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on Regulation |
| By: | Anaya, K.; Pollitt, M. |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to evaluate different well-established non-electrical storage markets (gas, frozen food and cloud storage) in order to identify relevant lessons for electrical energy storage (EES) connected to the electricity distribution networks. The case studies that have been evaluated are Centrica Storage (gas storage), Google Drive (cloud storage) and Oakland International (frozen food storage). A specific business model methodology has been selected for comparing the different business model components across these sectors. The methodology (following Johnson et al., 2008) refers to key interconnected components: customer value proposition, the revenue formula, key resources and key processes. The evaluation of the three case studies suggests that well-developed business models already exist in growing and mature storage markets. Regulation also plays an important role across the different storage markets and business model components, how-ever its importance varies depending on the type of market. Innovation in storage business models is also observed (technological and contractual) which should be also facilitated in EES. Innovation helps move markets towards more sustainable business models. |
| Keywords: | Business models, electrical energy storage, natural gas storage, frozen food storage, cloud storage. |
| JEL: | L94 Q48 |
| Date: | 2018–01–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1810&r=reg |
| By: | Jiang, M.; Liang, X.; Reiner, D.; Lin, B. |
| Abstract: | China set up pilot Emission Trading Schemes (ETS) in seven cities and provinces from 2013 as a new instrument to incentivise carbon dioxide emission reduction and to reach its 40-45% carbon intensity reduction target by 2020. Using a two-stage survey (a closed-form questionnaire followed by open interviews), we elicit views of stakeholders from Guangdong province on carbon markets, with an emphasis on how ETS would interact with other existing or proposed low-carbon and clean energy policies. Our survey shows that academic stakeholders viewed the interactions between the carbon market and other lowcarbon policies as a significant potential problem but there was less awareness by stakeholders from other sectors. There is a positive correlation between recognising such policy interactions may pose a problem and the time spent working on energy saving and emission reduction policies. Whereas both increasing renewable targets and imposing a carbon tax in addition to an existing ETS would be expected to depress prices in the ETS, relatively few respondents identified this effect correctly. Apart from government respondents, all other stakeholders lacked confidence in China's carbon markets, which is associated with both their lack of knowledge and information about the market and concerns regarding uncertainties and government policy design. The need for learning from the pilot schemes particularly on monitoring, reporting and verification was seen as vital but challenging given the speed of rolling out a national ETS. |
| Keywords: | Emissions trading, China, Carbon pricing; Guangdong ETS pilot; Stakeholder survey; Climate change policy; Low-carbon policy interactions |
| JEL: | H23 Q58 N45 Q48 Q54 |
| Date: | 2018–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1811&r=reg |
| By: | Christian von Hirschhausen |
| Abstract: | Nuclear power was one of the most important discoveries of the twentieth century, and it continues to play an important role in twenty-first century discussions about the future energy mix, climate change, innovation, proliferation, geopolitics, and many other crucial policy topics. This paper addresses some key issues around the emergence of nuclear power in the twentieth century and perspectives going forward in the twenty-first, including questions of economics and competitiveness, the strategic choices of the nuclear superpowers and countries that plan to either phase out or start using nuclear power, to the diffusion of nuclear technologies and the emergence of regional nuclear conflicts in the “second nuclear age”. The starting point for our hypothesis is the observation that nuclear power was originally developed for military purposes as the “daughter of science and warfare” (Lévêque 2014, 212), whereas civilian uses such as medical applications and electricity generation emerged later as by-products. Based upon this observation, we interpret the nuclear industry in terms of “economies of scope”, where strategies, costs, and benefits must be assessed in the multiproduct context of military and civilian uses of nuclear power. We propose a classification of different economic perspectives on nuclear electricity generation, and confirm the consensus of the literature that on its own, nuclear power has never been an economic method of producing electricity: not a single reactor in existence today was constructed by a private investor in a competitive, market economic framework. The economics-of-scope perspective is a useful heuristic to interpret countries’ strategic choices regarding the use of nuclear power. The paper provides a survey of strategies used by the nuclear superpowers (United States, Russia, China), by countries phasing out nuclear power because they cannot benefit from economies of scope (e.g., Italy, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland), and by potential newcomers who may expect synergies between military and civilian uses (e.g., Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, perhaps one day also Japan). We conclude that the future of nuclear power in the twenty-first century must be assessed in terms of economies of scope, and that a purely “economic” analysis of nuclear electricity is insufficient to grasp the complexity of the issue; this also raises conceptual challenges for energy modelers. The paper leaves out some important questions to be addressed in a future Part II of the assessment, such as economic and technical issues of plant decommissioning, long-term storage of waste, and the potential role of nuclear energy in climate policies. |
| Keywords: | Nuclear power, technology, competitiveness, economies of scope, geopolitics |
| JEL: | L52 L95 N7 Q48 Q54 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1700&r=reg |
| By: | Marie Delaplace (LAB'URBA - LAB'URBA - UPEM - Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12) |
| Abstract: | In January 2016, 35,000 km of high-speed lines were planned worldwide for completion by 2050. Governments have sometimes to choose between different projects. If cost-benefit analysis is the most widely used tool to evaluate the effects of different projects, it seems to be inappropriate for evaluating the wider effects. Using service innovation theories, this paper shows that these wider effects in cities are difficult to evaluate ex ante because they are coproduced in space and time. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01622986&r=reg |
