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This paper explores the extent to which emissions limits on stack concentrations under the Large Combustion Plant (LCP) Directive succeeded in mitigating local air pollutants from thermal power stations in the European Union. We take advantage of the discontinuities in regulation status to show that the emission performance standards led to sizeable declines in concentrations of SO 2 , NOx, and particulate matter from the oldest fleet of combustion plants. We also find that the average response from the existing old plants was stronger than that from the relatively new existing fleet. Taking into account that new plants were not myopic in complying to the standards, we estimate the treatment effect close to the regulation discontinuity date -showing that more stringent performance standards were effective. Finally, those that opted-out were not more likely to retire than similar combustion plants that chose to comply with standards -some evidence of grandfathering-induced shutdown delays.

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This paper studies the long-term distribution of energy-efficiency outcomes in the German residential sector. To uncover the underlying energy efficiency of buildings, we estimate the causal response of building-level heat energy demand to variability in heating degree days.We examine heterogeneity in temperature response using both panel fixed-effects and causal forests. Our results suggest that the distribution of energy-efficiency is not equitable in the West of Germany, with buildings located in the South attaining the best energy performance standards. Although the housing stock in the East is significantly older and thus less subject to building standards, they perform better than the West counterpart, likely as a result of large investments in retrofitting post-reunification. Finally, we show that the regional distribution of energy-efficiency reflects differences in heating needs -thus, the poorer energy performance of buildings in the North-West should be weighed against the warmer climatic zone.