IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/epolit/v40y2023i1d10.1007_s40888-022-00276-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A new design for market power monitoring in the electricity market. A simulation for Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Simona Bigerna

    (University of Perugia)

  • Carlo Andrea Bollino

    (University of Perugia
    KAPSARC)

  • Maria Chiara D’Errico

    (University of Perugia)

  • Paolo Polinori

    (University of Perugia)

Abstract

The liberalization of electricity markets has been dominated by conditions of oligopoly and market power, as shown in numerous studies in empirical literature on the supply side. However, regulators have used statistical measurements to monitor the extent of market power, making little reference to founded theoretical approaches. This paper provides a new contribution to the literature on the electricity market by presenting a theoretical and empirical model to construct competitive equilibrium, and estimating market power on both the supply and demand side of the day-ahead electricity market. We implement an accurate measurement of the welfare loss associated with non-competitive market conditions, based on ex-ante demand and supply behavior.This model provides a useful analytical tool for regulators and policy-makers in order to implement pro-competitive regulation. We perform an empirical simulation to show the effects of non-competitive equilibria on the Italian hourly markets over the period 2013–2014. In an ideal competitive market, prices would be lower than historical prices by about 2–5% and quantities would be higher by about 0.5–1%.

Suggested Citation

  • Simona Bigerna & Carlo Andrea Bollino & Maria Chiara D’Errico & Paolo Polinori, 2023. "A new design for market power monitoring in the electricity market. A simulation for Italy," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(1), pages 285-317, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolit:v:40:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s40888-022-00276-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s40888-022-00276-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40888-022-00276-6
    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/s40888-022-00276-6?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. Emmanuel Guerre & Isabelle Perrigne & Quang Vuong, 2000. "Optimal Nonparametric Estimation of First-Price Auctions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 68(3), pages 525-574, May.
    2. Marshall, Luke & Bruce, Anna & MacGill, Iain, 2021. "Assessing wholesale competition in the Australian National Electricity Market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    3. Elodie Guerre & I. Perrigne & Q.H. Vuong, 2000. "Optimal nonparametric estimation of first-price auctions [[Estimation nonparamétrique optimale des enchères au premier prix]]," Post-Print hal-02697497, HAL.
    4. Boffa, Federico & Pingali, Viswanath & Vannoni, Davide, 2010. "Increasing market interconnection: An analysis of the Italian electricity spot market," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 311-322, May.
    5. Frank Wolak, 2000. "An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Hedge Contracts on Bidding Behavior in a Competitive Electricity Market," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 1-39.
    6. Susan Athey & Philip A. Haile, 2006. "Empirical Models of Auctions," NBER Working Papers 12126, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Erin T. Mansur, 2008. "Measuring Welfare in Restructured Electricity Markets," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(2), pages 369-386, May.
    8. Parisio, Lucia & Bosco, Bruno, 2003. "Market Power and the Power Market: Multi-unit Bidding and (In)Efficiency in Electricity Auctions," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 10(4), pages 377-401, August.
    9. Bolle, Friedel, 2001. "Competition with supply and demand functions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 253-277, May.
    10. Holmberg, Pär & Newbery, David & Ralph, Daniel, 2013. "Supply function equilibria: Step functions and continuous representations," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 148(4), pages 1509-1551.
    11. David M. Newbery, 1998. "Competition, Contracts, and Entry in the Electricity Spot Market," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(4), pages 726-749, Winter.
    12. Aitor Ciarreta & María Espinosa, 2010. "Market power in the Spanish electricity auction," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 42-69, February.
    13. Brehm, Paul A. & Zhang, Yiyuan, 2021. "The efficiency and environmental impacts of market organization: Evidence from the Texas electricity market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    14. Simona Bigerna, Carlo Andrea Bollino and Paolo Polinori, 2016. "Market Power and Transmission Congestion in the Italian Electricity Market," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    15. Hakam, Dzikri Firmansyah, 2019. "Mitigating the risk of market power abuse in electricity sector restructuring: Evidence from Indonesia," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 181-191.
