IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jproda/v47y2017i2d10.1007_s11123-017-0495-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental regulations and allocative efficiency: application to coal-to-gas substitution in the U.S. electricity sector

Author

Listed:
  • Kenneth Løvold Rødseth

    (Institute of Transport Economics - Norwegian Centre for Transport Research
    Norwegian University of Life Sciences)

Abstract

The environmental economics literature has for a long time been occupied with the relationships between environmental regulations, technical efficiency, and productivity growth. This paper extends this discussion by taking up environmental regulations’ implications for allocative efficiency. It establishes a model framework that allows disentangling managerial and regulatory induced allocative efficiencies, and utilizes Data Envelopment Analysis to a sample of 67 coal-to-gas substituting power plants observed from 2002 to 2008 to calculate Nerlovian profit efficiencies and their technical and allocative efficiency components. The empirical results illustrate that failing to control for environmental regulations leads to overestimation of managerial allocative efficiencies by ignoring compliance costs. Marginal abatement cost estimates that are in line with allowance prices for NOx and SO2 are further obtained.

Suggested Citation

  • Kenneth Løvold Rødseth, 2017. "Environmental regulations and allocative efficiency: application to coal-to-gas substitution in the U.S. electricity sector," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 129-142, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jproda:v:47:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s11123-017-0495-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11123-017-0495-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11123-017-0495-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11123-017-0495-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Karen Palmer & Wallace E. Oates & Paul R. Portney & Karen Palmer & Wallace E. Oates & Paul R. Portney, 2004. "Tightening Environmental Standards: The Benefit-Cost or the No-Cost Paradigm?," Chapters, in: Environmental Policy and Fiscal Federalism, chapter 3, pages 53-66, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Kenneth Rødseth & Eirik Romstad, 2014. "Environmental Regulations, Producer Responses, and Secondary Benefits: Carbon Dioxide Reductions Under the Acid Rain Program," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 59(1), pages 111-135, September.
    3. Färe, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna & Pasurka, Carl A., 2014. "Potential gains from trading bad outputs: The case of U.S. electric power plants," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 99-112.
    4. Rolf Fare & James Logan, 1983. "The Rate-of-Return Regulated Firm: Cost and Production Duality," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(2), pages 405-414, Autumn.
    5. Runar Brännlund & Yangho Chung & Rolf Färe & Shawna Grosskopf, 1998. "Emissions Trading and Profitability: The Swedish Pulp and Paper Industry," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 12(3), pages 345-356, October.
    6. Murty, Sushama & Russell, R. Robert, 2010. "On modeling pollution-generating technologies," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 931, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    7. Welch, Eric & Barnum, Darold, 2009. "Joint environmental and cost efficiency analysis of electricity generation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(8-9), pages 2336-2343, June.
    8. Fare, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna & Noh, Dong-Woon & Weber, William, 2005. "Characteristics of a polluting technology: theory and practice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 469-492, June.
    9. Shadbegian, Ronald J. & Gray, Wayne B., 2005. "Pollution abatement expenditures and plant-level productivity: A production function approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2-3), pages 196-208, August.
    10. Gerald Granderson & Diego Prior, 2013. "Environmental externalities and regulation constrained cost productivity growth in the US electric utility industry," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 243-257, June.
    11. Pethig, Rudiger, 2006. "Non-linear production, abatement, pollution and materials balance reconsidered," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 185-204, March.
    12. Aparicio, Juan & Pastor, Jesus T. & Ray, Subhash C., 2013. "An overall measure of technical inefficiency at the firm and at the industry level: The ‘lost profit on outlay’," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 226(1), pages 154-162.
    13. Udo Ebert & Heinz Welsch, 2007. "Environmental Emissions and Production Economics: Implications of the Materials Balance," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 89(2), pages 287-293.
    14. Adam B. Jaffe et al., 1995. "Environmental Regulation and the Competitiveness of U.S. Manufacturing: What Does the Evidence Tell Us?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 132-163, March.
