IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wfo/wpaper/y2018i558.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

CO2 Tax Scenarios for Austria. Impacts on Household Income Groups, CO2 Emissions, and the Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Mathias Kirchner

    (WIFO)

  • Mark Sommer

    (WIFO)

  • Claudia Kettner-Marx
  • Daniela Kletzan-Slamanig

    (WIFO)

  • Katharina Köberl-Schmid

    (WIFO)

  • Kurt Kratena

    (WIFO)

Abstract

We assess distributive, macroeconomic, and CO2 emission impacts of CO2 tax schemes in Austria by applying the macroeconomic input-output model DYNK[AUT]. The tax schemes analysed focus primarily on CO2 emissions not covered by the European Emission Trading System (ETS), applying different CO2 tax rates as well as tax compensation schemes. We perform comparative scenario analysis for our model's base year (i.e., short-term impacts). Our model simulations indicate that – without tax compensation – impacts on households can be regressive if measured as tax burden relative to income, and are found to be rather proportional if measured as tax burden relative to expenditure or as changes in total expenditure and income. Lower income households benefit more from tax compensations (lump sum payments), i.e., CO2 taxes with compensation measures for households lead to progressive tax burden impacts. Energy-related CO2 emissions decrease quite substantially in non-ETS sectors, although households react inelastic. Value added in most non-ETS industry and service sectors declines only slightly without tax compensation and commodity import shares are hardly affected. Decreasing employers' social contribution (i.e., lowering labour costs) mitigates negative impacts in most non-ETS industry and service sectors. GDP decreases very moderately without tax recycling, depending on the tax rate. Employment effects are similar but smaller. Tax recycling leads to negligible GDP impacts and increases employment. Our simulations thus suggest that CO2 taxes could be a crucial and socially acceptable element within a comprehensive set of policy instruments in order to contribute to achieving greenhouse-gas emission targets for non-ETS sectors in Austria.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathias Kirchner & Mark Sommer & Claudia Kettner-Marx & Daniela Kletzan-Slamanig & Katharina Köberl-Schmid & Kurt Kratena, 2018. "CO2 Tax Scenarios for Austria. Impacts on Household Income Groups, CO2 Emissions, and the Economy," WIFO Working Papers 558, WIFO.
  • Handle: RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2018:i:558
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wifo.ac.at/wwa/pubid/60975
    File Function: abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kurt Kratena & Mark Sommer & Gerhard Streicher & Simone Salotti & Juan Manuel Valderas Jaramillo, 2017. "FIDELIO 2: Overview and Theoretical Foundations of the Second Version of the Fully Interregional Dynamic Econometric Long-term Input-Output Model for the EU 27," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 61880.
    2. Kurt Kratena & Stefan Schleicher, 1999. "Impact of Carbon Dioxide Emissions Reduction on the Austrian Economy," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(3), pages 245-261.
    3. Mikael Skou Andersen, 2004. "Vikings and virtues: a decade of CO 2 taxation," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 13-24, March.
    4. Callan, Tim & Lyons, Sean & Scott, Susan & Tol, Richard S.J. & Verde, Stefano, 2009. "The distributional implications of a carbon tax in Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 407-412, February.
    5. K. Farmer & K.W. Steininger, 1999. "Reducing CO2-Emissions Under Fiscal Retrenchment: A Multi-Cohort CGE-Model for Austria," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 13(3), pages 309-340, April.
    6. Hertel, Thomas & Hummels, David & Ivanic, Maros & Keeney, Roman, 2007. "How confident can we be of CGE-based assessments of Free Trade Agreements?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 611-635, July.
    7. Schmidt, Johannes & Leduc, Sylvain & Dotzauer, Erik & Schmid, Erwin, 2011. "Cost-effective policy instruments for greenhouse gas emission reduction and fossil fuel substitution through bioenergy production in Austria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3261-3280, June.
    8. Sorrell, Steve, 2009. "Jevons' Paradox revisited: The evidence for backfire from improved energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1456-1469, April.
    9. Wier, Mette & Birr-Pedersen, Katja & Jacobsen, Henrik Klinge & Klok, Jacob, 2005. "Are CO2 taxes regressive? Evidence from the Danish experience," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 239-251, January.
    10. Beck, Marisa & Rivers, Nicholas & Wigle, Randall & Yonezawa, Hidemichi, 2015. "Carbon tax and revenue recycling: Impacts on households in British Columbia," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 40-69.
    11. Wadud, Zia & Graham, Daniel J. & Noland, Robert B., 2009. "Modelling fuel demand for different socio-economic groups," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(12), pages 2740-2749, December.
    12. Martin, Ralf & de Preux, Laure B. & Wagner, Ulrich J., 2014. "The impact of a carbon tax on manufacturing: Evidence from microdata," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 1-14.
    13. Stefan Ederer & Josef Baumgartner & Marian Fink & Serguei Kaniovski & Christine Mayrhuber & Silvia Rocha-Akis, 2017. "Effekte der Einführung eines flächendeckenden Mindestlohnes in Österreich," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 60570.
