In many cases the optimal open-loop policy to influence agents who solve dynamic problems is time-inconsistent. We show how to construct a time-consistent open-loop policy rule. We also consider an additional restriction under which the time-consistent open-loop policy is stationary. We use...

We study the optimal quota sequence, in a stationary environment, where a regulator and a non-strategic firm have asymmetric information. The regulator is able to learn about the unknown cost parameter by using a quota that is slack with positive probability. It is never optimal for the...

If a monopoly supplies a perishable good, such as tickets to a performance, and is unable to price discriminate within a period, the monopoly may benefit from the potential entry of resellers. If the monopoly attempts to intertemporally price discriminate, the equilibrium in the game among...

Beliefs about the arrival time of a vaccine have a large effect on optimal social distancing in an SIR model, though the relationship is complex. A higher mean vaccine arrival time can increase or decrease optimal distancing depending on assumptions. We analytically demonstrate two channels that...

We study a model in which the level of environmental regulation depends on abatement costs, which depend on aggregate levels of investment in abatement capital. Firms are non-strategic. When emissions quotas are not tradable, there are multiple competitive equilibria to the investment problem....

“Prices versus quantities” (Weitzman 1974), a hugely influential paper, is widely cited (and taught) in current debates about the best policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The paper’s criterion for ranking policies suggests that technological uncertainty favors taxes over cap and...

We introduce a “smart” cap and trade system that eliminates the welfare costs of asymmetric information (“uncertainty”). This cap responds endogenously to technology or macroeconomic shocks, relying on the market price of certificates to aggregate information. It allows policy makers to...

Currently living agents might have selfish reasons to undertake climate policy, because young agents benefit in the future from an improved climate, and policy affects the asset price. Previous models downplayed the first factor and assumed away the second. Self-interested incentives induce...