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Optimal taxation, environment quality, socially responsible firms and investors

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  • Thomas Renström
  • Luca Spataro

Abstract

We characterize the optimal pollution-, capital- and labour-tax structure in a continuous-time growth model in the presence of pollution (resulting from production), both in the first- and second-best, allowing investors to be driven by social responsibility objectives. The social responsibility objective takes the form of warm-glow, as in Andreoni (1990) and Dam (2011), inducing firms to reduce pollution through increased abatement activity. Among the results, the first best pollution tax is still positive under warm-glow, the second-best pollution tax displays the additivity property, and we show the circumstances under which the Chamley-Judd zero capital-income tax result does not hold.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Renström & Luca Spataro, 2018. "Optimal taxation, environment quality, socially responsible firms and investors," Discussion Papers 2018/232, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    • Handle: RePEc:pie:dsedps:2018/232
    Note: ISSN 2039-1854
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Heinkel, Robert & Kraus, Alan & Zechner, Josef, 2001. "The Effect of Green Investment on Corporate Behavior," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(4), pages 431-449, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Jiunn & Marsiliani, Laura & Renström, Thomas, 2020. "Optimal sin taxes in the presence of income taxes and health care," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    2. Renström, Thomas I. & Spataro, Luca & Marsiliani, Laura, 2021. "Can subsidies rather than pollution taxes break the trade-off between economic output and environmental protection?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    3. Luca Spataro & Tommaso Crescioli, 2024. "How much capital should be taxed? A review of the quantitative and empirical literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 1399-1436, September.
    4. Orlando Gomes, 2020. "Optimal growth under socially responsible investment: a dynamic theoretical model of the trade-off between financial gains and emotional rewards," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Giorgos N. Diakoulakis & Athanasios Kampas, 2023. "Emission taxes for genuine altruistic firms," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(1), pages 343-359, March.
    6. Duineveld, Sijmen & Hambel, Christoph & Lessmann, Kai, 2025. "Green investors and the return on capital in general equilibrium," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D53 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Financial Markets
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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