Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/han/dpaper/dp-251.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Ecological Tax Reform and Unemployment

Author

Listed:
  • Budzinski, Oliver
Abstract
The question of a double dividend from revenue-neutral ecological tax reforms (an ecological advantage plus an economic advantage) has recently become a widely discussed topic both in real-world economic policy and in economic theory. The subject has produced many advocates and opponents in the scientific community. This paper examines potential economic dividends from revenue-neutral ecological tax reforms by systematically distinguishing between an efficiency dividend and an employment dividend. Their occurrence is discussed from the viewpoint of two different theoretical approaches: namely, the optimal taxation view and the market process view. According to the optimal taxation view, which dominates recent economic analysis on this subject, an efficiency dividend seems doubtful whereas an employment dividend is likely to occur under specific circumstances (e.g. involuntary unemployment and sub-optimal initial tax system). However, there is a considerable number of unsuitable assumptions which create doubt when questioning how appropriate the use of optimal taxation theory is when discussing real-world ecological tax reforms. The market process view enlarges the analysis by integrating effects on and from competition and innovation. This strengthens the occurrence of an employment dividend in an imperfect world with involuntary unemployment. In this framework the reduction of involuntary unemployment results from declining wage costs which boost labour demand, a shift in the bias of the innovation process, and an evolution of the consumption basket because of changing relative prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Budzinski, Oliver, 2002. "Ecological Tax Reform and Unemployment," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-251, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    • Handle: RePEc:han:dpaper:dp-251
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://diskussionspapiere.wiwi.uni-hannover.de/pdf_bib/dp-251.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de Bovenberg, A Lans & Mooij, Ruud A, 1994. "Environmental Levies and Distortionary Taxation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 1085-1089, September.
    2. Mudambi,Ram & Navarra,Pietro & Sobbrio,Giuseppe (ed.), 2001. "Rules and Reason," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521650571, October.
    3. Erkki Koskela & Ronnie Schöb & Hans-Werner Sinn, 1998. "Pollution, Factor Taxation and Unemployment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 5(3), pages 379-396, July.
    4. Erkki Koskela & Ronnie Schöb, 2002. "Alleviating Unemployment: The Case for Green Tax Reforms," Chapters, in: Lawrence H. Goulder (ed.), Environmental Policy Making in Economies with Prior Tax Distortions, chapter 20, pages 355-378, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Bovenberg, A. Lans & van der Ploeg, Frederick, 1996. "Optimal taxation, public goods and environmental policy with involuntary unemployment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1-2), pages 59-83, October.
    6. A. Bovenberg, 1998. "Environmental Taxes and the Double Dividend," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 25(1), pages 15-35, January.
    7. Michael Hoel, 1998. "Emission Taxes versus Other Environmental Policies," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(1), pages 79-104, March.
    8. Alberto Majocchi, 1996. "Green fiscal reform and employment: A survey," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 8(4), pages 375-397, December.
    9. A. Lans Bovenberg & Frederick van der Ploeg, 2002. "Tax Reform, Structural Unemployment and the Environment," Chapters, in: Lawrence H. Goulder (ed.), Environmental Policy Making in Economies with Prior Tax Distortions, chapter 21, pages 379-396, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Mudambi,Ram & Navarra,Pietro & Sobbrio,Giuseppe (ed.), 2001. "Rules and Reason," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521659598, October.
    11. 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.
    12. Lans Bovenberg & Frederick van der Ploeg, 1994. "Consequences of Environmental Tax Reform for Involuntary Unemployment and Welfare," CESifo Working Paper Series 56, CESifo.
    13. Zimmermann, Klaus W & Gaynor, John D, 1999. "The Double Dividend: Miracle or Fata Morgana?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 101(1-2), pages 39-58, October.
    14. A. Bovenberg & Frederick Van der Ploeg, 1998. "Consequences of Environmental Tax Reform for Unemployment and Welfare," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 12(2), pages 137-150, September.
    15. Peter J. Boettke & David L. Prychitko (ed.), 1994. "The Market Process," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 54.
    16. 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.
    17. Israel M. Kirzner, 1997. "Entrepreneurial Discovery and the Competitive Market Process: An Austrian Approach," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 60-85, March.
    18. Gerhard Wegner, 1997. "Economic Policy From an Evolutionary Perspective: A New Approach," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 153(3), pages 485-485, September.
    19. Lee, Dwight R. & Misiolek, Walter S., 1986. "Substituting pollution taxation for general taxation: Some implications for efficiency in pollutions taxation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 338-347, December.
    20. Terkla, David, 1984. "The efficiency value of effluent tax revenues," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 107-123, June.
    21. Wolfgang Kasper & Manfred E. Streit, 1999. "Institutional Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1582.
