Papers

Industrialized Country Research

  1. Market Design for the 21st Century:   Recommendations for Alberta's Power Market (February 2024)
  2. Hydrogen Production Economics: A Compound Real Options and Policy Analysis (August 2023)
  3. Show me the Money! Incentives and Nudges to to Shift Electric Vehicle Charge Timing (August 2023)
  4. Two-Settlement Locational Marginal Pricing for Distribution Networks (January 2023, November 2023)
  5. Estimating demand flexibility in a district energy system using temperature setpoint changes from selected buildings (October 2022, Revised January 2023)
  6. Mail Processing Productivity and Local Labor Market Conditions (April 2022, Revised November 2022)
  7. Game-based investigation of standardized forward contracting for long-term resource adequacy (April 2022)
  8. Search with Learning in the Retail Gasoline Market (November 2022)
  9. Financing the Energy Transition in a Low-Cost Intermittent Renewables Environment (November 2021)
  10. Market Power Mitigation Mechanisms for Wholesale Electricity Markets: Status Quo and Challenges (June 2021)
  11. Long-Term Resource Adequacy in Wholesale Electricity Markets with Significant Intermittent Renewables (April 2021)
  12. What Kinds of Distributed Generation Technologies Defer Network Expansions? Evidence from France (January 2021, Revised May 2021)
  13. Quantifying the Benefits of Nodal Market Design in the Texas Electricity Market (January 2021)
  14. The Future of Electricity Retailing and How We Get There (August 2020, Revised June 2021)
  15. Market Design in a Intermittent Renewable Future:  Cost Recovery with Zero Marginal Cost Resources (June 2020, revised January 2021)
  16. Learning about Electricity Market Performance with a Large Share of Renewables from the COVID-19 Lock-Down (June 2020)
  17. An Experimental Comparison of Carbon Pricing Under Uncertainty in Electricity Markets (May 2020)
  18. Breaking routine for energy savings: An appliance-level analysis of small business behavior under dynamic prices? (May 2020)
  19. Measuring the Ability to Exercise Unilateral Market Power in Locational-Pricing Markets: An Application to the Italian Electricity Market (April 2020, Revised September 2022)
  20. Market Performance Assessment in Locational Markets with Non-Convexities (March 2020)
  21. Simpli ed Market Mechanisms for Non-Convex Markets: Evidence from Italian Electricity Market (January 2020, Revised October 2021, May 2023)
  22. Wholesale Market Design (July 2019, Revised, November 2019)
  23. Transmission Planning and Operation in the Wholesale Market Regime (July 2019, Revised November 2019)
  24. Reference Dependence in the Demand for Gasoline (July 2019,Revised April 2022)
  25. Measuring the Impact of Own and Others' Experience on Project Costs in the U.S. Wind Generation Industry (July 2019)
  26. Retail Pricing in Colombia to Support the Efficient Deployment of Distributed Generation and Electric
    Stoves
    (March 2019, Revised April 2021)
  27. Market Power and Incentive-Based Capacity Payment Mechanisms (March 2019)
  28. The Role of Efficient Pricing in Enabling A Low-Carbon Electricity Sector (March 2019)
  29. Can Incentives to Increase Electricity Use Reduce Emissions, Lower Customer Bills, and Increase Retailer Profits (February 2019, April 2021)
  30. Price Benchmark Regulation of Multiproduct Firms: An Application to the Rail Industry (February 2019, February 2022)
  31. California's Cap-and-Trade Market Through 2030: A Preliminary Supply/Demand Analysis (April 2018)
  32. Market Power in a Hydro-Dominated Wholesale Electricity Market (March 2018)
  33. Evidence from California on the Economic Impact of Inefficient Distribution Network Pricing (March 2018)
  34. Optimal Offer-Bid Strategy of an Energy Storage Portfolio: A Linear Quasi-Relaxation Approach (March 2018)
  35. The Competitive Effects of Linking Electricity Markets Across Space (October 2017, Revised April 2021)
  36. Measuring the Impact of Purely Financial Participants on Wholesale and Retail Market Performance: The Case of Singapore (July 2017, Revised April 2019).
  37. Optimal Network Tariffs for Renewable Electricity Generation (May 2017,Revised November 2019)
  38. Assessing the Impact of the Diffusion of Shale Oil and Gas Technology on the Global Coal Market (September 2016)
  39. Freight Rail Costing and Regulation:  The Uniform Rail Costing System (April 2016)
  40. Comparing auction designs where suppliers have uncertain costs and uncertain pivotal status (April 2016, Revised January 2018)
  41. Level versus Variability Trade-offs in Wind and Solar Energy Investments:  The Case of California (March 2016, Revised June 2016)
  42. Designing Nonlinear Price Schedules for Urban Water Utilities to Balance Revenue and Conservation Goals (May 2015, Revised June 2022)
  43. Simulating the Interaction of a Renewable Portfolio Standard with Electricity and Carbon Markets (May 2015)
  44. Do Customers Respond to Real-Time Usage Feedback? Evidence from Singapore (November 2015)
  45. An Economic Perspective on the EPA's Clean Power Plan (November 2014)
  46. Expecting the Unexpected:  Emissions Uncertainty and Environmental Market Design (January 2014, Revised August 2016, June 2018, March 2019)
  47. Capacity Payments in a Cost-Based Wholesale Electricity Market:  The Case of Chile (July 2013)
  48. Carbon in the Classroom: Lessons from a Simulation of California’s Electricity Market Under a Stringent Cap and Trade System (June 2013)
  49. Can Forward Commodity Markets Improve Spot Market Performance?  Evidence from Wholesale Electricity (April 2013, Revised March 2015, March 2021, with On-line appendix)
  50. Report of the Market Simulation Group on Competitive Supply/Demand Balance in the California Allowance Market and the Potential for Market Manipulation (March 2013, Revised April 2014)
