|
on Regulation |
| By: | Nils May; Olga Chiappinelli |
| Abstract: | The transition towards low-carbon economies requires massive investments into renewable energies, which are commonly supported through regulatory frameworks. Yet, governments can have incentives - and the ability - to deviate from previously-announced support once those investments have been made, which can deter investments. We analyze a renewable energy regulation game, apply a model of time-inconsistency to renewable energy policy and derive under what conditions governments have incentives to deviate from their commitments. We analyze the effects of various support policies and deployment targets and explain why Spain conducted retrospective changes in the period 2010-2013 whereas Germany stuck to its commitments. |
| Keywords: | Time-Inconsistency, Regulation, Targets, Renewable Energy Policy, Investments |
| JEL: | Q42 Q55 O38 C73 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1726&r=reg |
| By: | Claudia Kettner-Marx (WIFO); Daniela Kletzan-Slamanig (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview of energy and (implicit) CO2 taxation in the EU member countries. Against the background of the EU energy taxation directives, energy and implicit CO2 tax rates in the EU countries are discussed, focussing on taxation in the transport sector as a major non-ETS emitter. Empirical evidence on the impact of energy and carbon taxes on energy use and emissions is presented and the economic and distributional effects of energy and carbon taxes are then discussed. Research on energy price elasticities suggests that energy and carbon taxation can make a significant contribution towards achieving emission reductions, particularly in the transport sector where greenhouse gas emissions continue to be on the rise in the EU. Evidence on the economic impacts of energy and carbon taxes furthermore shows that a double divided can be achieved. With respect to the distributional impacts of carbon and energy taxes evidence is, however, mixed. While empirical studies generally negate regressive effects for taxes on transport fuels, energy and carbon taxes on heating fuels tend to be found regressive. |
| Keywords: | Energy taxation, carbon taxation, EU Member States, environmental impact, macroeconomic effects, distributional effects |
| Date: | 2018–02–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2018:i:555&r=reg |
| By: | BENKRAIEM, Ramzi; Lahiani, Amine; MILOUDI, Anthony; Shahbaz, Muhammad |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between S&P 500 prices, viewed as a US economic barometer, and a set of energy prices, including WTI, gasoline, heating, diesel and natural gas prices, using the Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lags (QARDL) model recently developed by Cho et al. (2015). The empirical results show a negative long-and short-run relationship between WTI crude oil and Henry Hub natural gas prices on the one side and S&P 500 stock prices on the other side, only for medium and high quantiles. The findings of Wald tests indicate a nonlinear and asymmetric pass-through from energy price shocks to aggregate US stock market prices. These results show that crude oil and natural gas are key economic variables to explain short run and long run stock market dynamics. They provide further insights into how energy price shocks are transmitted to stock market prices. |
| Keywords: | Energy Price Shocks, Stock Market Prices, Quantile ARDL, Cointegration |
| JEL: | A10 |
| Date: | 2018–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84778&r=reg |
| By: | Sahari, Anna |
| Abstract: | This paper studies consumers' sensitivity to energy costs at the moment of making a long-term energy technology investment. The analysis exploits within-region variation in local, regulated electricity distribution prices that are very persistent over time and therefore a good measure of long-term price expectations. Price impacts are estimated on extensive administrative registry data of private persons acting as home builders in Finland during 2006-2011. The results show that electricity prices notably influence builders' heating choices, and price increases that are mostly due to taxation have induced demand for technologies based on renewable energy. However, the results on the comprehensive set of observable individual-level characteristics imply that issues related to information and credit availability may hamper price sensitivity. |
| Keywords: | elasticity, electricity, discrete choice, consumer behavior, Environment, energy and climate policy, D12, D83, Q41, R22, |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fer:wpaper:95&r=reg |
