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“Lock-in” effect of emission standard and its impact on the choice of market based instruments

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  • Haoqi, Qian
  • Libo, Wu
  • Weiqi, Tang

Abstract

A country's existing emission standard policy will lead to a “lock in” effect. When the country plans to adopt new market-based instruments to control greenhouse gas emissions, it must consider this effect as it chooses among instruments to avoid larger efficiency loss. In this paper, we find that the “lock in” effect will cause a kink point to occur on the marginal abatement cost (MAC) curve. This change of shape for the MAC curve reminds us to be cautious in choosing market-based instruments when applying Weitzman's rule. We also introduce this concept into a dynamic multi-regional computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for China and simulate MAC curves for all regions. After applying Weitzman's rule, we propose a timeline for introducing price instruments under different marginal benefit (MB) curve scenarios.

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  • Haoqi, Qian & Libo, Wu & Weiqi, Tang, 2017. "“Lock-in” effect of emission standard and its impact on the choice of market based instruments," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 41-50.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:63:y:2017:i:c:p:41-50
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2017.01.005
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    Cited by:

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    2. Feng, Shenghao & Zhang, Keyu, 2018. "Fuel-factor nesting structures in CGE models of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 274-284.
    3. Lin, Boqiang & Jia, Zhijie, 2019. "What will China's carbon emission trading market affect with only electricity sector involvement? A CGE based study," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 301-311.
    4. Wei, Wendong & Cai, Wenqiu & Guo, Yi & Bai, Caiquan & Yang, Luzhen, 2020. "Decoupling relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in China's provinces from the perspective of resource security," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    5. Lin, Boqiang & Jia, Zhijie, 2019. "How does tax system on energy industries affect energy demand, CO2 emissions, and economy in China?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    6. Lin, Boqiang & Jia, Zhijie, 2019. "Impacts of carbon price level in carbon emission trading market," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 157-170.
    7. Fang, Chenhao & Ma, Tieju, 2020. "Stylized agent-based modeling on linking emission trading systems and its implications for China's practice," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    8. Du, Huibin & Li, Qun & Liu, Xi & Peng, Binbin & Southworth, Frank, 2021. "Costs and potentials of reducing CO2 emissions in China's transport sector: Findings from an energy system analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    9. Cao, Jing & Dai, Hancheng & Li, Shantong & Guo, Chaoyi & Ho, Mun & Cai, Wenjia & He, Jianwu & Huang, Hai & Li, Jifeng & Liu, Yu & Qian, Haoqi & Wang, Can & Wu, Libo & Zhang, Xiliang, 2021. "The general equilibrium impacts of carbon tax policy in China: A multi-model comparison," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    10. Wu, Libo & Zhou, Ying & Qian, Haoqi, 2022. "Global actions under the Paris agreement: Tracing the carbon leakage flow and pursuing countermeasures," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Lock-in effect; Marginal abatement cost curve; Cap and trade of carbon emissions rights; Carbon tax;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C68 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computable General Equilibrium Models
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • E27 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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