IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v191y2024ics0301421524001964.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Climate change policies and income inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Bettarelli, Luca
  • Furceri, Davide
  • Pizzuto, Pietro
  • Shakoor, Nadia

Abstract

This paper examines the dynamic impact of Climate Change Policies (CCPs) on income inequality, for a sample of 39 developed and developing countries, during the period 1990–2020. The results show that CCPs are associated with a significant and persistent increase in income inequality. The effect is robust across various measures of inequality and sensitivity tests, including an instrumental variable strategy. The effect of CCPs only materializes in the case of market-based CCPs, is stronger in countries characterized by a higher share of low-educated workers and initial level of inequality, while is mitigated in those with comprehensive redistribution policies, and during periods of fiscal expansions and stronger economic growth. These findings have important policy implications, as they emphasize the importance of the timing and design of CCPs, as well as the role of complementary policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Bettarelli, Luca & Furceri, Davide & Pizzuto, Pietro & Shakoor, Nadia, 2024. "Climate change policies and income inequality," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:191:y:2024:i:c:s0301421524001964
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114176
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421524001964
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114176?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Battistini, Niccolò & Di Nino, Virginia & Dossche, Maarten & Kolndrekaj, Aleksandra, 2022. "Energy prices and private consumption: what are the channels?," Economic Bulletin Articles, European Central Bank, vol. 3.
    2. Yin, Jianhua & Zheng, Mingzheng & Chen, Jian, 2015. "The effects of environmental regulation and technical progress on CO2 Kuznets curve: An evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 97-108.
    3. Lucas Chancel, 2022. "Global carbon inequality over 1990–2019," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-04157767, HAL.
    4. Burlinson, Andrew & Giulietti, Monica & Battisti, Giuliana, 2018. "The elephant in the energy room: Establishing the nexus between housing poverty and fuel poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 135-144.
    5. Dinan, Terry & Rogers, Diane Lim, 2002. "Distributional Effects of Carbon AllowanceTrading: How Government Decisions Determine Winners and Losers," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 55(2), pages 199-221, June.
    6. Marshall Burke & Solomon M. Hsiang & Edward Miguel, 2015. "Global non-linear effect of temperature on economic production," Nature, Nature, vol. 527(7577), pages 235-239, November.
    7. Smulders, Sjak & Tsur, Yacov & Zemel, Amos, 2012. "Announcing climate policy: Can a green paradox arise without scarcity?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 364-376.
    8. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2014. "US Food Aid and Civil Conflict," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1630-1666, June.
    9. Hussein, Zekarias & Hertel, Thomas W. & Golub, Alla, 2013. "Climate change, mitigation policy, and poverty in developing countries," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150732, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Hites Ahir & Nicholas Bloom & Davide Furceri, 2022. "The world uncertainty index," POID Working Papers 031, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    11. Marian Leimbach & Anastasis Giannousakis, 2019. "Burden sharing of climate change mitigation: global and regional challenges under shared socio-economic pathways," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 273-291, July.
    12. Giovanni Marin & Francesco Vona, 2017. "The impact of Energy Prices on Employment and Environmental Performance : Evidence from French Manufacturing Establishments," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2017-26, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    13. Dechezleprêtre, Antoine & Fabre, Adrien & Kruse, Tobias & Planterose, Bluebery & Chico, Ana Sanchez & Stantcheva, Stefanie, 2022. "Fighting Climate Change: International Attitudes Toward Climate Policies," CEPR Discussion Papers 17602, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Latré, Edwin & Perko, Tanja & Thijssen, Peter, 2017. "Public opinion change after the Fukushima nuclear accident: The role of national context revisited," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 124-133.
    15. Cacciatore, Matteo & Duval, Romain & Furceri, Davide & Zdzienicka, Aleksandra, 2021. "Fiscal multipliers and job-protection regulation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    16. Dorband, Ira Irina & Jakob, Michael & Kalkuhl, Matthias & Steckel, Jan Christoph, 2019. "Poverty and distributional effects of carbon pricing in low- and middle-income countries – A global comparative analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 246-257.
    17. Joseph S. Shapiro & Reed Walker, 2018. "Why Is Pollution from US Manufacturing Declining? The Roles of Environmental Regulation, Productivity, and Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(12), pages 3814-3854, December.
    18. Gregoire Garsous, Tomasz Kozluk, Dennis Dlugosch, 2020. "Do Energy Prices Drive Outward FDI? Evidence from a Sample of Listed Firms," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 63-80.
    19. Cole, Matthew A. & Elliott, Robert J.R. & Shimamoto, Kenichi, 2005. "Industrial characteristics, environmental regulations and air pollution: an analysis of the UK manufacturing sector," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 121-143, July.
    20. Vona, Francesco, 2023. "Managing the distributional effects of climate policies: A narrow path to a just transition," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    21. Furceri, Davide & Ganslmeier, Michael & Ostry, Jonathan, 2023. "Are climate change policies politically costly?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    22. Alan J. Auerbach & Yuriy Gorodnichenko, 2013. "Output Spillovers from Fiscal Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(3), pages 141-146, May.
