Mercedes Burguillo

Local air pollution and global climate change taxes: a distributional analysis for the case of Spain

Global climate change measures are difficult to implement. In this context, local air pollution measures may play an important role in the political agenda since their effects are felt more immediately by citizens. Distributional implications are one of the main barriers for implementing environmental policies. This paper explores the distributional implications of air pollution taxes and compares them to climate change taxes. For the comparison, both tax schemes were set to yield the same revenue. Methodologically, the study uses a top–down approach linking a macro model to a micro model. We find that taxes on local air pollutants are more regressive than those levied on CO2. This is because the goods implicitly taxed have a greater weight in the consumer basket of low-income groups, even if the tax revenues are recycled. Furthermore, the revenue-neutral recycle scheme increases both taxes efficiency, but, at the same time, can increase regressivity.

Is it environmentally desirable to encourage public transport through taxes? Evidence for Spanish households

Abstract There are studies that suggests that the use of environmental taxes to promote the consumption of “clean goods” could have unwanted effects in that it leads to the consumption of “dirty goods”. The results will depend on the multiple effects of cross-price elasticities. This paper illustrates the above hypothesis as applied to earth transport consumption in Spanish households. Using microdata for Spanish households, we firstly estimate an AIDS model for 16 groups of goods and services. And secondly simulate two alternative revenue-neutral tax reforms in which the relative price of public transport, in terms of private transport, is reduced between 1 and 2%. The results confirm Sandmo’s hypothesis. With both reforms, fuel consumption (as measure of private transport use) increases and public transport consumption decreases. The consequence in each case is a net increase in CO2 emissions per household. So, fiscal reforms of this kind do not seem to be effective to improve the environmental performance of passengers earth transport sector in Spain.

Sustainability and the Central Maghrib economies

Recent scientific analysis has clearly underlined the fact that human beings face the difficult challenge of satisfying their economic needs without significantly altering the basic functions of the biosphere. Survival depends on satisfying those needs while simultaneously respecting ecological functionality such that a balance between the level of economic activity and environmental protection must be established. This challenge is probably greater in Southern countries than in industrialised ones, given that, in the former countries, human needs are far from being satisfied in an optimal manner. The purpose of this article is to examine the social, environmental and economic conditions facing Central Maghrib countries in the context of the risks they face regarding this sustainability challenge. In this sense, both because of its weak socio-economic and natural conditions, the Maghrib is one the regions of the earth where this challenge is most evident.