This paper examines the interdependence between imperfect competition and emis-sions trading in a two-sector (clean and dirty) economy. We compare the welfare implica-tions of an absolute cap-and-trade scheme (permit trading) with a relative intensity-basedscheme (credit trading). We nd...

This paper uses laboratory experiments to test the theoretical observations that both the violations of competitive risk-neutral firms and the marginal effectiveness of increased enforcement across firms are independent of differences in their abatement costs and their initial allocations of...

Since firms in an emissions trading program are linked together through a permit market, so too are their compliance choices. Thus, enforcement strategies for trading programs must account for not only the direct effects of enforcement on compliance and emissions decisions, but also the indirect...

This project examines the Kyoto Protocol-based European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), the current US voluntary carbon market, and the role of carbon credit projects as offsets within emissions trading programs. The objectives of this paper are twofold: (1) to ascertain the risk...

The present thesis extends the economic literature by introducing green horizontal innovation. Green horizontal innovation is characterized by new technologies that solve an existing pollution problem but give rise to a new one at the same time. A prominent example are CFCs that once replaced...

Despite calls for more integrated residual management, research on the performance of methods to regulate pollution has paid little attention to cases of multiple pollutant control. This study helps rectify this omission in multiple ways. In Chapter 1 I describe the many issues that arise in the...

I study several policy instruments for carbon mitigation with a focus on subsidies for renewable energies, emission taxes and emission allowances. In Chapter 1, I analyze the optimal design and the welfare implications of two policies consisting of an emission tax for conventional fossil-fuel...

Emissions trading can be organized in several ways. In particular, private emissions trading can be organized as permit trading, or as credit trading. The schemes have a different impact on output with credit trading leading to a higher output level than permit trading. This paper analyzes what...

This paper presents a model of imperfect international competition. Within this framework, the optimal choice of national environmental policy instrument and international emissions trading scheme is discussed. The choice of national instrument is restricted to absolute and relative standards,...

Cap-and-trade programs have become widely accepted for the control of conventional air pollution in the United States. However, there is still no political consensus to use these programs to address greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, in the wake of the success of the U.S. SO2 and NOx trading programs,...