交易费用的批评性考察

交易费用是新制度经济学的基础性概念。由于解释力惊人，近40年来，这个概念不仅频繁地出现于经济学家的论著中，而且迅速地渗透到社会科学的其他领域。然而到目前为止，这个概念尚没有确切的定义，它的性质还未被清楚地揭示出来，其他诸多方面更有待于探索。本文从思想渊源、近期进展、现实根源和分析方法等方面，对交易费用概念进行批评性考察。     

Origins and Development of the EU ETS

The successful creation of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) was not inevitable. Countries such as Canada and Japan which might be thought to have a less complex and more cohesive cultural and institutional context failed to do so. Europe succeeded for a number of reasons: with a Single Market for the economy, the logic of a single market for environment is inexorable; the European Commission—which had failed in its earlier efforts to introduce a carbon energy tax—made the case for trading with great skill and persistence, on the basis of qualified majority voting, which meant no country had a veto; the UK and Denmark initiated their own national schemes, and there was a serious risk of balkanising the market with up to 27 different schemes, with the losses of scale and scope this would entail; meeting the Union’s Kyoto commitments required a substantive pan European response, and EU ETS was the most credible and effective way of doing so. The European Parliament and Environmental Non Governmental Organisations played a constructive role, pushing for more auctioning of allowances and less of them, allocated centrally. Free allocation managed by Member States (MS) was a necessary condition to achieve the support needed, so they failed to achieve these objectives in the initial phase, but they characterize the Commission’s proposals post 2012.     

Options introduction and volatility in the EU ETS

To improve risk management in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), the European Climate Exchange (ECX) has introduced option instruments in October 2006. The central question we address is: can we identify a potential destabilizing effect of the introduction of options on the underlying market (EUA futures)? Indeed, the literature on commodities futures suggest that the introduction of derivatives may either decrease (due to more market depth) or increase (due to more speculation) volatility. As the identification of these effects ultimately remains an empirical question, we use daily data from April 2005 to April 2008 to document volatility behavior in the EU ETS. By instrumenting various GARCH models, endogenous break tests, and rolling window estimations, our results overall suggest that the introduction of the option market had the effect of decreasing the level of volatility in the EU ETS while impacting its dynamics. These findings are fairly robust to other likely influences linked to energy and commodity markets.     

欧盟碳排放交易体系对中国的启示

欧盟排放交易体系是配额碳交易市场最典型的代表,也是到目前为止全球最为成功的排放交易体系,其成功的足迹值得各国学习。文章将介绍欧盟碳排放交易体系的发展现状以及运营模式,并提出中国构建排放交易体系的路径选择。     

企业债券期限结构研究——基于交易成本和代理成本视角

发行长期债券可以降低交易成本．但债券期限越长，代理成本就越高。企业在发行新债券时必须对交易成本和代理成本进行权衡．寻求最优债券期限结构。模型证明，发行企业债券时运用提前赎回条款、卖回条款、偿偾基金条款和转换权等债券契约条款可以同时达到降低发债总成本和延长企业债券融资期限的目的。     

Abatement and Allocation in the Pilot Phase of the EU ETS

We use historical industrial emissions data to assess the level of abatement and over-allocation that took place across European countries during the pilot phase (2005–2007) of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme. Using a dynamic panel data model, we estimate the counter factual (business-as-usual) emissions scenario for EU member states. Comparing this baseline to allocated and verified emissions, we find that both over-allocation and abatement occurred, along with under-allocation and emissions inflation. Over the three trading years of the pilot phase we find over-allocation of approximately 280 million EUAs and total abatement of 247 Mt CO₂. However, we calculate that emissions inflation of approximately 73 Mt CO₂ also occurred, possibly due to uncertainty about future policy design features.     

