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on Energy Economics |
| By: | J. Scott Holladay (Department of Economics, University of Tennessee); Michael Price (Department of Economics, Georgia State University); Marianne Wanamaker (Department of Economics, University of Tennessee) |
| Abstract: | In periods of high energy demand, utilities frequently issue "emergency" appeals for conservation over peak hours to reduce brownout risk. We estimate the impact of such appeals using high-frequency data on actual and forecasted electricity generation, pollutant emission measures, and real-time prices. Our results suggest a perverse impact; while there is no significant reduction in grid stress over superpeak hours, such calls lead to increased off-peak generation, CO2 emissions, and price volatility. We postulate that consumer attempts at load shifting lead to this result. |
| Keywords: | Energy Demand, Air Pollution, Conservation, Media |
| JEL: | Q4 Q5 D8 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ten:wpaper:2014-01&r=ene |
| By: | Kumar, Subhash (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)); Madlener, Reinhard (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)) |
| Abstract: | The Indian power sector is experiencing a lot of pressure to supply sustainable electricity at affordable cost due to heavy demand especially in the summer peak season. Most of India’s electricity is produced by fossil fueled power plants, which are the source of CO2 emissions. In this case, renewable energy sources play a vital role in securing sustainable energy without environmental emissions. This paper examines the effects of renewable energy use in electricity supply systems and estimates the CO2 emissions by developing various scenarios under the least cost approach. The LEAP energy model is used to develop these scenarios. The results show that in an accelerated renewable energy technology (ARET) scenario, 23% of electricity is generated by renewables only, and 74% of CO2 reduction is possible by 2050. If the maximum energy savings potential is combined with the ARET scenario, the renewables share in electricity supply rises to 36% as compared to the reference scenario, while the CO2 emission reduction in this case remains at 74%. |
| Keywords: | CO2 mitigation; Electricity generation; LEAP; Least cost method; Renewables; India |
| JEL: | C70 P48 Q41 Q42 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:fcnwpa:2014_014&r=ene |
| By: | Charalampous, Georgios (International Hellenic University); Madlener, Reinhard (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)) |
| Abstract: | This study revisits risk management in the German power market, specifically focusing on conventional thermal power generation. The subsidizing and prioritizing of electricity produced from renewable energy sources (RES) by means of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) has changed the market’s structure. Specifically, it has led to an erosion of the revenues gained by coal- and natural-gas-fired power plants and, therefore, undermined the competitiveness of traditional power generation. This fact has brought to the forefront the necessity of mitigating the risk exposure in order to tackle the worsening situation for conventional power plant owners. The approach adopted in this paper is to assess and choose the optimum forward contract for hedging the power output and fuel purchase simultaneously. This is done by evaluating the hedging effectiveness of the futures contracts available at the European Energy Exchange (EEX) in Leipzig. The hedging performance is evaluated on the basis of a multivariate GARCH model (the BEKK model). Finally, in the framework of portfolio optimization, we construct the efficient frontier, so as to identify the point at which the combination of spot and forward prices gives the minimization of risk exposure. |
| Keywords: | Risk management; Energy markets; Energy derivatives; Hedging strategies |
| JEL: | G11 Q59 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:fcnwpa:2013_023&r=ene |
| By: | Ralf Martin; Laure B. de Preux; Ulrich J. Wagner |
| Abstract: | We estimate the impact of a carbon tax on manufacturing plants using panel data from the UK production census. Our identification strategy builds on the comparison of outcomes between plants subject to the full tax and plants that paid only 20% of the tax. Exploiting exogenous variation in eligibility for the tax discount, we find that the carbon tax had a strong negative impact on energy intensity and electricity use. No statistically significant impacts are found for employment, revenue or plant exit. |
| Keywords: | carbon tax; climate change levy; energy use; manufacturing; policy evaluation; UK |
| JEL: | D21 H23 Q41 Q48 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:57349&r=ene |
| By: | Heinz Welsch (University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics); Charlotte von Möllendorf (University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Electricity from renewable sources avoids the disadvantages of conventional power generation (air pollution, greenhouse gases, nuclear risk) but often meets with local resistance due to visual, acoustic, and odor nuisance. We use representative panel data on the subjective well-being of 36,475 individuals in Germany, 1994 -<br>2012, for identifying and valuing the local externalities from wind, solar and biomass plants. While the well-being effects of windturbines refer mainly to initial installations and tend to dissipate over time, the effects of solar and biomass plants build up gradually as their number and capacity rises. In a spatial perspective,<br>power generation from biomass creates negative spillovers to adjacent localities that are absent in the case of wind power. |