    14. Wood, Peter John & Jotzo, Frank, 2011. "Price floors for emissions trading," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1746-1753, March.
    15. Beck, Marisa & Rivers, Nicholas & Yonezawa, Hidemichi, 2016. "A rural myth? Sources and implications of the perceived unfairness of carbon taxes in rural communities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 124-134.
    16. Florian Landis and Peter Heindl, 2019. "Renewable Energy Targets in the Context of the EU ETS: Whom do They Benefit Exactly?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 6).
    17. Unknown, 2016. "Energy for Sustainable Development," Conference Proceedings 253270, Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies (IDSAsr).
    18. Hackbarth, André & Madlener, Reinhard, 2011. "Consumer Preferences for Alternative Fuel Vehicles: A Discrete Choice Analysis," FCN Working Papers 20/2011, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    19. Joeri Rogelj & Michel den Elzen & Niklas Höhne & Taryn Fransen & Hanna Fekete & Harald Winkler & Roberto Schaeffer & Fu Sha & Keywan Riahi & Malte Meinshausen, 2016. "Paris Agreement climate proposals need a boost to keep warming well below 2 °C," Nature, Nature, vol. 534(7609), pages 631-639, June.
    20. Wang, Qian & Hubacek, Klaus & Feng, Kuishuang & Wei, Yi-Ming & Liang, Qiao-Mei, 2016. "Distributional effects of carbon taxation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1123-1131.
    21. Holmgren, Johan, 2007. "Meta-analysis of public transport demand," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 41(10), pages 1021-1035, December.
    22. Kurt Kratena & Gerhard Streicher & Umed Temurshoev & Antonio F. Amores & Iñaki Arto & Ignazio Mongelli & Frederik Neuwahl & José-Manuel Rueda-Cantuche & Valeria Andreoni, 2013. "FIDELIO 1: Fully Interregional Dynamic Econometric Long-term Input-Output Model for the EU 27," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 46816.
    23. Andrea Baranzini & Jeroen C. J. M. van den Bergh & Stefano Carattini & Richard B. Howarth & Emilio Padilla & Jordi Roca, 2017. "Carbon pricing in climate policy: seven reasons, complementary instruments, and political economy considerations," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(4), July.
    24. Nicholas Stern, 2008. "The Economics of Climate Change," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 1-37, May.
    25. Dissou, Yazid & Siddiqui, Muhammad Shahid, 2014. "Can carbon taxes be progressive?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 88-100.
    26. Florens Flues & Alastair Thomas, 2015. "The distributional effects of energy taxes," OECD Taxation Working Papers 23, OECD Publishing.
    27. Felder, Stefan & Schleiniger, Reto, 2002. "Environmental tax reform: efficiency and political feasibility," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 107-116, August.
    28. Stefan Felder & Reto Schleiniger, "undated". "Environmental Tax Reform: Efficiency and Political Feasibility," IEW - Working Papers 013, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    29. 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.
    30. Sommer, Mark & Kratena, Kurt, 2017. "The Carbon Footprint of European Households and Income Distribution," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 62-72.
    31. Terry Barker & Jonathan Köhler, 1998. "Equity and ecotax reform in the EU: achieving a 10 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions using excise duties," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 19(4), pages 375-402, November.
    32. Binswanger, Mathias, 2001. "Technological progress and sustainable development: what about the rebound effect?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 119-132, January.
    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. Stephan Schulmeister, 2020. "Fixing long-term price paths for fossil energy: the optimal incentive for limiting global warming," ICAE Working Papers 112, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    2. Mark Sommer & Kurt Kratena, 2020. "Consumption and production-based CO2 pricing policies: macroeconomic trade-offs and carbon leakage," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 29-57, January.
    3. Claudia Kettner-Marx & Mathias Kirchner & Daniela Kletzan-Slamanig & Mark Sommer & Kurt Kratena & Stefan E. Weishaar & Irene Burgers, 2018. "CATs – Options and Considerations for a Carbon Tax in Austria. Policy Brief," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 60998.
    4. Martin Guth & Jannika Hesse & Csilla Königswieser & Gerald Krenn & Christian Lipp & Benjamin Neudorfer & Martin Schneider & Philipp Weiss, 2021. "OeNB climate risk stress test – modeling a carbon price shock for the Austrian banking sector," Financial Stability Report, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 42, pages 27-45.
    5. Dominik Bernhofer, 2021. "Die Verteilungseffekte einer CO2-Bepreisung im Haushaltssektor: Ein Überblick über die aktuelle empirische Literatur," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 47(2), pages 225-239.
    6. Alexander Schnabl & Sarah Gust & Liliana Mateeva & Kerstin Plank & Lorenz Wimmer & Hannes Zenz, 2021. "CO2-relevante Besteuerung und Abgabenleistung der Sektoren in Österreich," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 47(2), pages 197-224.
    7. Claudia Kettner-Marx & Daniela Kletzan-Slamanig & Mathias Kirchner & Mark Sommer & Kurt Kratena & Stefan E. Weishaar & Irene Burgers, 2018. "CATs – Carbon Taxes in Austria. Implementation Issues and Impacts," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 61185.

