Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW.
Das Wichtigste in KürzeWie durch R. Hahn (1984)
Non-Technical SummaryAs shown by R. Hahn (1984), free allocation to a firm with market power equal to the amount of permits the firm uses in a competitive equilibrium can prevent welfare losses under market power. In this paper an alternative option to mitigate market power is proposed. If the regulating authority is unwilling or unable to hand out 'full' free allocation to a firm with market power, it may alternatively alter the economy wide emissions constraint (cap). Changing the cap can lead to a situation where the firm with market power will choose a price similar to the competitive equilibrium. As a consequence, marginal abatement costs of regulated firms are equated and the least cost solution is achieved. If the cap is chosen efficiently, so that marginal benefits and marginal costs of regulation are equated, changing the cap may decrease social welfare. To account for this effect, marginal social damages from changing the cap are balanced to marginal gains from mitigating market power. By doing so, a second-best solution to mitigate market power in permit markets is derived.
Mitigating Market Power under Tradeable PermitsPeter Heindl * October 8, 2012
AbstractAs shown by R. Hahn [6], free allocation equal to the amount of permits a firm with market power uses in equilibrium, can prevent welfare losses. If the necessary amount of free allocation is not provided to the firm with market power, a second best solution is obtained where marginal abatement costs of regulated firms are not equated. In this paper, it is proposed that the government may change the economy wide emissions constraint (cap) as a response to market power, e.g. when free allocation cannot be adjusted. Changing the cap can lead to a situation where marginal abatement costs are equated in the presence of market power. Because changing the cap will lead to changes of social welfare, both effects must be balanced. It is shown that there exists a second best social optimum by balancing the positive effect of limiting market power and the negative effect of changing the cap.