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Understanding the Inequality and Welfare Impacts of Carbon Tax Policies

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Abstract

This paper develops a general equilibrium lifecycle model to explore the welfare and inequality implications of different ways to return carbon tax revenue back to households. We find that the welfare maximizing rebate uses two thirds of carbon-tax revenue to reduce the distortionary tax on capital income while using the remaining one third to increase the progressivity of the labor-income tax. This recycling approach attains higher welfare and more equality than the lump-sum rebate approach preferred by policymakers as well as the approach originally prescribed by economists __ which called exclusively for reductions in distortionary taxes.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephie Fried & Kevin Novan & William B. Peterman, 2024. "Understanding the Inequality and Welfare Impacts of Carbon Tax Policies," Working Paper Series 2024-17, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedfwp:98314
    DOI: 10.24148/wp2024-17
    Note: This paper was previously circulated under the title “Recycling Carbon Tax Revenue to Maximize Welfare.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Carbon tax; inequality; overlapping generations; Revenue recycling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies

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