Dale W. Jorgenson, Richard J. Goettle, Mun S. Ho, and Peter J. Wilcoxen
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780262027090
- eISBN:
- 9780262318563
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262027090.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
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 ...
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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.Less
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.
Ekkehart Schlicht
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198292241
- eISBN:
- 9780191596865
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198292244.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics, History of Economic Thought
There exists not only a preference for rule following, but also a strong tendency for moulding motives that fit perceived regularities. In this way, customary patterns of behaviour engender motives ...
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There exists not only a preference for rule following, but also a strong tendency for moulding motives that fit perceived regularities. In this way, customary patterns of behaviour engender motives and convictions.Less
There exists not only a preference for rule following, but also a strong tendency for moulding motives that fit perceived regularities. In this way, customary patterns of behaviour engender motives and convictions.
Steve Sorrell
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199573288
- eISBN:
- 9780191808616
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199573288.003.0017
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter examines the hidden costs and unintended consequences of efforts to improve energy efficiency as a way to mitigate global climate change. It first considers the nature of hidden costs ...
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This chapter examines the hidden costs and unintended consequences of efforts to improve energy efficiency as a way to mitigate global climate change. It first considers the nature of hidden costs associated with energy-efficiency improvements and the rebound effects of such improvements. It suggests that the economic potential for energy saving is more likely to be overestimated through the neglect of rebound effects than through the neglect of hidden costs. Complementary policy responses are available to address both of these problems and can be effective in many circumstances, but the existence of non-trivial rebound effects raises some concerns about whether energy consumption can be significantly decoupled from economic growth. The chapter also discusses the production costs, organisational transaction costs, and market transaction costs of energy-efficiency improvements.Less
This chapter examines the hidden costs and unintended consequences of efforts to improve energy efficiency as a way to mitigate global climate change. It first considers the nature of hidden costs associated with energy-efficiency improvements and the rebound effects of such improvements. It suggests that the economic potential for energy saving is more likely to be overestimated through the neglect of rebound effects than through the neglect of hidden costs. Complementary policy responses are available to address both of these problems and can be effective in many circumstances, but the existence of non-trivial rebound effects raises some concerns about whether energy consumption can be significantly decoupled from economic growth. The chapter also discusses the production costs, organisational transaction costs, and market transaction costs of energy-efficiency improvements.
