Who Did the Ethanol Tax Credit Benefit? An Event Analysis of Subsidy Incidence / David A. Bielen, Richard G. Newell, William A. Pizer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bielen, David A.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Newell, Richard G.

Pizer, William A.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w21968.

NBER working paper series no. w21968

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2016.

Summary:

Using commodity futures contract and spot prices, we estimate the incidence of the US ethanol subsidy accruing to corn farmers, ethanol producers, gasoline blenders, and gasoline consumers at expiration in 2011. We find compelling evidence that ethanol producers captured two-thirds of the subsidy, and suggestive evidence that a small portion of this benefit accrued to corn farmers. The remaining one-third appears to have been captured by blenders, as we find no evidence that oil refiners or gasoline consumers captured any part of the subsidy. This paper contributes to understanding of biofuels markets and policy and empirical estimation of economic incidence.

Notes:

Print version record

February 2016.