Tax policy to reduce carbon emissions in a distorted economy: Illustrations from a South Africa CGE Model
Noting that developing countries may not have the administrative capacity to levy a “pure” carbon tax, we compare the impact of alternative energy taxes with that of a carbon tax in an economy with multiple distortions. We use a disaggregated computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the South A...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
2011
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154962 |
| _version_ | 1855541122983526400 |
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| author | Devarajan, Shantayanan Go, Delfin S. Robinson, Sherman Thierfelder, Karen |
| author_browse | Devarajan, Shantayanan Go, Delfin S. Robinson, Sherman Thierfelder, Karen |
| author_facet | Devarajan, Shantayanan Go, Delfin S. Robinson, Sherman Thierfelder, Karen |
| author_sort | Devarajan, Shantayanan |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Noting that developing countries may not have the administrative capacity to levy a “pure” carbon tax, we compare the impact of alternative energy taxes with that of a carbon tax in an economy with multiple distortions. We use a disaggregated computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the South African economy and simulate a range of tax policies that reduce CO2 emissions by 15 percent. Consistent with a “first-best” economy, a carbon tax will have the lowest marginal cost of abatement. But the relationship between a tax on energy commodities and one on pollution-intensive commodities depends critically on other distortions in the system and on structural rigidities in the economy. We demonstrate that if South Africa were able to remove distortions in the labor market, the cost of carbon taxation would be negligible. We conclude that the welfare costs of taxing carbon emissions in developing countries depend more on other distortions than on the country’s own carbon emissions. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace154962 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publishDateRange | 2011 |
| publishDateSort | 2011 |
| publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH |
| publisherStr | Walter de Gruyter GmbH |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1549622024-10-25T08:05:46Z Tax policy to reduce carbon emissions in a distorted economy: Illustrations from a South Africa CGE Model Devarajan, Shantayanan Go, Delfin S. Robinson, Sherman Thierfelder, Karen environmental tax emission fiscal policies computable general equilibrium models Noting that developing countries may not have the administrative capacity to levy a “pure” carbon tax, we compare the impact of alternative energy taxes with that of a carbon tax in an economy with multiple distortions. We use a disaggregated computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the South African economy and simulate a range of tax policies that reduce CO2 emissions by 15 percent. Consistent with a “first-best” economy, a carbon tax will have the lowest marginal cost of abatement. But the relationship between a tax on energy commodities and one on pollution-intensive commodities depends critically on other distortions in the system and on structural rigidities in the economy. We demonstrate that if South Africa were able to remove distortions in the labor market, the cost of carbon taxation would be negligible. We conclude that the welfare costs of taxing carbon emissions in developing countries depend more on other distortions than on the country’s own carbon emissions. 2011 2024-10-01T14:05:11Z 2024-10-01T14:05:11Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154962 en Limited Access Walter de Gruyter GmbH Devarajan, Shantayanan; Go, Delfin S.; Robinson, Sherman; Thierfelder, Karen. 2011. Tax policy to reduce carbon emissions in a distorted economy: Illustrations from a South Africa CGE Model. The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy 11(1): Article 13. https://doi.org/10.2202/1935-1682.2376 |
| spellingShingle | environmental tax emission fiscal policies computable general equilibrium models Devarajan, Shantayanan Go, Delfin S. Robinson, Sherman Thierfelder, Karen Tax policy to reduce carbon emissions in a distorted economy: Illustrations from a South Africa CGE Model |
| title | Tax policy to reduce carbon emissions in a distorted economy: Illustrations from a South Africa CGE Model |
| title_full | Tax policy to reduce carbon emissions in a distorted economy: Illustrations from a South Africa CGE Model |
| title_fullStr | Tax policy to reduce carbon emissions in a distorted economy: Illustrations from a South Africa CGE Model |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tax policy to reduce carbon emissions in a distorted economy: Illustrations from a South Africa CGE Model |
| title_short | Tax policy to reduce carbon emissions in a distorted economy: Illustrations from a South Africa CGE Model |
| title_sort | tax policy to reduce carbon emissions in a distorted economy illustrations from a south africa cge model |
| topic | environmental tax emission fiscal policies computable general equilibrium models |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154962 |
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