Alexey Sinyashin

PhD

Senior Associate, Charles River Associates

RESEARCH AREAS: Industrial Organization, Applied Microeconomics, Energy and the Environment.

RESEARCH

Optimal Policies for Differentiated Green Products: Characteristics and Usage of Electric Vehicles (Working Paper) [pdf]

Abstract: When designing policies for electric vehicles (EVs) policymakers need to decide how to allocate policy support among EVs with different characteristics, since different EVs are likely to have differences in attractiveness to consumers and usage patterns and, hence, differences in environmental impact. In this paper, I build and estimate a structural model of the U.S. auto market that is able to predict market shares and usage patterns of electric and traditional vehicles with different characteristics under various market conditions and is able to assess the effects of policies differentiating on characteristics of EVs. On the demand side, I introduce the concept of consumer inconvenience costs of charging, which depend on EV battery range, charging infrastructure development level, consumer's driving needs, and other individual-specific factors. On the supply side, I model firm choice of prices and battery ranges. The estimation results show that the inconvenience costs have a dramatic effect on consumer purchase decisions and usage patterns of EVs, and, hence, their environmental impact. Also, the results indicate that firms are more likely to adjust battery ranges when policy support depends on battery range. I use the model estimates to evaluate the effects of two major U.S. policies for EVs, the federal subsidy and California's Zero Emission Vehicle regulation, on the environment, consumer surplus, firm profits, and social welfare. I also experiment with alternative structures of the federal subsidy that differentiate on type and battery range of EVs. I find that more efficient structures can improve the environmental effect of the subsidy by 4.6% and the welfare effect by 1.6%. Interestingly, the more efficient structures result in fewer EVs sold, but in more electric miles traveled and more gasoline miles replaced.

Do Big Businesses Influence Media? The Case of Amazon.com and The Washington Post (Working Paper, available by request)

Abstract: Do media outlets bias their coverage of the news about their owners or companies the owners have vested interests in? To shed light on this question, I study how the acquisition of the Washington Post, a major U.S. daily newspaper, by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, affected the coverage of the news about Bezos and Amazon.com. Using data on news stories in several major newspapers, I document that the acquisition resulted in an increase in the number of mentions of Bezos, Amazon or Amazon’s products in the Washington Post, relative to the other newspapers and news stories about other big tech companies. From preliminary sentiment analysis, I found no evidence of change in the tone of the coverage. I discuss various potential explanations of the results, including demand, supply, and behavioral factors.

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