| By: | Laurent Denant-Boèmont (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR1 - Université de Rennes 1 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Carl Gaigné (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AGROCAMPUS OUEST); Romain Gaté (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR1 - Université de Rennes 1 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AGROCAMPUS OUEST) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study the effects of urban design on pollution and welfare. We build a theoretical model of residential choices with pollution externalities arising from commuting, where the size of the central business district (CBD) and the demand for housing are endogenous. We show that a polycentric city is desirable from welfare and ecological perspective, provided that travel speed and/or the number of roads directly connected with the CBD are sufficiently high. The spatial extension of cities remains the critical variable to curb transport-related urban pollution. |
| Keywords: | Urban form,Housing,Travel speed,Carbon emissions,Welfare |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01717983&r=reg |
| By: | Giovanni Marin (Università di Urbino 'Carlo Bo', Italy); Antonello Zanfei (Università di Urbino 'Carlo Bo', Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the effect of host-country environmental policy stringency on the offshoring of environmental patents for 2000 top world R&D performers. It is shown that a more stringent environmental regulation triggers both the extensive and intensive margin of patent offshoring in the field of environmental technologies. Results are robust to various different specifications, alternative definitions of regulation restrictions and to the consideration of possible endogeneity of regulation. It is suggested inter alia that R&D subsidies and non-market based instrument are more important than market-based instruments as drivers of cross-border environmental innovation. |
| Keywords: | MNE, environmental policy, patent data |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:0518&r=reg |
| By: | Ivan Faiella (Bank of Italy); Luciano Lavecchia (Bank of Italy and Ministero dello sviluppo economico); Marco Borgarello (Ricerca sul sistema energetico) |
| Abstract: | We calculate the demand for heating at the household level by integrating the technological data on the heating needs of different types of buildings with the information available in Istat’s Household Budget Survey. This new dataset is used to estimate a measure of energy poverty (EP) that is not conditioned by household preferences. The new measure identifies households suffering from EP as those that become “poor” – according to Istat’s relative poverty measure – after purchasing a minimum basket of energy services. Given the high granularity of the information used, the proposed threshold could be used as part of Istat’s revised absolute poverty measure. This also contributes to the monitoring and implementation of the policies that each EU member state should set up against EP as required under the Energy Union. |
| Keywords: | energy poverty, energy demand, inequality |
| JEL: | D10 Q41 I32 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_404_17&r=reg |
| By: | Salomé Bakaloglou (CSTB-Université de Montpellier-Chaire économie du climat); Dorothée Charlier (Institut de Recherche en Gestion et Économie (IREGE) Institut de Management Université de Savoie Mont Blanc) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this research is to understand the weight of preference heterogeneity in explaining energy consumption in French homes. Using a discrete-continuous model and the conditional mixed-process estimator (CMP) allows us to tackle two potential endogeneities in residential energy consumption: energy prices and the choice of equipment. As a major contribution, we provide evidence that preferences for comfort over energy savings do have significant direct and indirect impacts on energy consumption, especially for high-income households. Preferring comfort over economy or one additional degree of heating implies an average energy overconsumption of 10% and 7.8% respectively, up to 36% for high-income households. Our results strengthen the belief that household heterogeneity is a substantial factor in explaining energy consumption and could have meaningful implications for the design of public policy tools aimed at reducing energy consumption in the residential sector |
| Keywords: | residential energy consumption, household preferences, discrete-continuous choice method, conditional mixed process, |
| JEL: | Q41 D12 C26 C21 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2018.05&r=reg |
| By: | Grimm, Michael; Lenz, Luciane; Peters, Jörg; Sievert, Maximiliane |
| Abstract: | The cost of providing electricity to the unconnected 1.1 billion people in developing countries is significant. High hopes are pinned on market-based dissemination of offgrid technologies to complement the expensive extension of public grid infrastructure. In this paper, we elicit the revealed willingness-to-pay for different off-grid solar technologies in a field experiment in rural Rwanda. Our findings show that households are willing to dedicate substantial parts of their budget to electricity, but not enough to reach cost-covering prices. Randomly assigned payment periods do not alter this finding. We interpret the results from two perspectives. First, we examine whether the United Nations' universal energy access goal can be reached via unsubsidized markets. Second, in a stylized welfare cost-benefit analysis, we compare a subsidization policy for off-grid solar electrification to a grid extension policy. Our findings suggest that, for most of rural Africa, off-grid solar is the preferable technology to reach mass electrification, and that grid infrastructure should concentrate on selected prosperous regions. |