| By: | Claudia Kettner-Marx (WIFO); Daniela Kletzan-Slamanig (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | The integration of climate policy concerns in other policy areas, where decisions are taken that determine greenhouse gas emissions, is a prerequisite for effectively mitigating climate change. There are particularly strong interlinkages between energy policy and climate policy as the major part of greenhouse gas emissions is related to energy supply and use. In this paper we initially compile a set of seven indicators for assessing climate policy integration (political commitment, actors, functional overlap, time perspective, weighting and resources, policy instruments, and emission impact). We then apply the criteria for an appraisal of climate policy integration in EU energy policy during the last decade, i.e., we focus on CPI from a horizontal perspective. The focus of our research lies on strategic energy policy documents, on the one hand, and on the comparison of four key energy policy documents in the context of the 2016 Winter Package to existing legislation, on the other. Our results show that mitigation of climate change is a key objective in all energy policy documents analysed. Furthermore, EU legislative processes ensure a comprehensive involvement of all stakeholders. The energy policy objectives regarding renewable energy and energy efficiency are synergetic and reinforcing with climate policy. It has to be noted, however, that other energy policy documents, like the Energy Security Strategy, contain conflicting issues and the proposed recasts of existing legislation reduce preferential treatment for renewables. |
| Keywords: | climate policy, energy policy, climate policy integration, European Union |
| Date: | 2018–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2018:i:551&r=reg |
| By: | Kovachev, Goran |
| Abstract: | The beginnings of Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) in Macedonia date back to 2008, first as a pilot project, then becoming mandatory for all legal proposals since 2009 as part of regulatory reforms with a declarative goal - improving the entrepreneurial environment. In 2011, the Ministry of Information Society and Administration (MISA) became the main institution responsible for implementation, coordination and oversight of RIA, and in 2013 a new Methodology for RIA was introduced. This methodology is an upgrade of the existing practices introduced in 2009, which are also aligned with the positive practices in the European Union (EU) and its Member States, as well as the OECD Member States. The main goal of this policy paper is to determine the cost for the state during the RIA process of a draft-law. This document does not aim to determine how much will the implementation of that new law made under the RIA cost the state or its stakeholders in full. That is already done by the RIA methodology provides for an analysis of the costs, impacts and benefits of the identified possible solutions when proposing a particular regulation, as well as the preparation of a RIA Report. |
| Keywords: | Regulatory Impact Assessment; Macedonia; Methodology; policy paper; cost analysis |
| JEL: | H1 H8 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:83832&r=reg |
| By: | Simon M. Burgess (IZA - Institute for the study of labor - Institute for the Study of Labor - IZA); Carol Propper (Imperial College London - Space & Atmospheric Physics Group); Marisa Ratto (LEDa - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine - Université Paris-Dauphine); Emma Tominey (IZA - Institute for the study of labor - Institute for the Study of Labor - IZA) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of team-based performance pay in a major UK government agency, the public employment service. The scheme covered quantity and quality targets, measured with varying degrees of precision. We use unique data from the agency's performance management system and personnel records, linked to local labour market data. We show that on average the scheme had no significant effect but had a substantial positive effect in small teams, fitting an explanation combining free riding and peer monitoring. The impact was greater on better-measured quantity outcomes than quality outcomes. The scheme was very cost effective in small offices. |
| Keywords: | personnel economics,teams,Incentives,public sector,performance |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01651132&r=reg |
| By: | François Jeanjean (Orange Labs - Orange Labs [Belfort] - France Télécom); Georges Vivien Houngbonon (LGI - Laboratoire de Genie Industriel - CentraleSupélec) |
| Abstract: | The impact of market structure, that is the number of firms and asymmetry , on investment is an important topic in the mobile industry. However, previous literature remains ambiguous about the direction of the relationship. This paper provides an empirical evidence of the impact of market structure on investment in the European mobile industry. The empirical assessment is based on a Salop model with vertical differentiation. Consistently with the prediction of this model, we find that both the number of operators and market share asymmetry have significant effects on investment. In symmetric markets, investment per operator falls with the number of operators, with larger effects for operators that lose market share more than the average. The industry investment rises with the number of operators in the short run, but eventually falls in the long run due to significant adjustment costs of investment in the mobile industry. These findings suggest that investment should be taken into account when analysing the welfare effects of market structure in the mobile industry. |
| Keywords: | Mobile Telecommunications,Market structure,Investment |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01653812&r=reg |
| By: | Jakub Sawulski; Jan Witajewski-Baltvilks |
| Abstract: | Should Renewable Energy Sources (RES) auction systems support development of a wide range of different technologies or instead focus on supporting a select few? We review some of the approaches to RES technologies differentiation in relation to RES auction designs. Subsequently, we use an analytical model to examine the optimal differentiation of RES technologies when the future costs of RES installations are subject to uncertainty. We allow uncertainty to influence the cost function in two ways: (i) as an uncertain magnitude of the learning-by-doing effect and (ii) as a possibility for an exogenous random technological shock (such as an unexpected technological breakthrough). We find that uncertainty of learning rates increases the benefits of differentiation. This result, among other things, implies that optimal differentiation predicted by the energy models that assume fixed learning rates is biased downward. On the other hand, where exogenous shocks are present the differences between the costs of technologies are large and the planner has less incentive to commit to support a diversified pool of technologies and more incentive to favour the choice of a technology which is cheapest at the given moment in time. This last result is more pronounced when there is no learning-by-doing effect. We recommend that countries with potentially large learning rate effects - such as those countries at the technological frontier - should increase differentiation, while more peripheral countries should limit differentiation. |
| Keywords: | Renewable Energy Sources, auction design, technological diversification, learning-by-doing, uncertainty |
| JEL: | O33 Q42 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ibt:wpaper:wp072017&r=reg |