Optimal environmental policy, public goods and labor markets over the business cycle

"This paper studies the design of optimal fiscal policy in a real business cycle model with distortionary taxes and a climate change externality. Governments face the dual task of internalizing environmental externalities and raising revenues to finance the provision of public goods, including...

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Main Authors: Grodecka, Anna, Kuralbayeva, Karlygash
Institution:ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
Format: TEXT
Language:English
Published: Oxford 2014
University of Oxford
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19117898124919350709-optimal-environmental-policy,-.htm
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author Grodecka, Anna
Kuralbayeva, Karlygash
author_facet Grodecka, Anna
Kuralbayeva, Karlygash
collection Library items
description "This paper studies the design of optimal fiscal policy in a real business cycle model with distortionary taxes and a climate change externality. Governments face the dual task of internalizing environmental externalities and raising revenues to finance the provision of public goods, including public capital. At their disposal governments have access to two tax instruments: tax on emissions and labor tax. We find that a tax on labor is an efficient instrument to finance public spending and facilitate the adjustment of the economy to the temporary improvement in productivity. Therefore, labor tax is cut in the model. Tax on emissions follows a distinct pattern depending on whether the potential economic expansion in response to a positive productivity shock is strong or weak: it is procyclical in the model that features public capital and is countercyclical in the models with public consumption only. The model implies that by restraining or boosting expansion in the short-run, the optimal carbon tax policy can help policy makers reconcile short-term concerns over economic growth with longer-term risks from climate change. The welfare gains from such short-run policies are non-negligible and can amount to USD 121.9bn or 0.7% of the US GDB."
format TEXT
geographic developed countries
id 19117898124919350709_bdba4faca7644d6783b355a237829135
institution ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
is_hierarchy_id 19117898124919350709_bdba4faca7644d6783b355a237829135
is_hierarchy_title Optimal environmental policy, public goods and labor markets over the business cycle
language English
physical 21 p.
Digital
publishDate 2014
publisher Oxford
University of Oxford
spellingShingle Grodecka, Anna
Kuralbayeva, Karlygash
business cycle
environmental policy
labour market
public finance
Optimal environmental policy, public goods and labor markets over the business cycle
thumbnail https://www.labourline.org/Image_prev.jpg?Archive=109141392732
title Optimal environmental policy, public goods and labor markets over the business cycle
topic business cycle
environmental policy
labour market
public finance
url https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19117898124919350709-optimal-environmental-policy,-.htm