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Would Hotelling Kill the Electric Car?

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Author Info

  • Chakravorty, Ujjayant

    () (University of Alberta, Department of Economics)

  • Leach, Andrew

    () (University of Alberta School of Business)

  • Moreaux, Michel

    (Toulouse School of Economics)

Abstract

In this paper, we show that the potential for endogenous technological change in alternative energy sources may alter the behaviour of resource-owning firms. When technological progress in an alternative energy source can occur through learning-by-doing, resource owners face competing incentives to extract rents from the resource and to prevent expansion of the new technology. We show that in such a context, it is not necessarily the case that scarcity-driven higher traditional energy prices over time will induce alternative energy supply as resources are exhausted. Rather, we show that as we increase the learning potential in the substitute technology, lower equilibrium energy prices prevail and there may be increased resource extraction and greenhouse gas emissions. We show that the effectiveness and the incidence of emissions reduction policies may be altered by increased potential for technological change. Our results suggest that treating finite resource rents as endogenous consequences of both technological progress and policy changes will be important for the accurate assessment of climate change policy.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by University of Alberta, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 2010-12.

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Length: 43 pages
Date of creation: 01 Apr 2010
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:ris:albaec:2010_012

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Keywords: resource extraction; climate change; induced innovation; learning-by-doing;

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References

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  1. Daniel J.A. Johansson & Christian Azar & Kristian Lindgren & Tobias A. Persson , 2009. "OPEC Strategies and Oil Rent in a Climate Conscious World," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 23-50.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Amigues, Jean-Pierre & Lafforgue, Gilles & Moreaux, Michel, 2012. "Optimal Timing of Carbon Capture Policies Under Alternative CCS Cost Functions," LERNA Working Papers 12.11.368, LERNA, University of Toulouse.
  2. Amigues, Jean-Pierre & Chakravorty, Ujjayant & Lafforgue, Gilles & Moreaux, Michel, 2012. "Renewable Portfolio Standards and implicit tax-subsidy schemes: Structural differences induced by quantity and proportional mandates," IDEI Working Papers 698, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse.
  3. Fischer, Carolyn & Salant, Stephen, 2012. "Alternative Climate Policies and Intertemporal Emissions Leakage: Quantifying the Green Paradox," Discussion Papers dp-12-16, Resources For the Future.
  4. Kristine Grimsrud & Knut Einar Rosendahl & Halvor Briseid Storrøsten & Marina Tsygankova, 2013. "Short run effects of bleaker prospects for oligopolistic producers of a non-renewable resource," Discussion Papers 733, Research Department of Statistics Norway.
  5. Eiji Sawada & Shunsuke Managi, 2013. "Non-renewable Resource Extraction with Extraction and Exploration Technologies," Keio/Kyoto Joint Global COE Discussion Paper Series 2012-048, Keio/Kyoto Joint Global COE Program.
  6. Amigues, Jean-Pierre & Lafforgue, Gilles & Moreaux, Michel, 2012. "Optimal timing of CCS policies with heterogeneous energy consumption sectors," LERNA Working Papers 12.13.370, LERNA, University of Toulouse.
  7. Amigues, Jean-Pierre & Lafforgue, Gilles & Moreaux, Michel, 2011. "Optimal CCS and air capture from heterogeneous energy consuming sectors," LERNA Working Papers 11.16.350, LERNA, University of Toulouse.

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