IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v55y2015icp41-53.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of an environmental tax on meat and dairy consumption in Sweden

Author

Listed:
  • Säll, Sarah
  • Gren, Ing-Marie

Abstract

This study evaluated the environmental impacts of introducing an environmental tax on meat and dairy consumption in Sweden. Three meat products (beef, pork and chicken), four dairy products (milk, fermented products, cream and cheese) and four pollutants generating environmental damage (greenhouse gases (GHG), nitrogen, ammonia and phosphorus) were included in the analysis. The unit tax applied corresponded to between 8.9% and 33.3% of the respective price per kg product in 2009. Consumer response to the tax was calculated by econometric estimates of the almost ideal demand system (AIDS) for meat and dairy products, using per capita consumption data and prices. The results indicated relatively inelastic own price elasticities and high income elasticities for all meat products and slightly lower for dairy products. Simultaneous introduction of a tax on all seven products decreased emissions of GHG, nitrogen, ammonia and phosphorus from the livestock sector by up to 12%.

Suggested Citation

  • Säll, Sarah & Gren, Ing-Marie, 2015. "Effects of an environmental tax on meat and dairy consumption in Sweden," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 41-53.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:55:y:2015:i:c:p:41-53
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.05.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919215000615
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.05.008?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. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 69-85, Fall.
    2. Schroeter, Christiane & Lusk, Jayson & Tyner, Wallace, 2008. "Determining the impact of food price and income changes on body weight," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 45-68, January.
    3. Elofsson, Katarina, 2003. "Cost-effective reductions of stochastic agricultural loads to the Baltic Sea," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 13-31, November.
    4. Turner, R. Kerry & Paavola, Jouni & Cooper, Philip & Farber, Stephen & Jessamy, Valma & Georgiou, Stavros, 2003. "Valuing nature: lessons learned and future research directions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 493-510, October.
    5. Helfand, Gloria E. & Berck, Peter & Maull, Tim, 2003. "The theory of pollution policy," Handbook of Environmental Economics, in: K. G. Mäler & J. R. Vincent (ed.), Handbook of Environmental Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 249-303, Elsevier.
    6. Edjabou, Louise Dyhr & Smed, Sinne, 2013. "The effect of using consumption taxes on foods to promote climate friendly diets – The case of Denmark," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 84-96.
    7. David L. Edgerton, 1997. "Weak Separability and the Estimation of Elasticities in Multistage Demand Systems," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(1), pages 62-79.
    8. Bojana Bajželj & Keith S. Richards & Julian M. Allwood & Pete Smith & John S. Dennis & Elizabeth Curmi & Christopher A. Gilligan, 2014. "Importance of food-demand management for climate mitigation," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(10), pages 924-929, October.
    9. Michael P. Murray, 2006. "Avoiding Invalid Instruments and Coping with Weak Instruments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 111-132, Fall.
    10. Alain Carpentier & Hervé Guyomard, 2001. "Unconditional Elasticities in Two-Stage Demand Systems: An Approximate Solution," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(1), pages 222-229.
    11. Pierer, Magdalena & Winiwarter, Wilfried & Leach, Allison M. & Galloway, James N., 2014. "The nitrogen footprint of food products and general consumption patterns in Austria," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(P1), pages 128-136.
    12. Schmutzler, Armin & Goulder, Lawrence H., 1997. "The Choice between Emission Taxes and Output Taxes under Imperfect Monitoring," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 51-64, January.
    13. Benjamin Van Doorslaer & Peter Witzke & Ingo Huck & Franz Weiss & Thomas Fellmann & Guna Salputra & Torbjörn Jansson & Dusan Drabik & Adrian Leip, 2015. "An economic assessment of GHG mitigation policy options for EU agriculture," JRC Research Reports JRC93434, Joint Research Centre.
    14. Ing-Marie Gren, 2004. "Uniform or discriminating payments for environmental production on arable land under asymmetric information," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 31(1), pages 61-76, March.
    15. Baumol,William J. & Oates,Wallace E., 1988. "The Theory of Environmental Policy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521322249, January.
    16. repec:fth:prinin:455 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Fredrik Hedenus & Stefan Wirsenius & Daniel Johansson, 2014. "The importance of reduced meat and dairy consumption for meeting stringent climate change targets," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 79-91, May.
    18. Weidema, Bo Pedersen, 2009. "Using the budget constraint to monetarise impact assessment results," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1591-1598, April.
    19. Athanasios Kampas & Ben White, 2004. "Administrative Costs and Instrument Choice for Stochastic Non-point Source Pollutants," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 27(2), pages 109-133, February.
    20. Stefan Wirsenius & Fredrik Hedenus & Kristina Mohlin, 2011. "Greenhouse gas taxes on animal food products: rationale, tax scheme and climate mitigation effects," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 159-184, September.
