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on Regulation |
| By: | REYNAERT, Mathias |
| Abstract: | Emission standards are one of the major policy tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. The welfare effects from this type of regulation depend on how ?firms choose to abate emissions: by changing relative prices, by downsizing their fl?eet or by adopting technology. This paper studies the response of fi?rms to a new emission standard in the European car market using panel data covering 1998-2011. The data show that ?rms choose to comply with the regulation by adopting new technology. To evaluate the welfare e¤ects of the regulation I estimate a structural model using data from before the policy announcement and explicitly test the ability of the model to explain the observed responses. I fi?nd that, because the abatement is done by technology adoption, consumer welfare increases and overall welfare effects depend on market failures in the technology market. The design of the regulation matters to induce technology adoption. |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ant:wpaper:2014025&r=reg |
| By: | Hidalgo, Julian; Oviedo, Juan D. |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a structural model which allows estimating the impact of regulatory decisions looking for the setting of download-speed standards on market structure and performance. We characterize a setting under which quality standards improve both service quality and availability. As to quality, we evaluate the impact of quality standards on the performance of local demand from a detailed database of broadband internet subscribers, discriminated by the main attributes of an internet subscription contract as location, supplier, monthly-fee, download- and upload-speed features. From these results, we are able to identify the effect of quality regulation on the behavior of internet providers in a differentiated product market approach. As a consequence, we are able to assert that the response of internet service providers to quality regulation is a more intense product differentiation that contributes to demand expansion and therefore to improve broadband penetration indicators. |
| Keywords: | Regulation,Telecommunication,Information Services,Internet Economics |
| JEL: | L51 L96 L86 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse14:101435&r=reg |
| By: | Li, Shanjun; Kyul Yoo, Han; Shih, Jhih-Shyang (Resources for the Future); Palmer, Karen (Resources for the Future); Macauley, Molly K. (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas and has a global warming potential at least 28 times as high as carbon dioxide. Municipal solid waste landfills are reported to be the third-largest source of anthropogenic methane emissions in the United States, responsible for 18 percent of emissions in 2011. Capturing landfill gas for use as an energy source for electricity or heat produces alternative energy as well as environmental benefits. A host of federal and state policies encourage the development of landfill-gas-to-energy projects. Our research provides the first systematic economic assessment of the role these policies play in adoption decisions. Results suggest that renewable portfolio standards and investment tax credits have contributed to the development of these projects, accounting for 13 of 277 projects during our data period from 1991 to 2010. These policy-induced projects have led to 12.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide–equivalent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and a net benefit of $52.59 million. |
| Keywords: | renewable energy, landfill methane, renewable portfolio standards, investment tax credit |
| JEL: | Q48 Q53 |
| Date: | 2014–07–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-17&r=reg |
| By: | Ilaria Petrarca (Department of Economics (University of Verona)); Roberto Ricciuti (Department of Economics (University of Verona)) |
| Abstract: | We present an analysis of the share of public ownership in the product market in the OECD countries from 1974 to 2007. Despite much has been said on the broad topic of reforms and regulation, a sector-specific insight is missing. We replicate the analysis of Galasso (2014) by sector of activity accounting both for the dynamic bias of the lagged public ownership and the degree of state ownership at the beginning of the period. At the aggregate level both persistence and initial conditions play a major role, together with the European Single Market Program membership. Specifically, EMU members have a smaller share of public ownership in the electricity sector, while SMP members have less privatized telecommunications. Looking at the sub-sample of years when a change in the share of public ownership occurred, we find a composition effect of SMP: it has a negative impact on public ownership in telecommunications, but a positive one in the rail sector. Overall, we find that the countries in our sample tend to privatize mainly when decision taken at the supranational level (the EU for European countries) push towards this policy. |
| Keywords: | : product market regulation, privatization, OECD countries, dynamic regression |
| JEL: | C23 H5 L5 L98 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ver:wpaper:17/2014&r=reg |
| By: | Abate, Megersa (VTI) |
