EU-type carbon emissions trade and the distributional impact of overlapping emissions taxes

Arbeitspapier

The European Union fulfills its emissions reductions commitments by means of an emissions trading scheme covering some part of each member state's economy and by national emissions control in the rest of their economies. The member states also levy energy/emissions taxes overlapping with the trading scheme. Restricting our focus on cost-effective policies, this paper investigates the distributive consequences of increasing the overlapping emissions tax that is uniform across countries. For quasi-linear utility functions and for a class of parametric utility and production functions emissions tax increases turn out to be exactly offset by permit price reductions. As a consequence permit-exporting [permit-importing] countries lose [gain] from an increase in the emissions tax. These results are not general, however. By means of a numerical example we show that export-import reversals and welfare reversals are possible.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Volkswirtschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge ; No. 134-09

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Taxation and Subsidies: Efficiency; Optimal Taxation ; Taxation and Subsidies: Incidence ; Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
• Subject: emissions taxes ; emissions trading ; international trade ; Ökosteuer ; Steuerinzidenz ; Emissionshandel ; Außenhandel ; Wohlfahrtseffekt ; Theorie ; EU-Staaten

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Eichner, Thomas ; Pethig, Rüdiger
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Universität Siegen, Fakultät III, Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Wirtschaftsinformatik und Wirtschaftsrecht
• (where): Siegen
• (when): 2009

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/41095
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET