We use a Computable General Equilibrium model to simulate the effects of an Environmental Tax Reform in a regional economy (Andalusia, Spain). The reform involves imposing a tax on CO2 or SO2 emissions and reducing either the Income Tax or the payroll tax of employers to Social Security, and eventually keeping public deficit unchanged. This approach enables us to test the so-called double dividend hypothesis, which states that this kind of reform is likely to improve both environmental and non-environmental welfare. In the economy under analysis, an employment double dividend arises when the payroll tax is reduced and, if CO2 emissions are selected as environmental target, a (limited) strong double could also be obtained. No double dividend appears when Income Tax is reduced to compensate the environmental tax.

Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) approaches have been used extensively over the past 25 years to analyze government and other policies for both developed and developing countries. Advances in methodology, computation techniques and data availability, including Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) data, have allowed researchers to use CGE models to study the potential policy impacts of tax, trade, environmental issues, etc. at the urban and regional levels as well as the macro level. What is common with these policy topics is that they cause structural, long-term impacts, including price changes and income growth, on various entities (households, enterprises, government and other regions/countries) and industrial sectors of economies. CGE modeling can compute a new equilibrium of each industry's market clearance upon the incorporation of such a policy shock, and evaluates the policy alternative as compared with the benchmark equilibrium in terms of industrial sector-wise and aggregated prices, outputs, GDP and many other indicators.

A rigorous and innovative approach for integrating environmental policies and fiscal reform for the U.S. economy. Energy utilization, especially from fossil fuels, creates hidden costs in the form of pollution and environmental damages. The costs are well documented but are hidden in the sense that they occur outside the market, are not reflected in market prices, and are not taken into account by energy users. Double Dividend presents a novel method for designing environmental taxes that correct market prices so that they reflect the true cost of energy. The resulting revenue can be used in reducing the burden of the overall tax system and improving the performance of the economy, creating the double dividend of the title. The authors simulate the impact of environmental taxes on the U.S. economy using their Intertemporal General Equilibrium Model (IGEM). This highly innovative model incorporates expectations about future prices and policies. The model is estimated econometrically from an extensive 50-year dataset to incorporate the heterogeneity of producers and consumers. This approach generates confidence intervals for the outcomes of changes in economic policies, a new feature for models used in analyzing energy and environmental policies. These outcomes include the welfare impacts on individual households, distinguished by demographic characteristics, and for society as a whole, decomposed between efficiency and equity.

ÔIngeniously organized in a life cycle format, the Handbook covers environmental taxation concepts, design, acceptance, implementation, and impact. The universal themes discussed in each area will appeal to a broad range of readers.Õ Ð Larry Kreiser, Cleveland State University, US ÔThis book is a smart and useful readerÕs guide providing analytical tools for a full comprehension of environmental taxes, with an interdisciplinary approach that looks at all the different phases of environmental taxation: from the design to the implementation, the political acceptance and the impact on the economy. The authorsÕ effort is very successful in endowing academicians, policy makers and the general public with an excellent proof of the effectiveness of environmental taxes and green tax reforms.Õ Ð Alberto Majocchi, University of Pavia, Italy ÔPutting the words ÒenvironmentÓ next to ÒtaxationÓ might not always be the flavour of the month, but no modern society can ignore the value of the natural environment and the need to maintain its good quality and no competitive economy can prosper without the necessary tax revenues to function. Environmental taxation offers the prospect of moving towards a more resource-efficient economy, where preference is given to tax more what we burn, less what we earn. I welcome this contribution to the literature.Õ Ð Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, European Commission ÔThe Milne and Andersen volume provides a splendid treatment of environmental taxation that encompasses the basic conceptual issues, problems of tax design and implementation, and several insightful case studies that show how environmental taxes actually work in practice. It is the best overall treatment of environmental taxation available: comprehensive, rigorous, and readable.Õ Ð Wallace Oates, University of Maryland, US The Handbook of Research on Environmental Taxation captures the state of the art of research on environmental taxation. Written by 36 specialists in environmental taxation from 16 countries, it takes an interdisciplinary and international approach, focusing on issues that are universal to using taxation to achieve environmental goals. The Handbook explores the conceptual foundations of environmental taxation, essential elements for designing environmental tax measures, factors that influence the acceptance of environmental taxation, the variety of ways to implement environmental taxes, their environmental and economic impact and, finally, the larger question of the role of taxation among other policy approaches to environmental protection. Intermixing theory with case studies, the Handbook offers readers lessons that can be applied around the world. It identifies key bodies of research for people who are already working in the field or entering the field and highlights issues that call for more research in the future. With systematic analysis of key issues in environmental taxation, this book will appeal to researchers, governments, think tanks, NGOs, and academics in law, economics, political science and public finance, as well as students specializing in environmental taxation and other market-based instruments.

The papers presented in this volume address a wide range of policy themes in the context of environmental regulation. Investigated issues include the interaction between environmental regulation and economic growth, international competitiveness, structural change, pollution leakage, technological innovation, tax systems, as well as implications for intergenerational and intragenerational burden sharing. The contributors mostly employ econometric approaches or computable general equilibrium analysis. Professionals and academics working in the field of environmental policy analysis will consider this book as a valuable source of information.