Lump-sum vs. energy-efficiency subsidy recycling of carbon tax revenue in the residential sector: A French assessment

Recyclage des revenus de la taxe carbone en paiements forfaitaires vs. subventions à l'efficacité énergétique: Une évaluation pour le secteur résidentiel français

Cyril Bourgeois, Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet () and Philippe Quirion
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Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet: CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: Empirical evidence suggests that carbon taxes are best accepted when their revenue is used to finance abatement measures. This revenue recycling option has however received little attention in modelling assessments. With the aim of filling this gap, we assess the impact of the French carbon tax on energy use for residential heating and compare the cost-effectiveness and distributional impacts of two revenue recycling options: lump-sum payment and subsidies for home energy retrofits. We do so using Res-IRF, an energy-economy model that provides a highly detailed description of housing features (single vs. multi-family, energy efficiency, heating fuel) and key household characteristics (tenancy status, income). We find that the two recycling options offset the regressive impacts of the tax in comparable ways. Lump-sum recycling is particularly effective in reducing inequalities between owner-occupiers and tenants. In turn, subsidy recycling saves energy and increases comfort more cost-effectively. In the discussion, we further point to some advantages of subsidy recycling from both a political and administrative perspective.

Keywords: carbon tax; revenue-recycling; building sector; fuel poverty; energy efficiency subsidies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env and nep-reg
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://enpc.hal.science/hal-02073964v2
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

Published in Ecological Economics, 2021, ⟨10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107006⟩

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Journal Article: Lump-sum vs. energy-efficiency subsidy recycling of carbon tax revenue in the residential sector: A French assessment (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02073964

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107006

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