IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/41491.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Biofuel subsidies and international trade

Author

Listed:
  • Bandyopadhyay, Subhayu
  • Bhaumik, Sumon
  • Wall, Howard J.

Abstract

This paper explores optimal biofuel subsidies in a general equilibrium trade model. The focus is on the production of biofuels such as corn-based ethanol, which diverts corn from use as food. In the small-country case, when the tax on crude is not available as a policy option, a second-best biofuel subsidy may or may not be positive. In the large-country case, the twin objectives of pollution reduction and terms-of-trade improvement justify a combination of crude tax and biofuel subsidy for the food exporter. Finally, we show that when both nations engage in biofuel policies, the terms-of-trade effects encourage the Nash equilibrium subsidy to be positive (negative) for the food exporting (importing) nation.

Suggested Citation

  • Bandyopadhyay, Subhayu & Bhaumik, Sumon & Wall, Howard J., 2010. "Biofuel subsidies and international trade," MPRA Paper 41491, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 21 Sep 2012.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:41491
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/41491/2/MPRA_paper_41491.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2004. "Trade, Growth, and the Environment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(1), pages 7-71, March.
    2. Marjit, Sugata & Kar, Saibal & Beladi, Hamid, 2007. "Protectionary bias in agriculture: A pure economic argument," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 160-164, June.
    3. Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 1994. "North-South Trade and the Environment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(3), pages 755-787.
    4. Harry de Gorter & David R. Just, 2010. "The Social Costs and Benefits of Biofuels: The Intersection of Environmental, Energy and Agricultural Policy," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 32(1), pages 4-32.
    5. Jeffrey A. Frankel & Andrew K. Rose, 2005. "Is Trade Good or Bad for the Environment? Sorting Out the Causality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 85-91, February.
    6. R. Quentin Grafton & Tom Kompas & Ngo Van Long, 2010. "Biofuels Subsidies and the Green Paradox," CESifo Working Paper Series 2960, CESifo.
    7. Bhagwati, Jagdish N & Brecher, Richard A & Hatta, Tatsuo, 1983. "The Generalized Theory of Transfers and Welfare: Bilateral Transfers in a Multilateral World," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(4), pages 606-618, September.
    8. Farzad Taheripour, 2008. "Welfare Effects and Unintended Consequences of Ethanol Subsidies ," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 30(3), pages 411-421.
    9. Lopez Ramon, 1994. "The Environment as a Factor of Production: The Effects of Economic Growth and Trade Liberalization," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 163-184, September.
    10. Werner Antweiler & Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2001. "Is Free Trade Good for the Environment?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 877-908, September.
    11. Rauscher, Michael, 1997. "International Trade, Factor Movements, and the Environment," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198290506.
    12. Jen Baggs, 2009. "International Trade in Hazardous Waste," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 1-16, February.
    13. Lapan, Harvey E. & Moschini, GianCarlo, 2009. "Biofuels policies and welfare: is the stick of mandates better than the carrot of subsidies?," ISU General Staff Papers 200906100700001138, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    14. Vedenov, Dmitry & Wetzstein, Michael, 2008. "Toward an optimal U.S. ethanol fuel subsidy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 2073-2090, September.
    15. Madhu Khanna & Amy W. Ando & Farzad Taheripour, 2008. "Welfare Effects and Unintended Consequences of Ethanol Subsidies," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 30(3), pages 411-421.
    16. Dean, Judith M., 1992. "Trade and the environment : a survey of the literature," Policy Research Working Paper Series 966, The World Bank.
    17. Harry G. Johnson, 1953. "Optimum Tariffs and Retaliation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 21(2), pages 142-153.
    18. Oecd, 2006. "Agricultural Market Impacts of Future Growth in the Production of Biofuels," OECD Papers, OECD Publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 1-57.
    19. Fredriksson, Per G., 1997. "The Political Economy of Pollution Taxes in a Small Open Economy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 44-58, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Does it make sense to subsidize biofuels?
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2011-06-07 19:52:00

