Temperature and Cognitive Performance

Posted on December 6th, 2022 by Tony Tran

I estimate the effect of temperature on cognitive performance in online brain training games. As this setting represents everyday cognitive […]

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Natural Gas in the U.S. Southeast Power Sector under Deep Decarbonization: Modeling Technology and Policy Sensitivities

Posted on November 29th, 2022 by Tony Tran

Concerns over climate change, along with falling costs of renewable energy technologies, have led to increased scrutiny over the role […]

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Carbon Abatement Costs for Hydrogen Fuels in Hard-to-Abate Transport Sectors and Potential Climate Policy Mixes

Posted on November 15th, 2022 by Tony Tran

Deep decarbonization targets require emission reductions in “hard-to-abate” sectors that have until recently received little attention, including freight trucking, shipping, […]

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Five Myths About Carbon Pricing

Posted on November 2nd, 2022 by Tony Tran

While carbon pricing, in general, and carbon taxes, in particular, are popular with economists, they are subject to considerable misunderstanding […]

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Electricity Retail Rate Design in a Decarbonizing Economy: An Analysis of Time-of-Use and Critical Peak Pricing

Posted on October 7th, 2022 by Tony Tran

Currently, U.S. residential and small commercial electricity consumers typically pay a constant price per kWh consumed that accounts for most […]

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Rational Rationing: A Price-Control Mechanism for a Persistent Supply Shock

Posted on October 7th, 2022 by Tony Tran

We propose a simple price-control mechanism correcting for a missing short-run response of demand to prices. It effectively implements an […]

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The Macroeconomic Effects of a Carbon Tax to Meet the U.S. Paris Agreement Target: The Role of Firm Creation and Technology Adoption

Posted on September 26th, 2022 by Tony Tran

We analyze the labor market and aggregate effects of a carbon tax in a framework with pollution externalities and equilibrium […]

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Long-term Equilibrium in Electricity Markets with Renewables and Energy Storage Only

Posted on September 7th, 2022 by Tony Tran

In this paper, we study the optimal generation mix in power systems where only two technologies are available: variable renewable […]

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Population, Productivity, and Sustainable Consumption

Posted on August 17th, 2022 by Tony Tran

How does the sustainable level of consumption depend on productivity growth and the size and growth rate of the population? […]

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Sustainable Hydrogen Fuels versus Fossil Fuels for Trucking, Shipping and Aviation: A Dynamic Cost Model

Posted on July 26th, 2022 by Tony Tran

Potential decarbonization of the global trucking, shipping and aviation sectors by 2050 could be achieved by replacing fossil fuels with […]

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When “Low-Hanging Fruit” Are Beyond Reach: Management Practices and Firm Energy Efficiency

Posted on June 10th, 2022 by Tony Tran

We study whether structured management practices affect the uptake and impact of industrial energy efficiency measures, which are widely considered […]

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Deregulation, Market Power, and Prices: Evidence from the Electricity Sector

Posted on April 25th, 2022 by Tony Tran

When deciding whether to introduce market competition in a regulated industry, a regulator faces an important tradeoff. Market-based prices can […]

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Electricity Sector Policy Reforms to Support Efficient Decarbonization

Posted on April 4th, 2022 by Tony Tran

The final version of this paper will appear as Chapter 8 in the forthcoming MIT Energy Initiative study, The Future […]

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Coping with National Fuel Subsidies in Regional Power Markets: Application to the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnector

Posted on March 24th, 2022 by Tony Tran

Transnational power market design and development are impacted by economic, social and political factors that must inevitably be addressed. One […]

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Technology Neutral vs. Technology Specific Procurement

Posted on March 14th, 2022 by Tony Tran

An imperfectly-informed regulator needs to procure multiple units of some good (e.g., green energy, market liquidity, pollution reduction, land conservation) […]

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Power Price Crisis in the EU: Unveiling Current Policy Responses and Proposing a Balanced Regulatory Remedy

Posted on February 28th, 2022 by Tony Tran

For several months, electricity prices in the European Union (EU) have been at sustained and unprecedentedly high levels. This situation […]

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Properties of Deeply Decarbonized Electric Power Systems with Storage

Posted on February 24th, 2022 by Tony Tran

The final version of this paper will appear as Chapter 6 in the forthcoming MIT Energy Initiative study, The Future […]

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Colluding Against Environmental Regulation

Posted on January 24th, 2022 by Tony Tran

We study collusion among firms under imperfectly monitored environmental regulation. We develop a model in which firms increase variable profits […]

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Why Do Firms Issue Green Bonds?

Posted on January 12th, 2022 by Tony Tran

Corporate green bond announcements generate positive abnormal stock returns. We suggest this might be because managers use green bonds to […]

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