| Keywords: | public infrastructure,technology adoption,electrification,willingness-to-pay,energy access |
| JEL: | D12 H54 O13 Q28 Q41 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:745&r=reg |
| By: | Mukanjari, Samson (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Sterner, Thomas (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | The Paris Agreement was acclaimed as a milestone for climate negotiations. It has also been criticized – as too soft by environmentalists and too constraining by the current U.S. administration, which has decided to leave. The election of President Trump was itself widely interpreted as unexpected, good news for the fossil industry (and less good for the climate). We seek to evaluate the impact of global climate policy making by studying its effect on the stock market value of energy sector firms. In particular, we study the signing of the Paris Agreement and the latest U.S. presidential election. Using event study and impulse indicator saturation methods, we show that both events had only moderate effects. |
| Keywords: | Climate change; election; event study; impulse indicator saturation; Paris climate agreement; Trump. |
| JEL: | G14 Q40 Q54 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0728&r=reg |
| By: | David C. Chan, Jr; Michael J. Dickstein |
| Abstract: | In setting prices for physician services, Medicare solicits input from a committee that evaluates proposals from industry. We investigate whether this arrangement leads to prices biased toward the interests of committee members. We find that increasing a measure of affiliation between the committee and proposers by one standard deviation increases prices by 10%, demonstrating a pathway for regulatory capture. We then evaluate the effect of affiliation on the quality of information used in price-setting. More affiliated proposals produce less hard information, measured as lower quality survey data. However, affiliation results in prices that are more closely followed by private insurers, suggesting that affiliation may increase the total information used in price-setting. |
| JEL: | D71 H57 I13 L51 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24354&r=reg |
| By: | Luigi Brighi; Marcello D'Amato |
| Abstract: | The commitment value of unobservable investment with cost-reducing effects is examined in an entry model where the incumbent is privately informed about his costs of production. We show that when the price signals incumbent’s costs, unobservable investment can not have any commitment value and the limit price does not limit entry. By contrast, if the price does not reveal costs, which is the more likely outcome, unobservable investment has a magnified value of commitment and a less aggressive limit price deters profitable entry. |
| Keywords: | Commitment, entry deterrence, limit pricing, signaling |
| JEL: | D24 D82 L12 L41 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:recent:135&r=reg |
| By: | Apergis, Nicholas; Polemis, Michael |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates spillovers between electricity supply shocks and US growth, using monthly data from 48 US States, spanning the period January 2001-September 2016, while employs a novel strategy for electricity supply shocks based on a time-varying Bayesian panel VAR model. It accounts for the decomposition of electricity supply per fuel mixture and links its possible interactions with the US macroeconomic conditions. In that sense, the methodology models the coefficients as a stochastic function of multiple structural characteristics. The findings document that GDP growth increases after a positive electricity supply shock, irrelevant to the source of energy that generates it. |
| Keywords: | Time-varying coefficient Bayesian panel VAR; electricity shocks; macroeconomic performance; impulse responses functions; US states. |
| JEL: | C33 O44 R11 |
| Date: | 2018–03–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84954&r=reg |
| By: | Michael Ostrovsky; Michael Schwarz |
| Abstract: | We study the interplay between autonomous transportation, carpooling, and road pricing. We discuss how improvements in these technologies, and interactions among them, will affect transportation markets. Our main results show how to achieve socially efficient outcomes in such markets, taking into account the costs of driving, road capacity, and commuter preferences. An important component of the efficient outcome is the socially optimal matching of carpooling riders. Our approach shows how to set road prices and how to share the costs of driving and tolls among carpooling riders in a way that implements the efficient outcome. |
| JEL: | C78 L91 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24349&r=reg |