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on Regulation |
| By: | GAUTIER Axel, (Université de Liège and CORE); SOMOGYI Robert, (CORE, Université catholique de Louvain) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes two business practices on the mobile internet market, paid prioritization and zero-rating. Both violate the principle of net neutrality by allowing the internet service provider to discriminate different content types. In recent years these practices have attracted considerable media attention and regulatory interest. The EU, and until recently the US have banned paid prioritization but tolerated zero-rating under conditions. With prioritization, the ISP delivers content at different speeds and it is equivalent to a discrimination in terms of quality. With zero-rating, the ISP charges different prices for content and it is equivalent to a discrimination in terms of prices. We first show that neither of these practices lead to the exclusion of a content provider, a serious concern of net neutrality advocates. The ISP chooses prioritization when traffic is highly valuable for content providers and congestion is severe, and zero-rating in all other cases. Furthermore, investment in network capacity is suboptimal in the case of prioritization and socially optimal under zero-rating. |
| Keywords: | net neutrality, paid prioritization, zero-rating, sponsored data, data cap, congestion |
| JEL: | D21 L12 L51 L96 |
| Date: | 2018–09–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2018023&r=reg |
| By: | Klepacka, Anna M.; Pawlik, Kamil |
| Abstract: | The production of renewable energy has been increasing in Poland in accordance with the EU mandate. Solar energy use, in particular, has been affected by regulations and the associated subsidy mechanism. The specific aim of the tudy was the verification of the influence exerted by renewable energy regulations on the amount of revenues and duration of the period when an investor can expect positive returns on operating a PV power plant. The analysis involved five scenarios and used financial and operational data shared by the existing PV power plant in Jadowniki, Poland. Two scenarios refer to plants operating under the support mechanism applied before July 1, 2016, while three scenarios consider plants operating under the auction system that became the support mechanism for renewable energy producers on July 1, 2016. Scenarios I and II generate a positive NPV and IRR under the assumed conditions including the use of green certificates. For PV power plants operating since July 1, 2016, Scenarios III and IV show that the return is dependent on the auction price and the size of NPV and IRR discourages investment. Scenario V assumes absence of support in the form of green certificates or through auction systems and generates loss. The continuing changes in the regulation of power generation from renewable energy sources, including solar energy, creates uncertainties that are likely to discourage investment in large commercial PV power plants in Poland. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iafepa:276630&r=reg |
| By: | Ben Gilbert; Joshua S. Graff Zivin |
| Abstract: | The intermittency of payment for many goods creates a disconnect between paying and consuming such that the marginal price is not always salient when consumption decisions are made. This paper derives optimal dynamic corrective taxes when there are externalities as well as internalities from inattention and persistence in consumption across periods. Our optimal taxes address dynamic inefficiencies that are not captured in static models of inattention. We also characterize a second-best constant tax and the excess burden associated with time-invariant tax rates. We then calibrate the model to U.S. residential electricity consumption. |
| JEL: | D03 D11 D62 D91 H21 H23 L97 Q40 Q41 Q50 |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25014&r=reg |
| By: | Paul Belleflamme (Aix-Marseille Univ., CNRS, EHESS, Centrale Marseille, AMSE); Martin Peitz (Department of Economics and MaCCI, University of Mannheim) |
| Abstract: | On many two-sided platforms, users on one side not only care about user participation and usage levels on the other side, but they also care about participation and usage of fellow users on the same side. Most prominent is the degree of seller competition on a platform catering to buyers and sellers. In this paper, we address how seller competition affects platform pricing, product variety, and the number of platforms that carry trade. |
| Keywords: | network effects, two-sided markets, platform competition, intermediation, pricing, Imperfect Competition |
| JEL: | D43 L13 L86 |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:1820&r=reg |
| By: | Elena Verdolini (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Milan); Francesco Vona (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques); David Popp (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs) |
| Abstract: | The diffusion of renewable energy in the power system implies high supply variability. Lacking economically viable storage options, renewable energy integration is possible thanks to the presence of modern mid-merit fossil-based technologies, which act as back-up capacity. This paper discusses the role of modern fossil-based power generation technologies in supporting renewable energy investments. We study the deployment of these two technologies conditional on all other drivers in 26 OECD countries between 1990 and 2013. We show that moving from the first to the third quartile of the distribution of modern fossil technologies is associated with an increase in yearly renewable energy investment of between 6 and 14 kW per thousand people, on average and ceteris paribus. This is a sizeable effect, considering that average yearly renewable capacity addition in our sample are around 12 kW per thousand people. These findings are robust to different econometric specifications, various definitions of modern fossil technologies and are stronger for wind, which is more intermittent and for which the mismatch between supply and demand is more marked. Our analysis points to the substantial indirect costs of renewable energy integration and highlights the complementarity of investments in different generation technologies for a successful decarbonization process. |
