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Essays on economic assessment of large infrastructure investments, renewable electricity transition from coal-based generation, and mineral auctions
Dipu, Dipesh
Dipu, Dipesh
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2023
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Abstract
In my thesis, I have three essays. The first one is assessment of microeconomic impact of large infrastructure investments on differential growth in employment and wages. I investigate the impact of light rail projects on the counties they serve through two economic outcomes – growth in employment and wages. In the study, I conduct investigation for relative growth rates in employment and wages in Seattle and Denver metro area counties. I find no statistically significant evidence to indicate that these light rail projects may have led to economic outcomes of higher relative growth rates in employment or wages. These results may point to reasons for light rail projects spurring growth rates in employment and wages being dependent on extent and quality of services provided.
In my second essay, I explore if implementation of social cost of carbon, a tax imposed on carbon emissions, will hasten the process of electricity transition from coal based to renewable generation in India. While coal has been the mainstay of power generation sector in India, the trends indicate lower capacity utilization of existing coal power plants and lower present and projected capacity additions in coal based electricity generation. I analyze in this paper the trajectory of Indian electricity sector transition from coal based electricity generation to renewable generation with a dynamic model that captures the falling costs of renewable energy and increasing costs of coal based electricity.
In my third essay, I look at the empirical evidence of coalmine auctions in India to understand how competition affects the bid amounts in common value auctions. The results suggest that competition is instrumental in determining the bids. The presence of higher numbers of bidders in the auction leads to higher bids, although there is no statistically significant mediating or moderating effect of competitive intensity on bidding outcomes.
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