I study the design of environmental policies for a regulator that has incomplete information on each ...rm’s emissions and production and abatement costs (e.g., urban air pollution in cities with many small polluting sources). Because of incomplete information on emissions, there is no policy that can implement the ...rst-best. Since the regulator can observe ...rms’ abatement technologies, how...

Investments in abatement technology are often characterised by irreversibility and significant implementation lags, whereas emissions permits can be traded at any time. As such, permit trading systems hardly perfect substitutes. We formally study the flexibility of propose a unified framework to rationalise impact both investment/divestment lags relation price permits. Using option pricing conc...

In the Paraguayan city of Asunción 2 years ago, builders complained about long delays in the issuance of building permits. Municipal authorities blamed the builders, saying that they submitted applications without the proper documentation and then could not be reached when follow-up was needed. Who was right? Neither. The problem arose with a group of “expediters” who were taking advantage of t...