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Environmental Taxes, Abatement Effort and Green Trade Unions in an Oligopoly Market

Author

Listed:
  • Elias Asproudis

    (Swansea University, School of Social Sciences, Department of Economics, UK)

  • Eleftherios Filippiadis

    (Department of Economics, University of Macedonia, Greece)

Abstract

This paper examines how environmental taxes, abatement effort, and green trade unions interact within a differentiated duopoly under decentralised and centralised wage setting structures. We show that trade union environmental awareness acts as a substitute for environmental taxation: as unions internalize local damages in wage negotiations, the regulator optimally chooses a lower emissions tax. Centralised wage bargaining leads to higher wages and lower emissions, while decentralised bargaining yields higher output, profits, and social welfare. From a policy perspective, we argue that incorporating green trade unions’ environmental preferences into environmental governance can improve efficiency of the environmental policy taxation.

Suggested Citation

  • Elias Asproudis & Eleftherios Filippiadis, 2026. "Environmental Taxes, Abatement Effort and Green Trade Unions in an Oligopoly Market," Discussion Paper Series 2026_03, Department of Economics, University of Macedonia, revised Mar 2026.
    • Handle: RePEc:mcd:mcddps:2026_03
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Campo, Maria Luz, 2004. "Environmental policy and wage setting," Economia Agraria y Recursos Naturales, Spanish Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 4(07), pages 1-15.
    2. Asproudis, Elias & Filippiadis, Eleftherios & Tian, Mo, 2022. "Timing of environmental technological choice and trade unions' climate solidarity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    3. Juan Carlos Bárcena-Ruiz, 2011. "Production externality and productivity of labor," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 196(1), pages 65-78, january.
    4. Elias Asproudis & Maria Gil-Moltó, 2015. "Green Trade Unions: Structure, Wages and Environmental Technology," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 60(2), pages 165-189, February.
    5. Christos Constantatos & Christos Pargianas & Eftichios S. Sartzetakis, 2021. "Green consumers and environmental policy," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 23(1), pages 105-140, February.
    6. Juan Carlos Bárcena-Ruiz & María Begoña Garzón, 2009. "Environmental Taxes and Wage Setting Structure," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2009(4), pages 353-365.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • J5 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining
    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

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