  51. Using Information to Improve the Effectiveness of Nonlinear Pricing:  Evidence from a Field Experiment (March 2013)
  52. Economic and Political Constraints on the Demand-Side of the Electricity Industry Re-structuring Processes (January 2013)
  53. A Comparison of Government Regulation of Risk in the Financial Services and Nuclear Power Industires (October 2012)
  54. Measuring the Competitiveness Benefits of a Transmission Investment Policy: The Case of the Alberta Electricity Market (March 2012, Revised November 2014)
  55. High Frequency Evidence on the Demand for Gasoline (February 2012, October 2017)
  56. Measuring the Benefits of Greater Spatial Granularity in Short-Term Pricing in Wholesale Electricity Markets (May 2011)
  57. Do Residential Customers Respond to Hourly Prices?   Evidence from a Dynamic Pricing Experiment (May 2011)
  58. Optimal Charging Arrangements for Energy Transmission:  Final Report to the United Kingdom Office of Gas and Electricity Regulation (Ofgem) (May 2011)
  59. Using Restructured Electricity Supply Industries to Understand Oligopoly Industry Outcomes (Sept 2010)
  60. Using Market Simulations for Economic Assessment of Transmission Upgrades: Applications of the California ISO Approach  (March 2010)
  61. Upstream vs. downstream CO2 trading: A comparison for the electricity context (2010)
  62.  Reducing Regulatory Barriers to Lowering the Carbon Content of Energy Services (2010)
  63. An Experimental Comparison of Critical Peak and Hourly Pricing: The PowerCentsDC Program (2010)
  64. When It Comes to Demand Response, Is FERC Its Own Worst Enemy? (October 2009)
  65. Managing the Demand-Side Economic and Political Constraints of Electricity Industry Re-structuring Processes (June 2009)
  66. How Do Firms Exercise Unilateral Market Power? Evidence from a Bid-Based Wholesale Electricity Market (March 2009, Revised April 2014)
  67. An Assessment of the Performance of the New Zealand Wholesale Electricity Market (May 2009)
  68. Using Environmental Emissions Permit Prices to Raise Electricity Prices: Evidence from the California Electricity Market (August 2008, Revised December 2013)
  69. Changes in the Household-Level Demand for Postal Delivery Services from 1986 to 2004 (July 2008)
  70. Public Utility Pricing and Finance (May 2008, prepared for the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics second ed.)
  71. A Comparison of Ex Ante versus Ex Post Vertical Market Power: Evidence from the Electricity Supply Industry (July 2007)
  72. Benefit-Cost Analysis of Large-Scale Transmission for Renewable Generation: Principles & California Case Study (June 2007)
  73. Regulating Competition in Wholesale Electricity Supply  (2007, Revised 2013) 
  74. Structural Econometric Modeling: Rationales and Examples From Industrial Organization (2007)
  75. Residential Customer Response to Real-Time Pricing: The Anaheim Critical-Peak Pricing Experiment (May 2006)
  76. Merger Analysis in Restructured Electricity Supply Industries: The Proposed PSEG and Exelon Merger (2006)
  77. Unilateral Market Power in Wholesale Electricity Markets (Feb. 2006)
  78.  The California ISO Transmission Economic Assessment Methodology (TEAM): Principles and Application to Path 26 (January 2006)
  79. Quantifying the Supply-Side Benefits from Forward Contracting In Wholesale Electricity Markets (May 2005)
  80. Lessons from International Experience with Electricity Market Monitoring (2005)
  81. Managing Unilateral Market Power in Electricity (2004)
  82. Diagnosing the California Electricity Crisis (August 2003)
  83. Local Market Power in the PJM Market (Report filed with United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in July 2003 Delmarva Congestion Proceeding)
  84.  Measuring Unilateral Market Power in Wholesale Electricity Markets: The California Market 1998 to 2000 (May 2003)
  85. Identification and Estimation of Cost Functions Using Observed Bid Data: An Application to Electricity Markets (Jan 2002)
  86. Regulating Wholesale Markets in the Aftermath of the California Crisis (2003)
  87. Measuring Market Inefficiencies in California's Restructured Wholesale Electricity Market (Dec. 2002)
  88. "Competition-Enhancing Local Market Power Mitigation in Wholesale Electricity Markets" Affidavit of Frank A. Wolak on behalf of the Electricity Consumer Resource Council, The Transmission Dependent Utility Systems, Buckeye Power, Inc., Great River Energy, Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative, Ine., and East Texas Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Nov 2002)
  89. Designing a Competitive Wholesale Electricity Market that Benefits Consumers (Oct. 2001)
  90. A Comprehensive Market Power Mitigation Plan for the California Electricity Market (Apr. 2001)
  91. Comments on “Staff Recommendation on Prospective Market Monitoring and Mitigation for the California Wholesale Electricity Market” (March 2001)
  92. Proposed Market Monitoring and Mitigation Plan for California Electricity Market (Feb. 2001)
  93. Analysis of “Order Proposing Remedies for California Wholesale Electric Markets (Issued November 1, 2000)” (Dec. 2000)
  94. Diagnosing Market Power in California’s Restructured Wholesale Electricity Market (Aug. 2000)
  95. An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Hedge Contracts on Bidding Behavior in a Competitive Electricity Market (2000)
  96. Using Customer-Level Response to Spot Prices to Design Pricing Options and Demand-Side Bids (January 2000)
  97. Estimating the Opportunities for Market Power in a Deregulated Wisconsin Electricity Market (August 1999)
  98. Regulation and the Leverage of Local Market Power in the California Electricity Market (July 1999)
  99. Market Design and Price Behavior in Restructured Electricity Markets: An International Comparison (1999)
  100. Reliability Must-Run Contracts for the California Electricity Market (April 1999)

