IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v29y2013icp186-191.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The optimal aviation gasoline tax for U.S. general aviation

Author

Listed:
  • Sobieralski, Joseph B.

Abstract

This study estimates the optimal aviation gasoline tax for U.S. general aviation that takes into account the accident, lead pollution, and greenhouse gas emission externalities, as well as the balance between excise taxes and labor taxes to finance government spending. The calculated optimal tax rate is $3.60gal−1, which is over 18 times greater than the current tax rate and 5 times greater than the Federal Aviation Administration proposed tax rate. The Pigovian component is $0.89, and we observe that the accident externality is taxed more severely than the pollution externality. The largest component of the optimal tax rate is the Ramsey component at $2.70, which reflects the ability of the government to raise revenue from a price inelastic good like aviation gasoline. The optimal tax is estimated to reduce lead emissions by 9%, greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 18% and accidents by 17%.

Suggested Citation

  • Sobieralski, Joseph B., 2013. "The optimal aviation gasoline tax for U.S. general aviation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 186-191.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:29:y:2013:i:c:p:186-191
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2013.05.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X13000851
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tranpol.2013.05.003?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. Bovenberg, A Lans & Goulder, Lawrence H, 1996. "Optimal Environmental Taxation in the Presence of Other Taxes: General-Equilibrium Analyses," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(4), pages 985-1000, September.
    2. de Bovenberg, A Lans & Mooij, Ruud A, 1994. "Environmental Levies and Distortionary Taxation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 1085-1089, September.
    3. Lawrence H. Goulder, 1998. "Environmental Policy Making in a Second-Best Setting," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 1, pages 279-328, November.
    4. Blundell, Richard & Macurdy, Thomas, 1999. "Labor supply: A review of alternative approaches," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 27, pages 1559-1695, Elsevier.
    5. Helmuth Cremer & Firouz Gahvari & Norbert Ladoux, 2002. "Externalities and Optimal Taxation," Chapters, in: Lawrence H. Goulder (ed.), Environmental Policy Making in Economies with Prior Tax Distortions, chapter 14, pages 210-232, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Ian W.H. Parry & Wallace E. Oates & Ian W.H. Parry & Wallace E. Oates, 2004. "Policy Analysis in the Presence of Distorting Taxes," Chapters, in: Environmental Policy and Fiscal Federalism, chapter 4, pages 67-77, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Ian W. H. Parry & Kenneth A. Small, 2005. "Does Britain or the United States Have the Right Gasoline Tax?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1276-1289, September.
    8. Chouinard, Hayley & Perloff, Jeffrey M., 2004. "Incidence of federal and state gasoline taxes," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 55-60, April.
    9. Richard S.J. Tol & Samuel Fankhauser & Richard G. Richels & Joel B. Smith, 2000. "How Much Damage Will Climate Change Do? Recent Estimates," Working Papers FNU-2, Research unit Sustainability and Global Change, Hamburg University, revised Sep 2000.
    10. Richard S.J. Tol & Samuel Fankhauser & Richard G. Richels & Joel B. Smith, 2000. "How Much Damage Will Climate Change Do?," World Economics, World Economics, 1 Ivory Square, Plantation Wharf, London, United Kingdom, SW11 3UE, vol. 1(4), pages 179-206, October.
    11. Cherie Lu & Peter Morrell, 2006. "Determination and Applications of Environmental Costs at Different Sized Airports – Aircraft Noise and Engine Emissions," Transportation, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 45-61, January.
    12. Lawrence H. Goulder, 1998. "Environmental Policy Making in a Second-Best Setting," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(2), pages 279-328, November.
    13. Sterner, Thomas, 2007. "Fuel taxes: An important instrument for climate policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 3194-3202, June.
    14. Lin, C.-Y. Cynthia & Prince, Lea, 2009. "The optimal gas tax for California," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5173-5183, December.
    15. Serena Ng & Pierre Perron, 2005. "A Note on the Selection of Time Series Models," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 67(1), pages 115-134, February.
    16. A. Bovenberg, 1999. "Green Tax Reforms and the Double Dividend: an Updated Reader's Guide," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 6(3), pages 421-443, August.
    17. Bovenberg, A.L. & Goulder, L.H., 1996. "Optimal environmental taxation in the presence of other taxes : General equilibrium analyses," Other publications TiSEM 5d4b7517-c5c8-4ef6-ab76-3, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    18. Cavanaugh, Joseph E., 1997. "Unifying the derivations for the Akaike and corrected Akaike information criteria," Statistics & Probability Letters, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 201-208, April.
    19. Sobieralski, Joseph B., 2013. "The cost of general aviation accidents in the United States," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 19-27.
    20. Serena Ng & Pierre Perron, 2001. "LAG Length Selection and the Construction of Unit Root Tests with Good Size and Power," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(6), pages 1519-1554, November.
    21. Chouinard, Hayley & Perloff, Jeffrey M., 2004. "Incidence of federal and state gasoline taxes," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 55-60, April.
    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. Tisdall, Lucas & Zhang, Yahua & Zhang, Anming, 2021. "COVID-19 impacts on general aviation – Comparative experiences, governmental responses and policy imperatives," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 273-280.

