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Implicit collusion and individual market power in electricity markets

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  • Anderson, E.J.
  • Cau, T.D.H.

Abstract

Wholesale electricity markets may not produce competitive outcomes, either as a result of the exercise of market power, or through problems of implicit collusion. In comparison with the great amount of attention paid to issues of market power, the problems of implicit collusion have not been extensively studied. In this paper, we use a coevolutionary approach to explore the effect of the price elasticity of demand, capacity and forward contracts on implicit collusion in a duopoly. We will demonstrate that implicit collusion has the most importance in market conditions under which there is an intermediate amount of market power. Thus markets which are either highly competitive or in which one or both of the two generators can exercise considerable market power, are also markets in which implicitly collusive outcomes are less likely to arise.

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  • Anderson, E.J. & Cau, T.D.H., 2011. "Implicit collusion and individual market power in electricity markets," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 211(2), pages 403-414, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:211:y:2011:i:2:p:403-414
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    3. Dormady, Noah C., 2014. "Carbon auctions, energy markets & market power: An experimental analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 468-482.
    4. Ying Yu & Tongdan Jin & Chunjie Zhong, 2015. "Designing an Incentive Contract Menu for Sustaining the Electricity Market," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-22, December.
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    6. Heikki Peura & Derek W. Bunn, 2015. "Dynamic Pricing of Peak Production," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(6), pages 1262-1279, December.
    7. Franco, Carlos J. & Castaneda, Monica & Dyner, Isaac, 2015. "Simulating the new British Electricity-Market Reform," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 245(1), pages 273-285.
    8. Huppmann, Daniel & Egerer, Jonas, 2015. "National-strategic investment in European power transmission capacity," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 247(1), pages 191-203.
    9. Moiseeva, Ekaterina & Wogrin, Sonja & Hesamzadeh, Mohammad Reza, 2017. "Generation flexibility in ramp rates: Strategic behavior and lessons for electricity market design," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 261(2), pages 755-771.
    10. Kimbrough, Steven O. & Murphy, Frederic H., 2013. "Strategic bidding of offer curves: An agent-based approach to exploring supply curve equilibria," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 229(1), pages 165-178.
    11. Xiaowei Wang & Kunhui Ye & Taozhi Zhuang & Rui Liu, 2022. "The Influence of Collusive Information Dissemination on Bidder’s Collusive Willingness in Urban Construction Projects," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-14, April.
    12. Levent Kutlu & Robin C. Sickles & Mike G. Tsionas & Emmanuel Mamatzakis, 2022. "Heterogeneous decision-making and market power: an application to Eurozone banks," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(6), pages 3061-3092, December.
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    14. Brown, David P. & Eckert, Andrew & Silveira, Douglas, 2023. "Screening for Collusion in Wholesale Electricity Markets: A Review of the Literature," Working Papers 2023-7, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
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    16. Sapio, Alessandro & Spagnolo, Nicola, 2016. "Price regimes in an energy island: Tacit collusion vs. cost and network explanations," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 157-172.

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