| Keywords: | renewable energy, local externality; subjective well-being, life satisfaction, non-market valuation |
| JEL: | Q42 D62 I31 Q51 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:old:dpaper:373&r=ene |
| By: | Bruno Lanz; Sebastian Rausch |
| Abstract: | We study whether to auction or to freely distribute emissions allowances when some firms participating in emissions trading are subject to price regulation. We show that free allowances allocated to price-regulated firms effectively act as a subsidy to output, distort consumer choices, and generally induce higher output and emissions by price-regulated firms. This provides a cost-effectiveness argument for an auction-based allocation of allowances (or equivalently an emissions tax). For real-world economies such as the Unites States, in which about 20 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions are generated by price-regulated electricity producers, our quantitative analysis suggests that free allowances increase economy-wide welfare costs of the policy by 40-80 percent relative to an auction. Given large disparities in regional welfare impacts, we show that the inefficiencies are mainly driven by the emissions intensity of electricity producers in regions with a high degree of price regulation. |
| Keywords: | Tradable Pollution Permits; Climate policy; Auctioning; Free Allocation; Price Regulation; Electricity Generation. |
| JEL: | C6 D4 D5 Q4 Q5 |
| Date: | 2015–01–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:ciesrp:cies_rp_34&r=ene |
| By: | Thiemo Fetzer |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the effect of the shale oil and gas boom in the United States on local economic outcomes. The main source of exogenous variation to be explored is the location of previously unexplored shale deposits. These have become technologically recoverable through the use of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. I use this to estimate the localised effects from resource extraction. Every oil- and gas sector job creates about 2.17 other jobs. Personal incomes increase by 8% in counties with at least one unconventional oil or gas well. The resource boom translates into an overall increase in employment by between 500,000 - 600,000 jobs. A key observation is that, despite rising labour costs, there is no Dutch disease contraction in the tradable goods sector, while the non-tradable goods sector contracts. I reconcile this finding by providing evidence that the resource boom may give rise to local comparative advantage, through locally lower energy cost. This allows a clean separation of the energy price effect distinct from the local resource extraction effects. |
| Keywords: | Resource boom; fracking; shale; spillovers; natural gas; energy prices |
| JEL: | L71 N52 O13 Q33 R11 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60350&r=ene |
| By: | Pierre Louis Kunsch; Jean J. Friesewinkel |
| Abstract: | The Belgian nuclear phase-out law imposes closing down in the 2015-2025 period seven nuclear power plants (NPPs) producing more than 50% of the domestic electricity. This creates an urgent problem in the country because of the absence of well-defined capacity-replacement plans. Though a safety-of-supply provision in the law allows for a delayed phase-out, hopes for a technically acceptable schedule have reduced after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011. In this article policy investigations are made with system dynamics. A significant finding from such modelling is that, in contrast to common expectations, a too early nuclear phase-out will not serve the deployment of renewable energy sources and rational use of energy. It is indeed found to primarily benefit to fossil fuel, creating unwanted drawbacks regarding safety of supply, dependency on foreign suppliers, price volatility, and increased use of non-renewable and CO2-emitting fossil fuels. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. |
| Keywords: | Nuclear energy; Renewable energy sources; System dynamics modelling |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/189447&r=ene |
| By: | Nisbet, Matthew C |
| Abstract: | In the latter years of Barack Obama?s presidency, the effort to mobilize public opinion and grassroots activism on climate change has led to a broader shift in environmental politics, as environmental organizations and their allies devote ever greater resources to shaping the outcome of elections, framing debates in stark moral terms, and melding innovative Internet-based strategies with traditional face-to-face field organizing. Yet, on the road to meaningfully dealing with climate change, this new brand of pressure politics as practiced by 350.org, NextGenClimate, and their allies among national environmental groups is not without its potential trade-offs, flaws and weaknesses. Blocking the Keystone XL oil pipeline and divesting from fossil fuel companies make for potent symbolic goals, but may detract from more important goals such as the passage of newfederal rules limiting emissions from coal fired power plants, and promoting government investment in a broad range of cleaner, more efficient energy technologies. Evidence also suggests that the strategies that environmental groups and climate advocates have used to mobilize a progressive base of voters and donors, may in fact be only strengthening political polarization, turning off core constituencies, dividing moderate and liberal Democrats, and promoting broader public disgust with ?Washington? and government |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qsh:wpaper:228361&r=ene |
| By: | Lindemann, Henrik |
