Smith, Stephen Robert; (1997) European policy, taxation and the environment. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The eight essays which form this thesis relate to European Community taxation policy and environmental policy. The first pair of essays develop an economic interpretation of the principle of "subsidiarity", and apply this in discussing the appropriate boundaries for EC action in relation, firstly, to the harmonisation and coordination of indirect taxes (VAT and excise duties), and secondly, coordination of environmental taxes. The second group of essays consider further the role of taxation in environmental policy. The first surveys existing literature, and identifies a key tradeoff between "linkage" and administrative cost in efficient environmental tax design. The second essay considers the possible use of tax expenditures and other subsidies if the "first-best" policy, relying purely on tax incentives, is not feasible. The third looks at the European Commission's 1991 proposal for a carbon/energy tax, and draws attention to a particular issue in the efficient specification of the carbon tax base. The third group of essays consider distributional issues raised by the use of environmental taxes. The first essay provides estimates of the distributional incidence of the proposed European carbon/energy tax in the UK and other European countries, and assesses the scope for policy action to offset the regressive carbon/energy tax burden. The second essay considers similar issues in the different context of water charging. It presents estimates of the distributional incidence of various possible water charges in the UK, and draws attention to the possible equity/efficiency trade-offs which arise. The final essay considers the relationship between household energy efficiency, energy taxes and distribution. The paper presents econometric estimates, using UK household micro-data, of the pattern of energy efficiency take-up, and finds indications that market failures relating to household tenure may be a particularly severe impediment to the efficient adjustment of energy consumption to higher energy prices.

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