The European electricity and gas markets have been going through a process of liberalisation since the early 1990s. This process has changed the sector from a regulated structure of, predominantly, publicly owned monopolists controlling the entire supply chain, into a market where private and...

This report analyses the broadband market and asks whether a specific role of government is necessary. As broadband telecommunication is seen as a source of productivity gains, the European Union and other regions are encouraging the deployment of a secure broadband infrastructure. In the...

This paper empirically explores the relationship between competition design and productive efficiency in the railway industry. We use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to construct efficiency scores, and explain these scores, using variables reflecting institutional factors and competition...

Decomposition of CO2 data of the Netherlands shows that much progress has been made with reduction of CO2 emissions by changing to less CO2 intensive technologies. Moreover, demand shifted to products that are produced with less CO2 emission. Further, shifts in the inputs needed in the...

Future developments in energy and climate are highly uncertain. In order to deal with these uncertainties, we developed four long-term scenarios based on the recently published economic scenarios Four Futures of Europe: STRONG EUROPE, GLOBAL ECONOMY, TRANSATLANTIC MARKET and REGIONAL...

The NATural GAS model is an integrated model of the European wholesale gas market providing long-run projections of supply, transport, storage and consumption patterns in the model region, aggregated in 5-year periods, distinguishing two seasons (winter and summer). Model results include...

In 2001 the European Commission proposed the introduction of a European system of trading in greenhouse gases. This proposal is currently subject to fierce debates. Opponents to the proposal of the Commission do not question the efficiency effects of emissions trading in general. The economic...

This memorandum explores the question whether regulation in telecommunications encourages or hampers the development of new technologies. Contrary to other network industries, the telecommunications industry is more and more characterized by several, competing networks, such as cable, copper,...

In the past, the European gas market was dominated by state-owned monopolists but since the start of the liberalisation, privatisation and re-regulation in the early 1990s, the market has fundamentally changed. Nevertheless, governments are still involved in the gas industry, not only in gas...

This report analyses the welfare effects of two major components of the Dutch gas-depletion policy: the offtake guarantee for small-fields gas and the cap on production from the Groningen field. We conclude that the benefits of offtake guarantee currently may outweigh the costs, but a further...