Tax Policy to Reduce Carbon Emissions in South Africa

Noting that South Africa may be one of the few African countries that could contribute to mitigating climate change, the authors explore the impact of a carbon tax relative to alternative energy taxes on economic welfare. Using a disaggregate gener...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Devarajan, Shantayanan, Go, Delfin S., Robinson, Sherman, Thierfelder, Karen
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	2012
Subjects:	ABATEMENT ABATEMENT COST ADVERSE EFFECTS AIR AIR POLLUTION ALTERNATIVE ENERGY ALTERNATIVE POLICY INSTRUMENTS APPROACH ATMOSPHERE AVERAGE PER CAPITA EMISSIONS BASIC METALS CARBON CARBON CAPTURE CARBON CONTENT CARBON DIOXIDE CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS CARBON EMISSION CARBON EMISSIONS CARBON TAX CARBON TAXES CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES CLEANER ENERGY CLEANER TECHNOLOGY CLIMATE CHANGE CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY CLIMATE POLICY COAL COAL ENERGY COAL MINING CONSUMPTION OF PETROLEUM COST OF ENERGY CPI CRUDE OIL DEMAND ELASTICITIES DEMAND ELASTICITY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DISTORTIONARY TAXES DIVIDENDS DOUBLE DIVIDEND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ECONOMIC IMPACT ECONOMIC WELFARE ECONOMICS ELASTICITIES ELASTICITY OF SUBSTITUTION ELASTICITY VALUES ELECTRICAL MACHINERY ELECTRICITY ELECTRICITY SECTOR EMISSION DATA EMISSION REDUCTION EMISSION REDUCTION TARGETS EMISSION REDUCTIONS EMISSION TARGETS EMISSION TRADING EMISSIONS REDUCTION ENERGY CONSUMPTION ENERGY COSTS ENERGY DEMAND ENERGY ECONOMICS ENERGY EXPENDITURE ENERGY EXPENDITURES ENERGY INPUT ENERGY INTENSITY ENERGY INTENSIVE ENERGY POLICIES ENERGY POLICY ENERGY PRICES ENERGY PRICING ENERGY PRODUCTION ENERGY RESEARCH ENERGY SOURCE ENERGY TAX ENERGY TAXES ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES ENERGY TECHNOLOGY ENERGY USAGE ENERGY USE ENVIRONMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ENVIRONMENTAL TAXATION EQUILIBRIUM EQUITY IMPACTS EQUITY IMPLICATIONS EQUIVALENT VARIATION EXCISE TAXES EXPENDITURE TAX EXTERNALITIES FERROUS METALS FISHERIES FISHING FORESTRY FOSSIL FOSSIL FUEL FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS FOSSIL FUELS FUEL TAXES GAS SECTOR GASOLINE GENERATION GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE GLOBAL GREENHOUSE GLOBAL GREENHOUSE GAS GLOBAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS GNP GREENHOUSE GREENHOUSE EFFECT GREENHOUSE GAS GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS GREENHOUSE GASES HEAVY RELIANCE HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IMPERFECT COMPETITION IMPORTS INCOME INCOME TAX INELASTIC DEMAND INPUT TAXES INPUT USE INTERMEDIATE GOODS INTERMEDIATE INPUTS INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKETS LEISURE LEVEL OF EMISSIONS MACROECONOMICS MARGINAL ABATEMENT MARGINAL COST MARGINAL PRODUCT MARGINAL TAX RATES MARKET DISTORTIONS MOBILITY MOTOR VEHICLES NATIONAL INCOME NATIONAL INCOME ACCOUNTING NATURAL GAS NATURAL RESOURCES OIL OIL CONSUMPTION OIL IMPORTS OIL PRICE OPTIMAL TAXATION PER CAPITA INCOME PETROLEUM PETROLEUM PRODUCTS POLLUTION POLLUTION CONTROL POWER POWER SECTOR PRICE CHANGES PRICE OF ELECTRICITY PRICES OF ENERGY PRIMARY SOURCES PRODUCERS PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS PRODUCTION OF ENERGY PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTIVITY PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH PUBLIC EXPENDITURES PUBLIC GOOD QUOTAS REAL WAGES REBATES RECYCLING REDUCTION IN CARBON REDUCTION IN EMISSIONS REDUCTION OF EMISSIONS REFINED PETROLEUM PRODUCTS REVENUE RECYCLING SALES TAX SALES TAXES SAVINGS SINGLE TAX SUBSTITUTION ELASTICITIES SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TAX TAX CHANGES TAX POLICIES TAX POLICY TAX RATE TAX RATES TAX REFORM TAX REVENUE TAX SUBSTITUTION TAXATION TRANSPORT TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT TRANSPORTATION UNEMPLOYMENT UTILITIES VALUE ADDED TAX VALUE ADDED TAXES WAGE SUBSIDY WAGES WELFARE EFFECTS WELFARE GAINS WELFARE LOSS WELFARE LOSSES WOOD PRODUCTS
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090518093557 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4127

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Summary:	Noting that South Africa may be one of the few African countries that could contribute to mitigating climate change, the authors explore the impact of a carbon tax relative to alternative energy taxes on economic welfare. Using a disaggregate general-equilibrium model of the South African economy, they capture the structural characteristics of the energy sector, linking a supply mix that is heavily skewed toward coal to energy use by different sectors and hence their carbon content. The authors consider a "pure" carbon tax as well as various proxy taxes such as those on energy or energy-intensive sectors like transport and basic metals, all of which achieve the same level of carbon reduction. In general, the more targeted the tax to carbon emissions, the better the welfare results. If a carbon tax is feasible, it will have the least marginal cost of abatement by a substantial amount when compared to alternative tax instruments. If a carbon tax is not feasible, a sales tax on energy inputs is the next best option. Moreover, labor market distortions such as labor market segmentation or unemployment will likely dominate the welfare and equity implications of a carbon tax for South Africa. This being the case, if South Africa were able to remove some of the distortions in the labor market, the cost of carbon taxation would be negligible. In short, the discussion of carbon taxation in South Africa can focus on considerations other than the economic welfare costs, which are likely to be quite low.

Tax Policy to Reduce Carbon Emissions in South Africa

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