Research

Publications – Working Papers – Work in progress – Book Chapters and Policy Reports

Publications

Fabra N. (2026), The Price and Emissions Effects of Extending Nuclear Lifetimes: Evidence from Spain, SERIEs, May 2026.

Andrés-Cerezo, D. and Fabra, N. (2026) “Storage and Renewable Energies: Friends or Foes?“, The Economic Journal, forthcoming. [Replication package].

Reguant, M., Fabra, N., and J.Wang (2025) “The Distributional Impacts of Time-Varying Electricity Pricing: A Novel Approach to Estimating Household Income,” Journal of the European Economic Association, forthcoming.

Fabra, N. and Llobet, G. (2025) “Designing Contracts for the Energy Transition” International Journal of Industrial Organization, 102, 103173.

Fabra, N. and Llobet, G. (2025) “Fossil Fuels and Renewable Energy: Mix or Match?” Rand Journal of Economics, 57(1), Spring 2026, 140–157.

Fabra, N., Gutiérrez E., Lacuesta A., and Ramos, R. (2024) “Do Renewable Energy Investments Create Local Jobs?”, Journal of Public Economics,  239, November, 105212.

Fabra, N., Pintassilgo, C. and Souza, M. (2024) “Observed Patterns of Use and Users of Free-Floating Car-Sharing“, SERIEs, 15, 259–297. [Cite]

Fabra, N. and Reguant, M. (2024) “The Energy Transition. A Balancing Act“, Resource and Energy Economics. 76. [Cite]

Fabra, N., (2023) “Reforming European Electricity Markets: Lessons from the Energy Crisis“, Energy Economics. 126, 106963. [Cite]

Fabra, N. and Imelda (2023) “Market Power and Price Exposure: Learning from Changes in Renewables Regulation“, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 15 (4), 323-358. [Cite] [PDF]

Fabra, N. and Llobet, G. (2023) “Auctions with Privately Known Capacities: Understanding Competition among Renewable Energies”, The Economic Journal. 133 (651), 1106-1146. [Cite] [Replication Package]

Fabra, N. and Montero, J. P. (2023) “Technology Neutral versus Technology Specific Procurement“, The Economic Journal, 133 (650), 669-705. [Cite] [Replication Package]

Fabra, N. and Andrés-Cerezo, D. (2023) “Storing Power: Markets Structure Matters“, RAND Journal of Economics, 54 (1), 3-53. [Cite]

Fabra, N., A. Lacuesta and M. Souza (2022) “The Implicit Cost of Carbon Abatement during the COVID-19 Pandemic“, European Economic Review, 147, 104-165.  [Cite]

Fabra, N., M. Motta, and M. Peitz (2022). “Learning from Electricity Markets: How to Design a Resilience Strategy“, Energy Policy, 168, 113-116 [Cite]

Fabra, N., O. Bover, S. García-Uribe, A. Lacuesta, and R. Ramos (2022) “Firms and Households during the Pandemic: What do we Learn from their Electricity Consumption?“, The Energy Journal, 44(3). [Cite]

Fabra, N. and Montero, J.P. (2022) “Product Lines and Price Discrimination in Markets with Information Frictions”,  Management Science, 68 (2). [Cite]

Fabra, N. (2021) “The Energy Transition: an Industrial Economics Perspective“, International Journal of Industrial Organization, 79, 102-134. [Cite]

Fabra, N., D. Rapson, M. Reguant, and J. Wang (2021) “Estimating the Elasticity to Real Time Pricing: Evidence from the Spanish Electricity Market“, American Economic Association Papers & Proceedings, 111, 425-29.

Fabra, N. and Reguant, M. (2020) “A Model of Search with Price Discrimination“, European Economic Review, 129. [Cite]

Fabra, N. and Bian, X. (2020) “Incentives for Information Provision: Energy Efficiency in the Spanish Rental Markets“, Energy Economics, 90. [Cite]

Fabra, N. (2018) “A Primer on Capacity Mechanisms“, Energy Economics 75, 323-335. [Cite]

Fabra, N. and García, A. (2015) “Dynamic Price Competition with Switching Costs”,  Dynamic Games and Applications 5 (4), 540-567. [Cite]

Fabra, N. and García, A. (2015) “Market Structure and the Competitive Effects of Switching Costs“, Economics Letters 126, 150-155. [Cite]

Fabra, N. and Reguant, M. (2014) “Passthrough of Emission Costs in Electricity Markets”, American Economic Review 104(9), 2872-2899. 
Highlighted in the NBER Digest, March 2014 and at Nature Climate Change  4, 860, October 2014. [Cite]

De Frutos, M.A. and Fabra, N. (2012) “How to Allocate Forward Contracts: the case of electricity markets“, European Economic Review 56(3), 451-469. [Cite]

