IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/old/dpaper/418.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Greener and Fairer: A Progressive Environmental Tax Reform for Spain

Author

Listed:
  • Christoph Boehringer

    (University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics)

  • Xaquin Garcia-Muros

    (Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), Leioa, Spain)

  • Mikel González-Eguino

    (University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain)

Abstract

Environmental externalities call for the use of environmental taxes to get prices right and thereby reduce environmental pressures. To date, however, the Spanish government makes only limited use of environmental taxes. One major reason for the policy reluctance are concerns on the regressive impacts of environmental taxes. We argue that policy can hedge against these concerns by means of revenue recycling. More specifically, we assess the impacts of a green tax reform where additional revenues are redistributed lump-sum to Spanish households on an equal-per-capita basis. Based on quantitative evidence from coupled microsimulation and computable equilibrium analyses we find that such a green tax reform leads to a substantial reduction in harmful emissions while having a progressive impact.

Suggested Citation

  • Christoph Boehringer & Xaquin Garcia-Muros & Mikel González-Eguino, 2019. "Greener and Fairer: A Progressive Environmental Tax Reform for Spain," Working Papers V-418-19, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2019.
    • Handle: RePEc:old:dpaper:418
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.uni-oldenburg.de/fileadmin/user_upload/wire/fachgebiete/vwl/V-418-19.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2019
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christoph Böhringer & André Müller & Jan Schneider, 2015. "Carbon Tariffs Revisited," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(4), pages 629-672.
    2. Alberto Gago & Xavier Labandeira & Xiral López Otero, 2014. "A Panorama on Energy Taxes and Green Tax Reforms," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 208(1), pages 145-190, March.
    3. Lawrence Goulder, 1995. "Environmental taxation and the double dividend: A reader's guide," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 2(2), pages 157-183, August.
    4. Atkinson, Anthony B., 1970. "On the measurement of inequality," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 244-263, September.
    5. Anger, Niels & Böhringer, Christoph & Löschel, Andreas, 2010. "Paying the piper and calling the tune?: A meta-regression analysis of the double-dividend hypothesis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1495-1502, May.
    6. Christoph Böhringer & Jared C. Carbone & Thomas F. Rutherford, 2012. "Efficiency and Equity Implications of Alternative Instruments to Reduce Carbon Leakage," Working Papers V-346-12, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Jun 2012.
    7. Speck, Stefan, 1999. "Energy and carbon taxes and their distributional implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(11), pages 659-667, October.
    8. Thomas F. Rutherford & David G. Tarr, 2014. "Poverty effects of Russia's WTO accession: Modeling “real” households with endogenous productivity effects," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: APPLIED TRADE POLICY MODELING IN 16 COUNTRIES Insights and Impacts from World Bank CGE Based Projects, chapter 12, pages 287-306, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 1995. "An Introduction to the Wage Curve," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 153-167, Summer.
    10. Xavier Labandeira & José M. Labeaga, 1999. "Combining input-output analysis and micro-simulation to assess the effects of carbon taxation on Spanish households," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 20(3), pages 305-320, September.
    11. Kiuila, Olga & Sleszynski, Jerzy, 2003. "Expected effects of the ecological tax reform for the Polish economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 103-120, August.
    12. González-Eguino, Mikel, 2011. "The importance of the design of market-based instruments for CO2 mitigation: An AGE analysis for Spain," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 2292-2302.
    13. Simon Koesler & Michael Schymura, 2015. "Substitution Elasticities In A Constant Elasticity Of Substitution Framework - Empirical Estimates Using Nonlinear Least Squares," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 101-121, March.
    14. Ringlund, Guro Bornes & Rosendahl, Knut Einar & Skjerpen, Terje, 2008. "Does oilrig activity react to oil price changes An empirical investigation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 371-396, March.
    15. Deaton, Angus S & Muellbauer, John, 1980. "An Almost Ideal Demand System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 312-326, June.
    16. Anil Markandya & Andrea Bigano & Roberto Porchia (ed.), 2010. "The Social Cost of Electricity," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13446.
    17. Böhringer, Christoph & Carbone, Jared C. & Rutherford, Thomas F., 2012. "Unilateral climate policy design: Efficiency and equity implications of alternative instruments to reduce carbon leakage," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(S2), pages 208-217.
    18. Krichene, Noureddine, 2002. "World crude oil and natural gas: a demand and supply model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 557-576, November.
    19. A. Bovenberg, 1999. "Green Tax Reforms and the Double Dividend: an Updated Reader's Guide," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 6(3), pages 421-443, August.
    20. Markandya, Anil & González-Eguino, Mikel & Escapa, Marta, 2013. "From shadow to green: Linking environmental fiscal reforms and the informal economy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 108-118.
    21. Graham, Paul & Thorpe, Sally & Hogan, Lindsay, 1999. "Non-competitive market behaviour in the international coking coal market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 195-212, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ihor Nazarkevych & Olga Sych, 2023. "Taxation as a tool of implementation of the EU Green Deal in Ukraine," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 144-160, February.
    2. Tchorzewska, K.B. & Garcia-Quevedo, J. & Martinez-Ros, E., 2022. "The heterogeneous effects of environmental taxation on green technologies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(7).
    3. Albertsen, Lau H. & Andersen, Mads & Boscán, Luis R. & Santos, Athila Q., 2020. "Implementing dynamic electricity taxation in Denmark," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    4. 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).
    5. Mayer, Jakob & Dugan, Anna & Bachner, Gabriel & Steininger, Karl W., 2021. "Is carbon pricing regressive? Insights from a recursive-dynamic CGE analysis with heterogeneous households for Austria," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    6. Li, Zhengda & Zheng, Chengxin & Liu, Aimin & Yang, Yang & Yuan, Xiaoling, 2022. "Environmental taxes, green subsidies, and cleaner production willingness: Evidence from China's publicly traded companies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    7. Böhringer, Christoph & García-Muros, Xaquín & González-Eguino, Mikel, 2022. "Who bears the burden of greening electricity?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    8. Garaffa, Rafael & Cunha, Bruno S.L. & Cruz, Talita & Bezerra, Paula & Lucena, André F.P. & Gurgel, Angelo C., 2021. "Distributional effects of carbon pricing in Brazil under the Paris Agreement," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    9. García-Quevedo, Jose & Jové-Llopis, Elisenda, 2021. "Environmental policies and energy efficiency investments. An industry-level analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    10. Tomás, Manuel & García-Muros, Xaquín & Alonso-Epelde, Eva & Arto, Iñaki & Rodríguez-Zúñiga, Alejandro & Monge, Cristina & González-Eguino, Mikel, 2023. "Ensuring a just energy transition: A distributional analysis of diesel tax reform in Spain with stakeholder engagement," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).