    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. Antón-Sarabia, Arturo & Hernández-Trillo, Fausto, 2014. "Optimal gasoline tax in developing, oil-producing countries: The case of Mexico," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 564-571.
    2. Ian W. H. Parry, 2003. "Fiscal Interactions and the Case for Carbon Taxes Over Grandfathered Carbon Permits," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(3), pages 385-399.
    3. Ian W. H. Parry & Kenneth A. Small, 2005. "Does Britain or the United States Have the Right Gasoline Tax?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1276-1289, September.
    4. Crago, Christine Lasco & Khanna, Madhu, 2014. "Carbon abatement in the fuel market with biofuels: Implications for second best policies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 89-103.
    5. Daniel Jaqua & Daniel Schaffa, 2022. "The case for subsidizing harm: constrained and costly Pigouvian taxation with multiple externalities," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(2), pages 408-442, April.
    6. Arturo Antón Sarabia & Fausto Hernández Trillo, 2019. "Internalizando externalidades: El impuesto a la gasolina en Guatemala," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 14(1), pages 1-20, Enero-Mar.
    7. Parry, Ian W.H., 2008. "How should heavy-duty trucks be taxed?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 651-668, March.
    8. Hoel, Michael, 2008. "Environmental Taxes in an Economy with Distorting Taxes and a Heterogeneous Population," Memorandum 04/2008, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    9. Zylicz, Tomasz, 2010. "Goals and Principles of Environmental Policy," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 3(4), pages 299-334, May.
    10. Goulder, Lawrence H., 2013. "Climate change policy's interactions with the tax system," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 3-11.
    11. Tscharaktschiew, Stefan, 2014. "Shedding light on the appropriateness of the (high) gasoline tax level in Germany," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 189-210.
    12. William Jaeger, 2011. "The Welfare Effects of Environmental Taxation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 49(1), pages 101-119, May.
    13. Ahlberg, Joakim, 2006. "Optimal Taxation of Intermediate Goods in the Presence of Externalities: A Survey Towards the Transport Sector," Working Papers 2006:3, Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI).
    14. Giménez, Eduardo L. & Rodríguez, Miguel, 2010. "Reevaluating the first and the second dividends of environmental tax reforms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 6654-6661, November.
    15. Santos, Georgina & Behrendt, Hannah & Maconi, Laura & Shirvani, Tara & Teytelboym, Alexander, 2010. "Part I: Externalities and economic policies in road transport," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 2-45.
    16. Ian W.H. Parry & Mr. John Norregaard & Mr. Dirk Heine, 2012. "Environmental Tax Reform: Principles from Theory and Practice to Date," IMF Working Papers 2012/180, International Monetary Fund.
    17. Ian W.H. Parry, 2005. "Fiscal Interactions and the Costs of Controlling Pollution from Electricity," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(4), pages 849-869, Winter.
    18. Cremer, Helmuth & Gahvari, Firouz & Ladoux, Norbert, 2003. "Environmental taxes with heterogeneous consumers: an application to energy consumption in France," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(12), pages 2791-2815, December.
    19. Helmuth Cremer & Firouz Gahvari & Norbert Ladoux, 2001. "Second‐Best Pollution Taxes and the Structure of Preferences," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 68(2), pages 258-280, October.
    20. Glomm, Gerhard & Kawaguchi, Daiji & Sepulveda, Facundo, 2008. "Green taxes and double dividends in a dynamic economy," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 19-32.

    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:trapol:v:29:y:2013:i:c:p:186-191. 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/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30473/description#description .

    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.