Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Subsidizing strippers : the impact of royalty rate reductions on the intensive and extensive production margins of marginally producing oil wells(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2016) Bishop, Zachary Andrew; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Randal R. RuckerSubstantial research has been conducted on the impacts of taxation on oil production. However, a void in the literature exists as the distinction has not yet been made between significant and marginal oil production. Using well-level production data from the state of Wyoming, this thesis estimates the impact of royalty rate reductions on marginally-producing, federal oil wells--commonly referred to as stripper wells. The empirical analysis is conducted using fixed effects double- and triple-difference models and a more traditional multiple regression model. The results suggest that production from federal stripper wells increased substantially during the royalty rate reduction program--on both the intensive and extensive production margins.Item An empirical analysis of the impact of state excise taxes on craft breweries in the United States(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2014) Mumford, Sophie Louise; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Anton BekkermanThis thesis evaluates the effects of state excise taxes on the number of craft breweries and total craft beer production within a state between 1991 and 2012. It expands upon previous research on the brewing and beer industry by investigating the craft brewery market separately and empirically examining the relationship between state excise taxes and the supply side of this market. The estimating equations used to study this relationship include lagged dependent variables to account for entry and production stickiness between years. To consistently estimate the models, a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation method is employed to account for endogeneity in the lagged dependent variables. The results from this thesis indicate that there is a significant negative relationship between state excise taxes and both the number of craft breweries and total craft brewery production within a state. Additionally, elasticity estimates suggest that this relationship is inelastic, indicating that breweries are not extremely responsive to changes in the state excise tax. However, these estimates reflect short run elasticities because the estimating equations include both state and year fixed effects. While this thesis does not consider the fact that the number of craft breweries and total craft brewery production are likely jointly determined, it provides preliminary insight into the relationship between state excise taxes and craft breweries in the United States.Item The effects of transaction costs on Northern Plains oil unitization agreements(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2000) Seessel, Andrew Jonathan; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dean Lueck.Under the rule of capture, petroleum production on reservoirs with numerous surface owners leads to significant economic waste from over-drilling and reduced total oil recovery. To mitigate the economic losses from rule of capture, private and regulatory solutions emerged to limit over-production on oil reservoirs. Among these solutions, contracts known as reservoir-wide unitization agreements lead to optimal reservoir development by allowing wells to be placed according to physical and economic conditions. While unit agreements allow for a first-best productive result, the costs of reaching contractual agreement can prohibit unit formation. This thesis examines the determinants of reservoir-wide unitization agreements. The general hypothesis is that increases in costs contracting decrease the likelihood of successful unit formation. A static well-choice model is used to analyze the factors affecting the firm's decision to join a unit. Variations on the model allow the well-choice decision to be derived under various regimes: sole ownership of the reservoir, rule of capture production, and contracting. The well-choice decision for each variation can then be used to determine the value of the reservoir for each regime. Using these values, the probability of unitization can then be linked to increases in the value of the reservoir when it is unitized and increases in the costs of negotiating agreements. Two primary predictions result: 1) as surface landholdings and subsurface physical reservoir properties become more heterogeneous, the probability of unit formation decreases, and 2) laws facilitating the unitization process increase the probability of unit formation. The primary empirical analysis uses probit regressions and case studies to examine data from oil reservoirs in the Northern Plains for the probability of unitization. The estimates indicate successful unitization occurs when surface ownership and reservoir properties are more homogenous, but also that legislation enacted to facilitate the unitization process has little impact on the formation of units.