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Boon or bane? On productivity and environmental regulation

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  • Philipp R. Steinbrunner

    (University of Turin)

Abstract

As climate change has gained more attention in the last decade, effects of environmental regulation on productivity are important to design green tax reforms. This study examines the impacts of environmental taxes and spillovers on technical efficiency, using data on Central European manufacturing firms, from 2009 to 2017. The results highlight strong effects of environmental taxation on productivity. Besides, downstream energy taxation does not affect productivity, while upstream taxes decrease technical efficiency. Downstream pollution taxation decreases productivity, whereas upstream taxation spurs technical efficiency. This study contributes to the literature by investigating heterogeneous tax effects across industries, involving tax spillovers and considering endogeneity issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Philipp R. Steinbrunner, 2022. "Boon or bane? On productivity and environmental regulation," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 24(3), pages 365-396, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envpol:v:24:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10018-021-00325-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10018-021-00325-7
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic regulation; Environmental taxes and subsidies;

    JEL classification:

    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies

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