IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eurase/v11y2021i3d10.1007_s40822-021-00175-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Diverse effects of fossil fuel subsidy reform on industrial competitiveness in Thailand

Author

Listed:
  • Anan Wattanakuljarus

    (National Institute of Development Administration)

Abstract

Previous studies on the effects of fossil fuel subsidy reform, energy taxes, and environmental taxes on competitiveness and innovation remain contradictory and lack economywide perspectives. A deconstruction of industrial competitiveness effects on output performance and cost effectiveness using an economywide model can reveal the underlying causes and effects of fossil fuel subsidy reform and suggest strategies for alleviating loss of competitiveness in affected industries. The study reveals that all industries lose competitiveness in the short run following fuel subsidy reforms. Two-thirds of this loss derives from poorer output performance and one-third from lower cost effectiveness. Energy, intra-industry, and import industries can improve competitive advantage by fully and efficiently leveraging labor in the short run. Conversely, as exports, margins, and non-traded industries practically reach the limit of labor deployment in the short run, to further improve competitive advantage, these industries need to explore new investment and production frontiers in the middle to long run. The study also finds that backward linkage index, diesel intensity, and shares of labor in total costs have a positive relationship with the effects of fossil fuel subsidy reform, whereas forward linkage index and relative supply-to-demand elasticities have a negative relationship with the effects of reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Anan Wattanakuljarus, 2021. "Diverse effects of fossil fuel subsidy reform on industrial competitiveness in Thailand," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(3), pages 489-517, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurase:v:11:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s40822-021-00175-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s40822-021-00175-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40822-021-00175-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40822-021-00175-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sèna Kimm Gnangnon & Jean-François Brun, 2020. "Tax reform and fiscal space in developing countries," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(2), pages 237-265, June.
    2. Oral, Muhittin & Cinar, Unver & Chabchoub, Habib, 1999. "Linking industrial competitiveness and productivity at the firm level," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(2), pages 271-277, October.
    3. Dimitris Doulos & Odysseus Katsaitis & George Zombanakis, 2020. "Is the emphasis on unit labor costs an effective export-promoting policy? A comparison between Greece and Portugal," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(3), pages 393-410, September.
    4. Pamela Coke Hamilton & Yvonne Tsikata & Emmanuel Pinto Moreira, 2009. "Accelerating Trade and Integration in the Caribbean : Policy Options for Sustained Growth, Job Creation, and Poverty Reduction," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2652, December.
    5. Adam B. Jaffe et al., 1995. "Environmental Regulation and the Competitiveness of U.S. Manufacturing: What Does the Evidence Tell Us?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 132-163, March.
    6. Dorband, Ira Irina & Jakob, Michael & Kalkuhl, Matthias & Steckel, Jan Christoph, 2019. "Poverty and distributional effects of carbon pricing in low- and middle-income countries – A global comparative analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 246-257.
    7. Gabriel Di Bella & Mr. Lawrence Norton & Mr. Joseph Ntamatungiro & Ms. Sumiko Ogawa & Issouf Samaké & Marika Santoro, 2015. "Energy Subsidies in Latin America and the Caribbean: Stocktaking and Policy Challenges," IMF Working Papers 2015/030, International Monetary Fund.
    8. Rentschler, Jun & Kornejew, Martin & Bazilian, Morgan, 2017. "Fossil fuel subsidy reforms and their impacts on firms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 617-623.
    9. Alexandre Kossoy & Grzegorz Peszko & Klaus Oppermann & Nicolai Prytz & Noemie Klein & Kornelis Blok & Long Lam & Lindee Wong & Bram Borkent, "undated". "State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2015," World Bank Publications - Reports 22630, The World Bank Group.
    10. Ian Coxhead & Corbett Grainger, 2018. "Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform in the Developing World: Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why?," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 35(2), pages 180-203, September.
    11. Feng, Kuishuang & Hubacek, Klaus & Liu, Yu & Marchán, Estefanía & Vogt-Schilb, Adrien, 2018. "Managing the distributional effects of energy taxes and subsidy removal in Latin America and the Caribbean," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 424-436.
    12. Coxhead, Ian & Wattanakuljarus, Anan & Nguyen, Chan V., 2013. "Are Carbon Taxes Good for the Poor? A General Equilibrium Analysis for Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 119-131.
    13. Saelim, Supawan, 2019. "Carbon tax incidence on household consumption: Heterogeneity across socio-economic factors in Thailand," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 159-174.
    14. Antonia Cornwell & John Creedy, 1996. "Carbon taxation, prices and inequality in Australia," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 21-38, August.
    15. Callan, Tim & Lyons, Sean & Scott, Susan & Tol, Richard S.J. & Verde, Stefano, 2009. "The distributional implications of a carbon tax in Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 407-412, February.
    16. Arief Yusuf & Budy Resosudarmo, 2015. "On the distributional impact of a carbon tax in developing countries: the case of Indonesia," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 17(1), pages 131-156, January.
    17. Kerkhof, Annemarie C. & Moll, Henri C. & Drissen, Eric & Wilting, Harry C., 2008. "Taxation of multiple greenhouse gases and the effects on income distribution: A case study of the Netherlands," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 318-326, September.
