李军论文外文资料.docx

李军论文外文资料.docx

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李军论文外文资料

外文资料

OntheViewsofCarbonTaxinKorea

Heon-GooKim

UNFCCC（UnitedNationsFrameworkConventiononClimateChange）hasbeenagreeduponinRioin1992.ThisledtotheKyotoProtocolin1997byestablishingagoaltoreducegreenhousegasamongcountries.Ithasbeenanimportantissuesincethemid-1980s.Thepurposeofthisagreementistoreducetheconsumptionoffossilfuelswhichcausesthegreenhouseeffects.Becauseofthis,globalwarminghasbecomeaseriousmattertobesolvedbymandatorycontrolstouselessfossilfuels.Accordingtothisagreement,thedevelopedcountriesshouldreducetheemissionofgreenhousegasfrom2008to2012by5.2%averagetomaintaintheemissionlevelof1990.ThegreenhousegastobereducedinKyotoProtocoliscomprisedofcarbondioxide（CO2）,methane（CH4）,nitrousoxide（N2O）,hydrofluorocarbon（HFCs）,sulfurfluoridation（SF6）andperfluorocarbon（PFCs）.

Outofthesesixgases,CO2isthemostimportantgreenhousegastobecontrolledbecauseitismorethan80%ofallofthesixgasemissionsintheworld.Thecarbontaximpositiononfossilfuelusageisregardedasthemostefficientschemetoreducethegreenhousegasesamongmanymanyenvironmentalists.Thismethodologyisaverysimplisticwaytocontrolgreenhouseemissioncomparedwithothersanddoesnotincuraninternationalconflict.Furthermore,therevenuefromthistaxcanbeusedasasourceoffinancingenvironmentalimprovements.Forthesereasons,carbontaxisahighlyrecommendable.

Carbontaxisanexcisetaxwhichisleviedaccordingtothequantityofcarbondioxideinenergysource,whileenergytaxisalsoanexcisetaxleviedaccordingtotheenergycontentinenergysource.Ingeneral,carbontaxisoneoftheenvironmentaltaxesalongwithenergytax.Thecarbontax,however,isbelievedtoyieldasubstitutioneffectbecauseitbringsanegativeincentiveinusingenergysourcecontainingcarbondioxide.

Intheearly1990s,thenorthernEuropeancountries,Denmark,Norway,SwedenandFinlanddecreasedthetaxratesincludingpersonalincometaxwhiletheyintroducedorexpandedenvironmentrelatedtaxestocompensatethereducedtaxrevenue.Thesecountrieshavesomethingincommontopursueaplantoinitiateacarbontaxsystemasataxreform.ThecarbontaxisnowbeingimplementedinDenmark,Finland,Italy,Norway,NetherlandsandSweden.

Characteristics:

Thecarbontaxisconsideredtobeanindirecttaximposedontheuseoffossilenergysource,whichisdifferentfromthedirectimpositionontheCO2emission.Yoocategorizedtheenergytaxintotwoaspects,aproductiontaxandanexcisetax.Theexcisetaxisimposedindirectlyontheenergyconsumedinnonenergysectorsasthefinalenergy.Theexcisetaxasaschemetobeleviedontheconsumptionofthefinalenergyisameansofreducingtheuseofpetroleumandcoals.Chointerpretsthecarbontaxasanenvironmentaltaxleadingtodecreasesincontaminationandwaste.anditisasanefficientpolicytochangetheproductionqualityandinducetheenvironmentalprotection.Thispolicyleadstonotonlytechnologicalimprovementbutalsoenergyefficientproductionprocess.Asanenergytax,itinducesthepollutingproducerstoswitchtotheproductionofenvironmentallylessharmfulcommodities.Thus,thistaxistogivetheproducersopportunitiestodeveloplessharmfulsubstitutesandmaketheproductionprocesslessdependentonfossilfuel.

Asasourceoftheinvestmentonenvironmentandameansofpollutionrestriction,theintroductionofthecarbontaxisactivelydebatedinKorea.Seol[4]introducescontentsfromWelfareEconomicswrittenbyPigouthatthetaxlevyonthepollutingmaterialstoprotectenvironmentisjustifiable.

Debate:

TheinitialinternationaldebateonenvironmenttaxincludingcarbontaxbeganwithOECD’sevaluationofvarioustaxschemesconcernedwithexcisetax,valueaddedtaxandautomobilerelatedtaxes.Duringthisprocess,fourcountries（Norway,Netherlands,SwedenandFinland）focusedmainlyoncarbontax.InKorea,thereisnoenvironmentrelatedtaxlawasanationaltaxlawbutonlyatransportationtaxrelatedtoairpollutionasalocaltax.Toreducetheairpollution,peoplethinkthebestwayistolevythetaxaccordingtotheemissionquantityifitcanbemeasurable.Thismethod,however,isunabletomeasureaccuratelyandrequiresalotofcostrelatedtoadministrationandinformation.Thus,thesimplemethodistolevythetaxonthefuelcontainingpollutionmaterial,whichcansatisfythePPP（PolluterPaysPrinciple）.ThismethodisrepresentedasacarbontaxlawwhichshouldbeintroducedinKorea.

