp reductions in the level of product market regulation, explicitly linked to changes in the legal framework, we perform a difference-in-difference analysis by matching data retrieved from the OECD International Regulation, OECD Patent Grants, and UN World Development Indicators databases. Our main findings suggest that a decrease in regulation intensity following a significant reform has a negative impact on patents (granted by the European Patent Office), and that this impact is mainly due to the degree of market contestability. Consistent with the results of Aghion et al. [1], we also find evidence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between regulation and innovation. This may imply that the effect of deregulation on innovation depends on the strength of the deregulatory process. |
| Keywords: | Regulation, patents, innovation, electricity. |
| JEL: | K23 L51 L94 O31 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2017-33&r=reg |
| By: | Ruddell, Keith (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Downward, Tony (University of Auckland); Philpott, Andy (University of Auckland) |
| Abstract: | We construct a model of strategic behavior in sequential markets which exhibits a persistent forward price premium. On the spot market, producers wield market power while purchasers are price takers. Producers with forward commitments have less incentive to raise prices on the spot market. Purchasers are thus willing to pay a premium to producers for forward contracts. We argue that this type of forward premium is not susceptible to arbitrage by speculators on the forward market, since purchasers prefer forward contracts backed by producers. |
| Keywords: | Forward pricing; Electricity markets; Market power; Arbitrage |
| JEL: | D43 G13 L12 L13 Q41 |
| Date: | 2017–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1193&r=reg |
| By: | Astghik Mavisakalyan (Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre, Curtin University); Yashar Tarverdi (Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre, Curtin University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether female political representation in national parliaments influences climate change policy outcomes. Based on data from a large sample of countries, we demonstrate that female representation leads countries to adopt more stringent climate change policies. We exploit a combination of full and partial identification approaches to suggest that this relationship is likely to be causal. Moreover, we show that through its effect on the stringency of climate change policies, the representation of females in parliament results in lower carbon dioxide emissions. Female political representation may be an underutilized tool for addressing climate change. |
| Keywords: | language; gender, political representation, climate change, environmental policy. |
| JEL: | D70 J16 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ozl:bcecwp:wp1704&r=reg |
| By: | Kittsteiner, Thomas; Ott, Marion; Steinberg, Richard |
| Abstract: | We investigate if and how revenue-maximizing auctioneers restrict combinatorial bidding in the presence of auctioneer competition. Two sellers offer the same set of two heterogeneous items to six bidders in a VCG mechanism. Each bidder desires either the first item, the second item, or the package of both items. First, each seller decides on which packages to allow bids. Then, each bidder selects which of the two sellers’ auctions to participate in. We find that, in contrast to a monopolistic seller, duopolistic sellers do not both offer an unrestricted VCG mechanism, i.e., a combinatorial auction. Rather they segment the market via their respective choice of allowable package bids: One seller attracts bidders who desire a single item; the other seller attracts bidders who desire both items. |
| Keywords: | Auctioneer competition,Combinatorial auctions,VCG mechanism |
| JEL: | D44 C72 D82 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:171995&r=reg |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Satellites serve as an important option to deliver broadband services to residences and businesses in rural and remote regions throughout the world. In OECD countries, the majority of people live in urban areas or at locations that are closely settled enough to use other broadband access technologies on a cost effective basis. Satellite technology, however, is deploying several significant innovations that result in improved services and may radically change the costs of providing satellite broadband. The purpose of this report is to describe these key recent developments based upon new and anticipated satellite broadband deployments, and discuss their implications for the future use of satellites to deliver broadband services to residential and business users. The report investigates how innovation is changing the role of satellites in extending broadband services to underserved areas in relation to other broadband options and important policy challenges to be considered in light of such innovation. |
| Date: | 2017–12–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaab:264-en&r=reg |
| By: | Asongu, Simplice A.; Odhiambo, Nicholas M. |
| Abstract: | The transition from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals has substantially shifted the policy debate from development to inclusive development. Using interactive quantile regressions, we examine the correlations between mobile banking and inclusive development (quality of growth, inequality and poverty) among individuals in 93 developing countries for the year 2011. Mobile banking entails: ???mobile used to pay bills??? and ???mobile used to receive/send money???. The findings broadly show that increasing mobile banking dynamics to certain thresholds would increase (decrease) quality of growth (inequality) in quantiles at the high-end of inclusive development distributions for the most part. The study is original in that it explores the relationship between mobile banking and inclusive development using three measurements of inclusive development, namely: quality of growth, inequality and poverty. As a main policy implication, encouraging mobile banking applications would play a substantial role in responding to the challenges of immiserizing growth, inequality and poverty in developing countries |
| Keywords: | Mobile banking; Quality of growth; Poverty; Inequality; Developing countries |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uza:wpaper:23396&r=reg |