We study the regulation of a monopolistic firm that provides a non-marketed output based on multiple substitutable inputs. The regulator is able to observe the effectiveness of the provision, but faces information asymmetries with respect to the efficiency of the firm’s activities. Motivated...

The unbundling of formerly vertically integrated utilities in liberalized electricity markets led to a coordination problem between investments in the regulated electricity grid and investments into new power generation. At the same time investments into new generation capacities based on...

Governments worldwide have set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the residential sector to zero. Policy instruments, such as carbon pricing or subsidies, are being discussed and implemented to achieve these targets. If individuals exhibit present bias, Heutel (2015) has shown that...

Der An-und Verkauf von Erdgas an Großhandelsmärkten wird in einem zunehmend liberalisierten Gasmarkt auch in Kontinentaleuropa weiter an Bedeutung gewinnen. Die Preise an diesen Märkten bilden sich aus Angebot und Nachfrage; wie in jeder netzgebundenen Industrie kommt der Infrastruktur und...

Due to the increasing European import dependency, significant additional natural gas volumes will be required. In addition to the Nord Stream pipeline, the Nabucco and South Stream pipeline are projects planned for the next decade to provide further gas supplies to the European market. As one of...

In this article we demonstrate how challenging greenhouse gas reduction targets of up to 95% until 2050 can be achieved in the German electricity sector.1 In the analysis, we focus on the main requirements to reach such challenging targets. To account for interdependencies between the...

Europe's increasing import dependency in natural gas facilitates a number of new infrastructure projects. However, up to now it has always been difficult to assess the full impact of these projects as interdependencies within the whole European gas infrastructure system were hard to predict. We...

The prevalent market structures found in many resource markets consist of a high concentration on the supply side and a low demand elasticity. Market results are therefore frequently assumed to be an outcome of strategic interaction between producers. Common models to investigate the market...

In this paper, we develop a microeconomic approach to deduce greenhouse gas abatement cost curves of the residential heating sector. By accounting for household behavior, we find that welfare-based abatement costs are generally higher than pure technical equipment costs. Our results are based on...

Unter dem Merit-Order-Effekt (M-O-E) der erneuerbaren Energien (EE) wird deren preissenkende Wirkung auf die Strompreise auf Großhandelsebene (Börsenpreise) verstanden. Sowohl die Höhe des Merit-Order-Effekts in der kurzen und der langen Frist als auch dessen volkswirtschaftliche Bedeutung...