stefan speck - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by stefan speck

Oxford University Press eBooks, Feb 27, 2008

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2018

Empirical econometric assessment of environmental policy effectiveness is capable of demonstratin... more Empirical econometric assessment of environmental policy effectiveness is capable of demonstrating which tools have been helping to achieve the desired effect of reducing harmful emissions or stimulating technological change. This paper employs an econometric approach to analyse the effectiveness of energy and carbon taxes in Sweden, the country, which was one of the first to introduce a CO 2 tax as well as an extensive environmental tax reform. The results showed that taken in isolation a CO 2 tax was not sufficient to result in a significant change in CO 2 emissions in Sweden, except in the case of petrol. On the other hand, energy taxes for coal and LPG have been statistically significantly effective. It was also clear that a technological innovation in the form of development of nuclear and hydro energy played a significant role in reducing CO 2 emissions and higher oil price was also important in reducing national CO 2 emissions in Sweden. At the same time, renewable energy (excluding hydro), a more recent innovation, has not been a statistically significant driver of CO 2 emissions reduction, perhaps due to the fact that wind and solar play a much lesser role in Sweden at the moment. The net electricity imports from other countries have contributed positively towards reducing CO 2 emissions in Sweden, while the use of coal and biomass tended to increase CO 2 emissions. Compared to the ex-ante modelling results from the literature review, the findings confirm the role of environmental taxation as a viable policy instrument effective in reducing CO 2 emissions in Sweden, although point towards a more nuanced picture. The paper raises important policy questions focused on the effectiveness of environmental policy tools.

Economia Politica, 2017

The paper provides a political economy analysis of the potential of environmental tax reforms, fo... more The paper provides a political economy analysis of the potential of environmental tax reforms, focusing on the interaction of economics and political realities by considering climate and energy policies and demographic changes. It examines the future potential for environmental tax reform in view of the need to integrate the economic and environmental demands while taking into account social inclusiveness. Demographic change will have significant budgetary implications for some EU Member States, creating pressures for increased expenditure (e.g. on pensions and health care) while undermining revenues due to a reduction in the labour force. Environmental tax reform potentially offers a response to this challenge. However, there are uncertainties over whether environmental tax revenues, in particular those linked to carbon emissions, will be sufficient to meet the growing expenditures linked to population ageing. Successfully reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80–95% by 2050 compared to 1990 will shrink the tax base for energy taxes and carbon pricing. It is therefore questionable whether increases in energy tax rates and a high carbon price would enable governments to sustain environmental tax revenues as a share of GDP, let alone increase them as proponents of environmental tax reform envisage.

Resource-efficient green economy and EU policies, 2014

The report addresses the transition towards a green economy in Europe. It highlight the macro\u20... more The report addresses the transition towards a green economy in Europe. It highlight the macro\u2011level trends towards a green economy emerging from the policy framework and the major transformation of the EU economy over recent decades. Ddifferent concepts and definitions of the green economy are discussed. In addition, a brief history of the emergence of the concept of a green economy in the wake of the financial crisis is given. The EU policy landscape, focusing on different EU policy initiatives that promote the green economy, is analysed. Recent developments and progress in achieving environmental policy targets are studied. The changing structure of the EU's economy in terms of environmental pressures, and the extent to which manufacturing, services, and trade can play a role, are analysed. Given the combination of policy pushes and macro\u2011level transformations of the economy, key enabling factors that can help to promote or hasten the development of a green economy are considered (eco\u2011innovation diffusion, the international transfer of green knowledge, the role of environmental fiscal reforms and economic instruments, and role of finance)

1 The adoption of the European Parliament and Council Directive for Electricity (96/92/EC) has in... more 1 The adoption of the European Parliament and Council Directive for Electricity (96/92/EC) has influenced energy policies in EU member states aiming to liberalise energy markets. The inten-tion of the directive is the creation of a single European market for electricity, consequently guaranteeing a competitive European energy market and simultaneously contributing to achiev-ing general energy policy objectives. The objective of creating Community-wide market for electricity is only one of the three main energy policy objectives of the European Community, while the other objectives of EU energy policy reflecting sustainable development issues are related to security of supply, and environ-mental protection. The complexity of a common EU energy policy based on these three core ob-jectives is discernible leading to potential problems when regarded separately.

