The thesis at hand includes three distinct essays that analyze economic issues related to liberalized electricity markets. In the first essay, the effects of capacity mechanisms on the market structure in electricity markets are investigated. We consider a model with dominant firms and a...

Liberalized electricity markets are characterized by fluctuating priceinelastic demand of non-storable electricity, often defined by a substantial market share held by one or few incumbent firms. These characteristics have led to a controversial discussion concerning the need for and the design...