David S. Rapson

Regulating CO2 Emissions

David S. Rapson's current research focus is on transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions. The transportation sector is heavily reliant on fossil fuel energy for power, both via the internal combustion engine and also by electric vehicles that are powered largely by natural gas and coal. The first best remedy is clear: place a tax on CO2 emissions equal to marginal damages. However, while some regions have carbon prices, many do not and none has the optimal level. Instead we rely on fuel economy standards, subsidies for next generation vehicles and other regulations with the hope that these will yield abatement. Mr Rapson investigates how aspects of the vehicle market may undermine these command-and-control policies, and he seeks to quantify the costs of diverging from the first best policy.

Mr Rapson's research focuses on energy economics, environmental policy and industrial organisation. Many of his projects involve collaboration with electric utility companies and government regulatory agencies, with a focus on informing policy decisions in the transportation and electricity sectors. His research includes the evaluation of dynamic electricity pricing regimes, carbon offset programmes and the design and analysis of large-scale randomised field experiments to test the role of information and prices on consumer electricity demand. An area of ongoing research interest explores carbon abatement in the transportation sector.

David Rapson is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of California at Davis. His research has been published in the American Economic Review, Nature and other academic journals. He holds an AB in Economics from Dartmouth College, an MA in Economics from Queen's University and a PhD in Economics from Boston University. Mr Rapson is currently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization and sits on the Editorial Council of the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.