    23. Campagnolo, Lorenza & Davide, Marinella, 2019. "Can the Paris deal boost SDGs achievement? An assessment of climate mitigation co-benefits or side-effects on poverty and inequality," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 96-109.
    24. Georg Zachmann & Anta Ndoye & Jan Abrell, 2011. "Assessing the impact of the EU ETS using firm level data," Working Papers 579, Bruegel.
    25. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Daniel Nachtigall & Balazs Stadler, 2020. "The effect of energy prices and environmental policy stringency on manufacturing employment in OECD countries: Sector- and firm-level evidence," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1625, OECD Publishing.
    26. Alberto Alesina & Alex Cukierman, 1990. "The Politics of Ambiguity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(4), pages 829-850.
    27. Hans-Werner Sinn, 2008. "Public policies against global warming: a supply side approach," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(4), pages 360-394, August.
    28. Yip, Chi Man, 2018. "On the labor market consequences of environmental taxes," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 136-152.
    29. Enrico Botta & Tomasz Koźluk, 2014. "Measuring Environmental Policy Stringency in OECD Countries: A Composite Index Approach," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1177, OECD Publishing.
    30. Luca Bettarelli & Davide Furceri & Pietro Pizzuto & Nadia Shakoor, 2023. "Environmental Policies and Innovation in Renewable Energy," IMF Working Papers 2023/180, International Monetary Fund.
    31. Lucas Chancel, 2022. "Global carbon inequality over 1990–2019," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 5(11), pages 931-938, November.
    32. Grégoire Garsous & Tomasz Kozluk & Dennis Dlugosch, 2020. "Do Energy Prices Drive Outward FDI? Evidence from a Sample of Listed Firms," The Energy Journal, , vol. 41(3), pages 63-80, May.
    33. Jean Pisani-Ferry, 2021. "Climate policy is macroeconomic policy, and the implications will be significant," Policy Briefs PB21-20, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    34. Marin, Giovanni & Vona, Francesco, 2021. "The impact of energy prices on socioeconomic and environmental performance: Evidence from French manufacturing establishments, 1997–2015," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    35. Dennis Dlugosch & Tomasz Kozluk, 2017. "Energy prices, environmental policies and investment: Evidence from listed firms," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1378, OECD Publishing.
    36. Albrizio, Silvia & Kozluk, Tomasz & Zipperer, Vera, 2017. "Environmental policies and productivity growth: Evidence across industries and firms," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 209-226.
    37. Lucas Chancel, 2022. "Global carbon inequality over 1990–2019," Post-Print halshs-04157767, HAL.
    38. Yu, Fan & Xiao, De & Chang, Meng-Shiuh, 2021. "The impact of carbon emission trading schemes on urban-rural income inequality in China: A multi-period difference-in-differences method," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    39. Diego R. Känzig, 2023. "The Unequal Economic Consequences of Carbon Pricing," NBER Working Papers 31221, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    40. Bjoern Soergel & Elmar Kriegler & Benjamin Leon Bodirsky & Nico Bauer & Marian Leimbach & Alexander Popp, 2021. "Combining ambitious climate policies with efforts to eradicate poverty," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    41. Cevik, Serhan & Jalles, João Tovar, 2023. "For whom the bell tolls: Climate change and income inequality," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    42. Melissa Dell & Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2012. "Temperature Shocks and Economic Growth: Evidence from the Last Half Century," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 66-95, July.
    43. Bird, Deanne K. & Haynes, Katharine & van den Honert, Rob & McAneney, John & Poortinga, Wouter, 2014. "Nuclear power in Australia: A comparative analysis of public opinion regarding climate change and the Fukushima disaster," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 644-653.
    44. Granger, Clive W. J. & Terasvirta, Timo, 1993. "Modelling Non-Linear Economic Relationships," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198773207.
    45. Serhan Cevik, João Tovar Jalles, 2023. "For Whom the Bell Tolls: Climate Change and Income Inequality," Working Papers REM 2023/0277, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    46. Dinan, Terry & Rogers, Diane Lim, 2002. "Distributional Effects of Carbon AllowanceTrading: How Government Decisions Determine Winners and Losers," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 55(N. 2), pages 199-221, June.
    47. Michael E. Porter & Claas van der Linde, 1995. "Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 97-118, Fall.
    48. Bettarelli, Luca & Estefania-Flores, Julia & Furceri, Davide & Loungani, Prakash & Pizzuto, Pietro, 2023. "Energy inflation and consumption inequality," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    49. Colin Cameron & Shonali Pachauri & Narasimha D. Rao & David McCollum & Joeri Rogelj & Keywan Riahi, 2016. "Policy trade-offs between climate mitigation and clean cook-stove access in South Asia," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(1), pages 1-5, January.
    50. Galvin, Ray & Sunikka-Blank, Minna, 2018. "Economic Inequality and Household Energy Consumption in High-income Countries: A Challenge for Social Science Based Energy Research," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 78-88.
    51. Heinz Welsch & Philipp Biermann, 2017. "Energy Affordability and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence for European Countries," The Energy Journal, , vol. 38(3), pages 159-176, May.
