The Social Cost of Carbon: Trends, Outliers and Catastrophes

Tol, Richard S. J.

doi:10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2008-25

Download This Paper

Open PDF in Browser

Add Paper to My Library

The Social Cost of Carbon: Trends, Outliers and Catastrophes

Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal, Vol. 2, 2008-25

24 Pages Posted: 18 Dec 2010

See all articles by Richard S. J. Tol

Richard S. J. Tol

VU University Amsterdam - Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM); Carnegie Mellon University - Center for Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change; University of Hamburg - Centre for Marine and Climate Research (ZMK); Princeton University

There are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: 2008

Abstract

211 estimates of the social cost of carbon are included in a meta-analysis. The results confirm that a lower discount rate implies a higher estimate; and that higher estimates are found in the gray literature. It is also found that there is a downward trend in the economic impact estimates of the climate; that the Stern Review?s estimates of the social cost of carbon is an outlier; and that the right tail of the distribution is fat. There is a fair chance that the annual climate liability exceeds the annual income of many people. --

Keywords: Climate change, social cost of carbon

JEL Classification: Q54

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Tol, Richard S. J., The Social Cost of Carbon: Trends, Outliers and Catastrophes (2008). Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal, Vol. 2, 2008-25, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1726820 or http://dx.doi.org/10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2008-25