Impact of policy design and elicitation method on carbon tax acceptability

What explains the choice of corporate political strategy in environmental politics? Drawing on recent models of actor strategy formation in political economy, this article argues that basic material interests of firms are translated into strategies in the context of institutional environments. I advance a typological model that posits how distributional effects—positive versus negative—and perceived regulatory pressure—low versus high—interact in leading firms to adopt one of four ideal-type strategies: opposition, hedging, support, and non-participation. This article examines the model through the case of corporate strategies in the making of the European Union’s Emission Trading Scheme. The article contributes to theory-building on business strategy in environmental politics by offering a probabilistic explanatory model, and it flags hedging strategies as an increasingly prevalent form of business behavior.

<abstract> <p>The global consensus on the threat of climate change risk leads to an agreement to mitigate higher greenhouse gas emissions and limit global mean temperature rise to below 2 ℃ and, ideally, below 1.5 ℃ by 2050. In achieving the mean temperature target, international organisations like the World Bank, Organisation of Economic Co-operation Development and United Nations strongly suggest that policymakers implement a carbon pricing policy. A carbon tax is a market-based policy that has gained attention from many policymakers to reduce carbon emissions and increase the government's revenue. Designing a feasible carbon tax framework is crucial to ensure effectiveness and public acceptability. However, policy design in developing countries may be more complicated than in developed countries due to insufficient income and resources, social inequity, and poverty. This paper discusses the features of a carbon tax and the dimensions of designing an effective carbon tax policy for developing nations. A simplified framework for carbon tax implementation in developing countries is provided. The framework should be a foundation for developing countries to implement and develop a feasible and acceptable carbon tax policy.</p> </abstract>

<abstract> <p>The global consensus on the threat of climate change risk leads to an agreement to mitigate higher greenhouse gas emissions and limit global mean temperature rise to below 2 ℃ and, ideally, below 1.5 ℃ by 2050. In achieving the mean temperature target, international organisations like the World Bank, Organisation of Economic Co-operation Development and United Nations strongly suggest that policymakers implement a carbon pricing policy. A carbon tax is a market-based policy that has gained attention from many policymakers to reduce carbon emissions and increase the government's revenue. Designing a feasible carbon tax framework is crucial to ensure effectiveness and public acceptability. However, policy design in developing countries may be more complicated than in developed countries due to insufficient income and resources, social inequity, and poverty. This paper discusses the features of a carbon tax and the dimensions of designing an effective carbon tax policy for developing nations. A simplified framework for carbon tax implementation in developing countries is provided. The framework should be a foundation for developing countries to implement and develop a feasible and acceptable carbon tax policy.</p> </abstract>

Changing consumption patterns from growing middle-classes with consequent rising energy use and emissions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) present key challenges for the energy transition and climate change mitigation. Carbon taxes are an effective policy instrument to counter these developments, yet concerns about low public acceptability hinder their introduction. Here, we seek to fill a research gap and identify publicly acceptable carbon tax designs in LMICs. We provide novel evidence from three conjoint experiments with 2700 middle-class respondents in Ghana, Peru, and the Philippines. We show that overall, the majority in all three countries supports even high taxes of USD-PPP 75/tCO2 per year, irrespective of specific policy design features. The support for a very high tax rate is especially high if revenues are recycled for environmental purposes. Thus, governments in LMICs have political leeway to finance the transition to a low-carbon economy via carbon taxes. Moreover, revenue recycling for the poorest receives high support from important subgroups. These insights are crucial to achieving an effective, acceptable, and just carbon tax policy design.

Carbon taxes evoke a variety of public responses, often with negative implications for policy support, implementation, and stringency. Here we use topic modeling to analyze associations of Spanish citizens with a policy proposal to introduce a carbon tax. This involves asking two key questions, to elicit (1) citizens’ associations with a carbon tax and (2) their judgment of the fairness of such a policy for distinct uses of tax revenues. We identify 11 topics for the first question and 18 topics for the second. We perform regression analysis to assess how respondents’ associations relate to their carbon tax acceptability, knowledge, and sociodemographic characteristics. The results show that, compared to people accepting the carbon tax, those rejecting it show less trust in politicians, think that the rich should pay more than the poor, consider the tax to be less fair, and stress more a lack of renewable energy or low-carbon transport. Respondents accepting a carbon tax emphasize more the need to solve environmental problems and care about a just society. These insights can help policymakers to improve the design and communication of climate policy with the aim to increase its public acceptability.

