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Trading for the Future: Signaling in Permit Markets

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  • Bard Harstad
  • Gunnar S. Eskeland

Abstract

Tradable permits are celebrated as a political instrument since they allow (i) firms to equalize marginal abatement costs through trade and (ii) the government to distribute the burden of the policy in a politically fair and feasible way. These two concerns, however, conflict in a dynamic setting. Anticipating that high-cost firms will receive more permits in the future, firms purchase excessive amounts of permits to signal high costs. This raises the price above marginal costs and distorts abatements. In fact, it is better with non-tradable permits if the heterogeneity between the firms is small, if the (shadow) price for permits is large, and if the government redistributes permits frequently.

Suggested Citation

  • Bard Harstad & Gunnar S. Eskeland, 2006. "Trading for the Future: Signaling in Permit Markets," Discussion Papers 1429, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:nwu:cmsems:1429
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tradable permits; private information; signaling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General

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