IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v31y2009i4p605-613.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Capital market response to emission rights returns: Evidence from the European power sector

Author

Listed:
  • Veith, Stefan
  • Werner, Jörg R.
  • Zimmermann, Jochen

Abstract

Prior studies on the distributional effects of the European Union's Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) have so far only relied on supply and demand data. Empirical evidence from capital markets has been missing. We address this gap and measure the ETS's economic consequences, using the expectations of investors towards the regulatory impact on firm value. Employing a multifactor model, we show that returns on common stock of the largest affected industry, power generation, are positively correlated with rising prices for emission rights. This implies that the market predicts that firms are not only able to pass on their share of the regulatory burden to customers but even achieve windfall profits by overcompensating for the costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Veith, Stefan & Werner, Jörg R. & Zimmermann, Jochen, 2009. "Capital market response to emission rights returns: Evidence from the European power sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 605-613, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:31:y:2009:i:4:p:605-613
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140-9883(09)00005-X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Nydahl, Stefan, 1999. "Exchange Rate Exposure, Foreign Involvement and Currency Hedging of Firms - Some Swedish Evidence," Working Paper Series 81, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    2. Demailly, Damien & Quirion, Philippe, 2008. "European Emission Trading Scheme and competitiveness: A case study on the iron and steel industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 2009-2027, July.
    3. Emilie Alberola & Julien Chevallier, 2009. "European Carbon Prices and Banking Restrictions: Evidence from Phase I (2005-2007)," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 51-80.
    4. Robert Faff & David Hillier, 2004. "An International Investigation of the Factors that Determine Conditional Gold Betas," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 473-488, August.
    5. Montgomery, W. David, 1972. "Markets in licenses and efficient pollution control programs," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 395-418, December.
    6. Stephen A. Ross, 2013. "The Arbitrage Theory of Capital Asset Pricing," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 1, pages 11-30, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Zachmann, Georg & von Hirschhausen, Christian, 2008. "First evidence of asymmetric cost pass-through of EU emissions allowances: Examining wholesale electricity prices in Germany," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(3), pages 465-469, June.
    8. Benz, Eva & Trück, Stefan, 2009. "Modeling the price dynamics of CO2 emission allowances," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 4-15, January.
    9. El-Sharif, Idris & Brown, Dick & Burton, Bruce & Nixon, Bill & Russell, Alex, 2005. "Evidence on the nature and extent of the relationship between oil prices and equity values in the UK," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 819-830, November.
    10. 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.
    11. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:3:p:1015-1052 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Robert Faff & Howard Chan, 1998. "A multifactor model of gold industry stock returns: evidence from the Australian equity market," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 21-28.
    13. Bode, Sven, 2006. "On multi-period emissions trading in the electricity sector," HWWA Discussion Papers 343, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWA).
    14. Meeus, Leonardo & Purchala, Konrad & Belmans, Ronnie, 2005. "Development of the Internal Electricity Market in Europe," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 25-35, July.
    15. repec:reg:rpubli:329 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Verde, Stefano, 2008. "Everybody merges with somebody--The wave of M&As in the energy industry and the EU merger policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 1125-1133, March.
    17. A. C. Christiansen & A. Arvanitakis & K. Tangen & H. Hasselknippe, 2005. "Price determinants in the EU emissions trading scheme," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 15-30, January.
    18. A. Lans Bovenberg & Lawrence H. Goulder & Derek J. Gurney, 2005. "Efficiency Costs of Meeting Industry-Distributional Constraints Under Environmental Permits and Taxes," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(4), pages 950-970, Winter.
    19. Blose, Laurence E. & Shieh, Joseph C. P., 1995. "The impact of gold price on the value of gold mining stock," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 125-139.
    20. Fama, Eugene F, 1991. "Efficient Capital Markets: II," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(5), pages 1575-1617, December.
    21. Merton, Robert C, 1973. "An Intertemporal Capital Asset Pricing Model," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 41(5), pages 867-887, September.
    22. Faff, Robert W. & Brailsford, Timothy J., 1999. "Oil price risk and the Australian stock market," Journal of Energy Finance & Development, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 69-87, June.
    23. Michael E. Porter, 1991. "Towards a dynamic theory of strategy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S2), pages 95-117, December.
    24. A. W. Dnes & J. S. Seaton, 1999. "The regulation of electricity: results from an event study," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 609-618.
    25. Norton, Seth W, 1985. "Regulation and Systematic Risk: The Case of Electric Utilities," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(3), pages 671-686, October.
    26. Ball, R & Brown, P, 1968. "Empirical Evaluation Of Accounting Income Numbers," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 159-178.
    27. Szymon Borak & Wolfgang Härdle & Stefan Trück & Rafal Weron, 2006. "Convenience Yields for CO2 Emission Allowance Futures Contracts," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2006-076, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
    28. Schwert, G William, 1981. "Using Financial Data to Measure Effects of Regulation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(1), pages 121-158, April.
    29. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:2:p:733-753 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Sadorsky, Perry, 2001. "Risk factors in stock returns of Canadian oil and gas companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 17-28, January.
