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on Regulation |
| By: | Mats Kröger; Sun Xi; Olga Chiappinelli; Marius Clemens; Nils May; Karsten Neuhoff; Jörn Richstein |
| Abstract: | Already after the financial crisis in 2008/2009 there was a debate on whether elements aiming at sustainable development can be part of the stimulus packages and support the recovery of the economy. Despite the instinct of policy makers to prioritise battle-tested policies during a crisis, significant levels and different types of climate-friendly components were integrated in the 2009 stimulus packages across the globe. The experience from the past crisis proves that such climate-oriented economic stimulus policies not only raise investments with benefits for economic output and jobs in the near term, but can also lay the groundwork for long-term innovation and economic development aligned with environmental constraints. By introducing policies such as Contracts for Difference for low-carbon industrial processes and renewable energy, and Green Public Procurement, governments can further ensure that their stimulus packages are transformative. Hence, “green stimuli” have the capacity to boost economic recovery also during the current Corona crisis. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwfoc:4en&r=all |
| By: | Steve Cicala; Stephen P. Holland; Erin T. Mansur; Nicholas Z. Muller; Andrew J. Yates |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in stay-at-home policies and other social distancing behaviors in the United States in spring of 2020. This paper examines the impact that these actions had on emissions and expected health effects through reduced personal vehicle travel and electricity consumption. Using daily cell phone mobility data for each U.S. county, we find that vehicle travel dropped about 40% by mid-April across the nation. States that imposed stay-at-home policies before March 28 decreased travel slightly more than other states, but travel in all states decreased significantly. Using data on hourly electricity consumption by electricity region (e.g., balancing authority), we find that electricity consumption fell about six percent on average by mid-April with substantial heterogeneity. Given these decreases in travel and electricity use, we estimate the county-level expected improvements in air quality, and therefore expected declines in mortality. Overall, we estimate that, for a month of social distancing, the expected premature deaths due to air pollution from personal vehicle travel and electricity consumption declined by approximately 360 deaths, or about 25% of the baseline 1500 deaths. In addition, we estimate that CO2 emissions from these sources fell by 46 million metric tons (a reduction of approximately 19%) over the same time frame. |
| JEL: | Q4 Q5 |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27135&r=all |
| By: | Nepal, Rabindra (Faculty of Business, School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Centre for Contemporary Australasian Business and Economics Studies (CCABES), University of Wollongong, Australia); al Irsyad, Muhammad Indra (R&D Centre of Electricity, Renewables, and Energy Conservation Technology, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Indonesia); Jamasb, Tooraj (Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School) |
| Abstract: | This paper is one of the limited studies to investigate rebound effects in sectoral electricity consumption and the specific case of New Zealand. New Zealand, like other OECD economies, has aimed for energy efficiency improvements and reduced electricity consumption from 9.2 MWh per capita in 2010 to 8.6 MWh per capita in 2015. However, following a significant decline since 2010, electricity consumption in the main New Zealand sectors is increasing. Energy conservation could play an important role in meeting the growing demand for electricity but rebound effect can affect the effectiveness of conservation policies. We decompose the sectoral electricity prices to capture the asymmetric demand response to electricity price changes and estimate electricity demand elasticity during 1980 and 2015 to estimate the sectoral rebound effects. We find partial rebound effects of 54% and 23% in the industrial and commercial sector respectively while we find no partial rebound effect at aggregate sectoral level. The rebound effect is insignificant in the residential sector. These findings lead to policy recommendations for more sector specific energy conservation measures and policies. |
| Keywords: | Electricity; Demand; Rebound; Heating; Time series analysis |
| JEL: | C32 L94 Q41 Q48 |
| Date: | 2020–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cbsnow:2020_009&r=all |
| By: | Amin, Sakib (North South University); Jamasb, Tooraj (Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School); Llorca, Manuel (Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School); Marsiliani, Laura (Durham University Business School); Renström, Thomas (Durham University Business School) |