    18. Valeria Costantini & Francesco Crespi & Elena Paglialunga, 2019. "Capital–energy substitutability in manufacturing sectors: methodological and policy implications," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(2), pages 157-182, June.
    19. Wier, Mette & Birr-Pedersen, Katja & Jacobsen, Henrik Klinge & Klok, Jacob, 2005. "Are CO2 taxes regressive? Evidence from the Danish experience," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 239-251, January.
    20. Baranzini, Andrea & Goldemberg, Jose & Speck, Stefan, 2000. "A future for carbon taxes," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 395-412, March.
    21. Soile, Ismail & Mu, Xiaoyi, 2015. "Who benefit most from fuel subsidies? Evidence from Nigeria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 314-324.
    22. Abdelfeteh Bitat, 2018. "Environmental regulation and eco-innovation: the Porter hypothesis refined," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 8(3), pages 299-321, September.
    23. Dresner, Simon & Dunne, Louise & Clinch, Peter & Beuermann, Christiane, 2006. "Social and political responses to ecological tax reform in Europe: an introduction to the special issue," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 895-904, May.
    24. Elizabeth Symons & John Proops & Philip Gay, 1994. "Carbon taxes, consumer demand and carbon dioxide emissions: a simulation analysis for the UK," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 15(2), pages 19-43, May.
    25. Kojima,Masami, 2016. "Fossil fuel subsidy and pricing policies : recent developing country experience," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7531, The World Bank.
    26. Francesco Crespi & Claudia Ghisetti & Francesco Quatraro, 2015. "Environmental and innovation policies for the evolution of green technologies: a survey and a test," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 5(2), pages 343-370, December.
    27. Vagliasindi, Maria, 2012. "Implementing energy subsidy reforms : an overview of the key issues," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6122, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Schaffitzel, Filip & Jakob, Michael & Soria, Rafael & Vogt-Schilb, Adrien & Ward, Hauke, 2020. "Can government transfers make energy subsidy reform socially acceptable? A case study on Ecuador," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    2. Heindl, Peter & Löschel, Andreas, 2015. "Social implications of green growth policies from the perspective of energy sector reform and its impact on households," ZEW Discussion Papers 15-012, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. 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.
    4. Anan Wattanakuljarus, 2019. "Effects and burdens of a carbon tax scheme in Thailand," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(2), pages 173-219, June.
    5. 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.
    6. Tram T.H. Nguyen and Wonho Song, 2021. "Carbon Pricing and Income Inequality: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 46(2), pages 155-182, June.
    7. Feng, Kuishuang & Hubacek, Klaus & Liu, Yu & Marchán, Estefanía & Vogt-Schilb, Adrien, 2018. "Managing the distributional effects of energy taxes and subsidy removal in Latin America and the Caribbean," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 424-436.
    8. Saelim, Supawan, 2019. "Carbon tax incidence on household consumption: Heterogeneity across socio-economic factors in Thailand," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 159-174.
    9. 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.
    10. Jiang, Zhujun & Shao, Shuai, 2014. "Distributional effects of a carbon tax on Chinese households: A case of Shanghai," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 269-277.
    11. 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.
    12. Cecile Couharde & Sara Mouhoud, 2020. "Fossil Fuel Subsidies, Income Inequality, And Poverty: Evidence From Developing Countries," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(5), pages 981-1006, December.
    13. Wang, Qian & Hubacek, Klaus & Feng, Kuishuang & Guo, Lin & Zhang, Kun & Xue, Jinjun & Liang, Qiao-Mei, 2019. "Distributional impact of carbon pricing in Chinese provinces," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 327-340.
    14. Labandeira, Xavier & Labeaga, José M. & Rodríguez, Miguel, 2009. "An integrated economic and distributional analysis of energy policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5776-5786, December.
    15. Chen, Shiyi, 2013. "What is the potential impact of a taxation system reform on carbon abatement and industrial growth in China?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 369-386.
    16. da Silva Freitas, Lucio Flavio & de Santana Ribeiro, Luiz Carlos & de Souza, Kênia Barreiro & Hewings, Geoffrey John Dennis, 2016. "The distributional effects of emissions taxation in Brazil and their implications for climate policy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 37-44.
    17. Wu, T. & Thomassin, P.J., 2018. "The Impact of Carbon Tax on Food Prices and Consumption in Canada," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275913, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. James Boyce & Matthew Riddle & Mark D. Brenner, 2005. "A Chinese Sky Trust? Distributional Impacts of Carbon charges and Revenue Recycling in China," Working Papers wp_brenner_riddle_boyce, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    19. Brenner, Mark & Riddle, Matthew & Boyce, James K., 2007. "A Chinese sky trust?: Distributional impacts of carbon charges and revenue recycling in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 1771-1784, March.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Industrial competitiveness; Cost effectiveness; Output performance; Economywide; General equilibrium; Fossil fuel subsidy reform;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E16 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Social Accounting Matrix
    • E17 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • L16 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics; Macroeconomic Industrial Structure
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy

    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:spr:eurase:v:11:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s40822-021-00175-4. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.