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Environmental Taxes: Dead or Alive?

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  • Morgenstern, Richard

    (Resources for the Future)

Abstract

Both theory and recent trends suggest some optimism for the future of environment-related taxes. While new research emphasizes the potentially significant distortions created by environmental taxes and appears to undermine the so-called "double dividend" theory, it also suggests that virtually any environmental policy, including regulations, taxes, and tradable permits, can compound existing distortions in the tax system. Currently, direct environmental taxes, such as per-unit charges on emissions, are only in limited use; however, indirect environmental levies, including taxes on fuels, vehicles, beverage containers, and fertilizers, are growing in importance across the OECD nations. Over the period 1990-1993, environmental taxes as a share of total revenue increased while taxes on personal and corporate income declined slightly, indicating a modest tax shift.

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  • Morgenstern, Richard, 1995. "Environmental Taxes: Dead or Alive?," RFF Working Paper Series dp-96-03, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-96-03
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. de Bovenberg, A Lans & Mooij, Ruud A, 1994. "Environmental Levies and Distortionary Taxation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 1085-1089, September.
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    3. Ian W.H. Parry, 2002. "Pollution Taxes and Revenue Reycling," Chapters, in: Lawrence H. Goulder (ed.), Environmental Policy Making in Economies with Prior Tax Distortions, chapter 15, pages 235-248, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Pearce, David W, 1991. "The Role of Carbon Taxes in Adjusting to Global Warming," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(407), pages 938-948, July.
    5. Lawrence Goulder, 1995. "Environmental taxation and the double dividend: A reader's guide," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 2(2), pages 157-183, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Alain-Désiré Nimubona & Bernard Sinclair-Desgagné, 2013. "The Pigouvian Tax Rule in the Presence of an Eco-Industry," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(1), pages 747-752.
    2. Yann Duval & Stephen Hamilton, 2002. "Strategic Environmental Policy and International Trade in Asymmetric Oligopoly Markets," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 9(3), pages 259-271, May.
    3. Subhes C. Bhattacharyya, 1997. "Energy taxation and the environment: a developing country perspective," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 21(4), pages 273-280, November.
    4. Ditya A Nurdianto & Budy P Resosudarmo, 2014. "ASEAN Economic community and climate change," Departmental Working Papers 2014-24, The Australian National University, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics.
    5. Daniela Pîrvu & Emilia Clipici, 2010. "Perspectives of the Environmental Taxes Evolution in the European Union," Romanian Economic Journal, Department of International Business and Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest, vol. 13(38), pages 147-161, December.
    6. Manel Antelo, 2005. "Monopoly, asymmetric information, and optimal environmental taxation," Economic Working Papers at Centro de Estudios Andaluces E2005/08, Centro de Estudios Andaluces.
    7. Hamilton, Stephen F. & Requate, Till, 2004. "Vertical structure and strategic environmental trade policy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 260-269, March.
    8. Ditya Agung Nurdianto, 2016. "Economic Impacts of a Carbon Tax in an Integrated ASEAN," EEPSEA Special and Technical Paper tp201604t5, Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA), revised Apr 2016.

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