Energy and Environmental Markets, Industrial Organization, and Regulation

Abstract

This paper discusses contributions that industrial organization economists have made to our understanding of energy markets and environmental regulation. We emphasize the substantive contributions of recent papers while also highlighting how this literature has adopted and sometimes augmented theoretical and empirical tools from industrial organization. Many of the topics examined by this literature—especially auctions, investment, productivity and innovation, and regulation—also apply to a variety of settings beyond energy and the environment. We also indicate areas where future research is likely to be fruitful, with an emphasis on how industrial organization economists can help inform energy and environmental policies. Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.