Social Implications of Green Growth Policies from the Perspective of Energy Sector Reform and its Impact on Households

Abstract

Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW. Social Implications of Green Growth Policies from the Perspective of Energy Sector Reform and its Impact on Households Andreas Löschel University of Münster February 2015 This paper is also available as: OECD Issue Note -Social Implications of Green Growth Policies from the Perspective of Energy Sector Reform and its Impact on Households-AbstractThis paper reviews the literature on distributional effects of energy and carbon taxation with focus on microsimulation models. Most studies find that direct energy and carbon taxation tends to be regressive. Regressive effects occur mostly with respect to taxation of electricity or space heating. Taxation of transportation fuels show less regressive, neutral, or even progressive effects. Adequate revenue recycling often allows for neutralisation or full elimination of regressive effects so that energy and carbon tax reforms can be progressive. Some studies find evidence for the existence of a double dividend. There seems to be an efficiency-equity trade-off in revenue recycling, i.e. whether to foster growth or to assist low-income households. While a large number of studies on advanced economies are available, there clearly is a gap with regard to evidence for developing countries. Another gap relates to the lack of documentation on the challenges of incorporating macroeconomic models and long-term modelling perspectives in microsimulation. Both aspects can be of great importance with respect to the design of green growth policies. Thoughtful incorporation of social considerations, including aspects of poverty in modelling approaches could enhance the existing instruments of exante policy assessments since poverty is a tangible concept which is well-known, understandable, and openly observable for citizens and policy makers.

Managing the distributional effects of environmental and climate policies

“…This means that for a 10% increase in energy prices the demand for capital increases by 3% in the short run and 5% in the long run. The authors find that the two oil crises reinforced the substitutability between capital and energy, also in line with evidence of substantial acceleration in energy-saving technological change (Hassler, Krusell and Olovsson, 2012[212]). Using establishment-level data and a shift-share instrument for the French manufacturing sector,Marin and Vona (2021[24]) estimate a long-run price elasticity of +0.34 that is an order of magnitude larger than the short-term one 8.…”

Impactos distributivos de un impuesto al carbono en Colombia: vínculo entre modelos de microsimulaciones y equilibrio general

“…No obstante, y de forma general, se puede decir que la aplicación de un impuesto al carbono tiene efectos regresivos que pueden ser neutralizados -o incluso volverlos progresivos-cuando se implementan medidas de destinación específicas del recaudo, que compensen a los hogares por el aumento en precios ocasionado por la internalización de los efectos ambientales debidos al uso de combustibles (Heindl & Löschel, 2015).…”

“…Esta investigación trata de subsanar un rezago en la literatura sobre la evaluación del impacto de impuestos verdes en países en desarrollo, en particular, de un impuesto al carbono (Heindl & Löschel, 2015). El análisis que se realiza en este documento permite identificar los efectos distributivos de incluir un impuesto al carbono, ante el cual todos los hogares tendrían un cambio negativo en su consumo.…”

Competency-oriented education for sustainable development

“…If sustainable development is understood as a collective process of searching, learning and creating sustainable solutions (Stoltenberg and Burandt, 2014), it is not only about the integration of sustainability in formal educational settings such as planning but also about enabling a broad societal and political dialogue of how to reach these sustainability goals, as well as about dealing with different and often conflicting aims in these processes. One example of these conflicting aims, which affect planning and thus currently play a major role in sustainability and planning research, is the conflict between energy policies and social justice goals (Heindl and Löschel, 2015;Schaffrin, 2013) or social equity (Schrock et al, 2015). A central issue here is the mainstreaming of renewable energy for ecological benefits that is, however, in the short term, linked to decreasing affordability, which, in turn, can potentially cause energy poverty with severe societal consequences.…”