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The Incidence of Pollution Control Policies

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Author Info
Ian W.H. Parry
Hilary Sigman
Margaret Walls
Roberton C. Williams III

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Abstract

This paper reviews theoretical and empirical literature on the household distribution of the costs and benefits of pollution control policies, and ways of integrating distributional issues into environmental cost/benefit analysis. Most studies find that policy costs fall disproportionately on poorer groups, though this is less pronounced when lifetime income is used, and policies affect prices of inputs used pervasively across the economy. The policy instrument itself is also critical; freely allocated emission permits may hurt the poor the most, as they transfer income to shareholders via scarcity rents created by higher prices, while emissions taxes offer opportunities for progressive revenue recycling. And although low-income households appear to bear a disproportionate share of environmental risks, policies that reduce risks are not always progressive, for example, they may alter property values in ways that benefit the wealthy. The review concludes by noting a number of areas where future research is badly needed.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 11438.

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Date of creation: Jun 2005
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11438

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence

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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Don Fullerton, 2008. "Distributional Effects of Environmental and Energy Policy: An Introduction," NBER Working Papers 14241, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Eskeland, Gunnar S. & Mideksa, Torben K., 2008. "Transportation fuel use, technology and standards: The role of credibility and expectations," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4695, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  3. Abdelkrim Araar & Yazid Dissou & Jean-Yves Duclos, 2008. "Household Incidence of Pollution Control Policies: a Robust Welfare Analysis Using General Equilibrium Effects," Cahiers de recherche 0809, CIRPEE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Aldy, Joseph E. & Ley, Eduardo & Parry, Ian W.H., 2008. "A Tax-Based Approach to Slowing Global Climate Change," Discussion Papers dp-08-26, Resources For the Future. [Downloadable!]
  5. Kverndokk, Snorre & Rose , Adam, 2008. "Equity and Justice in Global Warming Policy," Memorandum 21/2008, Oslo University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Corbett A. Grainger & Charles D. Kolstad, 2009. "Who Pays a Price on Carbon?," NBER Working Papers 15239, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Burtraw, Dallas & Sweeney, Richard & Walls, Margaret, 2008. "The Incidence of U.S. Climate Policy: Where You Stand Depends on Where You Sit," Discussion Papers dp-08-28, Resources For the Future. [Downloadable!]
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