IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/epolin/v46y2019i4d10.1007_s40812-019-00134-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regulatory capture in the US petroleum refining industry

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Gmeiner

    (Kennesaw State University)

Abstract

The capture theory of regulation concludes that regulatory agencies tend to be captured by the firms they are regulating. This paper tests the capture theory in the recent environment of nuanced agency regulation by the administrative state, focusing on the US oil refining industry. Regulation has tended to narrow refiners’ margins, which harms nonintegrated oil refiners more than vertically integrated. Providing evidence of regulatory capture, complementary analysis of stock returns shows that regulations have benefited the stocks of vertically integrated firms. The narrowing of the margins is primarily due to rising input costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Gmeiner, 2019. "Regulatory capture in the US petroleum refining industry," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 46(4), pages 459-498, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolin:v:46:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s40812-019-00134-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s40812-019-00134-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40812-019-00134-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40812-019-00134-w?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. George J. Stigler, 1971. "The Theory of Economic Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 2(1), pages 3-21, Spring.
    2. Kwiatkowski, Denis & Phillips, Peter C. B. & Schmidt, Peter & Shin, Yongcheol, 1992. "Testing the null hypothesis of stationarity against the alternative of a unit root : How sure are we that economic time series have a unit root?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1-3), pages 159-178.
    3. Eli Berman & Linda T. M. Bui, 2001. "Environmental Regulation And Productivity: Evidence From Oil Refineries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(3), pages 498-510, August.
    4. Kendix, Michael & Walls, W.D., 2010. "Oil industry consolidation and refined product prices: Evidence from US wholesale gasoline terminals," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3498-3507, July.
    5. Pesaran, H. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 1998. "Generalized impulse response analysis in linear multivariate models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 17-29, January.
    6. Gray, Wayne B, 1987. "The Cost of Regulation: OSHA, EPA and the Productivity Slowdown," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(5), pages 998-1006, December.
    7. Shunsuke Managi & SJames J. Opaluch & Di Jin & Thomas A. Grigalunas, 2005. "Environmental Regulations and Technological Change in the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 81(2).
    8. Fama, Eugene F, 1970. "Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 25(2), pages 383-417, May.
    9. Gary S. Becker, 1983. "A Theory of Competition Among Pressure Groups for Political Influence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(3), pages 371-400.
    10. Wayne B Gray & Ronald J Shadbegian, 1994. "Pollution Abatement Costs, Regulation And Plant-Level Productivity," Working Papers 94-14, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    11. Justine S. Hastings & Richard J. Gilbert, 2005. "Market Power, Vertical Integration And The Wholesale Price Of Gasoline," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 469-492, December.
    12. Edward J. Mitchell, 1976. "Vertical Integration in the Oil Industry," Books, American Enterprise Institute, number 919919, September.
    13. Sims, Christopher A & Stock, James H & Watson, Mark W, 1990. "Inference in Linear Time Series Models with Some Unit Roots," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(1), pages 113-144, January.
    14. John A. Karikari & Godwin Agbara & Hashem Dezhbakhsh & Barbara El‐Osta, 2007. "The Impact Of Mergers In U.S. Petroleum Industry On Wholesale Gasoline Prices," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 25(1), pages 46-56, January.
    15. John Simpson & Christopher Taylor, 2008. "Do Gasoline Mergers Affect Consumer Prices? The Marathon Ashland Petroleum and Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Transaction," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(1), pages 135-152, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Rassier, Dylan G. & Earnhart, Dietrich, 2015. "Effects of environmental regulation on actual and expected profitability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 129-140.
    2. Johan Brolund & Robert Lundmark, 2017. "Effect of Environmental Regulation Stringency on the Pulp and Paper Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Wayne B. Gray & Ron Shadbegian, 2024. "When Do Firms Shift Production across States to Avoid Environmental Regulation?," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 100(3), pages 443-457.
    4. Randy A. Becker & Ronald J. Shadbegian, 2004. "A Change of PACE: Comparing the 1994 and 1999 Pollution Abatement Costs and Expenditures Surveys," NCEE Working Paper Series 200408, National Center for Environmental Economics, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, revised Jul 2004.
    5. Myers, Robert J. & Oehmke, James F., 1987. "Instability and Risk as Rationales for Government Intervention in Agriculture," Staff Paper Series 200938, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    6. Nazlioglu, Saban & Soytas, Ugur, 2011. "World oil prices and agricultural commodity prices: Evidence from an emerging market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 488-496, May.
    7. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:12:y:2006:i:11:p:1-12 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Panagiotis T. Konstantinou, 2004. "Balancing The Budget Through Revenue Or Spending Adjustments? The Case Of Greece," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 81-105, December.
    9. Jérôme Héricourt, 2005. "Monetary policy transmission in the CEECs: a comprehensive analysis," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00193947, HAL.
    10. Gray, Wayne B. & Shadbegian, Ronald J., 2003. "Plant vintage, technology, and environmental regulation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 384-402, November.
    11. Paulo Pereira Silva & Isabel Vieira, 2022. "On the Effects of Capital Markets’ Regulation on Price Informativeness: an Assessment of EU Market Abuse Directive," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 36(2), pages 125-157, June.
    12. Dylan Rassier & Dietrich Earnhart, 2010. "Does the Porter Hypothesis Explain Expected Future Financial Performance? The Effect of Clean Water Regulation on Chemical Manufacturing Firms," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 45(3), pages 353-377, March.
    13. Soytas, Ugur & Sari, Ramazan, 2006. "Can China contribute more to the fight against global warming?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 28(8), pages 837-846, November.
    14. Wayne B. Gray, 2015. "Environmental regulations and business decisions," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 187-187, September.
    15. Fumitoshi Mizutani & Eri Nakamura, 2016. "Factors Affecting Inefficiency Level: Stochastic Frontier Analysis of Public Utility Firms in Japan," Discussion Papers 2016-02, Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
    16. Ugur Soytas, 2006. "Long run relationship between entry and exit: time series evidence from Turkish manufacturing industry," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 12(11), pages 1-12.
    17. Daniel Perez-Liston & Daniel Huerta-Sanchez & Juan Gutierrez, 2018. "Do Domestic Sentiment and the Spillover of US Investor Sentiment Impact Mexican Stock Market Returns?," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 17(2_suppl), pages 185-212, August.
    18. Dietrich Earnhart & Dylan G. Rassier, 2016. "“Effective regulatory stringency” and firms’ profitability: the effects of effluent limits and government monitoring," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 111-145, October.
    19. Levent Korap, 2009. "Parasal Buyume ve Tuketici Enflasyonu Degisim Orani Arasindaki Nedensellik Iliskisi Uzerine Bir Deneme: Turkiye Ornegi," Istanbul University Econometrics and Statistics e-Journal, Department of Econometrics, Faculty of Economics, Istanbul University, vol. 9(1), pages 56-74, May.
    20. Fumitoshi Mizutani & Eri Nakamura, 2014. "What Most Affects A Firm' s Costs: Internal or External Factors, or Both?," Discussion Papers 2014-22, Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
    21. Huang, Shupei & An, Haizhong & Wen, Shaobo & An, Feng, 2017. "Revisiting driving factors of oil price shocks across time scales," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 617-629.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Regulation; Crack spreads; Vertical integration; Rent seeking;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • K23 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Regulated Industries and Administrative Law
    • L71 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction - - - Mining, Extraction, and Refining: Hydrocarbon Fuels

    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:spr:epolin:v:46:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s40812-019-00134-w. 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.