This paper analyzes the impact of load factor, facility and generator types on the productivity of Korean electric power plants. In order to capture important differences in the effect of load policy on power output, we use a semiparametric smooth coefficient (SPSC) model that allows us to model...

In this work we demonstrate the effects of different Chinese transport infrastructure investment strategies on long run marginal costs of steam coal supply in Europe. Increasing Chinese demand for steam coal will lead to a growing need for additional domestic infrastructure in China as...

Since the 1990s, efficiency and benchmarking analysis has increasingly been used in network utilities research and regulation. A recurrent concern is the effect of environmental factors that are beyond the influence of firms (observable heterogeneity) and factors that are not identifiable...

Energy and climate policies are usually seen as measures to internalize externalities. However, as a side effect, these policies redistribute wealth between consumers and producers, and within these groups. While redistribution is seldom the focus of the academic literature in energy economics,...

Emission trading has become recently more and more import in environmental regulation. In the context of controlling greenhouse gas emissions, the directive on a Europewide trading scheme for large immobile sources may be perceived as one of the most important milestones in recent years. Prior...

Emissions trading schemes on entity level are becoming more and more important in the context of controlling greenhouse gases. The directive on a Europe-wide trading scheme is a prime example. Prior to the start of such a scheme, a number of design features have to be agreed upon. Regarding the...

Anlagen zur Stromproduktion aus erneuerbaren Energien setzen sich zurzeit am Markt nicht durch, weil die Stromgestehungskosten höher sind als jene von konventionellen (thermischen) Kraftwerken. Da mit dieser Produktionsform aber verschiedene positive Eigenschaften verbunden sind, werden...

Many technologies that produce electricity from renewable energy sources are currently not competitive. This is due to the fact that their generation cost is higher than that of conventional thermal power plants. Nevertheless, since using renewable energies has a number of positive effects,...

This paper applies parametric and non-parametric and parametric tests to assess the efficiency of electricity distribution companies in Germany. We address traditional issues in electricity sector benchmarking, such as the role of scale effects and optimal utility size, as well as new evidence...