• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.217-238
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• 2023

Currently, automobile tax in Korea is imposed by multiplying the vehicle's engine displacement by a certain tax rate. However, the need for revision is being raised as it is pointed out that the current system does not reflect the immediate task of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Accordingly, this study focuses on the positive relationship between engine displacement and CO₂ emissions, and seeks to calculate an appropriate automobile tax rate considering average CO₂ emissions. To this end, first, we estimated the average annual CO₂ emissions (kg/vehicle) for each engine displacement using the average CO₂ emissions for each vehicle displacement as of 2020. Next, multiple scenarios were analyzed considering the standard tax rate at $75 per ton of CO₂ emissions proposed by the IMF (2019). In particular, we compared the case of imposing a uniform carbon tax of $75 and the case of imposing a progressive tax based on CO₂ emissions by displacement. According to the results, it was confirmed that the uniform tax rate proposed by the IMF is difficult to apply to Korea as it is due to the impact of a decrease in tax revenue, and a tax scheme needs to be designed appropriately considering maintenance of tax revenue according to the current automobile tax, greenhouse gas reduction effect, and automobile tax reform trends in developed countries. For example, in the case of the K3 (1,598cc) of Kia Motors, a representative compact car sold in Korea, if we compare the tax burdens for each tax scenario, the tax burden will be about 220,000 KRW under the current system, about 79,000 KRW under the uniform tax rate, about 83,000 KRW under the progressive tax rate, and about 240,000 KRW under the progressive tax rate similar to the UK tax system, respectively. In this way, this study identified the current statuses of automobile registration and tax in Korea, and automobile tax reform trends in major developed countries, and analyzed the impact of automobile tax reform considering engine displacement and CO₂ emissions, focusing on the tax burden of the people.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.180-188
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• 2024

This research examined consumption-based carbon emission reduction by nuclear energy consumption and environmental tax while considering the context of trade globalization in the highest five emitter nations from 1990 to 2020. This study used various empirical methodologies, including preliminary analysis to check the stationarity and cointegration, the CS-ARDL for long-run analysis, CCEMG, AMG for robustness, and the D-H causality test for short-term pairwise causation. The results indicated that nuclear energy consumption, environmental tax, and trade globalization help to mitigate consumption-based carbon emissions while economic growth and population density boost carbon emissions. Furthermore, the results also found two-way casual connection exists between nuclear energy consumption, population density, and consumption-based carbon emissions. Thus, the results emphasize the need for government policies that encourage nuclear energy and environmental tax as a strategy to reduce carbon emissions and achieve and maintain environmental development.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-35
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• 2017

This study investigates a decomposition analysis of the determinants of the reduced $CO_2$ emissions in seven OECD countries that implemented carbon taxes from 1995 to 2013. Recent studies on decomposition analysis of changes in $CO_2$ emissions focused on technology-based physical factors; however, this study analyzes the effects of a carbon tax as an economic factor. According to the results obtained by using the Log Mean Divisia Index, the energy intensity effect and the carbon tax effect contributed the most towards the reduction of total $CO_2$ emissions in the seven OECD countries. The results for each country show that the emissions decreased due to the energy intensity effect, while the effects of carbon tax and carbon tax revenues differed by policy and environment of the countries.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.371-416
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• 2012

This study has developed Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model reflecting endogenous growth economic theory, with the aim of analyzing double dividend hypothesis. This study analyzes possibility of economic growth and environmental improvement at the same time when government recycles the revenue of carbon tax to reduce existed taxes such as consumption tax, labor income tax, corporate tax. It also assesses the case of subsidy on R&D investment of renewable energy. With new and renewable generation technology adopted and disseminated, GDP loss would be lessened to a great degree. Tax recycling would provide economic gain by reducing distortion existed in the existing fiscal structure. The magnitude of economic gains from carbon tax recycling is biggest for recycling into corporate tax, and labor income tax, and then consumption tax in this order. It is also shown that double dividend effects occur in dynamic terms when government uses a carbon tax revenue to subsidize on R&D investment. At the end of the analysis period, emissions reduction would not result in GDP loss but in GDP gain. In particular, recycling into R&D increase would produce the largest and fastest GDP gain. Thus, implementing emissions reduction target would require careful consideration of economic effects by various policy instrument, including carbon tax.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-53
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• 2015