  101. Price-Cap Regulation and Its Use in Newly Privatized Industries (August 1998)
  102. Estimating the Customer-Level Demand for Electricity Under Real-Time Market Prices (August 1997,April 2001)
  103. The Impact of Market Rules and Market Structure on the Price Determination Process in the England and Wales Electricity Market (Feb 1997, with R.H. Patrick)
  104. Competition and RBOC Revenues and Infrastructure Investment: The Case of Arkansas, California, Texas, New York, and Illinois (Dec 1996)
  105. Electronic Substitution in the Household-Level Demand for Postal Delivery Services (Dec 1996)
  106. Can Universal Service Survive in a Competitive Telecommunications Environment? Evidence from the United States Consumer Expenditure Survey (March 1996)
  107. The Welfare Impacts of Competitive Telecommunications Supply: A Household-Level Analysis (1996)
  108. An Econometic Analysis of the Asymmetric Information, Regulator-Utility Interaction (1994)
  109. Measuring Industry-Specific Protection: Antidumping in the United States (1994)
  110. A Model of Homogenous Input Demand Under Price Uncertainty (1992)
  111. Why Do Firms Simultaneously Purchase in the Spot and Contract Markets?   Evidence from the United States Steam Coal Market (1992)
  112. Collusive Pricing with Capacity Constraints in the Presence of Demand Uncertainty (1992)
  113. The Effect of Domestic Antidumping Law in the Presence of Foreign Monopoly (1992)
  114. Strategic Use of Antidumping Law to Enforce Tacit International Collusion (1992)
  115. Meauring Relative Market Power in the Western U.S. Coal Market Using Shapley Values (1988)
  116. Strategy and Market Structure in Western Coal Taxation (1985)
  117. Competition in Interregional Taxation:  The Case of Western Coal (1983)

