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Scientific Article details

Title Carbon Taxes and Innovation without Commitment
ID_Doc 32088
Authors Golombek, R; Greaker, M; Hoel, M
Title Carbon Taxes and Innovation without Commitment
Year 2010
Published B E Journal Of Economic Analysis & Policy, 10, 1
DOI
Abstract Climate mitigation policy should be imposed over a long period, and spur innovation of new technologies in order to make stabilization of green house gas concentration economically feasible. The government may announce current and future policy packages that stimulate current R&D in climate-friendly technologies. However, once climate-friendly technologies have been developed, the government may have no incentive to implement the pre-announced future policies, that is, there may be a time inconsistency problem. We show that if the government can optimally subsidize R&D today, there is no time inconsistency problem. Thus, lack of commitment is not an argument for higher current R&D subsidies than the first-best subsidy. If the offered R&D subsidy is lower than the optimal subsidy, the current (sub-game perfect) carbon tax rate exceeds the first-best carbon tax rate.
Author Keywords time consistency; carbon tax; climate policy; R&D; endogenous technological change
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Social Science Citation Index (SSCI)
EID WOS:000277221200005
WoS Category Economics
Research Area Business & Economics
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