In environmental policy areas, a greater use of economic instruments (EIs) has recently been observed in many countries. However, EIs are heterogeneous policy tools. The textbook case of a Pigouvian tax is far from widely used, mainly due to the information requirements and other structural and institutional constraints. The successful implementation of EIs might heavily depend on pre-existing structural and institutional conditions. Moreover, these institutional conditions are particularly unfavorable in developing countries. Using a simple analytical general equilibrium model, this paper examines how these constraints affect the welfare gain from the introduction of environmental taxes in developing countries. First, this paper solves for the second-best optimal Pigouvian tax and output tax in the presence of a distortionary tax on market use of labor. The result confirms that an environmental output tax achieves a socially-efficient level of emissions in the least-cost manner only if the nature of the linkage between the tax base and the environmental damage is fixed. Second, incorporating structural and institutional constraints into the model through a set of parameter values from China and the US, this paper calculates the net welfare effects of either using the ideal Pigouvian tax or instead using an output tax. The numerical simulation results show that the net welfare gain from the use of an ideal Pigouvian tax could be more than six times larger than that of an output tax in developing countries. On the other hand, the welfare gain is only 50 percent in developed countries. This means that the potential welfare disadvantage from using output taxes instead emissions tax for environmental purposes could be much greater in the case of developing countries.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.700-706
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• 2010

Carbon costs, either in the form of a carbon tax or through permit prices in an emissions trading scheme, would ultimately be reflected in higher electricity prices. This price "pass-through" is very critical to the effective design of new policies to curb the amount of carbon emissions. This paper sets out in a structured way the factors that determine price pass-through and how carbon costs would impact on the electricity market and the existing coal-fired power plants. It is shown that pass-through can vary drastically if the underlying dispatch potential of generators varies significantly across alternative emissions reduction scenarios. It can also vary depending on the availability of competing cleaner forms of generation. Pass-through as a measure of business performance is therefore hard to generalize across different circumstances and should be interpreted carefully.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.245-274
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• 2003

This paper analyzes the economic and environmental impacts of domestic policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by focusing on carbon tax, domestic emissions trading and the mixture of these policies. By utilizing a dynamic CGE model, KORTEM, this study shows that the economic cost under carbon tax is projected to be higher than that under emission trading. It is because under carbon tax scheme each emitter in economy must meet its emission target regardless of the abatement cost. On the other hand, emission trading allows emitters to reduce the marginal cost of abatement through trading of emission permits. In designing policy portfolio to address the climate change problem in Korea, therefore, this paper proposes the introduction of domestic emission trading scheme as the main domestic policy Instrument.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.1-20
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• 2023

Carbon pricing is in the spotlight as an economically efficient policy to limit global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We examine how policymakers can improve social acceptance of a carbon tax, which is the main obstacle in implementing the policy. We conduct a survey experiment to analyze this topic and adopt two different interventions focusing on the use of revenue from a carbon tax and types of information to be provided. Regarding revenue use, we consider 1) tax reductions, 2) lump-sum transfers, and 3) green project investments. For information types, we focus on 1) the economic value of a carbon tax, and 2) the environmental value of a carbon tax. We find that lump-sum transfers have negative impacts on social acceptance of a carbon tax. For those who perceive climate change as a serious issue, moreover, both lump-sum transfers and tax reductions have negative impacts on acceptability. Regardless of the type of information provided, on the other hand, the social acceptance of a carbon tax is increased after the provision of information. Furthermore, the impact of information provision on the social acceptance interacts with the revenue use impacts. When the revenue use and the type of information are consistent with the aim of the policy, the effects of these strategies can be amplified.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.1-40
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• 2008

In this paper, I examine the welfare effects of various revenue-neutral tax reforms in the case of two vertically-related oligopolies(downstream and upstream), where the upstream industry is polluting. I show analytically when and how government can improve welfare by initiating various tax reforms, regardless of either the feasibility of a lump sum transfer or the availability of a tax on pollution. The profit wedge that is the difference between the unit price and the unit cost and the marginal environmental damages(MED) becomes important to decidethe direction of a tax reform and is crucial to determine the direction of welfare-improving tax-subsidy schemes. I also show that a tax on pollution(Pigouvian tax) is superior to a tax on intermediate good even in the case of vertically-related oligopolies, because the former always brings in positive welfare effect from the upstream firms' input substitutability, which a tax on intermediate good cannot provide. Some policy implications for 'reducing environmentally-harmful subsidies' are also discussed.

• Korean System Dynamics Review
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.149-170
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• 2006

In this paper, an energy-economy-environment dynamic simulation model was developed to using system dynamics methodology. It describes current energy-economy-environment systems and forecasts changes caused by levying of carbon tax. The model is composed of three modules: an energy module, an economic module and an environmental module. Variables are interrelated in each module, and three modules are linked by several linkage variables. Setting up the linkage variables is an important factor for the composition of the model. The simulation result shows a change of the national GDP, usage of energy, and $CO_2$ emissions under levying and reinvestment of carbon tax considering various scenarios for the charging cost.