| Abstract: | Electricity sectors in many emerging and developing countries are characterised by significant captive industrial generation capacity. This is mainly due to unreliable electricity supplies from state-owned utilities. Integrating the captive capacity with the on-grid supply can improve resource utilisation in the electricity market. We use a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model to examine the effects of allowing the Bangladeshi Captive Power Plants (CPPs) to sell their excess output to the national grid at regulated prices. We find that opening the grid to CPPs would reduce the industrial output and GDP due to energy price distortions. We also show that the Bangladeshi economy would become more vulnerable to oil price shocks when CPPs are connected to the national grid. These results support the second-best theory, which implies that granting grid access without removing other price distortions can lead to economically inefficient outcomes. We propose that the government should not open the grid to CPPs to minimise energy market distortions yet. Instead, it should first consider alternative reform measures such as taking steps to reduce price distortions and enabling a competitive market environment. |
| Keywords: | Bangladesh; CPPs; DSGE model; Electricity generation |
| JEL: | D58 L94 Q43 Q48 |
| Date: | 2020–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cbsnow:2020_008&r=all |
| By: | Tao Hong; Pierre Pinson; Yi Wang; Rafal Weron; Dazhi Yang; Hamidreza Zareipour |
| Abstract: | Forecasting has been an essential part of the power and energy industry. Researchers and practitioners have contributed thousands of papers on forecasting electricity demand and prices, and renewable generation (e.g., wind and solar power). This paper offers a brief review of influential energy forecasting papers; summarizes research trends; discusses importance of reproducible research and points out six valuable open data sources; makes recommendations about publishing high-quality research papers; and offers an outlook into the future of energy forecasting. |
| Keywords: | Energy forecasting; Load forecasting; Electricity price forecasting; Wind forecasting; Solar forecasting |
| JEL: | C51 C52 C53 Q41 Q47 |
| Date: | 2020–05–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ahh:wpaper:worms2008&r=all |
| By: | Nina Boogen (Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH), ETH Zurich, Switzerland); Claudio Daminato (Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH), ETH Zurich, Switzerland); Massimo Filippini (Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH), ETH Zurich, Switzerland and Universita della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland); Adrian Obrist (Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH), ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | There is an ongoing debate in the literature about whether consumers are fully informed when investing in energy effciency. We experimentally evaluate the role of imperfect informa- tion or limited attention about energy costs of home appliances and light bulbs on households' choices. Using in-home visits, we collect information on the energy effciency of home appliances and light bulbs that households own. Exploiting these unique data, the intervention provided treated households with customized information about the potential of monetary savings from the adoption of new comparable efficient durables. We find a substantial impact of our informa- tion treatment on both the energy efficiency of the newly purchased durables and the intensity of utilization of existing home appliances. Our findings suggest that individuals are not fully informed about or pay attention to energy costs when purchasing and utilizing home appliances. |
| Keywords: | Imperfect information, Limited attention, Consumers durable choices, Energy efficiency, Field experiment. |
| JEL: | C93 D12 D83 Q40 |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eth:wpswif:20-334&r=all |
| By: | Jan Stede; Nils May |
| Abstract: | Several countries and regions have introduced mandatory minimum distances of wind turbines to nearby residential areas, in order to increase public acceptance of wind power. Germany’s largest federal state Bavaria introduced such separation distances of ten times the height of new wind turbines in 2014. Here, we provide a novel monthly district-level dataset of construction permits for wind turbines constructed in Germany between 2010 and 2018. We use this dataset to evaluate the causal effect of introducing the Bavarian minimum distance regulation on the issuance of construction permits for wind turbines. We find that permits decreased by up to 90 percent. This decrease is in the same order of magnitude as the reduction of land area available for wind turbines. The results are in line with findings indicating that minimum distances do not increase the public acceptance of wind power, but harm the expansion of onshore wind power. |
| Keywords: | Onshore wind power, minimum distance, separation distance, energy transition, acceptance, panel data, difference-in-differences, causal inference, event study |
| JEL: | C21 Q42 R14 R15 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1867&r=all |
| By: | Oskar LECUYER; Esperanza GONZALEZ-MAHECHA |
