Information asymmetry, trade, and drilling: evidence from an oil lease lottery

A-Tier
Journal: RAND Journal of Economics
Year: 2021
Volume: 52
Issue: 3
Pages: 496-514

Authors (2)

Paul A. Brehm (Oberlin College) Eric Lewis (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

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

Abstract

We exploit a government oil lease lottery that randomly assigned leases to individuals and firms. We examine how initial misallocation affected trade, drilling, and production outcomes. When parcels are far from existing production, leases won by individuals have similar drilling and production outcomes as those won by firms. However, for parcels close to existing production, we find that leases are about 50% less likely to be drilled when they are won by firms. We find evidence that information asymmetries drive these results.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:randje:v:52:y:2021:i:3:p:496-514
Journal Field
Industrial Organization
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25