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Carbon pricing pass-through: Evidence from Ontario and Quebec's wholesale gasoline markets

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  • Erutku, Can

Abstract

Governments in Ontario and Quebec, two Canadian provinces, have required their fuel distributors to participate in carbon markets and to buy allowances covering their greenhouse gas emissions. The resulting carbon pricing can impose an indirect tax on gasoline retailers through the higher wholesale price they pay. This paper's goal is to measure carbon pricing pass-throughs in Ontario and Quebec's wholesale gasoline markets. Although carbon pricing pass-throughs are uniform within each province, they are higher in Ontario where over-shifting is observed. Higher (lower) levels of pass-throughs in Ontario (Quebec) might be explained by less (more) competitive wholesale gasoline markets.

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  • Erutku, Can, 2019. "Carbon pricing pass-through: Evidence from Ontario and Quebec's wholesale gasoline markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 106-112.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:132:y:2019:i:c:p:106-112
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2019.05.026
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    3. Shang, Tiancheng & Yang, Lan & Liu, Peihong & Shang, Kaiti & Zhang, Yan, 2020. "Financing mode of energy performance contracting projects with carbon emissions reduction potential and carbon emissions ratings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wholesale gasoline; Carbon pricing; Pass-through; Over-shifting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General

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