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:9350.8455(KU-DE-WP--95/4) / BLDSC - Br... more Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:9350.8455(KU-DE-WP--95/4) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Keele, 1994.

Handbook of Research on Environmental Taxation

Environmental Tax Reform (ETR), 2011

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 2013

ABSTRACT This paper is concerned with the implications of climate change, and government policies... more ABSTRACT This paper is concerned with the implications of climate change, and government policies to address it, for countries’ fiscal systems at the national level. Given the uncertainties associated with climate change and countries’ responses to it, the article can do no more than review and suggest some of the major issues of likely importance for fiscal sustainability and how they might be addressed. First the paper defines fiscal sustainability and addresses some general issues related to countries’ attempts to adapt to or mitigate climate change. It then works through a number of more specific issues, discussing policies such as the implementation of environmental taxes or other instruments for the mitigation of climate change. The assessment of the impacts of such policies on fiscal sustainability requires the application of sophisticated economic models, and the paper briefly explores the relative advantages of different modeling approaches in relation to the assessment of fiscal sustainability under policies to mitigate climate change. The major research need identified by the paper is for the development of macroeconomic models that will enable countries identify the wider effects of environmental taxes and help them undertake multi-year budgeting processes.

European Environment, 2002

This paper examines the likely immediate impact effect of some pollution taxes on the tax burden ... more This paper examines the likely immediate impact effect of some pollution taxes on the tax burden of households in a number of European countries. The total effect on households of such taxes is assessed using input–output analysis. Thus both the direct effect of taxes, through increased fuel prices, and the indirect effect, through increased prices of other goods, can be assessed simultaneously. This input–output approach allows the generation of direct plus indirect pollution intensities for all household consumption categories, for, in principle, a number of pollutants (CO2, SO2, NOx, particulates). These intensities could then be used to assess the impact on households of pollution taxes. This paper concentrates on CO2 and energy, performing a static analysis of the effect of a tax on the carbon or energy content of goods using the known consumption patterns for the various countries, both in aggregate and for different income groups. This allows a first assessment of the regress...

Ecological Economics, 1997

This paper describes a neo-Austrian approach to analyse long-run economy-environment interactions... more This paper describes a neo-Austrian approach to analyse long-run economy-environment interactions. The modelling framework incorporates resource use and pollution as integral components of production processes. We start our study by reviewing the neo-Austrian capital theoretic approach. A neo-Austrian model is developed and presented in input-output form, and the corresponding accounting prices are derived by using this representation. An intertemporal simulation approach is embodied by establishing the optimization of an intertemporal social welfare function. Results from the optimization approach are discussed and also discount rate variations are assessed in terms of their effects on the model economy.

Environmental and Resource Economics, Jun 1, 1999

A number of European countries have introduced a variety of environmental taxes. A common charact... more A number of European countries have introduced a variety of environmental taxes. A common characteristic of their implementation is the inclusion of exemptions and tax relief, in particular for (some sectors of) manufacturing industry. This paper analyses the pattern and motivation of exemptions as they have developed in Western European countries, making clear the difference between the nominal and effective tax rates once the exemptions have been taken into account. The principal motivation for exemptions relates to concern about competitiveness. While particular environmentally-intensive sectors may have some grounds for concern, even these might be able to achieve cost-effective environmental improvements, such that their competitive position is not overdisadvantaged, while for an economy structured like the UK's, an environmental tax plus rebate scheme, sometimes called an ecological tax reform, would be likely to yield benefits in terms of competitiveness. The exemptions usually run counter to the environmental economic logic of using environmental taxes to internalise social costs and give economic signals that are based on the full costs of production, and they are likely to increase the costs of achieving a given level of emission reduction. With little justification for them also on the grounds of competitiveness, it would therefore be undesirable on both economic and environmental grounds for them to remain a feature of the implementation of environmental taxes in the future.

This report presents the results of the work carried out at ETC/WMGE on Green economy transition:... more This report presents the results of the work carried out at ETC/WMGE on Green economy transition: Macroeconomic analytical framework in 2020 and 2021. The main aim was to provide the arguments for adopting a macro-level perspective to the green economy transition and to the European Green Deal (EGD). Some analytical results presented in this report provided inputs to the process leading to the EEA report Reflecting on green growth. Creating a resilient economy (EEA 2021).