Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: The NBER's Program on Environmental and Energy Economics (EEE) was initiated in 2007, but has grown to 80 members and 240 NBER Working Papers in less than three years.The Program's research is broad and diverse.Program members study topics as varied as pollution abatement technology, the role of "pollution havens, " regulated electricity markets, pollution-tax incidence, and the effects of environmental policy on employment, morbidity, and mortality.Because this body of research is too broad and too diverse to summarize in one Program Report, I will touch on only a few topics here. Gasoline Use and Vehicle EmissionsNumerous federal policies are directed at the reduction of gasoline consumption, with the aim being to improve environmental quality and to reduce oil imports.Recent research covers a range of such policies, including gasoline taxes, fuel-efficiency regulation, and alternative fuel subsidies.The current federal tax is 18.4 cents/gallon, with state taxes adding about 30 cents more.Changes to the tax at the state level are frequent, as are proposals to alter the federal tax.The sharp gasoline price increases experienced through 2008 offer a valuable source of variation for examining the influence of gasoline price on the vehicle fleet.Meghan Busse, Christopher Knittel, and Florian Zettelmeyer use this price variation to examine changes in the price and composition of cars purchased.1 They find that each $1 increase in the gas price causes more than a 20 percent change in new car sales at the high and low end of fuel efficiency, and changes the resale price for used cars by as much as $3000.
Source: Econstor (Econstor)
Author: Don Fullerton
Language: English
Field: Energy
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W290820308