| Abstract: | Independent regulatory authorities are a basic prerequisite for a successful liberalization process. However, contrary to what is expected, both graphical analyses and OLS regressions for a small sample of electricity and gas regulators operating in 16 European countries reveal a negative relationship between the authorities' formal autonomy from politicians and the scope of market reforms. These findings might suffer from endogeneity, though, so we draw on political scientists' explanations for diverging independence levels to construct appropriate instruments. The 2SLS-IV results then confirm conventional wisdom: the higher the degree of regulatory autonomy, the higher the level of liberalization. |
| Keywords: | Independent Regulatory Authorities,Energy Market Liberalization,Formal Independence |
| JEL: | L50 L94 L95 L98 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:han:dpaper:dp-545&r=ene |
| By: | Gaël Giraud (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics); Zeynep Kahraman (The Shift Project) |
| Abstract: | Except for specialized resource economics models, economics pays little attention to the role of energy in growth. This paper highlights basic difficulties behind the mainstream analytical arguments for this neglect, and provides an empirical reassessment of this role. We use an error correction model in order to estimate the long-run dependency ratio of output with respect to primary energy use in 33 countries between 1970 and 2011. Our findings suggest that this dependency is much larger than the usual calibration of output elasticity with respect to energy. This strong dependency is robust to the choice of various samples of countries and subperiods of time. In addition, we show that energy and growth are cointegrated and that primary energy consumption univocally Granger causes GDP growth. The latter confirms and extends the results on cointegration and causality between energy consumption and growth already obtained in Stern (2010). |
| Keywords: | Dependency ratio, output elasticity, energy, energy efficiency, error correction model. |
| JEL: | N70 O40 Q43 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:14097&r=ene |
| By: | Antoine Dechezlepretre; Ralf Martin; Myra Mohnen |
| Abstract: | How much should governments subsidize the development of new clean technologies? We use patent citation data to investigate the relative intensity of knowledge spillovers in clean and dirty technologies in two technological fields: energy production and transportation. We introduce a new methodology that takes into account the whole history of patent citations to capture the indirect knowledge spillovers generated by patents. We find that conditional on a wide range of potential confounding factors clean patents receive on average 43% more citations than dirty patents. Knowledge spillovers from clean technologies are comparable in scale to those observed in the IT sector. The radical novelty of clean technologies relative to more incremental dirty inventions seems to account for their superiority. Our results can support public support for clean R&D. They also suggest that green policies might be able to boost economic growth through induced knowledge spillovers. |
| Keywords: | Innovation spill-overs; Climate Change; Growth; Patents; Clean technology; Optimal climate policy |
| JEL: | H23 O30 O54 O55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60501&r=ene |
| By: | Hélène Lhuillier (CLERSE - Université de Lille); Gaël Giraud (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics); Cécile Renouard (ESSEC Business School, IRENE CODEV) |
| Abstract: | This paper documents the paradoxical short-term effects of training and job programmes implemented by oil companies in the region of Onelga, Rivers State (Nigeria). We use two multidimensional indexes as dependent variables: the UNDP's Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and a ‘Relational Deprivation Index’ (RDI) that measures the quality of social fabric. We find that while the programmes significantly reduce conventional poverty, their impact on RDI is twofold: the beneficiaries' integration into networks improves at the expense of deteriorated private relations. These different effects promote measuring poverty and development as multidimensional phenomena and taking into consideration social aspects of development. |
| Keywords: | Dependency ratio, output elasticity, energy, energy efficiency, error correction model. |
| JEL: | N70 O40 Q43 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:14098&r=ene |
| By: | Samuel Wills |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how monetary policy should respond to news about an oil discovery, using a workhorse New Keynesian model. Good news about future production can create a recession today under exchange rate pegs and a simple Taylor rule, as seen in practice. This is explained by forward-looking inflation. Recession is avoided by a Taylor rule that accommodates changes in the natural level of output, which closely approximates optimal policy. Central banks have an incentive to exploit oil revenues by appreciating the terms of trade, creating “Dutch disease” and a deflationary bias which is overcome by committing to future policy. |
| Keywords: | natural resources; oil; optimal monetary policy; small open economy; news shock |
| JEL: | E52 E62 F41 O13 Q30 Q33 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:58104&r=ene |
| By: | Alessandro Palma (Department of Economics, Roma Tre University, Italy.); Nicolò Barbieri (Deptartment of Economics. University of Bologna, Italy.) |