| Keywords: | Renewable energy instruments; Fossil energy investments; Complementarity; Energy and environmental policy |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/jff6fcqc8e6bbhnlvps4rou6&r=reg |
| By: | James D. Dana Jr. (Northwestern University); Kevin R. Williams (Cowles Foundation, Yale University) |
| Abstract: | Inventory controls, used most notably by airlines, are sales limits assigned to individual prices. While typically viewed as a tool to manage demand uncertainty, we argue that inventory controls can also facilitate intertemporal price discrimination in oligopoly. In our model, competing firms first choose quantity and then choose prices in a series of advance-purchase markets. When demand becomes less elastic over time, as is the case in airline markets, a monopolist can easily price discriminate; however, we show that oligopoly firms generally cannot. We also show that using inventory controls allows oligopoly firms to set increasing prices, regardless of whether or not demand is uncertain. |
| Keywords: | Capacity-pricing games, Intertemporal price discrimination, Oligopoly models, Inventory controls |
| JEL: | D21 D43 L13 |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:2136r&r=reg |
| By: | Frondel, Manuel; Kussel, Gerhard |
| Abstract: | Empirical evidence on households' awareness of electricity prices and potentially divergent demand responses to price changes conditional on price knowledge is scant. Using panel data originating from Germany's Residential Energy Consumption Survey (GRECS), we fill this void by employing an instrumental-variable (IV) approach to cope with the endogeneity of the consumers' tariff choice. By additionally exploiting information on the households' knowledge about power prices, we combine the IV approach with an Endogenous Switching Regression Model to estimate price elasticities for two groups of households, finding that only those households that are informed about prices are sensitive to price changes, whereas the electricity demand of uninformed households is entirely price-inelastic. Based on these results, to curb the electricity consumption of the household sector and its environmental impact, we suggest implementing low-cost information measures on a large scale, such as improving the transparency of tariffs, thereby increasing the saliency of prices. |
| Keywords: | price elasticity,switching regression model,information |
| JEL: | Q41 D12 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:763&r=reg |
| By: | Jakub Sawulski; Marcin Galczynski; Robert Zajdler |
| Abstract: | In recent years offshore wind has become one of the fastest growing forms of renewable energy technology worldwide. Nevertheless, there are still several markets with large potential for deployment. In this paper we assess the offshore wind innovation system in Poland. We apply the Technological Innovation System approach. This procedure has been widely used to describe the offshore wind innovation system in Europe. However, the existing literature concerned European countries located at the technological frontier, while in this publication we examine this issue in a follower country, which is still waiting to deploy its first offshore wind installation. The upcoming transition of the Polish energy system, resulting from depletion of current coal resources and EU climate policy goals, makes Poland one of the most promising markets for renewable technologies, and the geographical location puts Poland in position of the main actor in kick-starting the offshore wind market on the Baltic Sea. However, in our study we identify a number of challenges for offshore wind technology deployment in Poland. Some of these challenges include the unpredictable public policies, limited grid infrastructure, rather poor quality of research provided by scientific organisations and weak interactions between science and business. To address these issues, we propose a set of policy instruments, which, we believe, will significantly contribute to the development of offshore wind technology in Poland. |
| Keywords: | RES, offshore wind, innovation system, TIS |
| JEL: | O31 O33 Q42 Q55 |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ibt:wpaper:wp062018&r=reg |
| By: | Norbert Ligterink (TNO) |
| Abstract: | Real-world vehicle emissions differ from the legislative emissions limits for a number of reasons. Emissions can be substantially lower but in most cases emissions in real driving conditions are higher than the type-approval values. This is especially the case for NOx emissions from diesels. Between Euro 1 and Euro 5 standards the European NOx limit decreased by a factor of five but real-world NOx emissions have remained more or less constant. High real-world NOx emissions from light and heavy-duty diesels are the main cause of high NO2 concentrations in cities. Some Euro 6 vehicles now show real-world NOx emissions close to the limit, but many vehicle models still exceed the limit by a factor of eight in real-world driving conditions. This report outlines the main reasons for the deviations and discusses the implications for managing air pollution. The European situation is taken as example. |
| Date: | 2017–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaab:2017/06-en&r=reg |
| By: | Rajagopal, Deepak; Simon, Daniel H. |
| Keywords: | Resource/Energy Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Industrial Organization |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea17:259969&r=reg |
| By: | Francesco Vona (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques); Giovanni Marin (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna); Davide Consoli (Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Management); David Popp |
| Abstract: | We present a data-driven methodology to identify occupational skills that are relevant for environmental sustainability. We find that these green skills are mostly engineering and technical know-how related to the design, production, management and monitoring of technology. We also evaluate the effect of environmental regulation on the demand of green skills exploiting exogenous geographical variation in regulatory stringency for a panel of US metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas over the period 2006-2014. Our results suggest that, while these recent changes in environmental regulation have no impact on overall employment, they create significant gaps in the demand for some green skills, especially those related to technical and engineering skills. |
