Using a Free Permit Rule to Forecast the Marginal Abatement Cost of Proposed Climate Policy

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2017
Volume: 107
Issue: 3
Pages: 748-84

Score contribution per author:

8.043 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper develops a method for forecasting the marginal abatement cost (MAC) of climate policy using three features of the failed Waxman-Markey bill. First, the MAC is revealed by the price of traded permits. Second, the permit price is estimated using a regression discontinuity design (RDD) comparing stock returns of firms on either side of the policy's free permit cutoff rule. Third, because Waxman-Markey was never implemented, I extend the RDD approach to incorporate prediction market prices which normalize estimates by policy realization probabilities. A final bounding analysis recovers a MAC range of $5 to $19 per ton CO2e.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:107:y:2017:i:3:p:748-84
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-26