Energy Taxes, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Energy Consumption and Economic Consequences: A Comparative Study of Nordic and G7 Countries

Abstract

Based on a panel ARDL (AutoRegressive Distributed Lag) model, this paper investigates the environmental and economic consequences of energy tax levied in the four Nordic countries and the G7 countries from 1994 to 2016. Based on the double dividend theory of environmental tax, this paper investigates five variables: energy tax, energy consumption per unit of GDP, income tax, profit tax and capital gains tax, carbon dioxide intensity and fossil fuel burning ratio. A panel ARDL model is established to empirically test the relationship between energy tax and other variables. Experiments show that both the four Nordic countries and the G7 countries have found the existence of green dividends in the long run: the green dividends of the four Nordic countries are reflected in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, while those of the G7 countries are reflected in the reduction of fossil fuel use. In terms of blue dividends, the implementation of energy tax in the four Nordic countries can not only reduce distorted taxes in the short term, but also promote economic growth and adjust tax structure in the long term. For the G7 countries, blue dividends are not reflected in the long term. The model used in this paper is a panel ARDL model, which is more suitable for the study of multiple countries, multiple variables and long-term cycles. This model has been seldomly used in previous studies. The application of the panel ARDL model in this paper is not only more scientific and applicable, but also more innovative, which makes up for the shortcomings of previous studies. The research object of this paper selects the energy tax, which is an important part of the environmental tax system, and strives to provide a reference for the implementation of environmental taxation priorities and effects through empirical research. This paper may also serve as a reference for other countries to establish and improve environmental tax. As the first environmental tax law in China, the Environmental Protection Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China was formally implemented on 1 January 2018. This paper chooses G7 countries and Nordic countries as the research objects. As these are important economies in the world, their environmental tax implementation is more perfected and has strong representativeness. This study can provide some experience for the continuous improvement of China’s environmental tax law.