| Abstract: | Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has the least carbon-intensive electricity sector of any region in the world, as hydropower remains the largest source of electricity. But are existing plans consistent with the climate change goals laid out in the Paris Agreement? In this paper, we assess committed CO2 emissions from existing and planned power plants in LAC. Those are the carbon emissions that would result from the operation of fossil-fueled power plants during their typical lifetime. Committed emissions from existing power plants are close to 6.9 Gt of CO2. Building and operating all power plants that are announced, authorized, being procured, or under construction would result in 6.7 Gt of CO2 of additional commitments (for a total of 13.6 Gt of CO2). Committed emissions are above average IPCC assessments of cumulative emissions from power generation in LAC consistent with climate targets. The paper concludes that 10% to 16% of existing fossil-fueled power plants in the region would need to be “stranded” to meet average carbon budgets from IPCC. Our results suggest that international climate change commitments are material even in developing countries with low baseline emissions. |
| Keywords: | Amérique latine, Guadeloupe, Guyane française, Haïti, Martinique, Suriname |
| JEL: | Q |
| Date: | 2019–10–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:avg:wpaper:en10376&r=all |
| By: | Adrien Fabre (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Mouez Fodha (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Francesco Ricci (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier, UM - Université de Montpellier) |
| Abstract: | The production of energy from renewable sources is much more intensive in minerals than that from fossil resources. The scarcity of certain minerals limits the potential for substituting renewable energy for scarce fossil resources. However, minerals can be recycled,while fossil resources cannot. We develop an intertemporal model to study the dynamics of the optimal energy mix in the presence of mineral intensive renewable energy and fossil energy. We analyze energy production when both mineral and fossil resources are scarce,but minerals are recyclable. We show that the greater the recycling rate of minerals, the more the energy mix should rely on renewable energy, and the sooner should investment in renewable capacity take place. We confirm these results even in the presence of other better known factors that affect the optimal schedule of resource use: expected productivity growth in the renewable sector, imperfect substitution between the two sources of energy, convex extraction costs for mineral resources and pollution from the use of fossil resources. |
| Keywords: | Renewable and Non-Renewable Natural Resources,Energy Transition,Recycling,Mineral Resources |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:hal-02446805&r=all |
| By: | Elkerbout, Milan; Egenhofer, Christian; Núñez Ferrer, Jorge; Catuti, Mihnea; Kustova, Irina; Rizos, Vasileios |
| Abstract: | Climate change policy cannot be the first priority of the EU for the immediate future. However, in spite of the corona-crisis the urgency of climate change mitigation has not disappeared. The post-corona recovery can both put the EU’s decarbonisation progress back on track – after low-carbon investments will inevitably take a hit – but the EU’s Green Deal proposals can likewise support the general economic recovery. It will be important to ensure that recovery measures are compatible with global climate change and European Green Deal priorities so that stimulus money will flow to economic activities that have a place in a climate-neutral world. As time passes, the re-launch may actually offer a unique opportunity for the EU to live up to the Green Deal’s promise of economic modernisation along the Paris decarbonisation objectives. The period we have until the relaunch should be used to develop a new agenda. These ideas will not per se be off-the-shelf but go beyond current solutions for decarbonisation. Instead of tinkering around the margins, the EU should focus on transformational technologies, and for example go big on low-carbon infrastructure, efficient buildings, and lead markets to boost demand for climate-neutral industry. |
| Date: | 2020–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:cepswp:26869&r=all |
| By: | E. Carroni; D. Paolini |
| Abstract: | A streaming platform obtains contents from artists and offers commercial spaces to advertisers. Users value contents' variety and quality of the service and are heterogeneously bothered by ads. Two solutions can be proposed to users. If they pay a positive price, they subscribe to a commercial-free service with an upgrade of quality (Premium). Otherwise, they have free access to a service of a basic quality. We find that a wider audience gives incentives to the platform to increase both the advertising intensity and the quality upgrade in the Premium. As a consequence, some people move to the Premium. At the limit, the platform opts for a purely subscription-based business model as the audience reaches a certain level. The parsimonious model we propose is able to give a rationale to the emergence of different business models in the streaming market as well as to the (end of the) disputes between artists and the Spotify model. |
| Keywords: | Media;Advertising;Multi-Sided Markets;Platform;Second-degree price discrimination |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:202001&r=all |
| By: | Dertwinkel-Kalt, Markus; Wey, Christian |
