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The impacts of the EU ETS on Norwegian plants' environmental and economic performance

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This paper examines the impacts of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) on the environmental and economic performance of Norwegian plants. The EU ETS is regarded as the cornerstone climate policy both in the EU and in Norway, but there has been considerable debate regarding its effects due to low quota prices and substantial allocation of free allowances to the manufacturing industry. Both quota prices and allocation rules have changed significantly between the three phases of the ETS. The rich data allow us to investigate potential effects of the ETS on several important aspects of plant behavior. The results indicate a weak tendency of emissions reductions among Norwegian plants in the second phase of the ETS, but not in the other phases. We find no significant effects on emissions intensity in any of the phases, but positive effects on value added and productivity in the second phase. Positive effects on value added and productivity may be due to the large amounts of free allowances, and that plants may have passed on the additional marginal costs to consumers.

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  • Marit E. Klemetsen & Knut Einar Rosendahl & Anja Lund Jakobsen, 2016. "The impacts of the EU ETS on Norwegian plants' environmental and economic performance," Discussion Papers 833, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    • Handle: RePEc:ssb:dispap:833
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tradable emissions quotas; emissions intensity; productivity; propensity score matching; difference-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • C54 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Quantitative Policy Modeling
    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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