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Green taxation and individual responsibility

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  • Ballet, Jerome
  • Bazin, Damien
  • Lioui, Abraham
  • Touahri, David

Abstract

The current article aims at studying the effects of taxation on environmental quality, in an economy where its agents are responsible. Individual responsibility towards nature is modelized by the voluntary effort to which the households have agreed insofar as the improvement of environmental quality is concerned. It is an original way to show that the individuals may feel committed towards the environment and assume obligations towards it as well as towards environmental public policy. Given that, in our model, such effort is taken from one's allocated time for leisure, its opportunity cost is that of the sacrificed time for leisure, and is therefore equal to the individual's wage. We shall highlight that State intervention through the introduction of a (green) tax always crowds out individual responsibility. However, the intensity of this crowding-out depends on the performance of the State. Moreover, State intervention could, depending on the amount of crowding-out, reduce the overall quality of the environment. In a general equilibrium setting, we show that the crowding-out effect is not systematic. This is because there will then be an interaction between effort (or work time) and the cost of that effort (linked to the individual's wage, and therefore to production and finally to work/effort). In this article, we shall discuss the conditions under which public policy crowds out individual responsibility within this context.
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Suggested Citation

  • Ballet, Jerome & Bazin, Damien & Lioui, Abraham & Touahri, David, 2007. "Green taxation and individual responsibility," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 732-739, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:63:y:2007:i:4:p:732-739
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    Cited by:

    1. Gerardo Marletto, 2009. "Heterodox Environmental Economix: Theoretical Strands in Search of a Paradigm," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(1), pages 25-33.
    2. Florian Marcel Nuta & Anca Gabriela Turtureanu, 2012. "Considerations Regarding the Environmental Responsibility and Taxation," Acta Universitatis Danubius. OEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 1(1), pages 195-203, March.
    3. Florian Marcel Nu?a & Alina Cristina Nu?a, 2012. "The Impact of Financial Performance upon the Social Responsibility of Romanian SMEs – Point of View," Acta Universitatis Danubius. OEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 4(4), pages 25-31, August.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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