    15. Krysiak, Frank C. & Krysiak, Daniela, 2003. "Production, consumption, and general equilibrium with physical constraints," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 513-538, November.
    16. Benjamin Hampf, 2014. "Separating environmental efficiency into production and abatement efficiency: a nonparametric model with application to US power plants," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 457-473, June.
    17. Runar Brännlund & Rolf Färe & Shawna Grosskopf, 1995. "Environmental regulation and profitability: An application to Swedish pulp and paper mills," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 6(1), pages 23-36, July.
    18. Rolf Färe & Shawna Grosskopf & Carl A Pasurka, Jr., 2001. "Accounting for Air Pollution Emissions in Measures of State Manufacturing Productivity Growth," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 381-409, August.
    19. Lauwers, Ludwig, 2009. "Justifying the incorporation of the materials balance principle into frontier-based eco-efficiency models," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1605-1614, April.
    20. Fare, Rolf, et al, 1989. "Multilateral Productivity Comparisons When Some Outputs Are Undesirable: A Nonparametric Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(1), pages 90-98, February.
    21. Rolf Fare & Shawna Grosskopf & William Weber, 2004. "The effect of risk-based capital requirements on profit efficiency in banking," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(15), pages 1731-1743.
    22. Fare, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna & Pasurka, Carl Jr., 2007. "Pollution abatement activities and traditional productivity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 673-682, May.
    23. Ayres, Robert U & Kneese, Allen V, 1969. "Production , Consumption, and Externalities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(3), pages 282-297, June.
    24. Chambers,Robert G., 1988. "Applied Production Analysis," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521314275, January.
    25. Rolf Färe & Shawna Grosskopf & Hyunok Lee, 1990. "A Nonparametric Approach to Expenditure-Constrained Profit Maximization," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 72(3), pages 574-581.
    26. Hyunok Lee & Robert G. Chambers, 1986. "Expenditure Constraints and Profit Maximization in U.S. Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 68(4), pages 857-865.
    27. Forsund, Finn R., 2009. "Good Modelling of Bad Outputs: Pollution and Multiple-Output Production," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 3(1), pages 1-38, August.
    28. Dan Rosen & Claire Schaffnit & Joseph Paradi, 1998. "Marginal Rates and Two-dimensional Level Curves in DEA," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 205-232, March.
    29. Alfons Oude Lansink & Arno Van Der Vlist, 2008. "Non‐Parametric Modelling of CO2 Emission Quota," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 487-497, September.
    30. Tim Coelli & Ludwig Lauwers & Guido Huylenbroeck, 2007. "Environmental efficiency measurement and the materials balance condition," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 3-12, October.
    31. Mekaroonreung, Maethee & Johnson, Andrew L., 2012. "Estimating the shadow prices of SO2 and NOx for U.S. coal power plants: A convex nonparametric least squares approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 723-732.
    32. R. G. Chambers & Y. Chung & R. Färe, 1998. "Profit, Directional Distance Functions, and Nerlovian Efficiency," Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 98(2), pages 351-364, August.
    33. Hampf, Benjamin, 2014. "Separating Environmental Efficiency into Production and Abatement Efficiency - A Nonparametric Model with Application to U.S. Power Plants," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 69997, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    34. Ball, E. & Fare, R. & Grosskopf, S. & Zaim, O., 2005. "Accounting for externalities in the measurement of productivity growth: the Malmquist cost productivity measure," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 374-394, September.
    35. Murty, Sushama & Robert Russell, R. & Levkoff, Steven B., 2012. "On modeling pollution-generating technologies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 117-135.
    36. Rüdiger Pethig, 2003. "The 'materials balance approach' to pollution: its origin, implications and acceptance," Volkswirtschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge 105-03, Universität Siegen, Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Wirtschaftsinformatik und Wirtschaftsrecht.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xing Zhang & Jian Zhong & Huanfang Wang, 2023. "Does the Development of Digital Economy Affect Environmental Pollution?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-18, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kenneth Løvold Rødseth, 2017. "Axioms of a Polluting Technology: A Materials Balance Approach," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 67(1), pages 1-22, May.
    2. Kenneth Rødseth & Eirik Romstad, 2014. "Environmental Regulations, Producer Responses, and Secondary Benefits: Carbon Dioxide Reductions Under the Acid Rain Program," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 59(1), pages 111-135, September.
    3. Finn R. Førsund, 2018. "Multi-equation modelling of desirable and undesirable outputs satisfying the materials balance," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 67-99, February.
    4. Rødseth, Kenneth Løvold, 2013. "Capturing the least costly way of reducing pollution: A shadow price approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 16-24.
    5. Kenneth Rødseth, 2014. "Efficiency measurement when producers control pollutants: a non-parametric approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 211-223, October.
    6. Benjamin Hampf & Kenneth Løvold Rødseth, 2017. "Optimal profits under environmental regulation: the benefits from emission intensity averaging," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 255(1), pages 367-390, August.
    7. Hampf, Benjamin & Rødseth, Kenneth Løvold, 2015. "Carbon dioxide emission standards for U.S. power plants: An efficiency analysis perspective," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 140-153.
    8. Ke Wang & Zhifu Mi & Yi‐Ming Wei, 2019. "Will Pollution Taxes Improve Joint Ecological and Economic Efficiency of Thermal Power Industry in China?: A DEA‐Based Materials Balance Approach," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(2), pages 389-401, April.
    9. Hampf, Benjamin & Rødseth, Kenneth Løvold, 2019. "Environmental efficiency measurement with heterogeneous input quality: A nonparametric analysis of U.S. power plants," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 610-625.
    10. Atkinson, Scott E. & Tsionas, Mike G., 2021. "Generalized estimation of productivity with multiple bad outputs: The importance of materials balance constraints," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 292(3), pages 1165-1186.
    11. Jeanneaux, Philippe & Latruffe, Laure, 2016. "Modelling pollution-generating technologies in performance benchmarking: Recent developments, limits and future prospects in the nonparametric frameworkAuthor-Name: Dakpo, K. Hervé," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 250(2), pages 347-359.
    12. Forsund, Finn R., 2009. "Good Modelling of Bad Outputs: Pollution and Multiple-Output Production," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 3(1), pages 1-38, August.
    13. Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki & Yuan, Yan & Goto, Mika, 2017. "A literature study for DEA applied to energy and environment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 104-124.
    14. Ke Wang & Yi-Ming Wei & Zhimin Huang, 2017. "Environmental efficiency and abatement efficiency measurements of China¡¯s thermal power industry: A data envelopment analysis based materials balance approach," CEEP-BIT Working Papers 108, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEP), Beijing Institute of Technology.
    15. Aparicio, Juan & Kapelko, Magdalena & Zofío, José L., 2020. "The measurement of environmental economic inefficiency with pollution-generating technologies," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    16. Andreas Eder, 2022. "Environmental efficiency measurement when producers control pollutants under heterogeneous conditions: a generalization of the materials balance approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 157-176, April.
    17. Andreas Eder, 2021. "Environmental efficiency measurement when producers control pollutants under heterogeneous conditions: a generalization of the materials balance approach," Working Papers 752021, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Institute for Sustainable Economic Development.
    18. repec:zbw:inwedp:752021 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Rødseth, Kenneth Løvold, 2016. "Environmental efficiency measurement and the materials balance condition reconsidered," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 250(1), pages 342-346.
    20. Behrouz Arabi & Susila Munisamy Doraisamy & Ali Emrouznejad & Alireza Khoshroo, 2017. "Eco-efficiency measurement and material balance principle: an application in power plants Malmquist Luenberger Index," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 255(1), pages 221-239, August.
    21. Wang, Ke & Wei, Yi-Ming & Huang, Zhimin, 2018. "Environmental efficiency and abatement efficiency measurements of China's thermal power industry: A data envelopment analysis based materials balance approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 269(1), pages 35-50.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Polluting technologies; Materials balance condition; Nerlovian efficiency; Data envelopment analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D20 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - General
    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jproda:v:47:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s11123-017-0495-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.