The Strategic Value of Carbon Tariffs

38 Pages Posted: 6 Dec 2013

See all articles by Christoph Böhringer

Christoph Böhringer

University of Oldenburg - Economic Policy; Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW)

Jared C. Carbone

Colorado School of Mines

Thomas F. Rutherford

Centre for Energy Policy and Economics

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 29, 2013

Abstract

Unilateral carbon policies are inefficient due to the fact that they generally involve emission reductions in countries with high marginal abatement costs and because they are subject to carbon leakage. In this paper, we ask whether the use of carbon tariffs — tariffs on the carbon embodied in imported goods — might lower the cost of achieving a given reduction in world emissions. Specifically, we explore the role tariffs might play as an inducement to unregulated countries adopting emission controls of their own. We use an applied general equilibrium model to generate the payoffs of a policy game. In the game, a coalition of countries regulates its own emissions and chooses whether or not to employ carbon tariffs against unregulated countries. Unregulated countries may respond by adopting emission regulations of their own, retaliating against the carbon tariffs by engaging in a trade war, or by pursuing no policy at all. In the unique Nash equilibrium produced by this game, the use of carbon tariffs by coalition countries is credible. China and Russia respond by adopting binding abatement targets to avoid being subjected to them. Other unregulated countries retaliate. Cooperation by China and Russia lowers the global welfare cost of achieving a 10% reduction in global emissions by half relative to the case where coalition countries undertake all of this abatement on their own.

JEL Classification: C720, D580, Q580

Suggested Citation

Bohringer, Christoph and Carbone, Jared C. and Rutherford, Thomas F., The Strategic Value of Carbon Tariffs (November 29, 2013). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 4482, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2363857 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2363857

Christoph Bohringer

University of Oldenburg - Economic Policy ( email )

Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) ( email )

D-68161 Mannheim
Germany
+49 6211235200 (Phone)
+49 6211235226 (Fax)

Jared C. Carbone (Contact Author)

Colorado School of Mines ( email )

1500 Illinois Street
Golden, CO 80401
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.mines.edu/~jcarbone

Thomas F. Rutherford

Centre for Energy Policy and Economics ( email )

ETH-Zentrum
Zurich, CH-8092
United States
+41 (0)44/632 6359 (Phone)
+41 (0)44/632 1622 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.cepe.ethz.ch/

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
128
Abstract Views
2,827
Rank
229,730
PlumX Metrics