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The regional impact of a CO2 tax on gasoline demand: a spatial econometric approach

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Abstract

In order to mitigate climate change, several countries around the world have introduced or are planning a CO2 tax on energy consumption. The effectiveness of such a tax depends on the level of the short- and long-run price elasticity. Moreover, acceptance of a CO2 tax by a society depends on both the distributional effects of such a tax among households and its spatial effects among regions. In this paper, the regional impact of a hypothetical CO2 tax on gasoline consumption in Switzerland is analysed by estimating a demand function for gasoline using panel data from 547 Swiss municipalities from 2001 to 2008. Gasoline sales were collected from the five largest gasoline companies operating in Switzerland, covering about 60% of overall sales. Swiss municipalities are relatively small units, and car ownership and use in one municipality is thought to influence gasoline sales in the neighbouring ones. Accordingly, the method used in the model also accounts for spatial correlation in the consumption of gasoline. Overall, our spatial econometric analysis shows that the tax burden of a CO2 tax will be higher in rural areas than in urban areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabian Heimsch & Massimo Filippini, 2015. "The regional impact of a CO2 tax on gasoline demand: a spatial econometric approach," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 15/210, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    • Handle: RePEc:eth:wpswif:15-210
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    2. Spiller, Elisheba & Stephens, Heather M. & Chen, Yong, 2017. "Understanding the heterogeneous effects of gasoline taxes across income and location," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 74-90.
    3. Yingheng Zhang & Haojie Li & Gang Ren, 2025. "Data-driven exploration of heterogeneous gasoline price elasticities using generalized random forests," Transportation, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 215-237, February.
    4. Jeyhun I. Mikayilov & Shahriyar Mukhtarov & Hasan Dinçer & Serhat Yüksel & Rıdvan Aydın, 2020. "Elasticity Analysis of Fossil Energy Sources for Sustainable Economies: A Case of Gasoline Consumption in Turkey," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-15, February.
    5. Filippini, Massimo & Wekhof, Tobias, 2021. "The effect of culture on energy efficient vehicle ownership," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    6. Adom, Philip Kofi, 2024. "Regulatory impact of informality on gasoline consumption efficiency in Africa: A proposed two-part complementary hypothesis test," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    7. Tilov, Ivan & Weber, Sylvain, 2023. "Heterogeneity in price elasticity of vehicle kilometers traveled: Evidence from micro-level panel data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    8. Martin Rabbia, 2023. "Why did Argentina and Uruguay decide to pursue a carbon tax? Fiscal reforms and explicit carbon prices," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 40(2), pages 230-259, March.
    9. Jacobs, Leif & Quack, Lara & Mechtel, Mario, 2022. "Distributional effects of carbon pricing by transport fuel taxation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    10. Eliasson, Jonas & Pyddoke, Roger & Swärdh, Jan-Erik, 2018. "Distributional effects of taxes on car fuel, use, ownership and purchases," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 1-15.
    11. Gamtessa, Samuel & Olani, Adugna Berhanu, 2018. "Energy price, energy efficiency, and capital productivity: Empirical investigations and policy implications," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 650-666.
    12. Leif Jacobs & Lara Quack & Mario Mechtel, 2021. "Distributional Effects of Carbon Pricing by Transport Fuel Taxation," Working Paper Series in Economics 405, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    13. Wen, Le & Suomalainen, Kiti & Sharp, Basil & Yi, Ming & Sheng, Mingyue Selena, 2022. "Impact of wind-hydro dynamics on electricity price: A seasonal spatial econometric analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PC).
    14. Wang, Yongpei & Li, Jun, 2019. "Spatial spillover effect of non-fossil fuel power generation on carbon dioxide emissions across China's provinces," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 317-330.
    15. Yang, Mian & Yang, Fuxia & Sun, Chuanwang, 2018. "Factor market distortion correction, resource reallocation and potential productivity gains: An empirical study on China's heavy industry sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 270-279.
    16. Jansen, David-Jan & Jonker, Nicole, 2018. "Fuel tourism in Dutch border regions: Are only salient price differentials relevant?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 143-153.
    17. Marco Baudino, 2020. "Environmental Engel curves in Italy: A spatial econometric investigation," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(4), pages 999-1018, August.
    18. Pyddoke, Roger & Swärdh, Jan-Erik & Algers, Staffan & Habibi, Shiva & Sedehi Zadeh, Noor, 2019. "Long-term responses to car-tax policies: distributional effects and reduced carbon emissions," Papers 2019:4, Research Programme in Transport Economics.

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    JEL classification:

    • D - Microeconomics
    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics
    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy
    • R2 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis

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