Fabra, N., N.H. von der Fehr and M.A. De Frutos, M.A. (2011) “Market Design and Investment Incentives”, Economic Journal 121, 1340–1360. [Cite]

De Frutos, M.A. and Fabra, N. (2011) “Endogenous Capacities and Price Competition: the Role of Uncertainty“, International Journal of Industrial Organization 29(4), 399-411. [Cite]

Campos, E., N. Fabra and García, A. (2007) “Dynamic Auctions for On-demand Services“, IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics 37 (6), 878-886. [Cite]

Fabra, N. and Creti, A. (2007) “Supply Security and Short-Run Capacity Markets for Electricity “, Energy Economics 29(2), 259-276. [Cite]

Fabra, N. (2006) “Collusion with Capacity Constraints over the Business Cycle“, International Journal of Industrial Organization 24(1), 69-81. [Cite]

Fabra, N., von der Fehr, N.H. and Harbord, D. (2006) “Designing Electricity Auctions“, Rand Journal of Economics 37 (1), 23-346. [Cite]

Fabra, N., and Toro, J. (2005) “Price Wars and Collusion in the Spanish Electricity Market“, International Journal of Industrial Organization 23(3), 155-181. [Cite]

Crampes, C. and Fabra, N. (2005) “The Spanish Electricity Industry: Plus ca changes”, The Energy Journal 26. [Cite]

Fabra, N. (2003) “Tacit Collusion in Repeated Auctions: Uniform versus Discriminatory auctions“, Journal of Industrial Economics L1(3), 271-293. [Cite]

Fabra, N., N.H. von der Fehr and Harbord, D. (2002) “Modelling Electricity Auctions“, Electricity Journal 15(7), 72-81. [Cite] 

Working Papers

This paper investigates the implications of buyer counterparty risk – stemming from the likelihood of renegotiations under the threat of default – on the equiilibrium performance of long-term contract markets. The paper also evaluates public policy interventions, including public support, financial guarantees, and collateral requirements.

The surge in gas prices triggered by the war in Ukraine led to an unprecedented increase in electricity wholesale prices, which passed through to electricity retail prices. Regulatory interventions in wholesale and retail markets partly mitigated the impacts on consumers. In the context of the Spanish electricity market, this paper quantifies the distributional implications of the energy crisis and the subsequent market interventions, disentangling the distributional effects between consumers and electricity companies and across consumer groups.

Work in Progress

  • “Data Centers, Electricity Prices and Local Employment“ (with Mercedes García-Escribano, Ha Minh Nguyen, and Gabriela Penaherrera) COMING SOON!!

We study how U.S. data center expansion reshapes local labor and electricity markets. Host-county employment does not rise during construction but declines once facilities become operational—exactly when retail electricity prices start to rise. Both effects concentrate in utilities exposed to wholesale markets, where procurement costs pass through to retail rates within months, pointing to electricity prices as a key channel behind the local economic impact of data centers.

  • “The End of Coal: Labor Market Transitions in Coal-Dependent Regions“ (with Eduardo Gutierrez and Roberto Ramos) COMING SOON!

Studying the end of coal-fired generation in Spain, we find that plant closures reduced local employment and population but paradoxically lowered unemployment, as outmigration—concentrated among working-age
residents—left behind an older, poorer population; displaced workers were significantly more likely to relocate toward areas with renewable investment, especially within a 100 km radius. Social Security microdata further show a rise in direct job-to-job transitions from thermal to renewable electricity generation, indicating that renewable expansion offers a partial, though geographically bounded, channel for labor reallocation.

  • “Designing Low Emission Zones: Theory and Evidence” (with Barahona, N., Imelda, and Montero, J. P.) COMING SOON!!

We investigate whether hybrids qualify as transition technologies in the shift from combustion engines to electric vehicles (EVs), using Madrid’s Low Emission Zones (LEZ) as a case study. Allowing hybrids in LEZs increased their sales but had minimal impact on EV sales. A structural model evaluates car sales under different LEZ policy stringencies, shedding light on the optimal stringency policy and size of the LEZ.

  • “The Welfare Effects of Car Sharing” (with Erich Muehlegger and Mateus Souza)

We match data from several sources to understand mobility patterns across the city of Madrid. We then build models for the choice of transportation mode, as well as the city’s congestion technology, taking into account the availability of parking across different areas. Within this context, we aim to estimate the welfare effects of car sharing along several dimensions.

  • “Scoring Auctions with Price Exposure“ (with Gerard Llobet)
  • “Multi-Unit Scoring Auctions: Quantity versus Quality“ (with Juan Pablo Montero)
  • “Green Revenues, Local Amenities, and Migration: Evidence from Renewable Energy Deployment“ (with Ozgen Kiribrahim-Sarikaya)
  • “Powering the Energy Transition: Progress and Challenges“ (with Mar Reguant)

Special Issues

Book Chapters

Policy Reports

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