nep-res New Economics Papers
on Resource Economics
Issue of 2019‒05‒13
three papers chosen by



  1. Price and network dynamics in the European carbon market By Andreas Karpf; Antoine Mandel; Stefano Battiston
  2. Testing for crowd out in social nudges: Evidence from a natural field experiment in the market for electricity By Alec Brandon; John List; Robert Metcalfe; Michael Price; Florian Rundhammer
  3. The Effect of Forest Access on the Market for Fuelwood in India By Branko Bošković; Ujjayant Chakravorty; Martino Pelli; Anna Risch

  1. By: Andreas Karpf (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Antoine Mandel (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics); Stefano Battiston (CAMS - Centre d'analyse et de mathématique sociale - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
    Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of the European Emission Trading System as a transaction network. It is shown that, given the lack of well-identified trading institutions, industrial actors had to resort to local connections and financial intermediaries to participate in the market. This gave rise to a hierarchical structure in the transaction network. It is then shown that the asymmetries in the network induced market inefficiencies (e.g., increased bid-ask spread) and informational asymmetries, that have been exploited by central agents at the expense of less central ones. Albeit the efficiency of the market has improved from the beginning of Phase II, the asymmetry persists, imposing unnecessary additional costs on agents and reducing the effectiveness of the market as a mitigation instrument.
    Keywords: Network,Carbon market,Climate change,Microstructure
    Date: 2018–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01905985&r=all
  2. By: Alec Brandon; John List; Robert Metcalfe; Michael Price; Florian Rundhammer
    Abstract: This study considers the response of household electricity consumption to social nudges during peak load events. Our investigation considers two social nudges. The first targets conservation during peak load events, while the second promotes aggregate conservation. Using data from a natural field experiment with 42,100 households, we find that both social nudges reduce peak load electricity consumption by 2 to 4% when implemented in isolation and by nearly 7% when implemented in combination. These findings suggest an important role for social nudges in the regulation of electricity markets and a limited role for crowd out effects.
    Date: 2019
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feb:natura:00669&r=all
  3. By: Branko Bošković; Ujjayant Chakravorty (TSE - Toulouse School of Economics - UT1 - Université Toulouse 1 Capitole - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales); Martino Pelli; Anna Risch (GAEL - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble - Grenoble INP - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes)
    Abstract: Fuelwood collection is often cited as the most important cause of deforestation in developing countries. Use of fuelwood in cooking is a leading cause of indoor air pollution. Using household data from India, we show that households located farther away from the forest spend more time collecting. Distant households are likely to sell more fuelwood and buy less. That is, lower access to forests increases fuelwood collection and sale. This counter-intuitive behavior is triggered by two factors: lower access to forests (a) increases the fixed costs of collecting, which in turn leads to more collection; and (b) drives up local fuelwood prices, which makes collection and sale more profitable. We quantify both these effects. Using our estimates we show that a fifth of the fuelwood collected is consumed outside of rural areas, in nearby towns and cities. Our results imply that at the margin, fuelwood scarcity may lead to increased collection and sale, and exacerbate forest degradation.
    Keywords: fuelwood collection,forest cover,energy access,cooking fuels,deforestation
    Date: 2019–04–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02089687&r=all

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