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The Political economy of environmental policy with overlapping generations

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  • Karp, Larry S.
  • Rezai, Amon

Abstract

A two-sector OLG model illuminates previously unexamined intergenerational effects of a tax that protects an environmental stock. A traded asset capitalizes the economic returns to future tax-induced environmental improvements, benefiting the current asset owners, the old generation. Absent a transfer, the tax harms the young generation by decreasing their real wage. Future generations benefit from the tax-induced improvement in environmental stock. The principal intergenerational conflict arising from public policy is between generations alive at the time society imposes the policy, not between generations alive at different times. A Pareto-improving policy can be implemented under various political economy settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Karp, Larry S. & Rezai, Amon, 2012. "The Political economy of environmental policy with overlapping generations," CUDARE Working Papers 123718, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:ucbecw:123718
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.123718
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    Cited by:

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    2. Rozenberg, Julie & Vogt-Schilb, Adrien & Hallegatte, Stephane, 2020. "Instrument choice and stranded assets in the transition to clean capital," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    3. Karine Constant & Marion Davin, 2019. "Unequal Vulnerability to Climate Change and the Transmission of Adverse Effects Through International Trade," Post-Print hal-04215353, HAL.
    4. Pauli Lappi, 2021. "Lobbying for size and slice of the quota," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(5), pages 1143-1162, October.
    5. Kotlikoff, Laurence & Kubler, Felix & Polbin, Andrey & Scheidegger, Simon, 2024. "Can today’s and tomorrow’s world uniformly gain from carbon taxation?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    6. Arnaud Goussebaïle, 2022. "Democratic Climate Policies with Overlapping Generations," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 22/374, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    7. Rising, James A. & Taylor, Charlotte & Ives, Matthew C. & Ward, Robert E.t., 2022. "Challenges and innovations in the economic evaluation of the risks of climate change," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114941, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Andersen, Torben M. & Bhattacharya, Joydeep & Liu, Pan, 2018. "A way to resolve intergenerational conflict over the environment under the Pareto criterion using green bonds," ISU General Staff Papers 201808240700001070, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    9. Michael Hoel & Sverre A.C. Kittelsen & Snorre Kverndokk, 2015. "Pareto Improving Climate Policies: Distributing the Benefits across Generations and Regions," CESifo Working Paper Series 5487, CESifo.
    10. Rising, James A. & Taylor, Charlotte & Ives, Matthew C. & Ward, Robert E.T., 2022. "Challenges and innovations in the economic evaluation of the risks of climate change," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).

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