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The Distributional Impact of a Carbon Tax in Ireland

Author

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  • Verde, Stefano

    (Trinity College Dublin)

  • Tol, Richard S. J.

    (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin)

Abstract

We study the effects of carbon taxation and revenue recycling across the income distribution in Ireland. Price changes of fuels and all other final goods and services are taken into account. If applied only to the emissions not covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, a carbon tax of €20/tCO2 would cost the poorest households around €3.5/week and the richest ones €5/week. The tax is regressive, therefore. However, if the revenue is used to increase social benefits and tax credits, households across the income distribution can be made better off without exhausting the total carbon tax revenue.

Suggested Citation

  • Verde, Stefano & Tol, Richard S. J., 2009. "The Distributional Impact of a Carbon Tax in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 40(3), pages 317-338.
    • Handle: RePEc:eso:journl:v:40:y:2009:i:3:p:317-338
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    As found on the RePEc Biblio, the curated bibliography for Economics:
    1. > Environmental and Natural Resource Economics > Climate economics > Abatement costs > Distribution of abatement costs

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    2. de Bruin, Kelly & Yakut, Aykut Mert, 2018. "The economic and environmental impacts of increasing the Irish carbon tax," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS79, June.
    3. Eimear Leahy & Seán Lyons & Richard S. J. Tol, 2011. "The Distributional Effects of Value Added Tax in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 42(2), pages 213-235.
    4. Qiao-Mei Liang & Qian Wang & Yi-Ming Wei, 2013. "Assessing the Distributional Impacts of Carbon Tax among Households across Different Income Groups: The Case of China," Energy & Environment, , vol. 24(7-8), pages 1323-1346, December.
    5. Tovar Reaños, Miguel & Lynch, Muireann Á., 2019. "Distributional impacts of carbon taxation and revenue recycling: a behavioural microsimulation," Papers WP626, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    6. Nils Ohlendorf & Michael Jakob & Jan Christoph Minx & Carsten Schröder & Jan Christoph Steckel, 2021. "Distributional Impacts of Carbon Pricing: A Meta-Analysis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 78(1), pages 1-42, January.
    7. John Curtis, Valeria Di Cosmo, and Paul Deane, 2014. "Climate policy, interconnection and carbon leakage: The effect of unilateral UK policy on electricity and GHG emissions in Ireland," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    8. Farrell, Niall, 2017. "What Factors Drive Inequalities in Carbon Tax Incidence? Decomposing Socioeconomic Inequalities in Carbon Tax Incidence in Ireland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 31-45.
    9. Nils Ohlendorf & Michael Jakob & Jan Christoph Minx & Carsten Schröder & Jan Christoph Steckel, 2018. "Distributional Impacts of Climate Mitigation Policies - a Meta-Analysis," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1776, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    10. de Bruin, Kelly & Monaghan, Eoin & Yakut, Aykut Mert, 2019. "The economic and distributional impacts of an increased carbon tax with different revenue recycling schemes," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS95, June.
    11. McQuinn, Kieran & O’Toole, Conor & Allen-Coghlan, Matthew & Economides, Philip, 2019. "Quarterly Economic Commentary, Summer 2019," Forecasting Report, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number QEC2019sum, June.
    12. Niall Farrell & Seán Lyons, 2016. "Equity impacts of energy and climate policy: who is shouldering the burden?," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(5), pages 492-509, September.
    13. 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.
    14. Wang, Qian & Hubacek, Klaus & Feng, Kuishuang & Wei, Yi-Ming & Liang, Qiao-Mei, 2016. "Distributional effects of carbon taxation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1123-1131.
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