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Environmental Effects of a Vehicle Tax Reform: Empirical Evidence from Norway

Author

Listed:
  • Ciccone, Alice

    (Dept. of Economics, University of Oslo)

Abstract

In 2007, the Norwegian government reformed the vehicle registration tax in order to reduce the carbon intensity of the new car fleet by incentivizing the purchase of more fuel efficient cars. This paper identifies the impact of the new tax structure on three main dimensions: (i) the average CO2 emissions intensity of new registered vehicles, (ii) the relative change in sales between low and high polluting cars and (iii) the market share of diesel cars. A Difference in Difference approach is employed to estimate the short run effects on each outcome variable of interest. The results show that the average CO2 intensity of new vehicles was reduced in the year of the implementation of the reform by about 7.5 g of CO2/km. This reduction is the result of a 12 percentage points drop in the share of highly polluting cars and of an increase of about 20 percentage points in the market share of diesel cars.

Suggested Citation

  • Ciccone, Alice, 2015. "Environmental Effects of a Vehicle Tax Reform: Empirical Evidence from Norway," Memorandum 03/2015, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:osloec:2015_003
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    File URL: http://www.sv.uio.no/econ/english/research/unpublished-works/working-papers/pdf-files/2015/memo-03-2015.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Reyer Gerlagh & Inge Bijgaart & Hans Nijland & Thomas Michielsen, 2018. "Fiscal Policy and $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ CO 2 Emissions of New Passenger Cars in the EU," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 69(1), pages 103-134, January.
    2. Linn, Joshua & McConnell, Virginia, 2019. "Interactions between federal and state policies for reducing vehicle emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 507-517.
    3. van den Bijgaart, Inge, 2016. "Essays in environmental economics and policy," Other publications TiSEM 298bee2a-cb08-4173-9fe1-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    CO2 emissions intensity; New vehicles; Vehicle registration tax; Tax reform; Norway; Diesel;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • L62 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Automobiles; Other Transportation Equipment; Related Parts and Equipment
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy

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