The purpose of this paper is to study, within a general equilibrium framework, the welfare implications of a balanced-budget tax reform for an externality-generating intermediate input in a second-best economic environment. For purposes of concreteness, the focus is on tax reform for freight...

Starting from the fundamental principles of transport pricing the paper discusses the relative merits of a number of policy measures. It is argued that in the short to medium run the discouragement of the purchase of new diesel cars is the most important environmental measure that can be taken....

This paper applies the traditional definition of equity and efficiency in economics to transport pricing. It is shown how this framework can also be used to define acceptability. The problems and potential of this approach are illustrated by examining the effects for Belgium of replacing current...

The energy sector covers the coal, oil, gas and electricity sector. The European coal and oil sector have already been liberalised in the past. The current debate concerns mainly the electricity and the gas sector. In this paper we will concentrate on the electricity sector for three reasons....

In transportation planning there can be long lead times to adapt capacity. This paper addresses two questions. First, in a one mode world (say rail or road), what is the optimal capacity choice when faced with uncertain demand, long lead times and congestion. Using a simple analytical model it...

In this paper we incorporate monitoring and enforcement aspects in the choice of environmental policy instruments in a general equilibrium framework. Goulder et al. (J.Pub.Econ., 1999) look into the choice of policy instruments in the presence of distortionary taxes. We extend this model by no...

The paper studies a regional environmental tax reform in a federal state. A region unilaterally improves the environmental quality by increasing its energy taxes. The regional government recycles the excess tax revenues by lowering either pre-existing distorting labor or capital taxes. This...

In this paper, we explore automobile fuel efficiency policies in the presence of two externalities i) a global environmental problem and ii) international innovation spillovers. Using a simple model with two regions, we show that both a fuel tax and a tax on vehicles based on their fuel economy...

Transport activity is inextricably linked with environmental damage. Economists traditionally urge policy makers to adopt pricing solutions, in particular taxes, to reduce environmental damage rather than quantity restrictions or standards. This chapter examines environmental pricing, defined...

In the Auto-Oil Programme, the European Commission looks for emission limits for cars such that the urban air quality targets are reached at minimum cost. This optimisation problem was solved by Degraeve et al. (1998). In this paper we deal with two methodological problems in this cost...