Technology policy is the most widespread form of climate policy and is often preferred over seemingly efficient carbon pricing. We propose a new explanation for this observation: gains that predominantly accrue to households with large capital assets and that influence majority decisions in...

Previous literature has suggested that the urban form (i.e., city size, density, and center distribution pattern) influences urban energy consumption. It has been argued that more dense development is likely to result in more energy-efficient and sustainable cities. However, very little is known...

This paper studies the effect of a CDM tree-planting project on carbon sequestration and urban and rural income distribution, taking economy-wide impacts into account. Carbon sequestration in agricultural soil is considered in addition to the carbon in the tree farm itself. The study points to...

Mexico recently declared ambitious goals in reducing domestic CO2 emissions and introduced a carbon tax in 2014. Although negative effects on household welfare and related poverty measures are widely discussed as possible consequences, empirical evidence is missing. We try to fill this gap by...

Carbon taxes introduce potentially uneven cost burdens across the population. The distribution of these costs is especially important in affecting political outcomes. This paper links dynamic overlapping-generations and microsimulation models of the United States to estimate the initial...

Carbon taxes efficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions but are criticized as regressive. This paper links dynamic overlapping-generation and microsimulation models of the United States to estimate the initial incidence. We find that while carbon taxes are regressive, the incidence depends much...

Although fuel taxes are a practical means of curbing vehicular air pollution, congestion, and accidents in developing countries—all of which are typically major problems—they are often opposed on distributional grounds. Yet few studies have investigated fuel tax incidence in a developing...

This paper evaluates the costs to households of a carbon dioxide (CO2) cap-and-trade program. We find important variation in the distribution of costs of the policy across 11 regions of the country and income deciles. The introduction of a price on CO2 is regressive, but this may be outweighed...

Uncertainty is a fundamental characteristic of climate change. This paper focuses on uncertainty in the implementation of climate policy, especially as it affects the level and distribution of the burden on households that results from the allocation of emissions allowances. We examine the...

The introduction of a price on carbon dioxide will have important effects on the U.S. economy, and especially important effects on the electricity sector, which currently accounts for about 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. This paper examines alternative approaches to the distribution of...