| Abstract: | The present study uses an original dataset on four large energy-efficient appliances and provides a methodology for: i) mapping components related to energy efficiency improvements; ii) mapping their evolution over time; iii) testing the technological fungibility of these components. Our analysis model exploits an original patent selection process and the concept of technological relatedness using co-occurrence analysis of patent classes as input for Self-Organising Maps, an unsupervised artificial neural network able to represent high-dimensional data in visually attractive and low-dimensional distance-based maps. The results confirm the pervasive nature of energy efficiency to be nested in many technological components. In addition, we show that a dematerialisation process has affected the evolution of energy efficiency technologies over time, in a technological space characterised by a high level of complexity and variety. |
| Keywords: | energy efficiency, Self-Organizing Maps, patent analysis, home appliances, ICTs |
| JEL: | Q55 Q41 O33 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:0215&r=ene |
| By: | Claudia Schwirplies (University of Kassel); Andreas Ziegler (University of Kassel) |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to the economic literature on pure and impure public goods by consid-ering two alternatives for contributing to the public good climate protection: compensating carbon emissions from conventional consumption or paying higher prices for climate-friendly products. We analytically and empirically examine a wide range of motives and their impact on individuals’ choice in favor of these two alternatives. Relying on data from representative surveys among more than 2000 participants from Germany and the USA, our results indicate that environmental awareness, warm glow motives, and the desire to set a good example sig-nificantly motivate the choice of both climate protection activities in both countries. However, some motives differ considerably between both alternatives and countries. A green identity enhances the willingness to pay a price premium for climate-friendly goods or services in Germany, while social norms seem to be of much higher relevance in the USA. Our results further suggest that the choice of climate protection activities, especially of carbon offsetting, entails a high degree of uncertainty. |
| Keywords: | Public good; climate change; climate protection; carbon offsetting; price premium |
| JEL: | H41 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201504&r=ene |
| By: | Forslid, Rikard (Stockholm University and CEPR); Okubo, Toshihiro (Keio university); Ulltveit-Moe, Karen Helene (University of Oslo and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a theoretical model of trade and environmental emissions with heterogeneous firms, where firms make abatement investments and thereby affect their level of emissions. We show that investments in abatement are positively related to firm productivity and firm exports, while emission intensity is negatively related to firms' productivity and exports. The basic reason for these results is that a larger production scale supports more investments in abatement and, in turn, reduces emissions per output. We find that trade liberalization weeds out the least productive and dirtiest firms thereby shifting production away from relatively dirty low productive local firms to more productive and cleaner exporters. The overall effect of trade is therefore to reduce emissions. We test the empirical implications of the model on emission intensity, abatement and exporting using firm-level data from Sweden. The empirical results support our model. |
| Keywords: | Heterogeneous firms; environmental emissions; abatement; international trade |
| JEL: | F12 F14 F18 Q56 |
| Date: | 2015–01–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2015_0002&r=ene |
| By: | Graham Floater; Philipp Rode; Dimitri Zenghelis |
| Abstract: | Stockholm is a leading city for green economic growth. Despite the global downturn, the city’s low carbon economy remains highly competitive and well positioned for driving sustained growth in the medium to long term. This report, produced in partnership with the City of Stockholm, shows that Stockholm took early action to build a green economy – unlike most cities, environmental policies have been important to Stockholm for over 40 years. At the same time, early infrastructure investment such as building the city’s metro system in the 1950s, and development of district heating following the 1970s oil shocks has helped to build today’s lower carbon economy. Featuring a wealth of new research findings, the report shows how Stockholm benefits from a low-carbon energy system, a relatively compact centre with good public transport and an innovation-led economy for developing smart city solutions and export markets of the future. The report also examines the challenges that Stockholm faces in maintaining its position as a green economy leader internationally. The city’s ambitious goal to become fossil fuel free by 2050 will require strong policy action in the heating and transport sectors to avoid the long-term lock-in of high carbon infrastructure, systems and technology. The benefits of developing a dedicated clean-tech business cluster, alongside the smart innovation districts at Hammarby and Royal Seaport, are also examined. Produced by the Economics of Green Cities Programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science in partnership with the City of Stockholm. |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:59133&r=ene |
| By: | Ralf Martin; Mirabelle Muuls; Laure B. de Preux; Ulrich J. Wagner |
| Abstract: | When regulated firms are offered compensation to prevent them from relocating, efficiency requires that payments be distributed across firms so as to equalize marginal relocation probabilities, weighted by the damage caused by relocation. We formalize this fundamental economic logic and apply it to analyzing compensation rules proposed under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, where emission permits are allocated free of charge to carbon intensive and trade exposed industries. We show that this practice results in substantial overcompensation for given carbon leakage risk. Efficient permit allocation reduces the aggregate risk of job loss by more than half without increasing aggregate compensation. |