    52. Long, Shaobo & Zhang, Rui, 2022. "The asymmetric effects of international oil prices, oil price uncertainty and income on urban residents’ consumption in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 789-805.
    53. Burke, Marshall & Hsiang, Solomon M & Miguel, Edward, 2015. "Global non-linear effect of temperature on economic production," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt3g72r0zv, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    54. Tomasz Koźluk & Christina Timiliotis, 2016. "Do environmental policies affect global value chains?: A new perspective on the pollution haven hypothesis," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1282, OECD Publishing.
    55. Song, Qijiao & Qin, Ming & Wang, Ruichen & Qi, Ye, 2020. "How does the nested structure affect policy innovation?: Empirical research on China's low carbon pilot cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    56. Luca Bettarelli & Khatereh Yarveisi, 2023. "Climate change policies and emissions in European regions: disentangling sources of heterogeneity," Regional Studies, Regional Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 723-734, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiaoke Zhu & Qiyun Deng & Shuo Zhang, 2024. "Toward low-carbon transition: Does carbon regulation matter for spatial development inequality?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(6), pages 1-29, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dechezleprêtre, Antoine & Kozluk, Tomasz & Kruse, Tobias & Nachtigall, Daniel & de Serres, Alain, 2019. "Do Environmental and Economic Performance Go Together? A Review of Micro-level Empirical Evidence from the Past Decade or So," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 13(1-2), pages 1-118, April.
    2. Marin, Giovanni & Vona, Francesco, 2019. "Climate policies and skill-biased employment dynamics: Evidence from EU countries," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Francesco Jacopo Pintus & Jan P.A.M. Jacobs & Elmer Sterken & Jan Jacobs, 2024. "Fiscal Impacts of Climate Anomalies," CESifo Working Paper Series 11548, CESifo.
    4. Cevik Serhan & Jalles Joao, 2024. "Eye of the Storm: The Impact of Climate Shocks on Inflation and Growth," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 75(2), pages 109-138.
    5. Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, 2022. "Rendre acceptable la nécessaire taxation du carbone. Quelles pistes pour la France ?," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(1), pages 15-53.
    6. Marin, Giovanni & Vona, Francesco, 2021. "The impact of energy prices on socioeconomic and environmental performance: Evidence from French manufacturing establishments, 1997–2015," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    7. Vona, Francesco, 2023. "Managing the distributional effects of climate policies: A narrow path to a just transition," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    8. Gilli, Martino & Calcaterra, Matteo & Emmerling, Johannes & Granella, Francesco, 2024. "Climate change impacts on the within-country income distributions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    9. Bettarelli, Luca & Furceri, Davide & Pizzuto, Pietro & Yarveisi, Khatereh, 2024. "Crises and energy markets reforms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    10. Mahalik, Mantu Kumar & Patel, Gupteswar & Sahoo, Bimal Kishore & Rahman, Mohammad Mafizur, 2023. "Impact of income inequality on renewable energy demand in south Asian economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    11. Fabra, Natalia & Reguant, Mar, 2024. "The energy transition: A balancing act," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    12. Cevik Serhan & Jalles Joao, 2024. "Eye of the Storm: The Impact of Climate Shocks on Inflation and Growth," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 75(2), pages 109-138.
    13. Sterner, Thomas & Ewald, Jens & Sterner, Erik, 2024. "Economists and the climate," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    14. Barrows, Geoffrey & Ollivier, Hélène, 2021. "Foreign demand, developing country exports, and CO2 emissions: Firm-level evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    15. Calì, Massimiliano & Cantore, Nicola & Marin, Giovanni & Mazzanti, Massimiliano & Nicolli, Francesco & Presidente, Giorgio, 2023. "Energy prices and the economic performance of firms in emerging countries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 357-366.
    16. Malerba, Daniele & Roscioli, Federico & Gaentzsch, Anja & Ward, Hauke, 2024. "Changing carbon footprints and the consequent impacts of carbon taxes and cash transfers on poverty and inequality across years: A Peruvian case study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    17. Liu, Hongxun & Gao, Jinfeng & Tian, Peng & Ma, Xiaoming & Meng, Guanfei & Yang, Jingnan & Li, Zhi, 2023. "The impact of environmental regulation on productivity with co-production of goods and bads," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    18. Missbach, Leonard & Steckel, Jan Christoph, 2024. "Distributional impacts of climate policy and effective compensation: Evidence from 88 countries," EconStor Preprints 296491, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    19. Benatti, Nicola & Groiss, Martin & Kelly, Petra & Lopez-Garcia, Paloma, 2024. "Environmental regulation and productivity growth in the euro area: Testing the porter hypothesis," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    20. Zhao, Congyu & Jia, Rongwen & Dong, Kangyin, 2023. "Does financial inclusion achieve the dual dividends of narrowing carbon inequality within cities and between cities? Empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate change policy; Income inequality; Local projections; SDGs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H00 - Public Economics - - General - - - General
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:191:y:2024:i:c:s0301421524001964. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.