This paper investigates the development of wholesale markets for natural gas at the different stages of market liberalization. We identify three steps in the process: wholesale trade initially develops to cope with balancing needs when the shippers and suppliers segments become more fragmented;...

In this paper we review some recent work on public intervention in economic environments where firms undertake investments in research or in physical assets, and then select appropriate business practices to extract profits from the outcomes of the investment process. Public policies may take...

This paper analyses the sources of buyer power and its expect on sellers investment. We show that a retailer extracts a larger surplus from the negotiation with an upstream manufacturer the more it is essential to the creation of total surplus. In turn, this depends on the rivalry between...

Over the period 2015-2050 the consumption of natural gas of European OECD countries is expected to grow more than the consumption of any other energy source. Although these countries are interconnected and in most cases share a common currency, their wholesale national gas markets are highly...

Public policies in the last 20 years have promoted in Italy the investment in renewable energy sources within the framework of climate change policies. Investment in renewables received generous incentives, leading to a rapid expansion in the capacity installed. Judicial inquiries have uncovered...