Developing Country Research

  1. Determinants of the Willingness to Pay for Electricity in Developing Countries: Evidence from a Household Survey from India (June 2022)

  2. Transformation of the Peruvian Wholesale Electricity Market (June 2021)
  3. Cross-border electricity trade in the Bangladesh–Bhutan–India–Nepal (BBIN) Region: A cost-based market perspective (May 2021)
  4. Long-Term Resource Adequacy with Significant Intermittent Renewables: The Case of Colombia (March 2020)
  5. Transformation and Modernization of the Wholesale Electricity Market in Colombia (August 2019)
  6. Promoting Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies through Consumer Education: Results from a Field Experiment in Mexico (July 2018, Revised November 2019)
  7. Assessing Opportunities for Solar Lanterns to Improve Educational Outcomes in Rural Off-Grid Regions: Challenges and Lessons from a Randomized Controlled Trial (March 2018, revised November 2020)
  8. Electricity Market Design and Renewables Integration in Developing Countries (February 2017)
  9. Rural energy access through solar home systems: Use patterns and opportunities for improvement (January 2017)
  10. Diagnosing the Causes of the Recent El Nino Event and Recommendations for Reform (December 2016)
  11. An Ancillary Services Payment Mechanism for the Chilean Electricity Supply Industry (July 2011)
  12. Does China Underprice Its Oil Consumption? (2009) 2009)20200
  13. Report on Market Performance and Market Monitoring in the Colombian Electricity Supply Industry (2009)
  14. Managing the Demand-Side Economic and Political Constraints on Electricity Re-structuring Processes (2009)
  15. Reforming the Indian Electricity Supply Industry (2008)
  16. Options for Short-Term Price Determination in the Brazilian Wholesale Electricity Market: Report Prepared for Câmara de Comercialização de Energia Elétrica (CCEE) (2008)
  17. La limitación de la desventaja potencial de la competencia eléctrica en el mercado mayorista (2007) [Research paper written for Spanish Electricity Regulator]
  18. Report on “Proposal for Determining and Assigning the Reliability Charge for the Wholesale Energy Market” and “Electronic System of Standardized Long-Term Contracts (SEC)” (2005)
  19. Report on Monitoring Competition in the Central American Electricity Market (2005)
  20. Designing Competitive Wholesale Electricity Markets for Latin American Countries (2003)
  21. Power Sector Reform in Brazil (Jan 2003) 
  22. Report on Electricity Industry Restructuring in Romania (April 2000) 

Econometric Theory

  1. Credible Numbers:  A Procedure for Reporting Statistical Precision in Parameter Estimates (February 2024)
  2. Fast, Robust, and Approximately Correct:  Estimating Mixed Demand Systems (October 2018)
  3. An Algorithm to Estimate the Two-Way Fixed Effects Model (May 2015)
  4. A Procedure for Estimating the Unconditional HIV Infection Distribution and its Variability (1994)
  5. The Local Nature of Hypothesis Tests Involving Nonlinear Inequality Contraints (July 1991)
  6. Local and Global Testing of Linear and Nonlinear Inequality Constraints in Nonlinear Econometric Models (1989)
  7. Testing Inequality Constraints in Linear Econometic Models (July 1988)
  8. Duality in Testing Mulivariate Hypotheses (1988)
  9. An Exact Test for Multiple Equality and Inequality Constraints in the Linear Regression Model (Sept. 1987)