| JEL: | H23 Q52 Q53 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:59312&r=ene |
| By: | Mitsakis, Evangelos; Stamos, Iraklis; Basbas, Socrates; Aggelakis, Miron; Aifadopoulou, Georgia |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at the estimation of road traffic induced environmental pollutants for the city of Thessaloniki, based on travel time detections of a point-to-point detection system. The hourly and daily pollutant emissions (NOx, CO, HC) and fuel consumption (FC) were estimated based on the COPERT model and include hot emissions of passengers’ cars circulating in high hierarchy links of the transport network. The system detections (travel time) were correlated based on each path’s length, in order to determine the average vehicle speed per analyzed time interval, which was the main determinant for calculating traffic induced emissions. The paper concludes with a sensitivity analysis based on link capacity and the prevailing traffic flow characteristics for optimally determining the vehicle speed and flow that minimize environmental pollutants. |
| Keywords: | traffic induced pollutants point-to-point detection system environmental modeling |
| JEL: | R40 R41 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61543&r=ene |
| By: | Höfer, Tim (RWTH Aachen University); Sunak, Yasin (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)); Siddique, Hafiz (Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS)); Madlener, Reinhard (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)) |
| Abstract: | Wind energy is one of the most important renewable energy sources in Germany and plays a key role regarding energy and climate policy targets of the German government. However, a further diffusion of wind farms involves strong spatial implications that refer to various adverse effects on landscape (onshore wind), noise level, and wildlife. Negative environmental impacts caused by the sometimes suboptimal siting of wind farms have induced an increasing gap between the social acceptance of this technology on the global and local levels. Particularly on the local level, siting processes of wind farm projects often trigger public protest. The aim of this paper is to improve the siting assessment by providing a holistic multi-criteria decision making approach that incorporates techno-economic, socio-political, and environmental criteria, which are defined in a way that social acceptance-related issues are specifically emphasized. We apply a GIS-based Analytic Hierarchy Process approach, where a group of local experts is asked to pairwise compare the incorporated criteria in order to derive the relative importance of each criterion. The results obtained indicate that 9.4% of the study area is still available for wind energy development, whereas only 1.74% of the region is characterized by high suitability. In particular, the northern part of the region still offers substantial unexploited wind energy potential. A comparison with the location of existing wind farms and a sensitivity analysis validate the reliability and accuracy of the model results. |
| Keywords: | Wind farm siting; Multi-criteria decision making; Analytic hierarchy process; GIS |
| JEL: | C61 Q42 R10 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:fcnwpa:2014_016&r=ene |
| By: | Graham Floater; Philipp Rode; Dimitri Zenghelis |
| Abstract: | Copenhagen is widely recognised as a leader in the global green economy. The Copenhagen region accounts for almost 40% of Denmark’s output and has enjoyed long-term stable growth. At a national level, Danish GDP per capita is ranked among the top 10 countries in the world. At the same time, the city’s growth has been delivered while improving environmental performance and transitioning to a low-carbon economy. This new report, which we have produced in partnership with the City of Copenhagen, shows that the city continues to build on its pioneering success. Copenhagen has set itself the ambitious target to be carbon neutral by 2025, and the report looks at the challenges and opportunities involved in delivering this transformative agenda. Featuring a wealth of new research findings, the report shows how Copenhagen’s success is underpinned by a strong combination of the city’s green growth drivers. A number of these drivers rank among the best in Europe and the world, including the city’s compact urban form, strong innovation, high skills and employment, low carbon emissions, and improved environmental quality. Energy and resource effectiveness and low carbon drivers are central to Copenhagen’s carbon-neutral goal, and will require substantial additional policy support, particularly in the areas of district heating, energy efficiency, waste management and decarbonising the transport sector. The report also examines the challenges that Copenhagen will face in maintaining its position as a green economy leader internationally. Copenhagen remains one of the most productive cities in Europe, with gross value added exceeding US $83,000 per worker in 2010. However, over the last decade, income and investment levels in other OECD countries and cities have been closing the gap with Denmark. Drawing on the city’s strengths as an innovation-led economy will be key. |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60781&r=ene |
| By: | Lindemann, Henrik |
