China’s Carbon Pricing Based on Heterogeneous Tail Distribution

Abstract

To address climate change, the carbon emission trading scheme has become one of the main measures to achieve emission reduction goals. One of the core problems in constructing the carbon emissions trading market is determining carbon emissions trading prices. The scientific nature of carbon emissions pricing determines the effectiveness of market regulation. Research on the influencing factors and heterogeneous tail distribution of carbon prices can increase the accuracy of carbon pricing, which is particularly important for the development of the carbon emissions trading market. The current studies have some limitations and lack heterogeneous tail description. We employ the arbitrage pricing theory-standardized standard asymmetric exponential power distribution model to analyze China’s regional carbon emissions trading price and use a genetic algorithm to solve linear programming. The results confirm the theoretical results and efficiency of the proposed algorithm. First, the new model can capture the skewness, fat-tailed distribution, and asymmetric effects of China’s regional carbon emissions trading price. Second, the macroeconomy, similar products, energy price, and exchange rate influence the carbon price fluctuation; investors’ behavior plays an important role in the heterogeneous tail distribution of carbon price. The findings provide references for the government to take appropriate measures to promote carbon emission reduction and improve the effectiveness of China’s carbon market. Therefore, our findings can help enhance emission reduction and achieve sustainable development of a low-carbon environment.