Environmental fiscal reform and the possibility of triple dividend in European and non-European countries: evidence from a meta-regression analysis

Abstract

We present a synthesis of simulation studies concerning green tax reform (GTR) in European and non-European countries. The GTR performance is analysed in a triple dividend (TD) context including the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (first dividend), increased GDP (second dividend), and higher employment (third dividend). Our findings are fourfold: (1) there is high TD potential, with stronger evidence for second and third dividends in European countries; (2) a reduction in labour tax is the most potent GTR policy measure to entail TD; (3) TD evidence is stronger when mixed tax and tax recycle policies are employed; (4) taxes based on CO2 emissions exhibit the highest TD potential.