Who Pays a Price on Carbon? / Corbett A. Grainger, Charles D. Kolstad.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Grainger, Corbett A.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Kolstad, Charles D.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w15239.

NBER working paper series no. w15239

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2009.

Summary:

We use the 2003 Consumer Expenditure Survey and emissions estimates from an input-output model to estimate the incidence of a price on carbon induced by a cap-and-trade program or carbon tax in the US context. We present results on how much difference income deciles pay for a carbon tax as well as which industries see the largest increase in costs due to a carbon tax. We illustrate the main determinant of the regressivity: consumption patterns for energy-intensive goods. We find that a policy targeting CO2 from energy consumption is more regressive than a price on all emissions. Furthermore, on a per-capita basis a carbon price is much more regressive than calculations at the household level. We discuss policy options to offset the adverse distributional effects of a carbon emissions policy.

Notes:

Print version record

August 2009.