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Market power and heterogeneous pass-through in German electricity retail

Author

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  • Duso, Tomaso
  • Szücs, Florian

Abstract

We analyze the pass-through of cost changes to retail tariffs in the German electricity market over the 2007–2014 period. We find an average pass-through rate of around 60%. This significantly varies with demand factors: while the pass-through rate to baseline tariffs, where firms have greater market power because customers are less willing to switch, is only 50%, it increases to 70% in the competitive segment of the market. Although the pass-through rate of independent firms is significantly higher than that of other firms in the competitive market segment, the extent of supply-side heterogeneity is limited. Thus, the firms’ ability to exercise market power and reduce pass-through appears to be constrained by competition and largely determined by demand side factors. Finally, we find that the pass-through rate in the competitive market segment has been approaching unity over the past years, indicating a rise in competitive pressure.

Suggested Citation

  • Duso, Tomaso & Szücs, Florian, 2017. "Market power and heterogeneous pass-through in German electricity retail," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 354-372.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:98:y:2017:i:c:p:354-372
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2017.07.010
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    Cited by:

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    2. Correa-Giraldo, Manuel & Garcia-Rendon, John J. & Perez, Alex, 2021. "Strategic behaviors and transfer of wholesale costs to retail prices in the electricity market: Evidence from Colombia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    3. Melo, Carolina & Moita, Rodrigo & Sunao, Stefanie, 2021. "Passing through the supply chain: Implications for market power," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. repec:diw:diwwpp:dp1685 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Dagoumas, Athanasios S. & Polemis, Michael L., 2020. "Carbon pass-through in the electricity sector: An econometric analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    6. Takanori Adachi & Michal Fabinger, 2017. "Multi-Dimensional Pass-Through, Incidence, and the Welfare Burden of Taxation in Oligopoly," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1040, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    7. Dagoumas, Athanasios & Polemis, Michael, 2018. "Analysing Carbon Pass-Through Rate Mechanism in the Electricity Sector: Evidence from Greece," MPRA Paper 91067, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Bigerna, Simona & Bollino, Carlo Andrea & D'Errico, Maria Chiara & Polinori, Paolo, 2022. "COVID-19 lockdown and market power in the Italian electricity market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Dagoumas, Athanasios S. & Koltsaklis, Nikolaos E., 2019. "Review of models for integrating renewable energy in the generation expansion planning," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 1573-1587.
    10. Duso, Tomaso & Szücs, Florian & Böckers, Veit, 2020. "Abuse of dominance and antitrust enforcement in the German electricity market," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 92, pages 1-40.
    11. Takanori Adachi & Michal Fabinger, 2017. "Multi-Dimensional Pass-Through and Welfare Measures under Imperfect Competition," Papers 1702.04967, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2018.
    12. Wagner, Johannes, 2018. "Distributed Generation in Unbundled Electricity Markets," EWI Working Papers 2018-1, Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI).
    13. David Rios & Alex Perez & Jaime Carabali & Luis Meneses, 2024. "Poder de mercado y eventos climáticos adversos en un mercado de electricidad hidro-dominado," Borradores de Economia 1266, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    14. Yusuke Ikuta & Takashi Yanagawa, 2023. "Ownership structure of nuclear power plants for fair competition and efficiency: private low-cost access versus public ownership," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 307-330, February.
    15. Emanuel Kohlscheen & Richhild Moessner, 2022. "Changing Electricity Markets: Quantifying the Price Effects of Greening the Energy Matrix," Papers 2208.14650, arXiv.org.
    16. Adachi, Takanori & Fabinger, Michal, 2022. "Pass-through, welfare, and incidence under imperfect competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    17. Simeone, Christina E. & Lange, Ian & Gilbert, Ben, 2023. "Pass-through in residential retail electricity competition: Evidence from Pennsylvania," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    18. Scotti, Davide & Volta, Nicola, 2018. "Price asymmetries in European airfares," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 14(C), pages 42-52.
    19. Teresa Messner & Thomas Zörner, 2023. "Aggregate price pressures along the supply chain: a euro area perspective," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q4/22-Q1/, pages 21-32.
    20. Sven Heim, 2021. "Asymmetric cost pass-through and consumer search: empirical evidence from online platforms," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 227-260, June.
    21. Takanori Adachi & Muhammad Michal Fabinger, 2017. "Multi-Dimensional Pass-Through, Incidence, and the Welfare Burden of Taxation in Oligopoly," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1040, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    22. Janssen, Maarten & Gugler, Klaus & Heim, Sven & Liebensteiner , Mario, 2018. "Market Liberalization: Price Dispersion, Price Discrimination and Consumer Search in the German Electricity Markets," CEPR Discussion Papers 13197, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    23. Sugimoto, Kota, 2021. "Ownership versus legal unbundling of electricity transmission network: Evidence from renewable energy investment in Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    24. Felix Montag & Alina Sagimuldina & Monika Schnitzer, 2021. "Does Tax Policy Work When Consumers Have Imperfect Price Information? Theory and Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 9138, CESifo.
    25. Alex Perez & Jaime Carabali & Luis Meneses, 2022. "Pass-through in Colombia s Unregulated Retail Electricity Market," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(4), pages 575-583, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Pass-through; Electricity retail; Market power; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D4 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design
    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy

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