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Carbon leakage under incomplete environmental regulation: An industry-level approach

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  • Robert A. Ritz

Abstract

Carbon leakage is a major concern for policymakers involved with environmental initiatives such as the European Union's emissions trading scheme and similar cap-and-trade proposals in the United States, Australia, and elsewhere. This paper provides a framework for understanding the drives underlying carbon leakage at the level of an individual sector in which only a subset of firms is covered by such regulation. It provides simple formulae to estimate leakage rates using information on industry characteristics that is typically available to the analyst. Illustrative estimates for the steel industry in the EU ETS suggest carbon leakage of 25-30% or (much) higher - unless environmental-efficiency improvements by regulated firms are substantial.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert A. Ritz, 2009. "Carbon leakage under incomplete environmental regulation: An industry-level approach," Economics Series Working Papers 461, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:461
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    File URL: http://www.economics.ox.ac.uk/materials/working_papers/paper461.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Dieter Helm & Cameron Hepburn & Giovanni Ruta, 2012. "Trade, climate change, and the political game theory of border carbon adjustments," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 28(2), pages 368-394, SUMMER.
    2. John Feddersen, 2012. "Why we can't confirm the pollution haven hypothesis: A model of carbon leakage with agglomeration," Economics Series Working Papers 613, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    3. Robert Hahn & Robert Ritz, 2014. "Optimal Altruism in Public Good Provision," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1403, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    4. Svetlana Batrakova, 2012. "Does industry concentration matter for pollution haven effects?," GRI Working Papers 90, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    5. Benjamin Jones & Michael Keen & Jon Strand, 2013. "Fiscal implications of climate change," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 20(1), pages 29-70, February.
    6. Sheldon, Ian & McCorriston, Steve, 2014. "Climate Policy and Border Measures: The Case of the US Aluminum Industry," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 169544, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. Gabriela Michalek & Reimund Schwarze, 2015. "Carbon leakage: pollution, trade or politics?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 1471-1492, December.
    8. Morihiro Yomogida & Nori Tarui, 2013. "Emission Taxes and Border Tax Adjustments for Oligopolistic Industries," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(5), pages 644-673, December.
    9. Ian Sheldon & Steve McCorriston, 2012. "Climate policy and border tax adjustments: Might industrial organization matter?," EconoQuantum, Revista de Economia y Negocios, Universidad de Guadalajara, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Economico Administrativas, Departamento de Metodos Cuantitativos y Maestria en Economia., vol. 9(2), pages 7-28, Julio-Dic.
    10. Robert w. Hahn & Robert A. Ritz, 2013. "Does the social Cost of Carbon Matter?: An Assessment of U.S. Policy," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1346, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Abatement; Cap-and-trade; Carbon tax; Cost pass-through; Emissions trading; Free allocation; Market structure;

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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