| Abstract: | We analyze oligopolistic third-degree price discrimination relative to uniform pricing, when markets are always covered. Pricing equilibria are critically determined by supply-side features such as the number of firms and their marginal cost differences. It follows that each firm's Lerner index under uniform pricing is equal to the weighted harmonic mean of the firm's relative margins under discriminatory pricing. Uniform pricing then decreases average prices and raises consumer surplus. We provide an intriguingly simple approach to calculate the consumer surplus gain from uniform pricing only based on market data of the discriminatory equilibrium (prices and quantities). |
| Keywords: | Third-Degree Price Discrimination,Uniform Pricing,Harmonic Mean Formula,Covered Demand |
| JEL: | D43 L13 L41 K21 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:336&r=all |
| By: | Ufuk Akcigit; Stefanie Stantcheva |
| Abstract: | Tax policies are a wide array of tools, commonly used by governments to influence the economy. In this paper, we review the many margins through which tax policies can affect innovation, the main driver of economic growth in the long-run. These margins include the impact of tax policy on i) the quantity and quality of innovation; ii) the geographic mobility of innovation and inventors across U.S. states and countries; iii) the declining business dynamism in the U.S., firm entry, and productivity; iv) the quality composition of firms, inventors, and teams; and v) the direction of research effort, e.g., toward applied versus basic research, or toward dirty versus clean technologies. We give ideas drawn from research on how the design of policy can allow policy makers to foster the most productive firms without wasting public funds on less productive ones. |
| JEL: | H21 H23 H25 O31 O33 O34 O38 |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27109&r=all |
| By: | Brodeur, Abel (University of Ottawa); Cook, Nikolai (University of Ottawa); Wright, Taylor (University of Ottawa) |
| Abstract: | In response to COVID-19, dramatic safer-at-home policies were implemented. The understanding of their impacts on social distancing, travel and pollution is in its infancy. We pair a differences-in-differences framework and synthetic control methods with rich cellular tracking and high frequency air pollution data. We find that state and U.S. county safer-at-home policies are successful in encouraging social distance; beginning the day of the policy trips outside the home are sharply decreased while time in residence rises sharply. With less vehicle traffic, we find: a 50% reduction in vehicular collisions; an approximately 25% reduction in Particulate Matter (PM2.5) concentrations; and a reduction of the incidence of county-days with an air quality index of code yellow or above by two-thirds. We calculate that the benefits from avoided car collisions could range from $7 billion to $24 billion while the benefits from reduced pollution could range from $650 million to $13.8 billion. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, safer-at-home, lockdowns, pollution, traffic, car crashes |
| JEL: | P48 Q53 Q58 |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13255&r=all |
| By: | Dennis Guignet; Matthew T. Heberling; Michael Papenfus; Olivia Griot; Ben Holland |
| Abstract: | We conduct a comprehensive meta-analysis of 36 studies that examine the effects of water quality on housing values in the United States. The meta-dataset includes 656 unique estimates, and entails a cluster structure that accounts for property price effects at different distances from a waterbody. Focusing on water clarity, we estimate meta-regressions that account for within-cluster dependence, statistical precision, housing market and waterbody heterogeneity, publication bias, and best methodological practices. While we find evidence of systematic heterogeneity, the median out-of-sample transfer errors are relatively large. We discuss the implications for benefit transfer and identify future work to improve transfer performance. Key Words: |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:apl:wpaper:20-04&r=all |
| By: | Dominique DARBON |
| Abstract: | Depuis la fin des années 1990, l’analyse des politiques publiques connaît un véritable foisonnement scientifique sur le continent africain. Les études empiriques sectorielles ont permis de construire progressivement un champ de recherche dynamique, engageant des controverses scientifiques et entrant en discussion avec les interrogations des prescripteurs de politiques publiques.Face au développement de la recherche et à l’intérêt des résultats scientifiques pour les pratiques des professionnels, ce document est un état des lieux sur ces vingt-années de travaux sur les politiques publiques en Afrique en soulignant les résultats empiriques et théoriques accumulés mais également en engageant des liens avec les questionnements des acteurs de l'action publique du développement et en proposant de nouvelles pistes de réflexions qui trouvent toutes leurs pertinences, à la fois dans les débats académiques comme dans les interrogations des praticiens. |
| Keywords: | Afrique |
| JEL: | Q |
| Date: | 2019–03–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:avg:wpaper:fr9455&r=all |
| By: | Tadumadze, Giorgi; Emde, Simon; Diefenbach, Heiko |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:120609&r=all |