Azusa OKAGAWA () (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University) Kanemi BAN () (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University)
Abstract
Many studies of climate policy are based on computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling. The simulation results and conclusions reached by these models depend on the size of the parameters specified. In particular, the substitution elasticities between production factors have a major influence. Therefore, in order to obtain reliable simulation results we should employ empirical evidence gathered on the substitution elasticities. Unfortunately, in many instances, the lack of econometric analysis means we must specify these key parameters based on existing work or borrow them from prominent modeling exercises. In this study, we estimate nested constant elasticity of substitution (CES) production functions using panel data for OECD countries to help improve the reliability of CGE models for climate policy. Our results show higher values for substitution elasticities closely related to energy inputs for energy-intensive industries and lower values for other industries compared to the conventional values often used in existing models. With the new parameters estimated, we find that conventional parameters could overestimate the necessary carbon price by 44%, and obtain evidence of different distributions of CO2 emission reduction costs across industries.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics and Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) in its series Discussion Papers in Economics and Business with number
08-16.
Find related papers by JEL classification: D58 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Computable and Other Applied General Equilibrium Models Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: