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Green tax reform, endogenous innovation and the growth dividend

Author

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  • Christos Karydas

    (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)

  • Lin Zhang

    (City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

Abstract

We study theoretically and numerically the effects of an environmental tax reform using endogenous growth theory. In the theoretical part, mobile labor between manufacturing and R&D activities, and elasticity of substitution between labor and energy in manufacturing lower than unity allow for a growth dividend, even if we consider preexisting tax distortions. The scope for innovation is reduced when we consider direct financial investment in the lab, or elastic labor supply. We then apply the core theoretical model to a real growing economy and find that a boost in economic growth following such a carbon policy is a possible outcome. Lump-sum redistribution performs best in terms of effciency measured by aggregate welfare, while in terms of equity among social segments its progressive character fails when we consider very high emissions reduction targets.

Suggested Citation

  • Christos Karydas & Lin Zhang, 2017. "Green tax reform, endogenous innovation and the growth dividend," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 17/266, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    • Handle: RePEc:eth:wpswif:17-266
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    Cited by:

    1. Xinghua Fan & Xuxia Li & Jiuli Yin, 2019. "Impact of environmental tax on green development: A nonlinear dynamical system analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-23, September.
    2. Xiao Yu & Yingdong Xu & Jian Zhang & Yue Sun, 2022. "The Synergy Green Innovation Effect of Green Innovation Subsidies and Carbon Taxes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-27, March.
    3. Qi, Yu & Zhang, Jianshun & Chen, Jianwei, 2023. "Tax incentives, environmental regulation and firms’ emission reduction strategies: Evidence from China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    4. Alena Miftakhova & Clément Renoir, 2021. "Economic Growth and Equity in Anticipation of Climate Policy," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 21/355, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    5. Ara Jo, 2020. "The Elasticity of Substitution between Clean and Dirty Energy with Technological Bias," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 20/344, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    6. Korrakot Phomsoda & Nattapong Puttanapong & Mongkut Piantanakulchai, 2021. "Economic Impacts of Thailand’s Biofuel Subsidy Reallocation Using a Dynamic Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-21, April.
    7. Pereira, Alfredo Marvão & Pereira, Rui Manuel, 2018. "A lower vat rate on electricity in Portugal: Towards a cleaner environment, better economic performance, and less inequality," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 1-13.
    8. Yang Shen & Xiuwu Zhang, 2022. "Study on the Impact of Environmental Tax on Industrial Green Transformation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Delgado, Francisco J. & Freire-González, Jaume & Presno, Maria J., 2022. "Environmental taxation in the European Union: Are there common trends?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 670-682.
    10. Shuai Chen & Jiameng Yang, 2023. "Environmental Pollution Liability Insurance Pricing and the Solvency of Insurance Companies in China: Based on the Black–Scholes Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-21, January.
    11. Adriana Marcucci & Lin Zhang, 2019. "Growth impacts of Swiss steering-based climate policies," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 155(1), pages 1-13, December.
    12. Feng, Guohua & McLaren, Keith R. & Yang, Ou & Zhang, Xiaohui & Zhao, Xueyan, 2021. "The impact of environmental policy stringency on industrial productivity growth: A semi-parametric study of OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    13. Concetta Castiglione & Davide Infante & Janna Smirnova, 2018. "Non-trivial Factors as Determinants of the Environmental Taxation Revenues in 27 EU Countries," Economies, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-20, January.
    14. Xiuqin Zhang & Xudong Shi & Yasir Khan & Taimoor Hassan & Mohamed Marie, 2023. "Carbon Neutrality Challenge: Analyse the Role of Energy Productivity, Renewable Energy, and Collaboration in Climate Mitigation Technology in OECD Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    15. Josef Gotvald, 2024. "The role of environmental taxes and other political instruments on the road to climate neutrality [Role environmentálních daní a dalších politických nástrojů na cestě za klimatickou neutralitou]," Český finanční a účetní časopis, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2024(1), pages 47-76.
    16. Ara Jo & Alena Miftakhova, 2022. "How Constant is Constant Elasticity of Substitution? Endogenous Substitution between Clean and Dirty Energy," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 22/369, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    17. Reaños, Miguel Tovar & De Bruin, Kelly & Meier, David & Yakut, Aykut Mert, 2022. "Economic and Distributional Impacts of turning the Value-Added Tax into a Carbon Tax," Papers WP739, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    18. Zhang, Lin & An, Yao, 2017. "The government capacity on industrial pollution management in Shanxi province: A response impulse analysis," MPRA Paper 94796, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Karmaker, Shamal Chandra & Hosan, Shahadat & Chapman, Andrew J. & Saha, Bidyut Baran, 2021. "The role of environmental taxes on technological innovation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    20. Boly, Mohamed & Combes, Jean-Louis & Menuet, Maxime & Minea, Alexandru & Motel, Pascale Combes & Villieu, Patrick, 2022. "Can public debt mitigate environmental debt? Theory and empirical evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    21. Yemane Wolde-Rufael & Eyob Mulat-weldemeskel, 2023. "Effectiveness of environmental taxes and environmental stringent policies on CO2 emissions: the European experience," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(6), pages 5211-5239, June.
    22. Yao An & Ning Liu & Lin Zhang & Huanhuan Zheng, 2022. "Adapting to climate risks through cross-border investments: industrial vulnerability and smart city resilience," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 1-29, September.
    23. Shobande, Olatunji A. & Ogbeifun, Lawrence, 2023. "Pooling cross-sectional and time series data for estimating causality between technological innovation, affluence and carbon dynamics: A comparative evidence from developed and developing countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    24. Wenwen Zhang & Shichun Xu & Zhengxia He & Basil Sharp & Bin Zhao & Shuxiao Wang, 2019. "Impacts of U.S. Carbon Tariffs on China’s Foreign Trade and Social Welfare," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-21, September.
    25. Florian Landis & Adriana Marcucci & Sebastian Rausch & Ramachandran Kannan & Lucas Bretschger, 2019. "Multi-model comparison of Swiss decarbonization scenarios," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 155(1), pages 1-18, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate Policy; Green Tax Reform; Induced Innovation; Endogenous Growth; Numerical Modelling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • O44 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Environment and Growth
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy

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