Where Is the Carbon Tax after Thirty Years of Research?

Timilsina, Govinda R.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: CLIMATE CHANGE;    CARBON PRICING;    CARBON TAX;    CARBON POLICY;    ECONOMIC IMPACT;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-8493
RP-ID  :  WPS84893

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper takes a dive into the deepliterature on the carbon tax accumulated through active andcontinuous research over the past 30 years. It also presentsthe ongoing debate and implementation of the carbon tax inpractice. The paper discusses the evolution of the carbontax literature, classifying it by the issues investigatedand methodology used for the investigation. It finds thatthe literature enlightens four key issues: (i) economicimpacts, (ii) choices for revenue recycling, (iii)distributional implications, and (iv) competitiveness andborder tax adjustment. Quantitative analysis, especiallycomputable general equilibrium modeling, is the main methodemployed in the literature. The study shows that potentialadverse economic impacts and competitiveness concerns arethe main impediments to the introduction of the carbon tax.Extensive examinations of carbon tax issues at the global,regional, and country levels have led to innovative measuresto address these concerns. While the carbon tax was mainly asubject of academic discussion until few years back, it hasgenerated good attention for policy makers, particularlyafter the Paris Agreement on climate change, and is beingconsidered as one of the main market instruments to addressglobal climate change. Although several important issuesrelated to the carbon tax have been well researched, itspotential interactions with poverty and shared prosperityare yet to be investigated.