International Environmental Externalities And The Double Dividend

'In looking at the effects of ecological tax reform on allocation, this book addresses a very important issue. The results are interesting and have significant policy implications.' - Glenn Feltham, Canadian Tax Journal 'The book contains an excellent analysis of how environment taxation affects large countries that are highly integrated in world capital markets.' - Lans Bovenberg, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, The Netherlands The twin benefits of improving environmental quality and reducing tax distortions through the recycling of environmental tax proceeds prove an attractive policy objective. This book analyses the use of the double dividend concepts for evaluating ecological tax reforms. The author aims to analyse unilateral environmental policy measures thoroughly and to assess under which conditions a double dividend can be achieved. The analysis is undertaken in the context of international capital mobility and cross-border externalities. He also includes a discussion of an empirically relevant example for an ecological tax reform scenario in Germany - the DIW proposal.

This volume provides an up-to-the-minute review of the open economy approach to analyzing environmental problems and policies, which has produced a wealth of research over the past decade. It contains non-technical, issue-oriented, and comprehensive surveys written by specialists in international and environmental economics. The volume will appeal to scholars and students of economics and political science.

A rigorous and innovative approach for integrating environmental policies and fiscal reform for the U.S. economy. Energy utilization, especially from fossil fuels, creates hidden costs in the form of pollution and environmental damages. The costs are well documented but are hidden in the sense that they occur outside the market, are not reflected in market prices, and are not taken into account by energy users. Double Dividend presents a novel method for designing environmental taxes that correct market prices so that they reflect the true cost of energy. The resulting revenue can be used in reducing the burden of the overall tax system and improving the performance of the economy, creating the double dividend of the title. The authors simulate the impact of environmental taxes on the U.S. economy using their Intertemporal General Equilibrium Model (IGEM). This highly innovative model incorporates expectations about future prices and policies. The model is estimated econometrically from an extensive 50-year dataset to incorporate the heterogeneity of producers and consumers. This approach generates confidence intervals for the outcomes of changes in economic policies, a new feature for models used in analyzing energy and environmental policies. These outcomes include the welfare impacts on individual households, distinguished by demographic characteristics, and for society as a whole, decomposed between efficiency and equity.

A comprehensive dictionary of environmental economics, compiled by leading academics in the field. Each expression or phrase is explained clearly in non-technical language, with references given to its use in the growing literature on the subject area. From abatement to zonal travel cost method (ZTCM), there are over 1000 cross-referenced entries covering topics such as: environmental instruments for policy-making, techniques applied in environmental and natural resource economics, major issues in environmental economics and environmental management, economics of sustainable development, natural resource accounting, and international environmental agreements. As well as providing incisive answers to questions such as 'What is natural capital?' or 'when are crowding diseconomies important?', the dictionary includes a list of commonly used acronyms and abbreviations, and a complete bibliography detailing the major texts in the field is provided.

A comprehensive analysis of an environmental tax reform where people are taxed on pollution and the use of natural resources instead of on their income, this book looks at the challenges involved in implementing this tax reform across Europe.

'Helm's book is impressive for its combination of rigorous theory in real world contexts . . . highly recommended.' - David Pearce, Environmental and Resource Economics To deal effectively with transboundary environmental problems such as climate change, it is important to have an idea of the model for an 'efficient' and 'fair' policy. An understanding of the strategic interactions involved in the international decision-making process is also essential. Carsten Helm uses rigorous theoretical reasoning and applications to address these issues.

The European Union faces several interlinked challenges: how to protect the environment and favour sustainability; how to reduce unemployment and foster competitiveness in a context of growing globalization; how to reduce regional disparities among and within me mb er countries. The recent policy debate has clarified that the above objectives are not a trade off if jointly tackled. In particular, win-win policy options are available to the European Union by an appropriate integration of regulation, macro policy, social policy, fiscal policy and environmental policy. Evidence shows that optimising on each single policy will not meet the needs of the European Union. On the contrary, an integrated approach will make it possible to reach the various objectives, as stated in the Treaty on European Union, in the 5th Environmental Action Programme, in the White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment. This integrated approach would im plement a genuine sustainable development policy.