    22. repec:bla:scandj:v:99:y:1997:i:1:p:45-49 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Buchanan, James M. & Vanberg, Viktor J., 1991. "The Market as a Creative Process," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 167-186, October.
    24. Gebhard Kirchgässner, 1998. "The Double Dividend Debate: Some Comments from a Politico-Economic Perspective," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 25(1), pages 37-48, January.
    25. Kerstin Schneider, 1997. "Involuntary Unemployment and Environmental Policy: The Double Dividend Hypothesis," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(1), pages 45-59, March.
    26. John Pezzey & Andrew Park, 1998. "Reflections on the Double Dividend Debate," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 11(3), pages 539-555, April.
    27. Carraro, Carlo & Galeotti, Marzio & Gallo, Massimo, 1996. "Environmental taxation and unemployment: Some evidence on the 'double dividend hypothesis' in Europe," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1-2), pages 141-181, October.
    28. Bovenberg, A Lans & de Mooij, Ruud A, 1997. "Environmental Levies and Distortionary Taxation: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(1), pages 252-253, March.
    29. Bayındır-Upmann, Thorsten & Raith, Matthias, 2017. "Should high tax countries pursue revenue neutral ecological tax reform?," Center for Mathematical Economics Working Papers 304, Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. : Eduardo L. Giménez (a) & Miguel Rodríguez, "undated". "Pigou’S Dividend Versus Ramsey’S Dividend In The Double Dividend Literature," Working Papers 2-06 Classification-JEL :, Instituto de Estudios Fiscales.
    2. Aubert, Diane & Chiroleu-Assouline, Mireille, 2019. "Environmental tax reform and income distribution with imperfect heterogeneous labour markets," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 60-82.
    3. Ronnie Schöb, 2003. "The Double Dividend Hypothesis of Environmental Taxes: A Survey," CESifo Working Paper Series 946, CESifo.
    4. Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline & Mouez Fodha, 2011. "Verdissement de la fiscalité. À qui profite le double dividende ?," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(1), pages 409-431.
    5. Bosello, Francesco & Carraro, Carlo & Galeotti, Marzio, 2001. "The double dividend issue: modeling strategies and empirical findings," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(1), pages 9-45, February.
    6. Schöb, Ronnie, 2009. "Climate policy: choosing the right instrument to reap an additional employment dividend," Discussion Papers 2009/10, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    7. Chung-Fu Lai, 2016. "Examining the Double Dividend Effect of Energy Tax with the Overlapping Generations Model," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 6(1), pages 53-57.
    8. Freire-González, Jaume, 2018. "Environmental taxation and the double dividend hypothesis in CGE modelling literature: A critical review," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 194-223.
    9. Max Albert & Jürgen Meckl, 2001. "Green Tax Reform and Two-Component Unemployment: Double Dividend or Double Loss?," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 157(2), pages 265-281, June.
    10. Bovenberg, A. Lans & Goulder, Lawrence H., 2002. "Environmental taxation and regulation," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 23, pages 1471-1545, Elsevier.
    11. Ian W. H. Parry, 2003. "Fiscal Interactions and the Case for Carbon Taxes Over Grandfathered Carbon Permits," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(3), pages 385-399.
    12. Thorsten Bayındır-Upmann, 2004. "On the Double Dividend under Imperfect Competition," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 28(2), pages 169-194, June.
    13. Erkki Koskela & Ronnie Schöb, 2002. "Alleviating Unemployment: The Case for Green Tax Reforms," Chapters, in: Lawrence H. Goulder (ed.), Environmental Policy Making in Economies with Prior Tax Distortions, chapter 20, pages 355-378, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, 2015. "Can environmental taxation in France really become ecological? Current situation and conditions of acceptability," PSE Working Papers halshs-04198162, HAL.
    15. Erkki Koskela & Ronnie Schöb & Hans-Werner Sinn, 1998. "Pollution, Factor Taxation and Unemployment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 5(3), pages 379-396, July.
    16. Xavier Labandeira & José M. Labeaga & Xiral López-Otero, 2019. "New Green Tax Reforms: Ex-Ante Assessments for Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-25, October.
    17. Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, 2001. "Le double dividende. Les approches théoriques," Revue Française d'Économie, Programme National Persée, vol. 16(2), pages 119-147.
    18. Jacobs, Bas & de Mooij, Ruud A., 2015. "Pigou meets Mirrlees: On the irrelevance of tax distortions for the second-best Pigouvian tax," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 90-108.
    19. Böhringer Christoph & Rivers Nicholas J. & Rutherford Thomas F. & Wigle Randall, 2012. "Green Jobs and Renewable Electricity Policies: Employment Impacts of Ontario's Feed-in Tariff," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-40, June.
    20. Manresa, Antonio & Sancho, Ferran, 2005. "Implementing a double dividend: recycling ecotaxes towards lower labour taxes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(12), pages 1577-1585, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    environmental taxation; double dividend; market process theory; involuntary unemployment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation

    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:han:dpaper:dp-251. 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: Heidrich, Christian (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fwhande.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.