Although carbon taxes are an effective way for countries to meet the emissions targets set out in the Paris Agreement, these policies remain unpopular. Here we present a survey experiment conducted in China, Germany, India, and the UK, based on over 13,000 evaluations of policy designs. We examined four factors influencing public support: effectiveness in reducing emissions, impact on household costs, use of tax revenues, and international coordination. Communicating environmental effectiveness increased support, while making costs explicit reduced it. Preferences for revenue use varied: some respondents favoured direct payments, while others preferred investments in welfare. Contrary to expectations, only German respondents showed increased support when other countries also adopted similar measures. These findings highlight the importance of national context in shaping public attitudes. Carefully designed and clearly communicated carbon tax policies can improve public acceptability and enhance the political feasibility of effective climate action.

This paper analyzes the macroeconomic effects of carbon and energy taxes using an R&D-based endogenous growth model that includes carbon reduction technology. We compare a scenario in which a government develops carbon reduction technology with one in which a private firm is in charge. We find that an energy tax is more effective when a government develops carbon reduction technology, while a carbon tax is better when a private firm develops reduction technology. In addition, degree of carbon emission elasticity causes the difference between the scenarios. Even in an economy with only a carbon tax, the degree of carbon emission elasticity greatly influences the economic growth rate and social welfare. This finding implies that policy design should consider carbon emission elasticity if carbon and energy taxes are introduced simultaneously.

Carbon taxes create incentives for controlling greenhouse gases by putting a price on these emissions. In theory major carbon emitters would pay more under an effective carbon tax. In practice political considerations often dominate and consequently compromise effectiveness in emissions mitigation. Australia's carbon pricing mechanism is a recent example. It involves the use of a fixed-price instrument that resembles a carbon tax and will eventually turn into an emission trading scheme and enable price fluctuation. The policy design is however questionable for overcompensating big polluters and legitimizing the failure to curb emissions domestically. This paper offers a review of the development of carbon tax policies in various national contexts with a focus on Australia. Lessons from the international practices could provide a useful reference for China to advance its timely commitment to establishing a carbon pricing system.

Public acceptance of carbon taxes in Australia

Coal policy and climate protection: Can the tough German CO 2 reduction target be met by 2005?