| Abstract: | Despite the positive effect electricity grids separated from generation and supply by ownership are expected to have on the level of competition in the non-network activities, several EU member states still adhere to a solely legally unbundled transmission grid. This choice might be induced by regulators focusing on objectives other than the promotion of consumer interests: theoretically analyzing the decisions an authority takes on both the unbundling regime and the grid charge when it supervises a network monopolist providing a downstream Cournot duopoly with capacity, we find an agency pursuing consumer-oriented goals to always implement Ownership Unbundling. For a regulator acting in the interests of the industry or the government, though, results suggest the authority to be indifferent between Legal and Ownership Unbundling; minor potential drawbacks of a network separated by ownership for the agency or the companies might then tip the scales and cause the regulator to adhere to Legal Unbundling. |
| Keywords: | Legal Unbundling,Ownership Unbundling,Regulatory Authorities,Regulatory Objectives |
| JEL: | D73 L12 L13 L42 L50 L51 L94 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:han:dpaper:dp-544&r=ene |
| By: | Stephan E. Maurer; Andrei Potlogea |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effect of resource-based economic specialization on women's labor market outcomes. Using information on the location and discovery of major oil fields in the Southern United States coupled with a county-level panel derived from US Census data for 1900-1940, we specifically test the hypothesis that the presence of mineral resources can induce changes in the sectoral composition of the local economy that are detrimental to women's labor market outcomes. We find evidence that the discovery of oil at the county level may constitute a substantial male biased demand shock to local labor markets, as it is associated with a higher gender pay gap. However, we find no evidence that oil wealth lowers female labor force participation or has any impact on local marriage and fertility patterns. While our results are consistent with oil shocks limiting female labor market opportunities in some sectors (mainly manufacturing), this effect tends to be compensated by the higher availability of service sector jobs for women who are therefore not driven out of the labor market. |
| Keywords: | Oil; structural transformation; female labor force; participation; gender pay gap |
| JEL: | J1 N5 O1 R1 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60351&r=ene |
| By: | Samuel Fankhauser; Thomas K. J. McDermott |
| Abstract: | Poor countries are more heavily affected by extreme weather events and future climate change than rich countries. One of the reasons for this is the so-called adaptation deficit, that is, limits in the ability of poorer countries to adapt. This paper analyses the link between income and adaptation to climate events theoretically and empirically. We postulate that the adaptation deficit may be due to two factors: A demand effect, whereby the demand for the good “climate security” increases with income, and an efficiency effect, which works as a spill-over externality on the supply-side: Adaptation productivity in high-income countries is enhanced because of factors like better public services and stronger institutions. Using panel data from the Munich Re natural catastrophe database we find strong evidence for a demand effect for adaptation to two climate-related extreme events, tropical cyclones and floods. Evidence on the efficiency effect is more equivocal. There are some indications that adaptation in rich countries might be more efficient, but the evidence is far from conclusive. The implication for research is that better data, in particular on adaptation effort, need to be collected to understand adaptation efficiency. In terms of policy, we conclude that inclusive growth policies (which boost adaptation demand) should be an important component of international efforts to close the adaptation deficit. |
| Keywords: | climate change; adaptation; development; extreme events; disaster risk |
| JEL: | O11 O13 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:57620&r=ene |
| By: | Ebenstein, Avraham; Lavy, Victor; Roth, Sefi |
| Abstract: | Cognitive performance is critical to productivity in many occupations and potentially linked to pollution exposure. We evaluate this potentially important relationship by estimating the effect of pollution exposure on standardized test scores among Israeli high school high-stakes tests (2000-2002). Since students take multiple exams on multiple days in the same location after each grade, we can adopt a fixed effects strategy estimating models with city, school, and student fixed effects. We focus on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO), which are considered to be two of the most dangerous forms of air pollution. We find that while PM2.5 and CO levels are only weakly correlated with each other, both exhibit a robust negative relationship with test scores. We also find that PM2.5, which is thought to be particularly damaging for asthmatics, has a larger negative impact on groups with higher rates of asthma. For CO, which affects neurological functioning, the effect is more homogenous across demographic groups. Furthermore, we find that exposure to either pollutant is associated with a significant decline in the probability of not receiving a Bagrut certificate, which is required for college entrance in Israel. The results suggest that the gain from improving air quality may be underestimated by a narrow focus on health impacts. Insofar as air pollution may lead to reduced cognitive performance, the consequences of pollution may be relevant for a variety of everyday activities that require mental acuity. Moreover, by temporarily lowering the productivity of human capital, high pollution levels lead to allocative inefficiency as students with lower human capital are assigned a higher rank than their more qualified peers. This may lead to inefficient allocation of workers across occupations, and possibly a less productive workforce. |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10302&r=ene |
