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Transaction costs, market structure and efficient coverage of emissions trading scheme: A microlevel study from the pilots in China

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  • Wang, Xu
  • Zhu, Lei
  • Fan, Ying

Abstract

Regulators need to pay attention to the negative effects of the transaction costs when they define the reasonable coverage of the emissions trading scheme (ETS). In addition, the market structure in the ETS also needs to be considered in the market efficiency evaluation, as most covered firms come from industries with high market concentration. This paper incorporates transaction costs (monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) costs and trading costs) and market structure into a partial equilibrium model to study their effect on the reasonable coverage of the ETS. A database of the 1867 industrial firms included in the ETS pilots in China is established for the case study. It is found that the MRV costs become the main factor of the breakdown in efficiency of the ETS. However, there seems to be no inherent relationship between the market structure and the efficient coverage of the allowance market. The policy implications derived from the case study can provide useful references for the upcoming national ETS in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Xu & Zhu, Lei & Fan, Ying, 2018. "Transaction costs, market structure and efficient coverage of emissions trading scheme: A microlevel study from the pilots in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 657-671.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:220:y:2018:i:c:p:657-671
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.03.080
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    4. Bingxin Zeng & Lei Zhu, 2019. "Market Power and Technology Diffusion in an Energy-Intensive Sector Covered by an Emissions Trading Scheme," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-18, July.
    5. Chang, Kai & Chen, Rongda & Chevallier, Julien, 2018. "Market fragmentation, liquidity measures and improvement perspectives from China's emissions trading scheme pilots," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 249-260.
    6. Xiao, Bowen & Fan, Ying & Guo, Xiaodan, 2021. "Dynamic interactive effect and co-design of SO2 emission tax and CO2 emission trading scheme," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
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    8. Fang Zhang & Zhengjun Zhang, 2020. "The tail dependence of the carbon markets: The implication of portfolio management," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(8), pages 1-17, August.
    9. Wang, Xu & Zhu, Lei & Liu, Pengfei, 2021. "Manipulation via endowments: Quantifying the influence of market power on the emission trading scheme," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
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    12. Wang, Xu & Zhang, Xiao-Bing & Zhu, Lei, 2019. "Imperfect market, emissions trading scheme, and technology adoption: A case study of an energy-intensive sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 142-158.

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