A Note on Covariance Matrix Estimation in Quantile Regressions

This note discusses some issues related to bandwidth selection based on moment expansions of the mean squared error （MSE） of the regression quantile estimator. We use higher order expansions to provide a way to distinguish among asymptotically equivalent nonparametric estimators. We derive approximations to the （standardized） MSE of the covariance matrix estimation. This facilitates a comparison of different estimators at the second order level, where differences do occur and depend on the bandwidth choice. A method of bandwidth selection is defined by minimizing the second order effect in the mean squared error.     

Home country bias in international emissions trading: Evidence from the EU ETS

We examine the pattern of allowance trades in the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) using highly disaggregated trading data and identify a significant and robust home market bias. Our results point to informational transactions costs that increase when trading across national borders. The existing trade pattern in goods and services explains two thirds of the home bias, with the remainder due to other causes. Our finding suggests that firms make use of existing trade networks to overcome search costs in bilateral allowance trade. Since the home bias differs across firms, it follows that marginal abatement costs are not equalized across market participants of the EU ETS.     

国际制度的形式选择——一个基于国家间交易成本的模型

根据制度化水平的三个维度,国际制度安排的基本形式可分为非正式协议、自我实施的正式协议、一般的正式国际组织和超国家组织。那么,缔约国如何在上述国际制度安排形式之间进行选择?本文尝试从国家间交易成本的角度为这一问题提供一个解释模型。国家间交易成本包括国家间治理成本与国家间缔约成本两个部分。国家间治理成本随着制度化水平的提高而递减,国家间缔约成本随着制度化水平的提高而递增。缔约国在选择国际制度安排形式时,将在国家间治理成本与国家间缔约成本之间进行权衡。作为理性的国际行为主体,缔约国在交易收益给定的情况下,将选择使国家间交易成本最小化的国际制度安排形式。根据这一制度选择模型,本文进一步提出了分别涉及问题领域敏感性、国家同质性、透明度、资产专用性、不确定性和交易频率的六个假说。     

Market Power in Emission Permit Markets: Theory and Evidence from the EU ETS

A well-known result about market power in emission permit markets is that efficiency can be achieved by full free allocation to the dominant firm. I show that this result breaks down when taking the interaction between input and output markets into account, even if the dominant firm perceives market power in the permit market alone. I then examine the empirical evidence for price manipulation by the ten largest electricity firms during phase I of the EU ETS. I find that some firms’ excess allowance holdings are consistent with strategic price manipulation, and that they cannot be explained by price speculation or by precautionary purchases to insure against uncertain future emissions. My results suggest that market power is likely to be an empirically relevant concern during the early years of emission permit markets.     

The Motives for Joint Ventures: A Transaction Costs Analysis of Japanese MNES in the UK

What factors determine the choice of Japanese companies between part and full ownership of their UK subsidiaries? In seeking to answer this question, this study employs data of Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI), through joint ventures, in the UK, not previously used. The main findings of the econometric work presented is that transaction costs are the principal consideration when Japanese firms choose between part and full ownership of their UK subsidiaries{softhyphen}. Variables that have featured prominently in studies relating to either US parents or for subsidiaries in the US do not appear to play a significant role. The European Union (EU) market appears to be the target of Japanese foreign direct investment in the UK.     

Understanding the Transaction Costs of Transition: it's the Culture,Stupid

The process of transition in Central and Eastern Europe from socialism to capitalism is a cultural issue rather than a mere technical one. To support this proposition, economic analysis must explain why and how informal rules affect the results of transition.     

Nonlinearities in carbon spot-futures price relationships during Phase II of the EU ETS

This paper uses the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model and the Switching Transition Regression-Exponential GARCH models (STR-EGARCH) to examine the dynamic relationships between the EU Emission Allowances (EUA) spot and futures prices during Phase II. Compared to the majority of previous studies, our empirical approach allows us to simultaneously capture asymmetry and nonlinearity effects in both return and volatility processes of carbon allowance prices. Our main findings show that carbon spot and futures returns are asymmetrically and nonlinearly linked, suggesting the usefulness of nonlinear models in pricing and forecasting carbon allowances prices.     

