IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/enreec/v69y2018i4d10.1007_s10640-016-0096-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Windfall Profits Under Pollution Permits and Output-Based Allocation

Author

Listed:
  • Jean-Philippe Nicolaï

    (ETH Zurich)

  • Jorge Zamorano

    (Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne
    Universidad de Santiago de Chile)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the implementation of pollution permits. It focuses on the distributional impacts linked with the stringency of output-based allocation when two sectors are covered by the market for permits and the total cap is held constant. A new type of profit increase in sectors that are not exposed to international competition, when energy-intensive trade-exposed (EITE) sectors are granted output-based allocations, is demonstrated theoretically. The paper also illustrates a profit increase in the electricity sector in a possible fourth phase of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme, in which output-based allocation will be granted to EITE sectors, compared with the case in which all permits are auctioned.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean-Philippe Nicolaï & Jorge Zamorano, 2018. "Windfall Profits Under Pollution Permits and Output-Based Allocation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 69(4), pages 661-691, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:69:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10640-016-0096-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-016-0096-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10640-016-0096-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10640-016-0096-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Natalia Fabra & Mar Reguant, 2014. "Pass-Through of Emissions Costs in Electricity Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(9), pages 2872-2899, September.
    2. Stefan P. Schleicher & Claudia Kettner & Angela Köppl & Gregor Thenius, 2007. "Stringency and Distribution in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme –The 2005 Evidence," Working Papers 2007.22, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    3. Meredith Fowlie & Mar Reguant & Stephen P. Ryan, 2016. "Market-Based Emissions Regulation and Industry Dynamics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(1), pages 249-302.
    4. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7346 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Damien Demailly & Philippe Quirion, 2008. "Concilier compétitivité industrielle et politique climatique. Faut-il distribuer les quotas de CO2 en fonction de la production ou bien les ajuster aux frontières ?," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 59(3), pages 497-504.
    6. Harrison Fell, Beat Hintermann, and Herman Vollebergh, 2015. "Carbon content of electricity futures in Phase II of the EU ETS," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    7. Michael Grubb & Karsten Neuhoff, 2006. "Allocation and competitiveness in the EU emissions trading scheme: policy overview," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 7-30, January.
    8. Hirth, Lion & Ueckerdt, Falko, 2013. "Redistribution effects of energy and climate policy: The electricity market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 934-947.
    9. Clémence Christin & Jean-Philippe Nicolai & Jerome Pouyet, 2013. "Pollution Permits, Imperfect Competition and Abatement Technologies," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 13/186, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    10. Damien Demailly & Philippe Quirion, 2006. "CO 2 abatement, competitiveness and leakage in the European cement industry under the EU ETS: grandfathering versus output-based allocation," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 93-113, January.
    11. Demailly, Damien & Quirion, Philippe, 2008. "Changing the Allocation Rules in the EU ETS: Impact on Competitiveness and Economic Efficiency," Climate Change Modelling and Policy Working Papers 46623, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    12. Guy Meunier & Jean-Pierre Ponssard, 2012. "A Sectoral Approach Balancing Global Efficiency and Equity," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 53(4), pages 533-552, December.
    13. Requate, Till, 2005. "Dynamic incentives by environmental policy instruments--a survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2-3), pages 175-195, August.
    14. Beat Hintermann, 2016. "Pass-Through of CO2 Emission Costs to Hourly Electricity Prices in Germany," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(4), pages 857-891.
    15. Fischer, Carolyn, 2011. "Market power and output-based refunding of environmental policy revenues," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 212-230, January.
    16. Karsten Neuhoff & Kim Keats Martinez & Misato Sato, 2006. "Allocation, incentives and distortions: the impact of EU ETS emissions allowance allocations to the electricity sector," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 73-91, January.
    17. Monjon, Stéphanie & Quirion, Philippe, 2011. "Addressing leakage in the EU ETS: Border adjustment or output-based allocation?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1957-1971, September.
    18. Jos Sijm & Karsten Neuhoff & Yihsu Chen, 2006. "CO 2 cost pass-through and windfall profits in the power sector," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 49-72, January.
    19. Philippe Quirion, 2010. "Competitiveness and Leakage," Chapters, in: Emilio Cerdá Tena & Xavier Labandeira (ed.), Climate Change Policies, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Damien Demailly & Philippe Quirion, 2006. "CO 2 abatement, competitiveness and leakage in the European cement industry under the EU ETS: grandfathering versus output-based allocation," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 93-113, January.
    21. Hepburn, Cameron J. & Quah, John K.-H. & Ritz, Robert A., 2013. "Emissions trading with profit-neutral permit allocations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 85-99.
