Global warming: Prices versus quantities from a strategic point of view

This paper investigates how the choices of the instruments affect the interactions in a stock externality game (global warming) between cartelized fossil fuel suppliers and consumers. More precisely, the paper studies the equilibria in Markov strategies in a dynamic game with each player choosing either the quantity or the price strategy including short-run first mover advantages. Indeed OPEC and its opponent IEA have tried both instruments in the past and play currently in quantities. Given such a non-competitive setting, both players should prefer the price instrument. Therefore, both players are expected to switch back to price and tax policies if global warming will be treated effectively.