Volume2, No. 2, August 2003

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Does the Varian Mechanism Work?--Emissions Trading as an Example
Yasuyo Hamaguchi
Faculty of Economics, Kyoto sangyo University, Japan
Satoshi Mitani
Matsui Securities Co., Ltd., Japan
Tatsuyoshi Saijo
Institute of social and Economic Research, Osaka University, Japan
 
Abstract
   
This paper investigates whether Varian's(1994) compensation mechanism can work in a laboratory. The results show that this mechanism does not work as in the theory. We found that the magnitude of penalties crucially affects subjects' behavior.
 
Key words: emissions trading; compensation mechanism; experiments
 
 
JEL classification: C91; D62; Q25