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fabio Antoniou & Panos Hatzipanayotou & Nikos Tsakiris, 2024. "Regulatory Stringency and Emission Leakage Mitigation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 87(6), pages 1407-1424, June.
    2. Wei, Wenjie, 2014. "Welfare and Environmental Effects of Subsidies and Tariffs in North-South Trade in Renewable Energy Equipment," 2014 Conference (58th), February 4-7, 2014, Port Macquarie, Australia 165887, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    3. Jussila Hammes , Johanna, 2014. "A biofuel mandate and a low carbon fuel standard with ‘double counting’," Working papers in Transport Economics 2014:19, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI).
    4. Michael S. Michael & Panos Hatzipanayotou & Nikos Tsakiris, 2023. "Can Small Economies Act Strategically? The Case of Consumption Pollution and Non-tradable Goods," DEOS Working Papers 2312, Athens University of Economics and Business.
    5. Fabio Antoniou & Panos Hatzipanayotou & Michael S. Michael & Nikos Tsakiris, 2022. "Tax competition in the presence of environmental spillovers," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(3), pages 600-626, June.

    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. repec:pra:mprapa:41490 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Subhayu Bandyopadhyay & Sumon Bhaumik & Howard J. Wall, 2009. "Biofuel subsidies: an open-economy analysis," Working Papers 2009-053, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    3. Cui, Jingbo, 2012. "Three essays on biofuel, environmental economics, and international trade," ISU General Staff Papers 201201010800003311, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    4. Pascalau, Razvan & Qirjo, Dhimitri, 2017. "TTIP and the Environmental Kuznets Curve," MPRA Paper 80192, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Shi, Xinzheng & Zhang, Ming-ang, 2023. "Waste import and air pollution: Evidence from China's waste import ban," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    6. Rauscher, Michael, 2001. "International trade, foreign investment, and the environment," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 29, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    7. Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2004. "Trade, Growth, and the Environment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(1), pages 7-71, March.
    8. Michael Benarroch & James Gaisford, 2014. "Intra-industry Trade Liberalization and the Environment," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 886-904, November.
    9. Cherniwchan, Jevan, 2012. "Economic growth, industrialization, and the environment," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 442-467.
    10. Jeffrey A. Frankel, 2003. "The Environment and Globalization," NBER Working Papers 10090, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Anriquez, Gustavo, 2002. "Trade And The Environment: An Economic Literature Survey," Working Papers 28598, University of Maryland, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    12. Ajayi, Patricia & Ogunrinola, Adedeji, 2020. "Growth, Trade Openness and Environmental Degradation in Nigeria," MPRA Paper 100713, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasreen, Samia & Ahmed, Khalid & Hammoudeh, Shawkat, 2017. "Trade openness–carbon emissions nexus: The importance of turning points of trade openness for country panels," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 221-232.
    14. Moinul Islam & Keiichiro Kanemoto & Shunsuke Managi, 2016. "Impact of Trade Openness and Sector Trade on Embodied Greenhouse Gases Emissions and Air Pollutants," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 20(3), pages 494-505, June.
    15. Katrin Millock & Natalia Zugravu & Gérard Duchene, 2008. "The Factors Behind CO2 Emission Reduction in Transition Economies," Working Papers 2008.58, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    16. Toke Aidt, 2004. "The rise of environmentalism, pollution taxes and intra-industry trade," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-12, January.
    17. Michael Schymura & Andreas Löschel, 2012. "Trade and the Environment: An Application of the WIOD Database," EcoMod2012 3948, EcoMod.
    18. Jeffrey A. Frankel & Andrew K. Rose, 2005. "Is Trade Good or Bad for the Environment? Sorting Out the Causality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 85-91, February.
    19. Vinicius A. Vale & Fernando S. Perobelli & Ariaster B. Chimeli, 2018. "International trade, pollution, and economic structure: evidence on CO2 emissions for the North and the South," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 1-17, January.
    20. Udo Kreickemeier & Philipp M. Richter, 2014. "Trade and the Environment: The Role of Firm Heterogeneity," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 209-225, May.
    21. Richter, Philipp M. & Schiersch, Alexander, 2017. "CO2 emission intensity and exporting: Evidence from firm-level data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 373-391.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Biofuel Subsidy; Pigouvian Tax; Pollution Externality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:pra:mprapa:41491. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    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.