    21. Joshua Angrist & Alan Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Working Papers 834, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    22. Richard Green & Julian M. Alston, 1990. "Elasticities in AIDS Models," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 72(2), pages 442-445.
    23. Lusk, Jayson L. & Roosen, Jutta & Shogren, Jason (ed.), 2011. "The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Food Consumption and Policy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199569441, Decembrie.
    24. Deaton, Angus S & Muellbauer, John, 1980. "An Almost Ideal Demand System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 312-326, June.
    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. Gren, Ing-Marie & Höglind, Lisa & Jansson, Torbjörn, 2021. "Refunding of a climate tax on food consumption in Sweden," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    2. Huang, Wei, 2022. "Demand for plant-based milk and effects of a carbon tax on fresh milk consumption in Sweden," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 518-529.
    3. Torbjörn Jansson & Sarah Säll, 2018. "Environmental Consumption Taxes On Animal Food Products To Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emissions From The European Union," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(04), pages 1-16, November.
    4. Mario Herrero & Benjamin Henderson & Petr Havlík & Philip K. Thornton & Richard T. Conant & Pete Smith & Stefan Wirsenius & Alexander N. Hristov & Pierre Gerber & Margaret Gill & Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, 2016. "Greenhouse gas mitigation potentials in the livestock sector," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 6(5), pages 452-461, May.
    5. Dogbe, Wisdom & Gil, José M., 2018. "Effectiveness of a carbon tax to promote a climate-friendly food consumption," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 235-246.
    6. Roosen, Jutta & Staudigel, Matthias & Rahbauer, Sebastian, 2022. "Demand elasticities for fresh meat and welfare effects of meat taxes in Germany," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    7. Ariane Kehlbacher & Richard Tiffin & Adam Briggs & Mike Berners-Lee & Peter Scarborough, 2016. "The distributional and nutritional impacts and mitigation potential of emission-based food taxes in the UK," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 121-141, July.
    8. DOGBE, Wisdom & Gil, Jose M., 2017. "Environmental, Nutritional and Welfare Effects of Introducing a Carbon Tax on Food Products in Spain," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258132, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Jing Cao, Mun S. Ho, and Huifang Liang, 2016. "Household energy demand in Urban China: Accounting for regional prices and rapid income change," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(China Spe).
    10. Moberg, Emma & Säll, Sarah & Hansson, Per-Anders & Röös, Elin, 2021. "Taxing food consumption to reduce environmental impacts – Identification of synergies and goal conflicts," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    11. Antonia Weishaupt & Felix Ekardt & Beatrice Garske & Jessica Stubenrauch & Jutta Wieding, 2020. "Land Use, Livestock, Quantity Governance, and Economic Instruments—Sustainability Beyond Big Livestock Herds and Fossil Fuels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-27, March.
    12. Bonnet, Céline & Bouamra-Mechemache, Zohra & Corre, Tifenn, 2018. "An Environmental Tax Towards More Sustainable Food: Empirical Evidence of the Consumption of Animal Products in France," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 48-61.
    13. Cesar Revoredo-Giha & Neil Chalmers & Faical Akaichi, 2018. "Simulating the Impact of Carbon Taxes on Greenhouse Gas Emission and Nutrition in the UK," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-19, January.
    14. Martin Halla, 2011. "The Link between the Intrinsic Motivation to Comply and Compliance Behaviour: A Critical Appraisal of Existing Evidence," Chapters, in: Friedrich Schneider (ed.), Handbook on the Shadow Economy, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Richard Ochmann, 2014. "Differential income taxation and household asset allocation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(8), pages 880-894, March.
    16. Capps Jr., Oral & Church, Jeffrey & Alan Love, H., 2003. "Specification issues and confidence intervals in unilateral price effects analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 3-31, March.
    17. Gundimeda, Haripriya & Kohlin, Gunnar, 2008. "Fuel demand elasticities for energy and environmental policies: Indian sample survey evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 517-546, March.
    18. Javier García-Enríquez & Cruz A. Echevarría, 2018. "Demand for culture in Spain and the 2012 VAT rise," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(3), pages 469-506, August.
    19. Gundelfinger-Casar, Javier & Coto-Millán, Pablo, 2018. "Measuring the main determinants of tourism flows to the Canary Islands from mainland Spain," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 83-90.
    20. Dogbe, Wisdom & Gil, Jose Maria, 2017. "Distributional Impacts of Green Taxes on Food Consumption in Catalonia," 2017 International Congress, August 28-September 1, 2017, Parma, Italy 261416, European Association of Agricultural Economists.

    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:eee:jfpoli:v:55:y:2015:i:c:p:41-53. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    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.