| By: | Alvarez, Francisco; André, Francisco J. |
| Abstract: | We analise emission permit auctions under leader-follower competition when the leader bids strategically and the follower acts as price-taker both at the auction and the secondary market. We obtain linear equilibrium bidding strategies for both firms and a unique equilibrium of the auction, which is optimal ex-post for the leader. Under specific distributional assumptions we conclude that the auction always awards less permits to the leader than the cost-effective amount. Our central result is a cautionary note on the properties of auctioning under market power. Under interior solution the auction allocation is dominated by grandfathering in terms of aggregated cost with probability one. As a policy implication, the specific design of the auction turns out to be crucial for cost-effectiveness. The chances of the auction to outperform grandfathering require that the former is capable of diluting the market power that is present in the secondary market. |
| Keywords: | Cap-and-trade systems, auctions, grandfathering, market power, Bayesian games of incomplete information. |
| JEL: | D44 L13 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–01–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61698&r=ene |
| By: | Garnier, Ernesto (RWTH Aachen University); Madlener, Reinhard (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the economic benefits that wind and photovoltaic power plant operators can extract from the activation of flexible loads during their market operations. We compare two alternatives: (1) use of flexible loads to maximize relative day-ahead market value by shifting the portfolio balance in view of day-ahead price developments; (2) use of flexible loads in intraday operations to minimize the costs incurred when balancing forecast errors. We find that the latter option yields greater value than the former, both from an analytical and a market data perspective. On these grounds, we propose a model to shift loads before trading production forecast errors in continuous-trade intraday markets under uncertainty. In an illustrative example, the model is applied to simulate the trade operations of a small-scale wind power operator in the German power market with access to a limited pool of flexible loads in the household segment. The simulation demonstrates that demand-side flexibility can yield significant cost reductions; the extent is influenced by the volatility of prices and the time spans across which loads can be shifted. |
| Keywords: | - |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:fcnwpa:2014_017&r=ene |
| By: | Mohn, Klaus (UiS) |
| Abstract: | An important idea behind the Norwegian oil fund mechanism and the fiscal spending rule is to protect the non-oil economy from the adverse effects of excessive spending of resource revenues over the Government budget. A critical assumption in this respect is that public sector saving is not being offset by private sector dis-saving, which is at stake with the hypothesis of Ricardian equivalence. Based on a framework of co-integrating saving rates, this model provides an empirical test of the Ricardian equivalence hypothesis on Norwegian time series data. Although the model rejects the strong-form presence of Ricardian equivalence, results indicate that the Norwegian approach does not fully succeed in separating spending of resource revenues from the accrual of the same revenues. |
| Keywords: | Resource wealth; saving; fiscal policy |
| JEL: | D91 E21 E61 Q33 |
| Date: | 2015–01–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:stavef:2015_002&r=ene |
| By: | [multiple or corporate authorship]. |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60480&r=ene |
| By: | Will Venters; Eivor Oborn; Michael I. Barrett |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a sociomaterial perspective on digital coordination. It extends Pickering’s mangle of practice by using a trichordal approach to temporal emergence. We provide new understanding as to how the nonhuman and human agencies involved in coordination are embedded in the past, present, and future. We draw on an in-depth field study conducted between 2006 and 2010 of the development, introduction, and use of a computing grid infrastructure by the CERN particle physics community. Three coordination tensions are identified at different temporal dimensions, namely obtaining adequate transparency in the present, modeling a future infrastructure, and the historical disciplining of social and material inertias. We propose and develop the concept of digital coordination, and contribute a trichordal temporal approach to understanding the development and use of digital infrastructure as being orientated to the past and future while emerging in the present. |
| Keywords: | grid computing; coordination; development; case study; mangle of practice; temporality; digital infrastructure; transparency; sustainable change; performativity; sociomaterial |
| JEL: | J50 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:57659&r=ene |
| By: | Mark C. Greeman (Loughborough University); Ben Groom (LSE); Ekaterini Panopoulou (Kent Business School, University of Kent); Theologos Pantelidis (Department of Economics, University of Macedonia) |
