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Carbon-sensitive meta-productivity growth and technological gap: An empirical analysis of Indian thermal power sector

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  • Kumar, Surender
  • Jain, Rakesh Kumar

Abstract

This paper measures carbon-sensitive efficiency and productivity growth in technologically heterogeneous coal-fired thermal power plants in India for the period of 2000 to 2013. It uses a unique data set of 56 plants, obtained petitioning the Right to Information Act 2005. We apply ‘within-MLE’ fixed effects stochastic frontier model to get consistent estimates of meta-directional output distance function. The thermal power plants are grouped into two categories: central sector and state sector. We find that the state sector plants have higher potential to simultaneously increase electricity generation and reduce carbon emissions than the central sector plants. If all the state and central sectors plants were made to operate on the meta-frontier, reduction of 98 million tonnes of CO2 could have been achieved. Carbon-sensitive productivity growth in the central sector plants is higher than the plants in state sector, though in both the sectors productivity growth is governed by carbon-sensitive innovation effect. Commercialisation or autonomy in electricity generation also induces carbon-sensitive productivity growth and reduces carbon-sensitive productivity growth gap.

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  • Kumar, Surender & Jain, Rakesh Kumar, 2019. "Carbon-sensitive meta-productivity growth and technological gap: An empirical analysis of Indian thermal power sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 104-116.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:81:y:2019:i:c:p:104-116
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2019.03.015
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    6. Wenhao Qi & Changxing Song & Meng Sun & Liguo Wang & Youcheng Han, 2022. "Sustainable Growth Drivers: Unveiling the Role Played by Carbon Productivity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-25, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Carbon-sensitive productivity; Luenberger Productivity Indicator; Stochastic meta-frontier; Indian thermal power plants;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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