In 2008, the European Union established what seemed like an ambitious cap (−21% from 2005 levels) for the third phase (2013–2020) of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). Ex ante modeling — which took account of the reductions in emissions resulting from meeting the...

This paper measures the transaction costs incurred by Irish firms under the European Union's CO2 Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) during its pilot phase (2005 - 2007). Our analysis provides evidence that such costs were mainly administrative in nature. We emphasize the existence of sizeable...