| Keywords: | Environmental regulations; Green skills; Task model; Workforce composition |
| JEL: | J24 Q52 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/1fkb59dcsg9alqqq6qv18jj5us&r=reg |
| By: | Espinola-Arredondo, Ana; Strandholm, John; Munoz-Garcia, Felix |
| Keywords: | Industrial Organization, Resource/Energy Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics |
| Date: | 2017–06–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea17:258016&r=reg |
| By: | Simon, Daniel H.; Zirogiannis, Nikolaos; Hollingsworth, Alex |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, Research Methods/Statistical Methods, Resource/Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2017–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea17:259116&r=reg |
| By: | Martin L. Weitzman; Bjart J. Holtsmark |
| Abstract: | Linkage of cap-and-trade systems is typically advocated by economists on a general analogy with the beneficial linking of free-trade areas and on the specific grounds that linkage will ensure cost effectiveness among the linked jurisdictions. An appropriate and widely accepted specification for the damages of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions within a relatively short (say 5-10 year) period is that marginal damages for each jurisdiction are constant (although they can differ among jurisdictions). With this defensible assumption, the analysis is significantly clarified and yields simple closed-form expressions for all CO2 permit prices. Some implications for linked and unlinked voluntary CO2 cap-and-trade systems are derived and discussed. |
| Keywords: | linkage, cap and trade, pollution, climate change |
| JEL: | Q50 Q51 Q52 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7225&r=reg |
| By: | Martin L. Weitzman; Bjart Holtsmark |
| Abstract: | Linkage of cap-and-trade systems is typically advocated by economists on a general analogy with the beneficial linking of free-trade areas and on the specific grounds that linkage will ensure cost effectiveness among the linked jurisdictions. An appropriate and widely accepted specification for the damages of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions within a relatively short (say 5-10 year) period is that marginal damages for each jurisdiction are constant (although they can differ among jurisdictions). With this defensible assumption, the analysis is significantly clarified and yields simple closed-form expressions for all CO2 permit prices. Some implications for linked and unlinked voluntary CO2 cap-and-trade systems are derived and discussed. |
| JEL: | Q50 Q52 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25001&r=reg |
| By: | McCullough, Michael P.; Hamilton, Lynn L.; MacEwan, Duncan |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics, Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2017–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea17:259166&r=reg |
| By: | Hansjörg Blöchliger |
| Abstract: | This paper compares and analyses the use of market mechanisms in core sub-central policy areas, namely education, health care, transport, social protection, and environment. Arrangements like tendering, outsourcing, user choice and competition, user fees and performance-related funding can help to improve quality of service provision or lower its cost. With around 32% of total public expenditure and often wide-ranging spending powers, sub-central governments (SCG) have considerable leeway for improving their services by relying on market mechanisms. The decentralised and often fragmented nature of sub-central government poses some special challenges to efficient arrangements, however, and may require central government support or stronger inter-jurisdictional co-operation. And while market mechanisms are being harnessed ever more broadly, limits to a more extensive use have become apparent, particularly in the potential trade-off between greater efficiency and equity objectives, or between efficiency and sub-central accountability.. |
| Keywords: | fiscal discipline, fiscal rules, indicators, Sub-central government |
| JEL: | C43 D78 H71 H72 H74 H81 |
| Date: | 2018–09–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ctpaab:06-en&r=reg |
| By: | Richards, Timothy J.; Klein, Gordon; Bonnet, Celine; Bouamra-Mechemache, Zohra |
| Keywords: | Industrial Organization, Demand and Price Analysis, Research Methods/Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2017–06–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea17:258021&r=reg |
| By: | Rivera, Nathaly M. |
| Keywords: | Resource/Energy Economics and Policy, Research Methods/Statistical Methods, Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2017–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea17:259182&r=reg |
| By: | Larson, Ronald B. |
| Keywords: | Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2017–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea17:259135&r=reg |
| By: | Odile Heddebaut (Université Paris-Est) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the evolution of public transport contracts in France and the historical and legal contexts which led to their reorganisation. We first examine the evolution of the territorial distribution of institutional powers in transportation mainly for passengers. A focus is made on the regional passenger railway reform in France that allowed the 20 French metropolitan regions to become transport organising authorities following a first experiment by seven volunteer regions. The Nord-Pas de Calais region is taken as an example. Then the urban public transport contracts are analysed focussing on different possibilities of contract and finally, the specific case of transport organisation in the Paris Île-de-France region is studied. |
| Date: | 2017–08–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaab:2017/11-en&r=reg |
| By: | Chen, Rui; Wilson, Norbert L.W. |
| Keywords: | International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2017–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea17:258279&r=reg |
| By: | Chen, Xiaoguang; Ye, Jingjing |
| Keywords: | Resource/Energy Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Development |
| Date: | 2017–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea17:258256&r=reg |