Combining Price and Quantity Controls Under Partitioned Environmental Regulation

41 Pages Posted: 2 Mar 2016

See all articles by Jan Abrell

Jan Abrell

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Sebastian Rausch

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research; Heidelberg University - Alfred Weber Institute for Economics; ETH Zürich - Centre for Energy Policy and Economics (CEPE); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change

Date Written: March 1, 2016

Abstract

This paper analyzes hybrid emissions trading systems (ETS) under partitioned environmental regulation when firms’ abatement costs and future emissions are uncertain. We show that hybrid policies that introduce bounds on the price or the quantity of abatement provide a way to hedge against differences in marginal abatement costs across partitions. Price bounds are more efficient than abatement bounds as they also use information on firms’ abatement technologies while abatement bounds can only address emissions uncertainty. Using a numerical stochastic optimization model with equilibrium constraints for the European carbon market, we find that introducing hybrid policies in EU ETS reduces expected excess abatement costs of achieving targeted emissions reductions under EU climate policy by up to 89 percent. We also find that under partitioned regulation there is a high likelihood for hybrid policies to yield sizeable ex-post cost reductions.

Keywords: Emissions trading, Partitioned environmental regulation, Uncertainty, Prices, Quantities, EU ETS

JEL Classification: H23, Q54, C63

Suggested Citation

Abrell, Jan and Rausch, Sebastian, Combining Price and Quantity Controls Under Partitioned Environmental Regulation (March 1, 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2740363 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2740363

Jan Abrell

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Sebastian Rausch (Contact Author)

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1
D-68034 Mannheim, 68034
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.sebastianrausch.com

Heidelberg University - Alfred Weber Institute for Economics ( email )

Grabengasse 14
Heidelberg, D-69117
Germany

ETH Zürich - Centre for Energy Policy and Economics (CEPE) ( email )

8092 Zurich
Switzerland

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change ( email )

77 Massachusetts Ave, Bldg E40-474
Cambridge, MA 02139
United States

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