Allocating permits based on individual historical emissions (‘grandfathering’), or industry benchmark data, is an important design aspect of an emissions trading scheme. Free permit allocation has proven complex and inefficient (particularly in the European Union) with distribution...

We investigate the problem of optimally timing production schedules in an emissions trading regime that does not allow the transfer of unused allowances into future periods. We show that companies that produce storable goods partially shift the production to prior periods and imitate - by...