MIT Economics Ph.D. students are researching a wide range of energy and environmental policy issues. Pictured above, from left to right, are Mar Reguant, Tatyana Deryugina, Nicholas Ryan and Joseph Shapiro.

Mar is working on the design of wholesale electricity markets, focusing on dynamic auction rules as well as the impact of cap-and-trade schemes on the behavior of firms in terms of production and investment decisions.

Tatyana is exploring how individuals trade off private financial incentives against social benefits when they make energy purchases or decisions about energy use such as the purchase of appliances.

Nicholas is working on a randomized evaluation of different means to control local industrial pollution in India. He is also beginning a project on the efficacy of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism in achieving certified reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

Joseph is studying policy instruments to regulate local pollutants and the economic choices involved in the design of markets for water pollution in the US

(October 2009)