| Abstract: | Uncertain and persistent real interest rates underpin one argument for using a declin- ing term structure of social discount rates in the Expected Net Present Value (ENPV) framework. Despite being controversial, this approach has in uenced both the Inter-Agency Working Group on Cost-Benefit Analysis and the UK government's guidelines on discount- ing. We first clarify the theoretical basis of the ENPV approach. Then, rather than following previous work which used a single series of real U.S. Treasury bond returns, we treat nominal interest rates and inflation as cointegrated series and estimate the empirical term structure of discount rates via the `Fisher Effect'. This nests previous empirical models and is more flexible. It also addresses an irregularity in previous work which used data on nominal in- terest rates until 1950, and real interest rates thereafter. As we show, the real and nominal data have very different time series properties. This paper therefore provides a robust- ness check on previous discounting advice and updated methodological guidance at a time when governments around the world are reviewing their guidelines on social discounting. The policy implications are discussed in the context of the Social Cost of Carbon, nuclear decommissioning and public health. |
| Keywords: | Social Discounting, Declining Discount Rates, Fisher Effect, Real and Nominal Interest Rates, Social Cost of Carbon. |
| JEL: | Q48 C13 C53 E43 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcd:mcddps:2015_01&r=ene |
| By: | Davide Antonioli (Dipartimento di Economia e Management, Via Voltapaletto 11, Ferrara, Italy.); Grazia Cecere (Telecom Ecole de Management, Institut Mines-Telecom d Author-Name: Massimiliano Mazzanti) |
| Abstract: | We analyse how the joint adoption of ICT practices and environmental innovation affect the labour productivity of firms. We study complementarity in innovation adoption, with respect to the specific research hypotheses that the higher thediffusion and radicalness of ICT and EI, the higher might firm\rquote s productivitybe. As ICT are considered to be able to reduce the environmental footprint of different economics activities. We exploit original survey data which cover manufacturing firms for a dense SME area in the North-East of Italy (Emilia-Romagna region). We originally merge innovation survey data over 2006-2008 with firm\rquote s balance sheets over 2010-2011 to achieve this aim.The empirical evidence shows that for Emilia-Romagna manufacturing firms there are still wide margins for improving ICT-EIs integration in order to exploit their potential benefits on firm economic performance. However, the awareness of specific synergies seems to mainly characterizethe heavy polluting firms, subject to ETS schemes, while for the remaining firms prevalently emerge some substitutabilityrelations between ICT and EI. The latter firms are strategically less capable of exploiting the potential synergies between ICT and EI. |
| Keywords: | ICT, environmental innovation, adoption, SME, polluting sectors, Porter hypothesis, complementarity, labor productivity. |
| JEL: | D22 L23 L25 L60 M15 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:1514&r=ene |
| By: | Graham Floater; Philipp Rode; Alexis Robert; Chris Kennedy; Dan Hoornweg; Roxana Slavcheva; Nick Godfrey |
| Abstract: | Urbanisation is one of the most important drivers of productivity and growth in the global economy. Between 2014 and 2050, the urban population is projected to increase by around 2.5 billion people, reaching 66% of the global population. By 2030, China’s cities alone will be home to nearly 1 billion people. India, Nigeria and Indonesia will also experience rapid population growth. If managed well, the potential benefits of this urban growth are substantial. The economic potential is driven by raised productivity resulting from the concentration of people and economic activities in cities that leads to a vibrant market and fertile environment for innovation in ideas, technologies and processes. Similarly, well-managed cities in high income countries could continue to concentrate national economic growth, through re-densification and the roll out of innovative infrastructure and technologies. |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60775&r=ene |
| By: | Ian Gough |
| Abstract: | Since climate change threatens human wellbeing across the globe and into the future, we require a concept of wellbeing that encompasses an equivalent ambit. This paper argues that only a concept of human need can do the work required. It compares need theory with three alternative approaches. Preference satisfaction theory is criticised on the grounds of subjectivity, epistemic irrationality, endogenous and adaptive preferences, the limitlessness of wants, the absence of moral evaluation, and the non-specificity of future preferences. The happiness approach is found equally wanting. The main section shows how these deficiencies can be addressed by a coherent theory of need. Human needs are necessary preconditions to avoid serious harm, are universalisable, objective, empirically grounded, non-substitutable and satiable. They are broader than ‘material’ needs since a need for personal autonomy figures in all theoretical accounts. While needs are universal, need satisfiers are most often contextual and relative to institutions and cultures. The satiability and non-substitutability of needs is critical for understanding sustainability. The capability approaches of Sen and Nussbaum are compared but argued to be less fundamental. Finally, human needs provide the only concept that can ground moral obligations across global space and intergenerational time and thus operationalise ‘sustainable welfare’. |
| Keywords: | Human needs; welfare theory; wellbeing; global justice; intergenerational justice; sustainability; preferences; capabilities |
| JEL: | B5 I00 P46 Z13 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:58630&r=ene |