    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. Kirchner, Mathias & Sommer, Mark & Kratena, Kurt & Kletzan-Slamanig, Daniela & Kettner-Marx, Claudia, 2019. "CO2 taxes, equity and the double dividend – Macroeconomic model simulations for Austria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 295-314.
    2. Wang, Qian & Hubacek, Klaus & Feng, Kuishuang & Wei, Yi-Ming & Liang, Qiao-Mei, 2016. "Distributional effects of carbon taxation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1123-1131.
    3. Jia, Zhijie & Lin, Boqiang & Liu, Xiying, 2023. "Rethinking the equity and efficiency of carbon tax: A novel perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 346(C).
    4. Dorband, Ira Irina & Jakob, Michael & Kalkuhl, Matthias & Steckel, Jan Christoph, 2019. "Poverty and distributional effects of carbon pricing in low- and middle-income countries – A global comparative analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 246-257.
    5. Mark Sommer & Kurt Kratena, 2020. "Consumption and production-based CO2 pricing policies: macroeconomic trade-offs and carbon leakage," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 29-57, January.
    6. Claudia Kettner-Marx & Daniela Kletzan-Slamanig & Mathias Kirchner & Mark Sommer & Kurt Kratena & Stefan E. Weishaar & Irene Burgers, 2018. "CATs – Carbon Taxes in Austria. Implementation Issues and Impacts," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 61185.
    7. Kettner, Claudia & Leoni, Thomas & Köberl, Judith & Kortschak, Dominik & Kirchner, Mathias & Sommer, Mark & Wallenko, Laura & Bachner, Gabriel & Mayer, Jakob & Spittler, Nathalie & Kulmer, Veronika, 2024. "Modelling the economy-wide effects of unilateral CO2 pricing under different revenue recycling schemes in Austria – Searching for a triple dividend," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    8. McLaughlin, Craig & Elamer, Ahmed A. & Glen, Thomas & AlHares, Aws & Gaber, Hazem Rasheed, 2019. "Accounting society's acceptability of carbon taxes: Expectations and reality," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 302-311.
    9. Karimu, Amin & Bali Swain, Ranjula, 2023. "Implication of electricity taxes and levies on sustainable development goals in the European Union," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    10. Nils Ohlendorf & Michael Jakob & Jan Christoph Minx & Carsten Schröder & Jan Christoph Steckel, 2018. "Distributional Impacts of Climate Mitigation Policies - a Meta-Analysis," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1776, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    11. Moz-Christofoletti, Maria Alice & Pereda, Paula Carvalho, 2021. "Winners and losers: the distributional impacts of a carbon tax in Brazil," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    12. 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).
    13. Jacobs, Leif & Quack, Lara & Mechtel, Mario, 2022. "Distributional effects of carbon pricing by transport fuel taxation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    14. Leif Jacobs & Lara Quack & Mario Mechtel, 2021. "Distributional Effects of Carbon Pricing by Transport Fuel Taxation," Working Paper Series in Economics 405, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    15. 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.
    16. Qin, Ping. & Chen, Peilin. & Zhang, Xiao-Bing. & Xie, Lunyu., 2020. "Coal taxation reform in China and its distributional effects on residential consumers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    17. de Bruin, Kelly & Yakut, Aykut Mert, 2024. "Efficiency–equity trade-off in the Irish carbon tax: A CGE investigation of mixed revenue recycling schemes," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    18. Chepeliev, Maksym & Osorio-Rodarte, Israel & van der Mensbrugghe, Dominique, 2021. "Distributional impacts of carbon pricing policies under the Paris Agreement: Inter and intra-regional perspectives," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    19. Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, 2022. "Rendre acceptable la nécessaire taxation du carbone. Quelles pistes pour la France ?," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(1), pages 15-53.
    20. Heindl, Peter & Löschel, Andreas, 2015. "Social implications of green growth policies from the perspective of energy sector reform and its impact on households," ZEW Discussion Papers 15-012, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    CO2 taxes; climate change; distributive impacts; macroeconomic modelling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    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:wfo:wpaper:y:2018:i:558. 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: Florian Mayr (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wifooat.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.