The Impact of Emissions-Based Taxes on the Retirement of Used and Inefficient Vehicles: The Case of Switzerland

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AbstractMany countries have adopted policies designed to reduce CO 2 emissions from road vehicles. Taxes linked to the CO 2 emissions rate or the fuel economy of a vehicle (which is inversely related to its CO 2 emissions rate) are examples of such policies. These taxes are usually imposed on new vehicles, and previous evaluations have estimated the increases in the shares or sales of new and fuel-efficient vehicles associated with such taxes. In contrast, we ask whether taxes on new cars that penalize high emitters induce changes in the retirement of used and inefficient vehicles. We exploit natural experiment conditions in Switzerland to analyze the impact of two different "bonus"/"malus" schemes implemented at the cantonal level. In both schemes, the bonus rewards new efficient vehicles. The malus is retroactive in canton Obwalden, in the sense that it is charged on both new and existing high-emitting cars, but it is only applied prospectively to new cars in Geneva. We use a difference-in-difference design within a survival analysis setting. We find that a bonus/malus accelerates the retirement of existing high-emitting vehicles in Obwalden, shortening the expected lifetime of the three most popular make-models by 7 to 11 months. The effect is the opposite in Geneva, where we estimate that the expected lifetime of these three popular models is extended by 5 to 8 months. These findings have important implications about the desirability of bonus/malus schemes and on their design, as well as on old car scrappage programs.

The effect of culture on energy efficient vehicle ownership

“…Relevant information about this dataset can be found, together with further information, inAlberini et al (2015) andAlberini et al (2018).8 Between Jan 1. 2000 and Jan 1.…”

Analysis of impact of registration fee in the Czech republic

“…They found that CO 2 differentiated registration tax contributes significantly to shifting purchase towards low -emitting cars. The authors [14] analysed the impact of different bonus/malus annual registration fee in Switzerland. The authors suggest that retirement of old cars can be reached through a bonus/malus scheme.…”

“…Excise duty is considered to be the best available tool for reducing CO 2 emissions, as there is a direct correlation between the fuel consumption and emissions and it is also easily implemented in the tax system [1]. This tax induces a change in the behavior of both the motor vehicle manufacturers and the users and underestimates consumers in buying more fuel-efficient vehicles [2]. Other benefits of this tax can be seen in indirect distance travel taxation, and consumers have more opportunities to minimize this tax, for example by switching to a different mode of transport, a more economical driving style, or reduced mileage [3].…”

The Impact of Policy Awareness: Evidence from Vehicle Choices Response to Fiscal Incentives

“…In our context, the concept of salience would apply only to the fraction of aware individuals that acknowledges the presence of the policy measure. and information on vehicle choices (D'Haultfoeuille et al, 2014, Klier and Linn, 2015, Alberini and Bareit, 2017, Alberini et al, 2018, Grigolon et al, 2018, Allcott and Knittel, 2019, Cerruti et al, 2019. We show a large lack of awareness by consumers about the presence of tax incentives for the purchase of an energy efficient vehicle.…”