The impact of climate transition policies on Belgian firms – what can we learn from a survey?

Raïsa Basselier, Nabil Bouamara, Geert Langenus, Gert Peersman () and Peter Reusens
Additional contact information
Raïsa Basselier: Economics and Research Department, National Bank of Belgium
Geert Langenus: Economics and Research Department, National Bank of Belgium
Peter Reusens: Economics and Research Department, National Bank of Belgium

No 468, Working Paper Research from National Bank of Belgium

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of current and future climate transition policies on Belgian firms as they approach the 2030 milestone set by the European Green Deal. Using data from an online survey conducted with members of key Belgian employers’ federations, we assess the effects on firms’ costs, pricing, demand, and investment decisions. The climate transition is largely perceived as a classical negative supply shock, resulting in higher prices, squeezed profit margins, and reduced activity. While the impact on Belgian investment remains ambiguous, part of production capacity – particularly in manufacturing – is expected to shift outside the EU. A scenario analysis and an information experiment embedded within the survey show that an increase in the carbon price beyond firms’ current expectations could exacerbate these adverse effects. Survey participants also express widespread scepticism about the EU's ability to meet its ‘Fit for 55’ targets, citing high costs, reduced profitability, unclear policy guidance and administrative burdens as major impediments.

Keywords: Business surveys; Firms; Climate transition; Randomized information provision. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C83 C93 D22 D83 D84 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33 pages
Date: 2024-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene and nep-env
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nbb.be/nl/articles/impact-climate-tran ... -can-we-learn-survey (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nbb:reswpp:202409-468

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Paper Research from National Bank of Belgium Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().