    16. Lundin, Erik & Tangerås, Thomas P., 2020. "Cournot competition in wholesale electricity markets: The Nordic power exchange, Nord Pool," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    17. Peter Cramton, 2017. "Electricity market design," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 33(4), pages 589-612.
    18. Catherine D. Wolfram, 1999. "Measuring Duopoly Power in the British Electricity Spot Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(4), pages 805-826, September.
    19. Thao Pham, 2019. "Do German renewable energy resources affect prices and mitigate market power in the French electricity market ?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(54), pages 5829-5842, November.
    20. Amountzias, Chrysovalantis & Dagdeviren, Hulya & Patokos, Tassos, 2017. "Pricing decisions and market power in the UK electricity market: A VECM approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 467-473.
    21. Bataille, Marc & Bodnar, Olivia & Steinmetz, Alexander & Thorwarth, Susanne, 2019. "Screening instruments for monitoring market power — The Return on Withholding Capacity Index (RWC)," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 227-237.
    22. Ali Hortaçsu & Fernando Luco & Steven L. Puller & Dongni Zhu, 2019. "Does Strategic Ability Affect Efficiency? Evidence from Electricity Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(12), pages 4302-4342, December.
    23. Aitor Ciarreta & María Espinosa, 2010. "Market power in the Spanish electricity auction," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 42-69, February.
    24. Sapio, Alessandro & Spagnolo, Nicola, 2020. "The effect of a new power cable on energy prices volatility spillovers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    25. Juha Teirilä & Robert A. Ritz, 2019. "Strategic Behaviour in a Capacity Market? The New Irish Electricity Market Design," The Energy Journal, , vol. 40(1_suppl), pages 105-126, June.
    26. Paul L. Joskow & Edward Kohn, 2002. "A Quantitative Analysis of Pricing Behavior in California's Wholesale Electricity Market During Summer 2000," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 1-35.
    27. Thao Pham, 2019. "Do German renewable energy resources affect prices and mitigate market power in the French electricity market ?," Post-Print hal-02570803, HAL.
    28. Paul Joskow & Edward Kahn, 2002. "A quantitative analysis of pricing behaviour in California's wholesale electricity market during summer 2000: the final word," Working Papers EP02, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    29. Woo, C.K. & Milstein, I. & Tishler, A. & Zarnikau, J., 2019. "A wholesale electricity market design sans missing money and price manipulation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    30. Simona Bigerna, Carlo Andrea Bollino and Paolo Polinori, 2016. "Renewable Energy and Market Power in the Italian Electricity Market," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Bollino-M).
    31. Severin Borenstein & James Bushnell & Frank Wolak, 2000. "Diagnosing Market Power in California's Restructured Wholesale Electricity Market," NBER Working Papers 7868, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    32. Robert Wilson, 1979. "Auctions of Shares," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 93(4), pages 675-689.
    33. Mar Reguant, 2014. "Complementary Bidding Mechanisms and Startup Costs in Electricity Markets," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(4), pages 1708-1742.
    34. Bataille, Marc & Bodnar, Olivia & Steinmetz, Alexander & Thorwarth, Susanne, 2019. "Screening instruments for monitoring market power: The return on withholding capacity index (RWC)," DICE Discussion Papers 311, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    35. Green, Richard J & Newbery, David M, 1992. "Competition in the British Electricity Spot Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(5), pages 929-953, October.
    36. Bosco, Bruno & Parisio, Lucia & Pelagatti, Matteo, 2012. "Strategic bidding in vertically integrated power markets with an application to the Italian electricity auctions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 2046-2057.
    37. Severin Borenstein & James B. Bushnell & Frank A. Wolak, 2002. "Measuring Market Inefficiencies in California's Restructured Wholesale Electricity Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1376-1405, December.
    38. Peter Cramton, 2003. "Competitive Bidding Behavior in Uniform-Price Auction Markets," Papers of Peter Cramton 03ferc1, University of Maryland, Department of Economics - Peter Cramton, revised 2003.
    39. Moutinho, Victor & Moreira, António C. & Mota, Jorge, 2014. "Do regulatory mechanisms promote competition and mitigate market power? Evidence from Spanish electricity market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 403-412.
    40. Lynch, Muireann & Longoria, Genaro & Curtis, John, 2021. "Market design options for electricity markets with high variable renewable generation," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    41. Klemperer, Paul D & Meyer, Margaret A, 1989. "Supply Function Equilibria in Oligopoly under Uncertainty," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(6), pages 1243-1277, November.
    42. Paul L Joskow, 2019. "Challenges for wholesale electricity markets with intermittent renewable generation at scale: the US experience," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 35(2), pages 291-331.
