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An Experimental Investigation of Hard and Soft Price Ceilings in Emissions Permit Markets

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  • Perkis, David F.
  • Cason, Timothy N.
  • Tyner, Wallace E.
Abstract
Tradable emissions permits have been implemented to control pollution levels in various markets around the world and represent a major component of legislative efforts to control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States. Because permits are supplied for a fixed level of pollution, allowing the market for permits to determine the price, there is a desire for price control mechanisms which would protect firms otherwise susceptible to price spikes caused by fluctuations in the demand for pollution abatement. We test permit markets in an experimental laboratory setting to determine the effectiveness of several price control mechanisms. Evidence suggests that both permit supply adjustments and traditional price ceilings (hard ceilings) effectively limit elevated prices in this setting. In contrast, reserve auctions (associated with soft ceiling designs) do not consistently control prices, especially when a minimum reserve permit price is applied. Furthermore, the grandfathering of permits allows permit sellers to realize significant welfare gains at the expense of buyers under a soft ceiling policy. Of the two ceiling options, our results point towards a hard ceiling as the preferred mechanism for controlling short term price increases.

Suggested Citation

  • Perkis, David F. & Cason, Timothy N. & Tyner, Wallace E., 2012. "An Experimental Investigation of Hard and Soft Price Ceilings in Emissions Permit Markets," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124096, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea12:124096
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.124096
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    Cited by:

    1. Stranlund, John K. & Murphy, James J. & Spraggon, John M., 2014. "Price controls and banking in emissions trading: An experimental evaluation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 71-86.
    2. Timothy N. Cason & Lana Friesen & Lata Gangadharan, 2021. "Complying with environmental regulations: experimental evidence," Chapters, in: Ananish Chaudhuri (ed.), A Research Agenda for Experimental Economics, chapter 4, pages 69-92, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Khezr, Peyman & MacKenzie, Ian A., 2021. "Revenue and efficiency in pollution permit allocation mechanisms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    4. Lana Friesen & Lata Gangadharan & Peyman Khezr & Ian A. MacKenzie, 2019. "Cost containment in pollution auctions," Discussion Papers Series 610, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    5. Peyman Khezr, 2024. "Carbon Pricing and Resale in Emission Trading Systems," Papers 2407.07386, arXiv.org.
    6. Compernolle, Tine & Kort, Peter M. & Thijssen, Jacco J.J., 2022. "The effectiveness of carbon pricing: The role of diversification in a firm’s investment decision," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    7. Yifei Hua & Feng Dong, 2019. "China’s Carbon Market Development and Carbon Market Connection: A Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-25, May.
    8. Stephanie Rosch & Sharon Raszap Skorbiansky & Collin Weigel & Kent D. Messer & Daniel Hellerstein, 2021. "Barriers to Using Economic Experiments in Evidence‐Based Agricultural Policymaking," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(2), pages 531-555, June.
    9. Timothy N. Cason & John K. Stranlund & Frans P. de Vries, 2022. "Investment Incentives in Tradable Emissions Markets with Price Floors Approach," Purdue University Economics Working Papers 1331, Purdue University, Department of Economics.
    10. Khezr, Peyman & MacKenzie, Ian A., 2018. "Permit market auctions with allowance reserves," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 283-306.
    11. Friesen, Lana & Gangadharan, Lata & Khezr, Peyman & MacKenzie, Ian A., 2022. "Mind your Ps and Qs! Variable allowance supply in the US Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    12. Song Jiang & Shuang Qiu & Hong Zhou & Meilan Chen, 2019. "Can FinTech Development Curb Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-22, November.
    13. Khezr, Peyman & Pourkhanali, Armin, 2023. "An investigation of auctions in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative," MPRA Paper 118120, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Salant, Stephen & Shobe, William & Uler, Neslihan, 2023. "The effects of seemingly nonbinding price floors: An experimental analysis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    15. Martin Zapf & Hermann Pengg & Christian Weindl, 2019. "How to Comply with the Paris Agreement Temperature Goal: Global Carbon Pricing According to Carbon Budgets," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-20, August.
    16. Jae-Do Song & Young-Hwan Ahn, 2019. "Cognitive Bias in Emissions Trading," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-13, March.
    17. Lana Friesen & Lata Gangadharan & Peyman Khezr & Ian A. MacKenzie, 2020. "Mind your Ps and Qs! An Experiment on Variable Allowance Supply in the US Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative," Discussion Papers Series 618, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.

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    Keywords

    Environmental Economics and Policy; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy;
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