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The taxation of motor fuel : international comparison

Author

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  • Ley, Eduardo
  • Boccardo, Jessica

Abstract

This paper assesses whether the level of taxation of motor fuel is broadly appropriate in a group of countries (OECD, BRICs and South Africa) accounting for more than 80 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions. The analysis deals with emissions from oil combustion in transport, which account for about 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. In the benchmark specification, six countries (responsible, in turn, for more than 40 percent of worldwide motor-fuel greenhouse gas world emissions) would be undertaxing motor fuel. The authors evaluate the sensitivity of the results to the values of the elasticities and externalities that used in the analysis. They find that varying the values of these parameters (within the level of uncertainty reasonably associated with them) significantly affects the results. This implies that, while informative, the results must be taken as indicative. Further analysis for a particular country must rely on a well-informed choice for the values of the country-specific parameters.

Suggested Citation

  • Ley, Eduardo & Boccardo, Jessica, 2010. "The taxation of motor fuel : international comparison," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5212, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5212
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kossov, Vladimir & Kossova, Elena, 2013. "The normal price. The case of the retail price of diesel fuel," MPRA Paper 48667, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 12 Oct 2013.
    2. Parry, Ian & Strand, Jon, 2012. "International fuel tax assessment: an application to Chile," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 127-144, April.
    3. Benjamin Jones, 2011. "Driving A Green Economy Through Public Finance And Fiscal Policy Reform," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(02), pages 325-349.
    4. Benjamin Jones & Michael Keen & Jon Strand, 2013. "Fiscal implications of climate change," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 20(1), pages 29-70, February.
    5. Bello, Alejandro & Contín-Pilart, Ignacio, 2012. "Taxes, cost and demand shifters as determinants in the regional gasoline price formation process: Evidence from Spain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 439-448.
    6. Julien Daubanes & Lisa Leinert, 2012. "Optimum Tariffs and Exhaustible Resources: Theory and Evidence for Gasoline," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 12/163, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    7. Santos, Georgina, 2017. "Road fuel taxes in Europe: Do they internalize road transport externalities?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 120-134.
    8. Vladimir Kossov & Elena Kossova, 2013. "International dispersion of retail diesel fuel prices and the estimation of normal price values," HSE Working papers WP BRP 27/EC/2013, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    9. Benjamin Jones & Michael Keen, 2011. "Climate Policy In Crisis And Recovery," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(01), pages 103-119.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Transport Economics Policy&Planning; Energy Production and Transportation; Taxation&Subsidies; Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases; Climate Change Economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • H87 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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