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Can a unilateral carbon tax reduce emissions elsewhere?

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  • Elliott, Joshua
  • Fullerton, Don

Abstract

One country or sector that tries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may fear that other countries or sectors will get a competitive advantage and increase emissions. Computable general equilibrium (CGE) models such as Elliott et al. (2010a, 2010b) indicate that 15–25% of abatement might be offset by this “leakage.” Yet the Fullerton et al. (2012) simple two-sector analytical general equilibrium model shows an offsetting term with negative leakage. In this paper, we use a full CGE model with many countries and many goods to measure effects in a way that allows for this negative leakage term. We vary elasticities of substitution and confirm the analytical model's prediction that whether this negative leakage term offsets the positive leakage terms depends on the ability of consumers to substitute into the untaxed good relative to the ability of firms to substitute from carbon emissions into labor or capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Elliott, Joshua & Fullerton, Don, 2014. "Can a unilateral carbon tax reduce emissions elsewhere?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 6-21.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:resene:v:36:y:2014:i:1:p:6-21
    DOI: 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2013.11.003
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    1. Kathy Baylis & Don Fullerton & Daniel H. Karney, 2014. "Negative Leakage," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 51-73.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Meunier, Guy & Ponssard, Jean-Pierre, 2014. "Capacity decisions with demand fluctuations and carbon leakage," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 436-454.
    3. Haibara, Takumi, 2024. "Trade disputes and the climate," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PA), pages 732-741.
    4. van der Ploeg, Frederick, 2016. "Second-best carbon taxation in the global economy: The Green Paradox and carbon leakage revisited," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 85-105.
    5. Runst, Petrik & Thonipara, Anita, 2020. "Dosis facit effectum why the size of the carbon tax matters: Evidence from the Swedish residential sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Kathy Baylis & Don Fullerton & Daniel H. Karney, 2014. "Negative Leakage," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 51-73.
    7. John Curtis, Valeria Di Cosmo, and Paul Deane, 2014. "Climate policy, interconnection and carbon leakage: The effect of unilateral UK policy on electricity and GHG emissions in Ireland," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    8. Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO], 2016. "Climate Change and Food Systems: Global Assessments and Implications for Food Security and Trade," Working Papers id:8512, eSocialSciences.
    9. Eichner, Thomas & Pethig, Rüdiger, 2019. "EU-type carbon regulation and the waterbed effect of green energy promotion," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 656-679.
    10. Liu, Shen & Colson, Gregory & Hao, Na & Wetzstein, Michael, 2018. "Toward an optimal household solar subsidy: A social-technical approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 377-387.
    11. Cui, Lianbiao & Li, Rongjing & Song, Malin & Zhu, Lei, 2019. "Can China achieve its 2030 energy development targets by fulfilling carbon intensity reduction commitments?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 61-73.
    12. Malerba, Daniele & Gaentzsch, Anja & Ward, Hauke, 2021. "Mitigating poverty: The patterns of multiple carbon tax and recycling regimes for Peru," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    13. Holladay, J. Scott & Mohsin, Mohammed & Pradhan, Shreekar, 2018. "Emissions leakage, environmental policy and trade frictions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 95-113.
    14. Jia, Zhijie & Wu, Rongxin & Liu, Yu & Wen, Shiyan & Lin, Boqiang, 2024. "Can carbon tariffs based on domestic embedded carbon emissions reduce more carbon leakages?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    15. Wang, Qiang & Li, Rongrong, 2015. "Cheaper oil: A turning point in Paris climate talk?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1186-1192.
    16. Gordon, Hal & Burtraw, Dallas & Williams, Roberton, 2015. "A Microsimulation Model of the Distributional Impacts of Climate Policies," RFF Working Paper Series dp-14-40, Resources for the Future.
    17. Mark Sommer & Kurt Kratena, 2020. "Consumption and production-based CO2 pricing policies: macroeconomic trade-offs and carbon leakage," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 29-57, January.
    18. Brock, William A. & Engström, Gustav & Grass, Dieter & Xepapadeas, Anastasios, 2013. "Energy balance climate models and general equilibrium optimal mitigation policies," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 2371-2396.
    19. Dumortier, Jerome & Elobeid, Amani, 2021. "Effects of a carbon tax in the United States on agricultural markets and carbon emissions from land-use change," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate policy; Greenhouse gas emissions; Leakage; Abatement resource effect; Terms of trade effect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F18 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Environment
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q27 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Issues in International Trade
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

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