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Regulating a Polluting Oligopoly: Emission Tax or Voluntary Agreement?

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  • Maia David

Abstract

This paper compares, in a polluting oligopoly, an emission tax and a form of environmental policy called voluntary agreement (VA). There are here two ways of reducing pollution: output contraction and endof- pipe abatement. Given the imperfect competition, firms' reaction to the tax is sub-optimal. They reduce output excessively in order to raise the price and do not abate enough. The VA is a take-it-or-leaveit contract on abatement effort, offered to the firms with the threat of a tax. It has a limited effect on output and always allows higher abatement than the tax. We find that this kind of VA may be more efficient than the tax in a concentrated industry, when pollution is not too harmful and when the abatement technology is rather efficient and cheap.

Suggested Citation

  • Maia David, 2004. "Regulating a Polluting Oligopoly: Emission Tax or Voluntary Agreement?," Working Papers 2004/07, INRA, Economie Publique.
    • Handle: RePEc:apu:wpaper:2004/07
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

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    2. Catola, Marco & D'Alessandro, Simone, 2020. "Market competition, lobbying influence and environmental externalities," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Pollution regulation;

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy

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