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Distributional Impacts in a Comprehensive Climate Policy Package

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  • Kevin A. Hassett

    (American Enterprise Institute)

  • Aparna Mathur

    (American Enterprise Institute)

  • Gilbert E. Metcalf

    (American Enterprise Institute)

Abstract

This paper provides a simple analytic approach for measuring the burden of carbon pricing that does not require sophisticated and numerically intensive economic models but which is not limited to restrictive assumptions of forward shifting of carbon prices. We also show how to adjust for the capital income bias contained in the Consumer Expenditure Survey, a bias towards regressivity in carbon pricing due to underreporting of capital income in higher income deciles in the Survey. Many distributional analyses of carbon pricing focus on the uses-side incidence of carbon pricing. This is the differential burden resulting from heterogeneity in consumption across households. Once one allows for sources-side incidence (i.e. differential impacts of changes in real factor prices), carbon policies look more progressive. Perhaps more important than the findings from any one scenario, our results on the progressivity of the leading cap and trade proposals are robust to the assumptions made on the relative importance of uses and sources side heterogeneity.
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Suggested Citation

  • Kevin A. Hassett & Aparna Mathur & Gilbert E. Metcalf, 2010. "Distributional Impacts in a Comprehensive Climate Policy Package," AEI Economics Working Papers 47669, American Enterprise Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:aei:rpaper:47669
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Beck, Marisa & Rivers, Nicholas & Wigle, Randall & Yonezawa, Hidemichi, 2015. "Carbon tax and revenue recycling: Impacts on households in British Columbia," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 40-69.
    2. Fullerton Don & Heutel Garth, 2011. "Analytical General Equilibrium Effects of Energy Policy on Output and Factor Prices," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(2), pages 1-26, January.
    3. Bruno Lanz & Sebastian Rausch, 2013. "Cap-and-Trade Climate Policy, Free Allowances, and Price-Regulated Firms," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 13/178, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    4. Ravigné, Emilien & Ghersi, Frédéric & Nadaud, Franck, 2022. "Is a fair energy transition possible? Evidence from the French low-carbon strategy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    5. Sebastian Rausch & Valerie J. Karplus, 2014. "Markets versus Regulation: The Efficiency and Distributional Impacts of U.S. Climate Policy Proposals," The Energy Journal, , vol. 35(1_suppl), pages 199-228, June.
    6. Garth Heutel, 2012. "How Should Environmental Policy Respond to Business Cycles? Optimal Policy under Persistent Productivity Shocks," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 15(2), pages 244-264, April.
    7. Martin T. Ross, 2018. "Regional Implications Of National Carbon Taxes," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(01), pages 1-39, February.
    8. Caballero, Karina, 2017. "Políticas públicas sectoriales para el cambio climático en América Latina: una aproximación," Documentos de Proyectos 43123, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    9. Cristian Espinosa & Jorge Fornero, 2014. "Welfare Analysis of an Optimal Carbon Tax in Chile," Revista de Analisis Economico – Economic Analysis Review, Universidad Alberto Hurtado/School of Economics and Business, vol. 29(2), pages 75-111, October.
    10. Schmitz, Christoph & Biewald, Anne & Lotze-Campen, Hermann & Popp, Alexander, 2011. "Increased Agricultural Trade and its Impacts on Food System, Land-use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Conference papers 332165, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    11. Gary D. Libecap, 2014. "Addressing Global Environmental Externalities: Transaction Costs Considerations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(2), pages 424-479, June.
    12. Granqvist, Harry & Grover, David, 2016. "Distributive fairness in paying for clean energy infrastructure," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 87-97.
    13. Mathur, Aparna & Morris, Adele C., 2014. "Distributional effects of a carbon tax in broader U.S. fiscal reform," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 326-334.
    14. Gary D. Libecap, 2013. "Addressing Global Environmental Externalities: Transaction Costs Considerations," NBER Working Papers 19501, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Bruno Lanz & Sebastian Rausch, 2016. "Emissions Trading in the Presence of Price-Regulated Polluting Firms: How Costly Are Free Allowances?," The Energy Journal, , vol. 37(1), pages 195-232, January.
    16. Beltrán, Allan & Alatorre, José Eduardo & Ferrer, Jimy & Galindo, Luis Miguel, 2017. "Efectos potenciales de un impuesto al carbono sobre el producto interno bruto en los países de América Latina: estimaciones preliminares e hipotéticas a partir de un metaanálisis y una función de tran," Documentos de Proyectos 41867, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    17. Rausch, Sebastian & Metcalf, Gilbert E. & Reilly, John M., 2011. "Distributional impacts of carbon pricing: A general equilibrium approach with micro-data for households," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(S1), pages 20-33.
    18. Katri Kosonen, 2012. "Regressivity of environmental taxation: myth or reality?," Taxation Papers 32, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    19. Dissou, Yazid & Siddiqui, Muhammad Shahid, 2014. "Can carbon taxes be progressive?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 88-100.
    20. Granqvist, Harry & Grover, David, 2016. "Distributive fairness in paying for clean energy infrastructure," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 66486, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    21. García-Muros, Xaquín & Morris, Jennifer & Paltsev, Sergey, 2022. "Toward a just energy transition: A distributional analysis of low-carbon policies in the USA," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    22. Garth Heutel, 2012. "How Should Environmental Policy Respond to Business Cycles? Optimal Policy under Persistent Productivity Shocks," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 15(2), pages 244-264, April.
    23. Xaquín Garcia-Muros & Mercedes Burguillo & Mikel Gonzalez-Eguino & Desiderio Romero-Jordán, 2014. "Local air pollution and global climate change taxes: a distributional analysis," Working Papers 2014-01, BC3.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate change; environmental policy;

    JEL classification:

    • Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics

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