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Optimal Unilateral Carbon Policy

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We derive the optimal unilateral policy in a general equilibrium model of trade and climate change where one region of the world imposes a climate policy and the rest of the world does not. A climate policy in one region shifts activities-extraction, production, and consumption-in the other region. The optimal policy trades off the costs of these distortions. The optimal policy can be implemented through: (i) a nominal tax on extraction at a rate equal to the global marginal harm from emissions, (ii) a tax on imports of energy and goods, and a rebate of taxes on exports of energy but not goods, both at a lower rate than the extraction tax rate, and (iii) a goods-specific export subsidy. The policy controls leakage by combining supply-side and demand-side taxes to control the price of energy in the non-taxing region. It exploits international trade to expand the reach of the climate policy. We calibrate and simulate the model to illustrate how the optimal policy compares to more traditional policies such as extraction, production, and consumption taxes and combinations of those taxes. The simulations show that combinations of supply-side and demand-side taxes are much better than simpler policies and can perform nearly as well as the optimal policy.

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  • Samuel Kortum & David A. Weisbach, 2021. "Optimal Unilateral Carbon Policy," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 2311, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    • Handle: RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:2311
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    1. Jonathan Eaton & Robert Dekle & Samuel Kortum, 2007. "Unbalanced Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 351-355, May.
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    3. Jonathan Eaton & Samuel Kortum, 2002. "Technology, Geography, and Trade," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(5), pages 1741-1779, September.
    4. Böhringer, Christoph & Balistreri, Edward J. & Rutherford, Thomas F., 2012. "The role of border carbon adjustment in unilateral climate policy: Overview of an Energy Modeling Forum study (EMF 29)," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(S2), pages 97-110.
    5. Joshua Elliott & Ian Foster & Samuel Kortum & Todd Munson & Fernando Pérez Cervantes & David Weisbach, 2010. "Trade and Carbon Taxes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 465-469, May.
    6. Bernard, Alain L. & Fischer, Carolyn & Fox, Alan K., 2007. "Is there a rationale for output-based rebating of environmental levies?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 83-101, May.
    7. Dornbusch, Rudiger & Fischer, Stanley & Samuelson, Paul A, 1977. "Comparative Advantage, Trade, and Payments in a Ricardian Model with a Continuum of Goods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(5), pages 823-839, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rodrigo Adão & Arnaud Costinot & Dave Donaldson & John A. Sturm, 2023. "Why is Trade Not Free? A Revealed Preference Approach," NBER Working Papers 31798, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Yongyang Cai & William Brock & Anastasios Xepapadeas, 2023. "Climate Change Impact on Economic Growth: Regional Climate Policy under Cooperation and Noncooperation," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(3), pages 569-605.
    3. Mahlkow, Hendrik & Wanner, Joschka, 2022. "The Carbon Footprint of Global Trade Imbalances," Conference papers 333482, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    4. Ambec, Stefan & Esposito, Federico & Pacelli, Antonia, 2024. "The economics of carbon leakage mitigation policies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    5. Julien Martin & Florian Mayneris, 2022. "Revue de littérature sur l’incidence fiscale des taxes sur les entreprises," CIRANO Project Reports 2022rp-06, CIRANO.
    6. Mario Larch & Joschka Wanner, 2019. "The Consequences of Unilateral Withdrawals from the Paris Agreement," CESifo Working Paper Series 7804, CESifo.
    7. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Peterson, Sonja & Wanner, Joschka, 2022. "The impact of trade and trade policy on the environment and the climate: A review," Kiel Working Papers 2233, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    8. Pol Antràs & Teresa C. Fort & Agustín Gutiérrez & Felix Tintelnot, 2022. "Trade Policy and Global Sourcing: An Efficiency Rationale for Tariff Escalation," NBER Working Papers 30225, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Zhao, Bei & Yarime, Masaru, 2022. "The impacts of carbon tariffs on international trade flows and carbon emissions: An analysis integrating trade elasticities with an application to US-China trade," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    10. Larch, Mario & Wanner, Joschka, 2024. "The consequences of non-participation in the Paris Agreement," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    11. de Mello Luiz & Martinez-Vazquez Jorge, 2022. "Climate Change Implications for the Public Finances and Fiscal Policy: An Agenda for Future Research and Filling the Gaps in Scholarly Work," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 194-198, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Carbon taxes; Border adjustments; Leakage; Climate change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F18 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Environment
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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