    22. Kimmel, Sheldon, 1992. "Effects of Cost Changes on Oligopolists' Profits," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 441-449, December.
    23. Beat Hintermann, 2011. "Market Power, Permit Allocation and Efficiency in Emission Permit Markets," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 49(3), pages 327-349, July.
    24. Damien Demailly & Philippe Quirion, 2006. "CO2 abatement, competitiveness and leakage in the European cement industry under the EU ETS: Grandfathering vs. output-based allocation," Post-Print halshs-00639327, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fraser, Alastair & Kuok, Jonathan Chiew Sheen & Leslie, Gordon W., 2023. "Climate reform and transitional industry assistance: Windfall profits for polluters?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    2. Hintermann, Beat & Zarkovic, Maja & Di Maria, Corrado & Wagner, Ulrich J., 2020. "The effect of climate policy on productivity and cost pass-through in the German manufacturing sector," Working papers 2020/11, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    3. Nicolaï, Jean-Philippe, 2019. "Emission reduction and profit-neutral permit allocations," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 239-253.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jean-Philippe Nicolaï, 2015. "Emission Reduction and Profit-Neutral Permit Allocations," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 15/224, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    2. Beat Hintermann & Maja Žarković & Corrado Di Maria & Ulrich J. Wagner, 2020. "The Effect of Climate Policy on Productivity and Cost Pass-Through in the German Manufacturing Sector," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2020_249, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    3. Meunier, Guy & Ponssard, Jean-Pierre & Quirion, Philippe, 2014. "Carbon leakage and capacity-based allocations: Is the EU right?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 262-279.
    4. Frédéric Branger & Jean-Pierre Ponssard & Oliver Sartor & Misato Sato, 2015. "EU ETS, Free Allocations, and Activity Level Thresholds: The Devil Lies in the Details," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(3), pages 401-437.
    5. Philippe Quirion & Damien Demailly, 2008. "Changing the Allocation Rules in the EU ETS: Impact on Competitiveness and Economic Efficiency," Working Papers 2008.89, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    6. Fraser, Alastair & Kuok, Jonathan Chiew Sheen & Leslie, Gordon W., 2023. "Climate reform and transitional industry assistance: Windfall profits for polluters?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    7. Philippe Quirion, 2022. "Output-based allocation and output-based rebates: a survey," Chapters, in: Handbook on Trade Policy and Climate Change, chapter 7, pages 94-107, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Angela Köppl & Gregor Thenius & Stefan Schleicher, 2008. "Impacts of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme: Insights from the First Trading Period with a Focus on Competitiveness Issues," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 33963, February.
    9. Barry Anderson & Corrado Di Maria, 2011. "Abatement and Allocation in the Pilot Phase of the EU ETS," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 48(1), pages 83-103, January.
    10. Frédéric Branger & Misato Sato, 2017. "Solving the clinker dilemma with hybrid output-based allocation," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 483-501, February.
    11. Jinye Zhao & Benjamin F. Hobbs & Jong-Shi Pang, 2010. "Long-Run Equilibrium Modeling of Emissions Allowance Allocation Systems in Electric Power Markets," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 58(3), pages 529-548, June.
    12. Zhang, Zhong Xiang, 2012. "Competitiveness and Leakage Concerns and Border Carbon Adjustments," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 6(3), pages 225-287, December.
    13. Misato Sato & Karsten Neuhoff & Verena Graichen & Katja Schumacher & Felix Matthes, 2013. "Sectors under scrutiny � Evaluation of indicators to assess the risk of carbon leakage in the UK and Germany," GRI Working Papers 113, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    14. Wang, M. & Zhou, P., 2022. "A two-step auction-refund allocation rule of CO2 emission permits," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    15. Beat Hintermann, 2017. "Market Power in Emission Permit Markets: Theory and Evidence from the EU ETS," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 66(1), pages 89-112, January.
    16. Beat Hintermann, 2016. "Pass-Through of CO2 Emission Costs to Hourly Electricity Prices in Germany," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(4), pages 857-891.
    17. Clò, Stefano, 2010. "Grandfathering, auctioning and Carbon Leakage: Assessing the inconsistencies of the new ETS Directive," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 2420-2430, May.
    18. Pablo del Río & Javier Carrillo-Hermosilla & Totti Könnölä & Carlos Suárez, 2008. "Challenges and opportunities of a post-Kyoto mitigation regime: a survey of the European electricity sector," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 13(8), pages 863-885, October.
    19. Anger, Niels & Oberndorfer, Ulrich, 2008. "Firm performance and employment in the EU emissions trading scheme: An empirical assessment for Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 12-22, January.
    20. Naegele, Helene & Zaklan, Aleksandar, 2019. "Does the EU ETS cause carbon leakage in European manufacturing?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 125-147.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tradable permits; Oligopoly markets; Output-based allocation; European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS);
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F18 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Environment
    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:69:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10640-016-0096-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.