In order to overcome the perverse incentives of excessive maintenance reductions and insufficient network investments arising with incentive regulation of electricity distribution companies, regulators throughout Europe have started regulating service quality. In this paper, we explore the...

This paper examines how the German energy industry has invested in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capital during the years 1992-2005. Using the method of growth accounting I find that the contribution of ICT investment to the growth of value-added and average labour productivity...

To many, a lot of secrets are at the bottom of the often-cited catchphrase "Smart Grid". This article gives an overview of the options that information and communication technology (ICT) offers for the restructuring and modernisation of the German power system, in particular with a view towards...

District heating plays a major role in many countries' heating markets. Unlike natural gas and electric power utilities, district-heating systems are commonly not subject to direct economic regulation, particularly with regard to prices. This article examines the possibility of regulating...

Mit der Liberalisierung der Strom- und Gasmärkte in Deutschland und Europa werden vor allem wirtschaftliche Zielsetzungen verfolgt. Die Effizienz auf der Angebotsseite von Energie soll erhöht und Überkapazitäten sollen abgebaut werden. Zudem sollen durch den Wettbewerb zwischen verschiedenen...

In 2007, Germany changed network access regulation in the natural gas sector and introduced a so-called entry-exit system. The re-regulation’s spot market effects remain to be examined. <p> We use cointegration analysis and a state space model with time-varying coefficients to study the...</p>

A whole bundle of so-called ?flexible mechanisms? has been foreseen by the Kyoto Protocol in order to help industrial countries to fulfil their agreed reduction targets in the most costeffective way. Emission permits will act as the backbone of all market-orientated mechanisms. Therefore, their...

The Kyoto Protocol sets legally binding emission targets for industrialized countries without accounting for reductions carried out prior to 2008, the beginning of the first commitment period. There exists only one exception, the project-based Clean Development Mechanism. Two other possible ways...

The European Commission has intensively examined the mandatory separation of natural gas transmission from production and services. However, economic theory is ambiguous on the price effects of vertical separation. In this paper, we empirically analyze the effect of ownership unbundling of gas...

The European Commission has intensively discussed the mandatory separation of natural gas transmission from production and services. However, economic theory is ambiguous on the price effects of vertical separation. In this paper, we empirically analyse the effect of ownership unbundling of...