Energy Efficiency Standards Are More Regressive Than Energy Taxes: Theory and Evidence / Arik Levinson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Levinson, Arik.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w22956.

NBER working paper series no. w22956

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Energy Efficiency Standards Are More Regressive Than Energy Taxes

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2016.

Summary:

Economists promote energy taxes as cost-effective. But policymakers raise concerns about their regressivity, or disproportional burden on poorer families, preferring to set energy efficiency standards instead. I first show that in theory, regulations targeting energy efficiency are more regressive than energy taxes, not less. I then provide an example in the context of automotive fuel consumption in the United States: taxing gas would be less regressive than regulating the fuel economy of cars if the two policies are compared on a revenue-equivalent basis.

Notes:

Print version record

December 2016.