Are green hopes too rosy? Employment and welfare impacts of renewable energy promotion

被引:85
作者
Boehringer, Christoph [1 ]
Keller, Andreas [1 ]
van der Werf, Edwin [2 ,3 ]
机构
[1] Carl von Ossietzky Univ Oldenburg, Dept Econ, D-26129 Oldenburg, Germany
[2] Wageningen Univ, Environm Econ & Nat Resources Grp, NL-6706 KN Wageningen, Netherlands
[3] CESifo, Munich, Germany
关键词
Renewable energy promotion; Wage rigidities; Computable general equilibrium; Double dividend; NOMINAL WAGE RIGIDITY; CLIMATE POLICY; MARKET; CURVE; LABOR; UNEMPLOYMENT; GERMANY; WORLD; COSTS;
D O I
10.1016/j.eneco.2012.08.029
中图分类号
F [经济];
学科分类号
02 ;
摘要
In view of pressing unemployment problems, policy makers across all parties jump on the prospects of renewable energy promotion as a job creation engine which can boost economic well-being. Our analytical model shows that initial labor market rigidities in theory provide some scope for such a double dividend. However, the practical outcome of renewable energy promotion might be sobering. Our computable general equilibrium analysis of subsidized electricity production from renewable energy sources (RES-E) in Germany suggests that the prospects for employment and welfare gains are quite limited and hinge crucially on the level of the subsidy rate and the financing mechanism. If RES-E subsidies are financed by labor taxes, welfare and employment effects are strictly negative for a broad range of subsidy rates. The use of an electricity tax to fund RES-E subsidies generates minor benefits for small subsidy rates but these benefits quickly turn into significant losses as the subsidy rate exceeds some threshold value. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:277 / 285
页数:9
相关论文
共 39 条
[1]  
Armington P.S., 1969, STAFF PAPERS INT MON, V16, P159, DOI [10.2307/3866403, DOI 10.2307/3866403]
[2]   Unemployment effects of climate policy [J].
Babiker, Mustafa H. ;
Eckaus, Richard S. .
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & POLICY, 2007, 10 (7-8) :600-609
[3]   The German wage curve: evidence from the IAB employment sample [J].
Baltagi, BH ;
Blien, U .
ECONOMICS LETTERS, 1998, 61 (02) :135-142
[4]  
BDEW, 2011, EN INF EM EN EEG ZAH
[5]  
Blanchflower D. G., 1994, The Wage Curve
[6]   AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WAGE CURVE [J].
BLANCHFLOWER, DG ;
OSWALD, AJ .
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES, 1995, 9 (03) :153-167
[7]  
BMU, 2009, BRUTT DURCH ERN EN D
[8]  
Böhringer C, 2008, GER ECON REV, V9, P17
[9]   Combining bottom-up and top-down [J].
Boehringer, Christoph ;
Rutherford, Thomas F. .
ENERGY ECONOMICS, 2008, 30 (02) :574-596
[10]   The Costs of Compliance: A CGE Assessment of Canada's Policy Options under the Kyoto Protocol [J].
Boehringer, Christoph ;
Rutherford, Thomas F. .
WORLD ECONOMY, 2010, 33 (02) :177-211