Emissions trading and technological change

摘要: Emissions trading programmes have grown in number and scope over the last forty years, decade they become a centrepiece of global climate change policy. can principle offer policy makers flexible mechanism to reduce harmful emissions - polluters choose their own abatement strategy, overall cost by flexibly redistributing permits those that find costliest. In context policy, though, it is potential stimulate innovation technological most alluring. Without transforming production, quantity will be insufficient; without change, prohibitive. are clearly not only affect but extent which these encourage low-carbon perhaps still important criterion on judge success or failure. Advances monitoring, greater data availability, improvements statistical computational techniques recently made possible systematically study impacts large scale. recent researchers studied impact company profitability, employment, capital investment. This thesis aims advance this research programme contributing systematic analysis how affects change. This comprises four essays. The first essay examines past experiences provide guidance ability future. second investigates degree economic theory help constrain range expected world at east moderate complexity. third fourth essays present comprehensive empirical assessment world's largest programme, EU Trading Scheme, has affected measured terms carbon dioxide intensity output, development, patenting.