Energy subsidies are pervasive. Pretax subsidies, which arise when energy consumers pay less than the supply cost of energy, are high in many developing and emerging economies. Although pretax subsidies are not prevalent in advanced economies, they have large tax subsidies. These arise when energy is taxed below the rate of other consumption goods and…
2014
New Alignments? The Geopolitics of Gas and Oil Cartels and the Changing Middle East
The ongoing democratic movements and civil wars in the Middle East have challenged the stability of regimes across the region. On the other hand, the commercial exploitation of large reserves of unconventional oil and gas in the United States is poised to significantly change the current equilibrium in energy markets. What are the implications of…
Energy Reforms and Consumer Prices in the EU over twenty Years
To what extent have the European households benefited from the energy reforms of the last two decades in the EU? The core ingredients of change have been, in different proportions and timing across countries: privatization of formerly state-owned enterprises, unbundling of networks, market liberalization and regulation. This paper summarizes some empirical findings of a team…
Book Reviews
Taxing Energy Use in the OECD
This article compares effective tax rates, in energy and carbon terms, on the full spectrum of energy use across the OECD, highlighting notable differences in the taxation of energy in OECD countries. The analysis strongly suggests that current taxes are not well geared towards attaining environmental, budgetary and distributional policy objectives. Incoherencies from an environmental…
Editorial
Macroeconomic Impacts of the California Global Warming Solutions Act on the Southern California Economy
We evaluate the potential regional macroeconomic impacts of a set of ten greenhouse gas mitigation policy options intended to enable the Southern California Association of Governments to comply with the State’s greenhouse gas reduction targets. The Regional Economic Models, Inc. Policy Insight Plus Model, was applied in the analysis by carefully linking technical and microeconomic…
Climate policy, interconnection and carbon leakage: The effect of unilateral UK policy on electricity and GHG emissions in Ireland
This paper examines the effect of the UK’s unilateral policy to implement a carbon price floor in Great Britain for fossil-fuel based electricity generation on the adjoining electricity market in Ireland. We find that, subject to efficient use of interconnectors between the two markets and constant imports from France and the Netherlands, a carbon price…
Evaluation of Environmental Taxation on Multiple Air Pollutants in the Electricity Generation Sector – Evidence from New South Wales, Australia
This paper investigates the effects of environmental taxes on the emissions intensity (measured as mass per TWh) of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Sulfur Oxides (SOx), Coarse Particulate Matter (CPM) and Fine Particulate Matter (FPM) from electricity generators in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Electricity generators in NSW are subject to environmental taxation on air pollution through…