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Environmental Policy And Vehicle Safety: The Impact Of Gasoline Taxes

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  • Damien Sheehan-Connor

Abstract

Policies to reduce carbon emissions by vehicles, such as fuel economy standards and gasoline taxes, have impacts on vehicle weight and thus on safety. This paper develops a model that separately identifies the impact of vehicle weight on mortality and selection effects that impact accident propensity. The main results are that (1) the safety externalities associated with heavy vehicles are greater than the environmental ones; (2) under fuel economy standards, vehicle weights have recently decreased with little likely effect on accident deaths; and (3) similar environmental benefits could be combined with substantial reductions in deaths by implementing higher gasoline taxes . ( JEL H23, D62)

Suggested Citation

  • Damien Sheehan-Connor, 2015. "Environmental Policy And Vehicle Safety: The Impact Of Gasoline Taxes," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(3), pages 1606-1629, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:53:y:2015:i:3:p:1606-1629
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ecin.2015.53.issue-3
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    2. Paul J. Burke & Ataklti Teame, 2018. "Fuel Prices and Road Deaths in Australia," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 37(2), pages 146-161, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities

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