Environmental Tax Reform (ETR): A Policy for Green Growth
Paul Ekins and Stefan Speck
Abstract
This book explores the economic and environmental implications of environmental tax reform (ETR), also known as green fiscal reform, which entails a reduction in taxes on labour and profits, and a corresponding increase in taxes on pollution and the use of natural resources. The book investigates the hypothesis that such a tax shift can increase resource productivity and reduce pollution, and increase employment and innovation in environmental technologies, with potentially positive effects on output and human welfare. The detailed modelling and other analysis reported in the book suggest that ... More
This book explores the economic and environmental implications of environmental tax reform (ETR), also known as green fiscal reform, which entails a reduction in taxes on labour and profits, and a corresponding increase in taxes on pollution and the use of natural resources. The book investigates the hypothesis that such a tax shift can increase resource productivity and reduce pollution, and increase employment and innovation in environmental technologies, with potentially positive effects on output and human welfare. The detailed modelling and other analysis reported in the book suggest that ETR can indeed have these effects, although the GDP impacts are small and may be positive or negative, such that ETR emerges as an important cost-effective policy for environmental improvement. However, because countries' fiscal systems and taxation policies are politically very sensitive, the actual implementation of ETR is never likely to be simple, and consideration needs to be given to the political and cultural context of the country, and to the distributional impacts on both firms and households. Low-income households may require compensation if the tax shift is not to be regressive, while the impacts on the competitiveness of firms may be minimized, and the positive environmental impacts much magnified, if the ETR could be carried out at a global level.
Keywords:
environmental tax reform,
green fiscal reform,
green growth,
scenarios,
modelling
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2011 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199584505 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2011 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199584505.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Paul Ekins, editor
Professor of Energy and Environment Policy, UCL Energy Institute, University College London
Author Webpage
Stefan Speck, editor
Project Manager, European Environment Agency, Copenhagen
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