No AccessPolicy Research Working Papers17 Dec 2015Climate Change Impacts and Mitigation in the Developing World: An Integrated Assessment of the Agriculture and Forestry SectorsAuthors/Editors: Petr Havlík, Hugo Valin, Mykola Gusti, Erwin Schmid, David Leclère, Nicklas Forsell, Mario Herrero, Nikolay Khabarov, Aline Mosnier, Matthew Cantele, Michael ObersteinerPetr Havlík, Hugo Valin, Mykola Gusti, Erwin Schmid, David Leclère, Nicklas Forsell, Mario Herrero, Nikolay Khabarov, Aline Mosnier, Matthew Cantele, Michael Obersteinerhttps://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-7477SectionsAboutPDF (1.7 MB) ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In Abstract: This paper conducts an integrated assessment of climate change impacts and climate mitigation on agricultural commodity markets and food availability in low- and middle-income countries. The analysis uses the partial equilibrium model GLOBIOM to generate scenarios to 2080. The findings show that climate change effects on the agricultural sector will increase progressively over the century. By 2030, the impact of climate change on food consumption is moderate but already twice as large in a world with high inequalities than in a more equal world. In the long run, impacts could be much stronger, with global average calorie losses of 6 percent by 2050 and 14 percent by 2080. A mitigation policy to stabilize climate below 2°C uniformly applied to all regions as a carbon tax would also result in a 6 percent reduction in food availability by 2050 and 12 percent reduction by 2080 compared to the reference scenario. To avoid more severe impacts of climate change mitigation on development than climate change itself, revenue from carbon pricing policies will need to be redistributed appropriately. Overall, the projected effects of climate change and mitigation on agricultural markets raise important issues for food security in the long run, but remain more limited in the medium term horizon of 2030. Thus, there are opportunities for low- and middle-income countries to pursue immediate development needs and thus prepare for later periods when adaptation needs and mitigation efforts will become the greatest. Previous bookNext book FiguresreferencesRecommendeddetailsCited byFood Production and Amazon Preservation are Not Mutually Exclusive: Exploring Feasible Avenues from the Perspective of Land Use Related NDCs in BrazilWSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS, Vol.2017 February 2023ScenaLand: a simple methodology for developing land use and management scenariosMitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Vol.27, No.89 September 2022More future synergies and less trade‐offs between forest ecosystem services with natural climate solutions instead of bioeconomy solutionsGlobal Change Biology, Vol.28, No.2110 August 2022The potential impacts of an EU-wide agricultural mitigation target on the Irish agriculture sectorClimate Policy, Vol.2229 July 2022Change in forest biomass with altitudinal variations in dry temperate forest of Dir Kohistan, PakistanModeling Earth Systems and Environment, Vol.8, No.210 June 2021Rebuilding green infrastructure in boreal production forest given future global wood demandJournal of Applied Ecology, Vol.59, No.628 April 2022Economic effects of climate change on agricultural production and productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)Agricultural Economics, Vol.53, No.29 November 2021Water, Food Security, and Trade in Sub-Saharan AfricaAnimal-based foods have high social and climate costsNature Food, Vol.2, No.421 April 2021Toward tackling urban water scarcity: linking risk, vulnerability adaptive capacity and adaptation at household levelJournal of Environmental Planning and Management, Vol.64, No.327 July 2020Enhancing Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security Within a Changing Climate29 July 2021What is wrong with post‐fire soil erosion modelling? A meta‐analysis on current approaches, research gaps, and future directionsEarth Surface Processes and Landforms, Vol.46, No.110 December 2020Food security under high bioenergy demand toward long-term climate goalsClimatic Change, Vol.163, No.326 August 2020When Climate Turns Nasty, What Are Recent and Future Implications? Ecological and Human Health Review of Climate Change ImpactsCurrent Climate Change Reports, Vol.6, No.31 May 2020Global hunger and climate change adaptation through international tradeNature Climate Change, Vol.10, No.920 July 2020How uncertainties are tackled in multi-disciplinary science? A review of integrated assessments under global changeCATENA, Vol.186Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture: Evidence and Predictions25 October 2020Water, Food Security, and Trade in Sub-Saharan AfricaThe sensitivity of the costs of reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) to future socioeconomic drivers and its implications for mitigation policy designMitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Vol.24, No.68 June 2018A review of global-local-global linkages in economic land-use/cover change modelsEnvironmental Research Letters, Vol.14, No.53 May 2019Biodiversity Issues Should Be Better Taken into Account in the Energy Transition29 August 2018Health policy and systems research: the future of the fieldHealth Research Policy and Systems, Vol.16, No.122 August 2018Climate variability/change and attitude to adaptation technologies: a pilot study among selected rural farmers' communities in NigeriaGeoJournal, Vol.83, No.220 April 2017Swedish Forest Harvest Level Considering Demand of Biomass for Energy PurposesFORMATH, Vol.17, No.0Estimation of methane emissions from local and crossbreed beef cattle in Daklak province of VietnamAsian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, Vol.30, No.721 March 2017Food Security, Vol.9, No.4Using genomic information to improve soybean adaptability to climate changeJournal of Experimental Botany, Vol.12522 September 2016 View Published: November 2015 Copyright & Permissions Related TopicsEnergyEnvironmentMacroeconomics and Economic GrowthScience and Technology Development KeywordsFOOD SECURITYCLIMATE CHANGELAND USE CHANGEBIOENERGYPOVERTY PDF DownloadLoading ...