    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. Böhringer, Christoph & García-Muros, Xaquín & González-Eguino, Mikel, 2022. "Who bears the burden of greening electricity?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    2. 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).
    3. Christoph Böhringer & André Müller & Jan Schneider, 2015. "Carbon Tariffs Revisited," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(4), pages 629-672.
    4. Christoph Böhringer, Florian Landis, and Miguel Angel Tovar Reaños, 2017. "Economic Impacts of Renewable Energy Production in Germany," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(KAPSARC S).
    5. Florian Landis, 2019. "Cost distribution and equity of climate policy in Switzerland," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 155(1), pages 1-28, December.
    6. Christoph Böhringer & Florian Landis & Miguel Angel Tovar Reaños, 2016. "Cost-effectiveness and Incidence of Renewable Energy Promotion in Germany," Working Papers V-390-16, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2016.
    7. 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.
    8. Alberto Gago & Xavier Labandeira & Xiral López Otero, 2014. "A Panorama on Energy Taxes and Green Tax Reforms," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 208(1), pages 145-190, March.
    9. Christoph Böhringer & Jan Schneider & Emmanuel Asane-Otoo, 2021. "Trade in Carbon and Carbon Tariffs," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 78(4), pages 669-708, April.
    10. Böhringer, Christoph & Fischer, Carolyn & Rosendahl, Knut Einar, 2014. "Cost-effective unilateral climate policy design: Size matters," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 318-339.
    11. Nils Ohlendorf & Michael Jakob & Jan Christoph Minx & Carsten Schröder & Jan Christoph Steckel, 2021. "Distributional Impacts of Carbon Pricing: A Meta-Analysis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 78(1), pages 1-42, January.
    12. Jacobs, Bas & van der Ploeg, Frederick, 2019. "Redistribution and pollution taxes with non-linear Engel curves," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 198-226.
    13. Böhringer, Christoph & Rutherford, Thomas F., 2013. "Transition towards a low carbon economy: A computable general equilibrium analysis for Poland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 16-26.
    14. Böhringer, Christoph & Rosendahl, Knut Einar & Briseid Storrøsten, Halvor, 2015. "Smart hedging against carbon leakage," Working Paper Series 14-2015, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, School of Economics and Business.
    15. Böhringer, Christoph & Garcia-Muros, Xaquin & Cazcarro, Ignacio & Arto, Iñaki, 2017. "The efficiency cost of protective measures in climate policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 446-454.
    16. Markandya, Anil & González-Eguino, Mikel & Escapa, Marta, 2013. "From shadow to green: Linking environmental fiscal reforms and the informal economy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 108-118.
    17. Böhringer, Christoph & Keller, Andreas & Bortolamedi, Markus & Rahmeier Seyffarth, Anelise, 2016. "Good things do not always come in threes: On the excess cost of overlapping regulation in EU climate policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 502-508.
    18. van der Ploeg, Frederick & Rezai, Armon & Tovar Reanos, Miguel, 2022. "Gathering support for green tax reform: Evidence from German household surveys," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    19. Heindl, Peter & Löschel, Andreas, 2015. "Social implications of green growth policies from the perspective of energy sector reform and its impact on households," CAWM Discussion Papers 81, University of Münster, Münster Center for Economic Policy (MEP).
    20. Vandyck, Toon & Weitzel, Matthias & Wojtowicz, Krzysztof & Rey Los Santos, Luis & Maftei, Anamaria & Riscado, Sara, 2021. "Climate policy design, competitiveness and income distribution: A macro-micro assessment for 11 EU countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental tax reform; household incidence; computable general equilibrium; microsimulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F0 - International Economics - - General

    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:old:dpaper:418. 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: Catharina Schramm (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fwoldde.html .

    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.