IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/arx/papers/2512.24520.html

Optimal Carbon Prices in an Unequal World: The Role of Regional Welfare Weights

Author

Listed:
  • Simon F. Lang

Abstract

How should nations price carbon? This paper examines how the treatment of global inequality, captured by regional welfare weights, affects optimal carbon prices. I develop theory to identify the conditions under which accounting for differences in marginal utilities of consumption across countries leads to more stringent global climate policy in the absence of international transfers. I further establish a connection between the optimal uniform carbon prices implied by different welfare weights and heterogeneous regional preferences over climate policy stringency. In calibrated simulations, I find that accounting for global inequality reduces optimal global emissions relative to an inequality-insensitive benchmark. This holds both when carbon prices are regionally differentiated, with emissions 21% lower, and when they are constrained to be globally uniform, with the uniform carbon price 15% higher.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon F. Lang, 2025. "Optimal Carbon Prices in an Unequal World: The Role of Regional Welfare Weights," Papers 2512.24520, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2512.24520
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://arxiv.org/pdf/2512.24520
    File Function: Latest version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bosetti, Valentina & Carraro, Carlo & De Cian, Enrica & Massetti, Emanuele & Tavoni, Massimo, 2013. "Incentives and stability of international climate coalitions: An integrated assessment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 44-56.
    2. Tamma Carleton & Amir Jina & Michael Delgado & Michael Greenstone & Trevor Houser & Solomon Hsiang & Andrew Hultgren & Robert E Kopp & Kelly E McCusker & Ishan Nath & James Rising & Ashwin Rode & Hee , 2022. "Valuing the Global Mortality Consequences of Climate Change Accounting for Adaptation Costs and Benefits [Distributive Politics and Economic Growth]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 137(4), pages 2037-2105.
    3. World Bank, "undated". "State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2023," World Bank Publications - Reports 39796, The World Bank Group.
    4. Llavador, Humberto & Roemer, John E. & Silvestre, Joaquim, 2010. "Intergenerational justice when future worlds are uncertain," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(5), pages 728-761, September.
    5. Ingmar Schumacher, 2018. "The Aggregation Dilemma In Climate Change Policy Evaluation," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(03), pages 1-20, August.
    6. Nordhaus, William D & Yang, Zili, 1996. "A Regional Dynamic General-Equilibrium Model of Alternative Climate-Change Strategies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(4), pages 741-765, September.
    7. Borissov, Kirill & Bretschger, Lucas, 2022. "Optimal carbon policies in a dynamic heterogeneous world," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    8. Chichilnisky, Graciela & Heal, Geoffrey, 1994. "Who should abate carbon emissions? : An international viewpoint," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 443-449, April.
    9. Simon Dietz & Nicholas Stern, 2008. "Why Economic Analysis Supports Strong Action on Climate Change: A Response to the Stern Review's Critics," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 2(1), pages 94-113, Winter.
    10. Marshall Burke & Solomon M. Hsiang & Edward Miguel, 2015. "Global non-linear effect of temperature on economic production," Nature, Nature, vol. 527(7577), pages 235-239, November.
    11. William D. Nordhaus, 2007. "A Review of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(3), pages 686-702, September.
    12. Kornek, Ulrike & Klenert, David & Edenhofer, Ottmar & Fleurbaey, Marc, 2021. "The social cost of carbon and inequality: When local redistribution shapes global carbon prices," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    13. Sen, Amartya, 1970. "Interpersonal Aggregation and Partial Comparability," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 38(3), pages 393-409, May.
    14. J. A. Mirrlees, 1971. "An Exploration in the Theory of Optimum Income Taxation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 38(2), pages 175-208.
    15. Mikhail Golosov & John Hassler & Per Krusell & Aleh Tsyvinski, 2014. "Optimal Taxes on Fossil Fuel in General Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(1), pages 41-88, January.
    16. Mark B. Budolfson & David Anthoff & Francis Dennig & Frank Errickson & Kevin Kuruc & Dean Spears & Navroz K. Dubash, 2021. "Utilitarian benchmarks for emissions and pledges promote equity, climate and development," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 11(10), pages 827-833, October.
    17. Matthew Adler & David Anthoff & Valentina Bosetti & Greg Garner & Klaus Keller & Nicolas Treich, 2017. "Priority for the worse-off and the social cost of carbon," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 7(6), pages 443-449, June.
    18. Elizabeth Stanton, 2011. "Negishi welfare weights in integrated assessment models: the mathematics of global inequality," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 107(3), pages 417-432, August.
    19. Matthew J. Kotchen, 2018. "Which Social Cost of Carbon? A Theoretical Perspective," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(3), pages 673-694.
    20. Lint Barrage, 2020. "Optimal Dynamic Carbon Taxes in a Climate–Economy Model with Distortionary Fiscal Policy," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(1), pages 1-39.
    21. Azar, Christian & Sterner, Thomas, 1996. "Discounting and distributional considerations in the context of global warming," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 169-184, November.
    22. Shiell, Leslie, 2003. "Equity and efficiency in international markets for pollution permits," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 38-51, July.
    23. World Bank, "undated". "State and Trends of Carbon Pricing," World Bank Publications - Reports 40700, The World Bank Group.