试论交易成本的影响面与经济优化

自从科斯在《企业的本质》提出交易成本以来，传统的经济学一直用这一理论解释企业代替市场的原因，本文试图把科斯近理论用来解释帕累托效率和经济制度变迁的理论，说明在交易成本存在的情况下，现的经济只能达到帕累托“次”优，而非理想中的帕累托最优；同时，交易成本的存在也会延缓制度的变迁，从而不能实现理想的制度演化。     

The Impact of the EU ETS on Prices,Profits and Emissions in the Power Sector: Simulation Results with the COMPETES EU20 Model

This paper analyses the impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) on electricity prices, in particular on wholesale power markets across the EU. To study this impact, this paper discusses the major results of a bottom-up modelling analysis of the implications of emissions trading for the performance of the wholesale power market in 20 European countries. The analyses show that a significant part of the costs of (freely allocated) CO₂ emission allowances is passed through to power prices, resulting in higher electricity prices for consumers and additional (‘windfall’) profits for power producers, even in cases of full auctioning. In addition, they show that the ETS-induced increases in power prices depend not only on the level of CO₂ prices but also on the structure of the power market, i.e., the incidence of market power, and the price responsiveness of power demand. Finally, the analyses show that the internalization and pass-through of carbon costs are crucial elements in a policy regime to reduce CO₂ emissions by both changing the mix of power generation technologies and lowering total electricity demand.     

网络零售业中交易成本与顾客价值创造模式

交易成本和顾客价值创造之间存在着较复杂的关联,网络零售业交易成本的降低并不总意味着顾客价值的提高,网络零售业的交易成本与顾客价值相互关系模式中存在四种具体情况,交易成本不是越低越能创造顾客价值,网络零售业企业应注重对顾客交易成本的具体分析。     

The Life Cycle of Regulatory Agencies: Dynamic Capture and Transaction Costs

The dynamics of regulation is analysed in a model where regulatory capture comes from the repeated interaction between an interest group and a regulatory agency. Regulatory institutions offer a framework for this dynamic process. They put constraints on the interest group's influence. The dynamics of regulation and its long-run outcome depend on the political principal's, the regulator's and the regulated form's time preferences and their information. Some foundations for the transaction costs of side-contracting used in the standard literature on collusion are provided. Those transaction costs are linked to the precise nature of regulatory institutions.     

Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Agriculture in the EU: A Spatial Assessment of Sources and Abatement Costs

Agriculture significantly contributes to emissions of greenhouse gases in the EU. By using a farm-type, supply-side oriented, linear-programming model of the European agriculture, the baseline levels of methane and nitrous oxide emissions are assessed at the regional level in the EU-15. For a range of CO₂-equivalent prices, we assess the potential abatement, as well as the resulting optimal mix of emission sources in the total abatement. Furthermore, we show that the spatial variability of the abatement achieved at a given carbon price is large, indicating that abatement cost heterogeneity is a fundamental feature in the design of a mitigation policy. The cost savings permitted by market-based instruments relative to uniform standard are shown to be large.     

流通费用、交易成本与经济空间的创造——《资本论》微观流通理论的当代建构

流通领域的劳动包括“生产性劳动”与“纯粹流通性劳动”.后者不仅没有创造劳动价值,反而耗费生产领域所生产的劳动价值,此即“流通费用”,它与西方经济学的“交易成本”概念相呼应.那种认为唯有创造价值的劳动才有意义以及耗费价值的活动全然没有意义的观点是错误的.劳动创造价值的目的是为了被使用与耗费,其中一部分必然耗费在经济系统内部的流通过程中,但其创造了社会经济运行与发展所需的“经济空间”.经济空间由科技文化创新等生产性劳动创造条件,但由流通领域的交往性劳动实际营造.而流通过程受到两种力量的推动,创造了两种经济空间——“建设性经济空间”和“破坏性经济空间”,其对立统一运动能够解释“诺思第二悖论”.