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Bankruptcy Risk and the Performance of Tradable Permit Markets

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  • John K. Stranlund

    (Department of Resource Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst)

  • Wei Zhang

    (Department of Resource Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst)

Abstract

We study the impact of bankruptcy risk on markets for tradable environmental and natural resource permits. We find that firms that risk bankruptcy demand more permits than if they were financially secure. Consequently, bankruptcy risk in a competitive market for tradable property rights causes an inefficient distribution of individual choices among regulated firms. Moreover, the equilibrium distribution of permits is not independent of the initial distribution of permits. In fact, the inefficiency that is associated with bankruptcy risk is mitigated if financially insecure firms are given a larger share of the initial allocation of permits.

Suggested Citation

  • John K. Stranlund & Wei Zhang, 2007. "Bankruptcy Risk and the Performance of Tradable Permit Markets," Working Papers 2007-9, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Resource Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:dre:wpaper:2007-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert W. Hahn, 1984. "Market Power and Transferable Property Rights," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 99(4), pages 753-765.
    2. Montgomery, W. David, 1972. "Markets in licenses and efficient pollution control programs," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 395-418, December.
    3. Damania, Richard & Bulte, Erwin H., 2006. "Renewable resource regulation and uncertain prices: The role of financial structure and bankruptcy," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 41-53, January.
    4. Tom Tietenberg, 2003. "The Tradable-Permits Approach to Protecting the Commons: Lessons for Climate Change," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(3), pages 400-419.
    5. Brander, James A. & Lewis, Tracy R., 1986. "Oligopoly and Financial Structure: The Limited Liability Effect," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 956-970, December.
    6. Damania, R., 2000. "Financial structure and the effectiveness of pollution control in an oligopolistic industry," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 21-36, January.
    7. Stavins Robert N., 1995. "Transaction Costs and Tradeable Permits," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 133-148, September.
    8. Yossef Spiegel & Daniel F. Spulber, 1994. "The Capital Structure of a Regulated Firm," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 25(3), pages 424-440, Autumn.
    9. Cason, Timothy N & Gangadharan, Lata, 2003. "Transactions Costs in Tradable Permit Markets: An Experimental Study of Pollution Market Designs," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 145-165, March.
    10. Bruce A. Larson, 1996. "Environmental Policy Based on Strict Liability: Implications of Uncertainty and Bankruptcy," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 72(1), pages 33-42.
    11. Montero, Juan-Pablo, 1998. "Marketable pollution permits with uncertainty and transaction costs," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 27-50, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. John K. Stranlund & Wei Zhang, 2008. "Bankruptcy Risk and Imperfectly Enforced Emissions Taxes," Working Papers 2008-3, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Resource Economics.
    2. John Stranlund & Wei Zhang, 2009. "Bankruptcy Risk, Limited Liability and Imperfectly Enforced Emissions Taxes," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(4), pages 3134-3146.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    bankruptcy; tradable permits; permit markets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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