Title Taxes and tradable permits as instruments for controlling pollution : theory and practice / prepared by John Norregaard and Valérie Reppelin-Hill

Published [Washington, D.C.] : International Monetary Fund, Fiscal Affairs Department, 2000 ©2000

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Description 1 online resource (49 pages) : illustrations Series IMF working paper, 2227-8885 ; WP/00/13 IMF working paper ; WP/00/13. Summary Since Pigou's (1920) seminal contribution on the efficiency enhancing use of taxes to correct for negative externalities, the choice of instruments for environmental policy has been extensively debated. The environmental economics literature has drawn a sharp distinction between command and control approaches (CAC) and the use of market-based incentives (MBI). While on theoretical grounds, MBIs are generally preferred because they are more cost effective in practice, CAC policies have been predominantly used. This apparent contrast was highlighted at the time of the environmental revolution in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Oates (1999) suggests three explanations for this. First, at the time, there was no constituency to whom the economists' view had much appeal (i.e., environmentalists were decidedly hostile, industry was not very sympathetic and regulators were less than enthusiastic about discarding traditional methods of regulatory controls for a largely untried system of taxes on pollution). Second the state of environmental economics in the late 1960s and early 1970s did not go much beyond the general conceptual level. Third, there seemed to be a pervasive ignorance of the economic approach to environmental policy outside the economics profession itself. In recent years, however, economic instruments have played an ever-increasing role in environmental policymaking, reflecting their perceived superiority vis-a-vis CAC policies. And while the early discussion focused almost exclusively on the tax approach, the scope has broadened to include tradable permits. The discussion has taken on a new importance following the agreement in December 1997 to reduce emissions of "greenhouse gases" under the Kyoto Protocol Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 46-49) Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL Print version record Subject Environmental impact charges. User charges. Deposit-refund systems. Environmental protection. Environmental policy. environmental protection. environmental policy. Deposit-refund systems Environmental impact charges Environmental policy Environmental protection User charges Form Electronic book Author Reppelin-Hill, Valérie, author. International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Department, issuing body. ISBN 1451891083 9781451891089 1281604119 9781281604118 9781451842999 1451842996 ISSN 2227-8885

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