| Abstract: | Although the aviation industry is increasingly becoming important for Africa's economic development and integration, the ability of airlines to access foreign markets remains hindered by restrictive regulatory policies. Attempts have been made to fully liberalize the intra-African air transport market. Except for general assertions about the merits/demerits of liberalization, our empirical understanding of the welfare effects of such polices in Africa remains rudimentary. This study empirically measures the economic effects of air transport liberalization, mainly on two supply side variables: fare and service quality, measured as departure frequency. The results show up to 40 % increase in departure frequency in routes that experienced some type of liberalization compared to those governed by restrictive bilateral air service agreements. While the effect of liberalization is substantial in improving service quality, there is no evidence of its fare reducing effect. |
| Keywords: | Air transport; Liberalization; Yamoussoukro decision; Bilateral air service agreements |
| JEL: | L51 L93 R40 |
| Date: | 2014–11–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2014_023&r=reg |
| By: | Agnès Bénassy-Quéré (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, CESifo - CESifo, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne); Dramane COULIBALY (EconomiX - CNRS : UMR7166 - Université Paris X - Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense) |
| Abstract: | We study the contribution of market regulations in the dynamics of the real exchange rate within the European Union. Based on a model proposed by De Gregorio et al. (1994a), we show that both product market regulations in nontradable sectors and employment protection tend to inflate the real exchange rate. We then carry out an econometric estimation for European countries over 1985-2006 to quantify the contributions of the pure Balassa-Samuelson effect and those of market regulations in real exchange-rate variations. Based on this evidence and on a counter-factual experiment, we conclude that the relative evolution of product market regulations and employment protection across countries play a very significant role in real exchange-rate variations within the European Union and especially within the Euro area, through theirs impacts on the relative price of nontradable goods. |
| Keywords: | Real exchange rate ; Balassa-Samuelson effect ; Product market regulations ; Employment protection |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00961713&r=reg |
| By: | Munnings, Clayton (Resources for the Future); Morgenstern, Richard (Resources for the Future); Wang, Zhongmin (Resources for the Future); Liu, Xu |
| Abstract: | China started seven carbon cap-and-trade pilot programs in order to inform the development of a future national cap-and-trade market. This paper assesses the design of three of the longer-running cap-and-trade pilot programs in Guangdong, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Based on extensive stakeholder interviews and a detailed literature review we formulate a series of recommendations to improve the design of these three pilots, including: strengthening the legal foundations for the cap-and-trade pilots, incorporating achievement of goals established by the cap-and-trade pilots into the performance reviews of participating government officials and executives of state-owned entities, further clarifying the cap-setting process, increasing the transparency of the cap, reducing or eliminating within-compliance period adjustments to enterprise-level allowance allocation, gradually moving away from free allocation toward auctioning, reforming enforcement policy, and adopting a symmetric safety valve to manage prices. By making these recommendations, we hope to shed light on ways that Chinese regulators might adapt cap and trade, a fundamentally market-based tool, to China's economy that has many non-market features. |
| Keywords: | emissions trading, carbon, China |
| JEL: | Q48 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014–10–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-36&r=reg |
| By: | Grzybowski, Lukasz; Liang, Julienne |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates demand for quadruple play mobile tariffs using a database of subscribers to a single mobile operator from a single town in a European country which has full coverage with both ADSL and FTTH broadband technologies. Based on the demand estimation we find that consumer valuation of FTTH broadband in 2013 increased over time while ADSL lost on attractiveness relative to FTTH but also in absolute terms, which suggests that consumers increasingly care about the speed of connection offered by FTTH. The consumer surplus increased substantially due to the introduction of quadruple play tariffs, and especially with the introduction of FTTH, and ongoing transition of consumers from less valued quadruple play tariffs with ADSL to more valued with FTTH. We also find that for quadruple play subscribers mobile data is complementary to fixed broadband access, which suggests that these consumers use Internet access via mobile handsets to sample online content but they complete their online activity using fixed Internet access at home. On the other hand, mobile voice usage is a substitute to fixed broadband access and consumers reduce their voice consumption once they get broadband connection. We also find that there are substantial switching costs between tariffs, which other things being equal greatly decrease consumer surplus. |
| Keywords: | Quadruple play,FTTH,ADSL,Mobile data,Switching costs |
| JEL: | L13 L43 L96 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse14:101375&r=reg |
| By: | Baldry, Shirley; Steingröver, Markus; Hessler, Markus A. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse14:101398&r=reg |