Policy Briefs and Op-Eds

  1. Why federal regulation is not the answer (March 2021)
  2. In California, a third-world solution to a first-world problem (October 2019)
  3. Tax brown energy or subsidize green?   The choice is easy (February 2019)
  4. A Carbon Tax to Fund Increased Border Security? (January 2019)
  5. Economic Policy Challenges Facing California's Next Governor:  Electricity Policy Reform (October 2018)
  6. Reports of the Demise of Carbon Pricing are Greatly Exaggerated (August 2018)
  7. Retail Pricing to Support the 21st Century Distribution Grid (November 2017)
  8. What OPEC Means for Today's Oil Market (Fortune, October 11, 2016)
  9. How Should Financial Markets Be Regulated? (International Banker, Summer 2015)
  10. The End of Expensive Oil? (March 2015)
  11. Universities Can Do Better Than Symbolism:   A Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax (October 2014)
  12. US and China Cooperation on Climate Policy Design (Boao Review, July 2014)
  13. A Revenue Neutral Carbon Tax for Stanford (Not Divestiting Coal) (Los Angeles Times, May 16, 2014)
  14. An Effective Regulator is Needed for New Zealand Electricity Industry (New Zealand Herald, April 2014)
  15. California Climate Policy:  Showing the Way for the World (San Jose Mercury New, December 2013)
  16. The Economic and Environmental Benefits of Integrating International Coal and Natural Gas Markets (Boao Review, October 2013).
  17. Be Part of the Solution (EnergyBiz, March 2013)
  18. Careful What You Wish For:  The Shale Gas Revolution and Natural Gas Exports (SIEPR Policy Brief, November 2012)
  19. Cap and Trade Should Look to Broader Goals (Sacramento Bee, Nov. 2012) (with Elizabeth Bailey)
  20. The Cost of Climate Policy Uncertainty (The Guardian, Feb. 2011)
  21. China's Green Gift to the World (The Guardian, Dec. 2010)
  22. Don't Blame Energy Speculators for Rising Cost of Crude Oil (San Jose Mercury News, August 4, 2008)
  23. Low Carbon Fuel Standards: Do They Really Work? (SIEPR Policy Brief, May 2008)
  24. An Ethanol Policy that Benefits All Americans (SIEPR Policy Brief, June 2007)
  25. Lower Oil Price Volatility for a Smooth Transition to a Green Energy Future (SIEPR Policy Brief, June 2006)
  26. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is Essential to California's Energy Future (Dec. 2004)
  27. Why California Gasoline Prices Are So High? (Economics Department Newsletter, April 2004)
  28. The Benefits of an Electron Superhighway (SIEPR Policy Brief, Nov. 2003)
  29. Upgrading Power Grid Could Lead to Lower Prices (San Jose Mercury News, August 28, 2003)
  30. FERC's duty is clear: Order energy refunds for California (San Jose Mercury News, March 28, 2003)
  31. Is Price Gouging Really the Problem? (San Diego Union Tribune, July 27, 2001)
  32. $9 Billion Rebate Should Be Just the Beginning (North County Times, July 11, 2001)
  33. FERC Fixes Have Fallen Short (San Jose Mercury News, June 20, 2001)
  34. Want 10,000 megawatts? Use Variable Power Pricing (San Jose Mercury News, May 4, 2001)
  35. Will FERC See the Light on the Law? (Los Angeles Times, April 30, 2001)

Documents Prepared for Regulatory Proceedings

  1. Addendum to Staff Draft Straw Proposal for Consideration in Track 3B.2 Proceedings R.19-11-009 at California Public Utilities Commission (February 26, 2021)
  2. Distribution System Inquiry of the Alberta Utilities Commission (February 19, 2021)
  3. Long-Term Resource Adequacy in an Intermittent Renewable and Import Dependent Future in California, Submission to Track 3B.2 Proceedings R.19-11-009 at California Public Utilities Commission. (December 18. 2020)