According to Nordhaus, the optimal life of a patent T* trades off the ``embarrassment" of monopoly with motivating innovation, given that imitators would otherwise copy inventions and, in competing with innovators, reduce their profit hence incentive to innovate. To test this argument, we...

We study the impact of electricity divestments in a stylised model where a dominant producer faces a competitive fringe with the same cost structure and is forced to sell some of its capacity. For a given demand level, the divestment which achieves the greatest reduction in prices can be several...

One of the greatest challenges faced by the European electricity sector at present, and the foreseeable future, is the need to meet stringent environmental objectives designed to mitigate the risk of costly climate change. This article surveys the main elements of the economics of climate...