    31. Sawkins, John W, 1996. "Balancing Multiple Interests in Regulation: An Event Study of the English and Welsh Water Industry," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 249-268, May.
    32. Jorion, Philippe, 1990. "The Exchange-Rate Exposure of U.S. Multinationals," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(3), pages 331-345, July.
    33. Bode, Sven, 2006. "Multi-period emissions trading in the electricity sector--winners and losers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 680-691, April.
    34. Lawrence H. Goulder & Ian W. H. Parry, 2008. "Instrument Choice in Environmental Policy," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 2(2), pages 152-174, Summer.
    35. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2004. "The Capital Asset Pricing Model: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 25-46, Summer.
    36. Joskow, Paul L & Schmalensee, Richard, 1998. "The Political Economy of Market-Based Environmental Policy: The U.S. Acid Rain Program," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 37-83, April.
    37. Griffin, John M & Stulz, Rene M, 2001. "International Competition and Exchange Rate Shocks: A Cross-Country Industry Analysis of Stock Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(1), pages 215-241.
    38. Stefan Nydahl*, 1999. "Exchange rate exposure, foreign involvement and currency hedging of firms: some Swedish evidence," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 5(2), pages 241-257, July.
    39. Allayannis, George & Ofek, Eli, 2001. "Exchange rate exposure, hedging, and the use of foreign currency derivatives," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 273-296, April.
    40. Abadie, Luis M. & Chamorro, José M., 2008. "European CO2 prices and carbon capture investments," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 2992-3015, November.
    41. Aline Muller & Willem F. C. Verschoor, 2006. "European Foreign Exchange Risk Exposure," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 12(2), pages 195-220, March.
    42. Clarke, Roger G, 1980. "The Effect of Fuel Adjustment Clauses on the Systematic Risk and Market Values of Electric Utilities," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 35(2), pages 347-358, May.
    43. Grout, Paul A. & Zalewska, Anna, 2006. "The impact of regulation on market risk," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 149-184, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Mohamed Amine BOUTABA, 2009. "Does Carbon Affect European Oil Companies' Equity Values?," EcoMod2009 21500018, EcoMod.
    2. Ramos, Sofia B. & Veiga, Helena, 2011. "Risk factors in oil and gas industry returns: International evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 525-542, May.
    3. Belghitar, Yacine & Clark, Ephraim & Mefteh, Salma, 2013. "Foreign currency derivative use and shareholder value," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 283-293.
    4. Mo, Jian-Lei & Zhu, Lei & Fan, Ying, 2012. "The impact of the EU ETS on the corporate value of European electricity corporations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 3-11.
    5. Hutson, Elaine & O'Driscoll, Anthony, 2010. "Firm-level exchange rate exposure in the Eurozone," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 468-478, October.
    6. Mariia Bondarenko & Karel Brůna, 2021. "The Impact of FX Exposure on the Firm's Stock Market Return," European Financial and Accounting Journal, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2021(1), pages 45-70.
    7. Frank Venmans, 2015. "Capital market response to emission allowance prices: a multivariate GARCH approach," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 17(4), pages 577-620, October.
    8. Muller, Aline & Verschoor, Willem F.C., 2006. "Foreign exchange risk exposure: Survey and suggestions," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 385-410, October.
    9. Oberndorfer, Ulrich, 2009. "EU Emission Allowances and the stock market: Evidence from the electricity industry," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 1116-1126, February.
    10. Serkan Yilmaz Kandir & Ahmet Erismis & Ilhan Ozturk, 2015. "Investigating Exchange Rate Exposure of Energy Firms: Evidence from Turkey," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2015(6), pages 729-743.
    11. Asif, Raheel & Frömmel, Michael, 2022. "Exchange rate exposure for exporting and domestic firms in central and Eastern Europe," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PA).
    12. Yue-Jun Zhang & Yi-Ming Wei, 2011. "The dynamic influence of advanced stock market risk on international crude oil returns: an empirical analysis," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(7), pages 967-978.
    13. Dayanandan, Ajit & Donker, Han, 2011. "Oil prices and accounting profits of oil and gas companies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 252-257.
    14. Koch, Nicolas & Bassen, Alexander, 2013. "Valuing the carbon exposure of European utilities. The role of fuel mix, permit allocation and replacement investments," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 431-443.
    15. Misund, Bård, 2018. "Common and fundamental risk factors in shareholder returns of Norwegian salmon producing companies," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 19-30.
    16. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2010. "An overview of current research on EU ETS: Evidence from its operating mechanism and economic effect," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(6), pages 1804-1814, June.
    17. Misund, Bard & Mohn, Klaus, 2014. "Exploration Risk in Oil & Gas Shareholder Returns," UiS Working Papers in Economics and Finance 2014/4, University of Stavanger.
    18. Entrop, Oliver & Fuchs, Fabian U., 2020. "Foreign exchange rate exposure of companies under dynamic regret," Passauer Diskussionspapiere, Betriebswirtschaftliche Reihe B-40-20, University of Passau, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    19. Mojisola Olugbode & Ahmed El-Masry & John Pointon, 2014. "Exchange Rate and Interest Rate Exposure of UK Industries Using First-order Autoregressive Exponential GARCH-in-mean (EGARCH-M) Approach," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 82(4), pages 409-464, July.
    20. Bartram, Söhnke M. & Bodnar, Gordon, 2005. "The Exchange Rate Exposure Puzzle," MPRA Paper 6482, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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:eee:eneeco:v:31:y:2009:i:4:p:605-613. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    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.