Purpose With a lack of research conducted in an Asian context for teaching difficult knowledge, this study utilized the term “teacher agency” to explore how teachers access their agency to teach difficult knowledge in Taiwan (e.g. White Terror and the conflict with the PRC). Using a case study design, this study documents how six social studies teachers access their agency for teaching difficult knowledge, then explores how these teachers have been influenced by or resisted the unique contextual factors in Asia. Design/methodology/approach Given that teaching difficult knowledge is in itself necessarily a contentious task, the following research question guided my study: How do teachers in Taiwan encounter difficult knowledge? Two subsidiary questions frame my inquiry: (1) How do teachers in Taiwan enact their professional agency to teach difficult knowledge? (2) What contextual and individual factors have teachers been impacted by and resisted in order to teach difficult knowledge? My study sought to gain an understanding of history teachers’ agency and difficult knowledge teaching in two public senior high schools in Taiwan. The case study framework allowed for the examination of contemporary phenomena by employing a variety of evidence, including documents, artifacts and narrative interviews (Yin, 1994). Findings Utilizing two concepts— difficult knowledge and teacher’s agency— the findings illuminate the fact that teachers enact their professional agency to teach difficult knowledge by using unofficial documents, integrating alternative resources and building dialogue with students. In addition, another finding shows that contextual and individual factors formulate teachers’ professional agency to teach difficult knowledge. Lastly, this study reflects the fact that social/historical trauma and collective memory are part of difficult knowledge but also serve as contextual factors impacting teachers’ agency. Research limitations/implications Disadvantages of this method during the interviews include the self-consciousness of participants, which could affect her/his own willingness to share or discuss issues. Practical implications This study provides opportunities for people to understand conflicts, difficulties and injustice many teachers in different national contexts are facing now. In addition, I hope this study could provide the chance to reflect on its situation in each country and give references to other readers and teachers. Originality/value This study reflects the difficulties many teachers are facing but also challenges the assumption that teachers do not often enact their agency for teaching difficult knowledge in places like Taiwan. In addition, this study illustrates the fact that teachers’ agency has been impacted by individual factors and contextual factors. However, teachers can resist contextual factors by creating more space and creativity for their students to learn about difficult knowledge. Most importantly, this study reflects the fact that teachers have been influenced by contextual factors, and these contextual factors are the concepts of difficult knowledge that teachers have crystalized to create different representations about that difficult knowledge. Lastly, because this study explores teachers’ history teaching of difficult knowledge in Taiwan, this study provides opportunities for people to understand conflicts, difficulties and injustice which Taiwan has been facing now. Fortunately, I hope this study could provide the chance to reflect on its situation in each country and give references to other readers and teachers.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the design of the carbon tax policy that will be applied in Indonesia, as well as to analyze and provide an overview of the best practice of implementing carbon tax in Indonesia. The analysis used is based on existing field facts and confirmed by existing theories and regulations. The data analysis method used in this study is descriptive or comparative analysis with a practical approach methodology, namely comparing carbon tax policies in several countries to be used as a reference in making the ideal carbon tax formulation and the mechanism for implementing carbon tax in Indonesia. The results of this study indicate that the application of CO2 tax is basically suitable to be applied in Indonesia. The first reason refers to the study of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and OECD, carbon tax can be one of the policy options available as a revenue stream because the pandemic puts pressure on tax revenues. Second, the CO2 tax is directed to climate protection and becomes an environmental protection tool. His methods of reducing negative externalities are in line with the principles of sustainable development. Third, many countries have introduced carbon taxes, including countries in Europe and others. However, the implementation of the carbon tax has not been implemented in Indonesia, this can be seen from the negative impacts of the implementation of the carbon tax. In addition, the results of the analysis show that gross domestic product (GDP), real consumption, and employment (employment) are predicted to be lower, if the policy is implemented without any follow-up actions taken, this will certainly cause negative pressure on all macro variables economy.

The focus on carbon tax has been central in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The use of carbon tax policies as a vital tool to address climate change has been implemented in many countries, including Indonesia. However, the implementation of carbon taxes involves a series of complex challenges. This research aims to examine the complexity of tax aspects that pose challenges in the process of implementing carbon tax policies in Indonesia and the strategies the Indonesian government can employ to overcome these challenges. The research adopts a qualitative approach, collecting data through literature review. It explores the multidimensionality and complexity of carbon tax aspects, encompassing policy design, socio-economic impacts, and administrative constraints. The research findings indicate the need for an integrated carbon tax policy design, focusing on setting appropriate rates and ensuring fair revenue allocation. Evaluating the social and economic impacts of carbon taxes becomes a crucial part of understanding the extensive consequences that may arise. Involvement from industries and other stakeholders in the policy design process is an essential element in addressing this complexity. The study also emphasizes the necessity for improvements in administrative infrastructure and monitoring systems to ensure that carbon taxes are not only effective but also accountable in significantly reducing carbon emissions

This paper investigates how the Swedish public views carbon taxation and the social factors that shape support or resistance. It compares a nationally representative sample with a group of fuel tax protesters to explore differences in demographics, political orientation, and levels of trust in government. To capture broader trends in public acceptance, a Difference-in-Differences (DID) model is used to examine changes in willingness to pay environmental taxes in Sweden and a set of comparison countries between 2000 and 2010. The results show that, although opposition to environmental taxes increased globally during this period, the rise in Sweden was notably smaller. This suggests that Swedens early and transparent green tax reform and revenue recycling measures helped sustain public support. The study shows the importance of trust, fairness, and transparency in designing carbon tax policies that are both politically feasible and socially acceptable over time.