    43. Bigerna, Simona & Wen, Xingang & Hagspiel, Verena & Kort, Peter M., 2019. "Green electricity investments: Environmental target and the optimal subsidy," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 279(2), pages 635-644.
    44. Frank A. Wolak, 2003. "Measuring Unilateral Market Power in Wholesale Electricity Markets: The California Market, 1998–2000," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(2), pages 425-430, May.
    45. Sapio, Alessandro & Spagnolo, Nicola, 2016. "Price regimes in an energy island: Tacit collusion vs. cost and network explanations," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 157-172.
    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. Maria Chiara D?Errico, 2020. "Competition in the Italian electricity market: The unforeseen social welfare losses of reform," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2020(2), pages 75-91.
    2. Bigerna, Simona & Bollino, Carlo Andrea & D'Errico, Maria Chiara & Polinori, Paolo, 2017. "The Ideal Competitive Electricity Market. A simulation for Italy," MPRA Paper 94893, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Brown, David P. & Eckert, Andrew, 2021. "Analyzing firm behavior in restructured electricity markets: Empirical challenges with a residual demand analysis," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Bohland, Moritz & Schwenen, Sebastian, 2022. "Renewable support and strategic pricing in electricity markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    5. Brown, David P. & Eckert, Andrew & Silveira, Douglas, 2023. "Screening for collusion in wholesale electricity markets: A literature review," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    6. Crawford, Gregory S. & Crespo, Joseph & Tauchen, Helen, 2007. "Bidding asymmetries in multi-unit auctions: Implications of bid function equilibria in the British spot market for electricity," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 1233-1268, December.
    7. Ali Hortaçsu & Steven L. Puller, 2008. "Understanding strategic bidding in multi‐unit auctions: a case study of the Texas electricity spot market," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(1), pages 86-114, March.
    8. Bosco, Bruno & Parisio, Lucia & Pelagatti, Matteo, 2012. "Strategic bidding in vertically integrated power markets with an application to the Italian electricity auctions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 2046-2057.
    9. Fabra, Natalia & Toro, Juan, 2005. "Price wars and collusion in the Spanish electricity market," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 23(3-4), pages 155-181, April.
    10. David P. Brown & Derek E. H. Olmstead, 2017. "Measuring market power and the efficiency of Alberta's restructured electricity market: An energy-only market design," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 50(3), pages 838-870, August.
    11. Jorge Balat & Juan E. Carranza & Juan D. Martin, 2015. "Dynamic and Strategic Behavior in Hydropower-Dominated Electricity Markets: Empirical Evidence for Colombia," Borradores de Economia 886, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    12. Victor Moutinho & Ant nio Carrizo Moreira & Jorge H. Mota, 2015. "Measuring the Simultaneous Quantity Game in OMEL Spot Electricity Market," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 5(1), pages 305-320.
    13. Sirin, Selahattin Murat & Camadan, Ercument & Erten, Ibrahim Etem & Zhang, Alex Hongliang, 2023. "Market failure or politics? Understanding the motives behind regulatory actions to address surging electricity prices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    14. Komain Jiranyakul, 2015. "Oil Price Volatility and Real Effective Exchange Rate: The Case of Thailand," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 5(2), pages 574-579.
    15. Newbery, David M. & Greve, Thomas, 2017. "The strategic robustness of oligopoly electricity market models," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 124-132.
    16. Holmberg, Pär & Newbery, David & Ralph, Daniel, 2013. "Supply function equilibria: Step functions and continuous representations," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 148(4), pages 1509-1551.
    17. Ciarreta, Aitor & Espinosa, Maria Paz & Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina, 2017. "Has renewable energy induced competitive behavior in the Spanish electricity market?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 171-182.
    18. Fabra, Natalia & de Frutos, Maria-Angeles, 2008. "On the Impact of Forward Contract Obligations in Multi-Unit Auctions," CEPR Discussion Papers 6756, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Carlos Suarez, 2021. "Mixed Oligopoly and Market Power Mitigation: Evidence from the Colombian Wholesale Electricity Market," IREA Working Papers 202101, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Jan 2021.
    20. Suarez, Carlos, 2022. "Private management and strategic bidding behavior in electricity markets: Evidence from Colombia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Electricity market; Competitive benchmark analysis; Market power; Dead weight loss;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices

    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:epolit:v:40:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s40888-022-00276-6. 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.