Do oligopolists pollute less?
Subtitle: evidence from a restructured electricity market
By: Erin T. Mansur
Contributors: National Bureau of Economic Research
Series: NBER working paper series -- working paper 13511; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) -- working paper no. 13511.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource]
Description: "Electricity restructuring has created the opportunity for producers to exercise market power.  Oligopolists increase price by distorting output decisions, causing cross-firm production inefficiencies.  This study estimates the environmental implications of production inefficiencies attributed to market power in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland electricity market.  Air pollution fell substantially during 1999, the year in which both electricity restructuring and new environmental regulation took effect.  I find that strategic firms reduced their emissions by approximately 20% relative to other firms and their own historic emissions.  Next, I compare observed behavior with estimates of production, and therefore emissions, in a competitive market.  According to a model of competitive behavior, changing costs explain approximately two-thirds of the observed pollution reductions.  The remaining third can be attributed to firms exercising market power"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Notes: Title from PDF file as viewed on 11/1/2007.

Includes bibliographical references.

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