    24. Partha Dasgupta, 2008. "Discounting climate change," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 141-169, December.
    25. David Anthoff & Francis Dennig & Johannes Emmerling, 2021. "On Differentiated Carbon Prices and Discount Rates," CESifo Working Paper Series 9243, CESifo.
    26. Wilfred Beckerman & Cameron Hepburn, 2007. "Ethics of the Discount Rate in the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change," World Economics, World Economics, 1 Ivory Square, Plantation Wharf, London, United Kingdom, SW11 3UE, vol. 8(1), pages 187-210, January.
    27. Narasimha Rao, 2014. "International and intranational equity in sharing climate change mitigation burdens," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 129-146, May.
    28. Burke, Marshall & Hsiang, Solomon M & Miguel, Edward, 2015. "Global non-linear effect of temperature on economic production," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt3g72r0zv, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    29. Anthoff, David & Hepburn, Cameron & Tol, Richard S.J., 2009. "Equity weighting and the marginal damage costs of climate change," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 836-849, January.
    30. Bretschger, Lucas, 2013. "Climate policy and equity principles: fair burden sharing in a dynamic world," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(5), pages 517-536, October.
    31. Martin L. Weitzman, 2014. "Can Negotiating a Uniform Carbon Price Help to Internalize the Global Warming Externality?," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 29-49.
    32. Paolo Gazzotti & Johannes Emmerling & Giacomo Marangoni & Andrea Castelletti & Kaj-Ivar van der Wijst & Andries Hof & Massimo Tavoni, 2021. "Persistent inequality in economically optimal climate policies," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    33. John Roemer, 2011. "The Ethics of Intertemporal Distribution in a Warming Planet," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 48(3), pages 363-390, March.
    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. Kornek, Ulrike & Klenert, David & Edenhofer, Ottmar & Fleurbaey, Marc, 2021. "The social cost of carbon and inequality: When local redistribution shapes global carbon prices," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    2. Rising, James A. & Taylor, Charlotte & Ives, Matthew C. & Ward, Robert E.t., 2022. "Challenges and innovations in the economic evaluation of the risks of climate change," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114941, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Rising, James A. & Taylor, Charlotte & Ives, Matthew C. & Ward, Robert E.T., 2022. "Challenges and innovations in the economic evaluation of the risks of climate change," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    4. Moritz A. Drupp & Ulrike Kornek & Jasper N. Meya & Lutz Sager, 2021. "Inequality and the Environment: The Economics of a Two-Headed Hydra," CESifo Working Paper Series 9447, CESifo.
    5. Richard S.J. Tol, 2021. "Estimates of the social cost of carbon have not changed over time," Working Paper Series 0821, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    6. Castellini, Marta & Castelli, Chiara & Gusperti, Camilla & Lupi, Veronica & Vergalli, Sergio, 2025. "Balancing climate policies and economic development in the Mediterranean countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    7. Richard S. J. Tol, 2021. "Estimates of the social cost of carbon have increased over time," Papers 2105.03656, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2022.
    8. Elisa Belfiori & Daniel Carroll & Sewon Hur, 2026. "Unequal Climate Policy in an Unequal World," CESifo Working Paper Series 12443, CESifo.
    9. Anthoff, David, 2009. "Optimal Global Dynamic Carbon Taxation," Papers WP278, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    10. Buchholz Wolfgang & Heindl Peter, 2015. "Ökonomische Herausforderungen des Klimawandels," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 16(4), pages 324-350, December.
    11. Matthew Ashenfarb & Matthew J. Kotchen, 2025. "A Method for Deriving Stated Preference Estimates of the Average Social Cost of Carbon," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 88(8), pages 2059-2083, August.
    12. Wang, Fangzhi & Liao, Hua & Tol, Richard S.J., 2025. "Baumol’s climate disease," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    13. Skott, Peter & Davis, Leila, 2013. "Distributional biases in the analysis of climate change," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 188-197.
    14. Casey, Gregory & Fried, Stephie & Gibson, Matthew, 2024. "Understanding climate damages: Consumption versus investment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    15. Philippe Aghion & Antoine Dechezleprêtre & David Hémous & Ralf Martin & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Carbon Taxes, Path Dependency, and Directed Technical Change: Evidence from the Auto Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(1), pages 1-51.
    16. Hänsel, Martin C. & Quaas, Martin F., 2018. "Intertemporal Distribution, Sufficiency, and the Social Cost of Carbon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 520-535.
    17. Geir B. Asheim, 2017. "Sustainable growth," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 49(3), pages 825-848, December.
    18. Frederick van der Ploeg & Armon Rezai & Rick van der Ploeg, 2026. "Climate Change, Climate Policy, and the Macroeconomy," CESifo Working Paper Series 12480, CESifo.
    19. Alex Schmitt, 2018. "Optimal Carbon Pricing and Income Taxation Without Commitment," ifo Working Paper Series 274, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    20. David Anthoff & Johannes Emmerling, 2019. "Inequality and the Social Cost of Carbon," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(2), pages 243-273.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:arx:papers:2512.24520. 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: arXiv administrators (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://arxiv.org/ .

    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.