InKorea,KimarguesforindirecttaxschemeratherthandirectmethodonthebasisofPPP（PolluterPaysPrinciple）tointernalizetheexternalcostcausedbyCO2emission.ShinalsoagreeswiththeintroductionofcarbontaxtoreducetheCO2emissionefficiently,inspiteofthedebatessuchasJI（JointImplementation）,CDM（CleanDevelopmentMechanism）andIET（InternalEmissionTrading）.Evenifourcountry’sproductionstructurehasalowersubstitutabilityofotherinputsforenergyinput,thesubstitutabilitywillincreaseinthelongrun.Thecarbontaxsystemwillstimulatethesubstitutioneffect,whichwilltransformoureconomicstructurethroughenergysavingproductiontechnology.

Choiassertsthatthelowerthecarbontaxrateis,thelowerthepricechangeeffectwillbe.Atthehighcarbontaxrate,thebigfluctuationinpricechangesbyindustryoccurs.Thiswillyieldalargetaxrevenuetothegovernment.Hesuggeststoapplyademandmanagementpolicytocarbontaxintheindustrieshavingbigpricechanges.

ShinmaintainsthattheKoreanpolicyinresponsetoUNFCCCshouldbetoreducethegreenhousegasthroughthedevelopmentofenergyefficienttechnology.Thispolicywillbeeffectivewhenitisimplementedwithmarketorientedstrategiesundercarbontaxsystem.

ChungandRheeexpectthatthecarbontaxwillincreasetheenergypricewhichwillaffectthechangeinproductioncoststructure.Theincreaseinproductioncostwillincreaseinpricesofcommoditiesofrelativelyenergyintensiveusingindustries,whichwillchangethewholeeconomicstructure.Thischangeindomesticpriceswillultimatelydecreasethecountry’scompetitivenessintheinternationalmarket.Thepriceincreaseduetotheimplementationofcarbontaxisfromourcountry’sprice-inelasticenergydemand.Inotherwords,thereisalowsubstitutabilityoffossilfuelinputforanotherkindofinputemittinglessCO2.

Thefarreachingeffectfromtheenergypriceincreaseinducesburdenstotheindustriesusingfossilfuelasrawmaterialsandintermediateinputs.Especiallythesectorssuchasprimarymetalproducts,cement,warehouse,chemicalproductsandpetroleumproductsareshowingadisbenefit,costincreaserelativelytoothersectorsusinglessfossilfuelinput.Thesesectorshavingdisbenefit,however,willalsoaffectnegativelyothersectorsthroughoverallpriceincreasesintheend.

Incaseofadoptionofcarbontaxinthedevelopedcountries,ourcountry’sexporttothosecountrieswillbenegativelyaffected.Thedevelopedcountrieswillsetupastandardlevelofenergyefficiencyintheproductionprocess.Thesestandardsasanon-tariffbarrierwillbeaskedtoothercountrieswhichwanttoexporttothosedevelopedcountries.

Thedevelopedcountries’introductionofitisalsoexpectedtoaccompanythetariffontheproductfromthecountrieswhichdonotintroduceit.Thiswillhamperthepricecompetitivenessofourcommoditiesinthemarketofthosecountries.

Thesectorsorcountriesthatarelessaffectedbycarbontaxcanbebenefited.Forexample,theRandDtodevelopthetechnologyfortheavoidanceofcarbontaxcancreateanexcessivebenefittootherproducersandsectors.Thisbenefitalsotransferstotheproducersinthedevelopingcountrieswhowanttoreducecostbyaccessingtothetechnologylessharmfultotheenvironment.

Aboutthematterofintroductionofcarbontax,Choexplainsnegativeorpositiveaspectsthatmayarise.Thenegativeopinionisofthepossibilityoftransferringthecarbontaxburdenfromproducerstoconsumers.Thishappenswhenthedemandfortheproductispriceinelasticaspriceincreases.Thispriceincreaseimpliesthatapartoftheenvironmentaltaxburdentoproducersistransferredtotheconsumerswhocannotfindasubstituteproduct.Thedemanddecreaseduetothepriceincreasemayleadtoproductiondecreasethatmayyieldwagedecreaseandunemployment.

Thepositiveaspectisthepossibilityofenhancingthecompetitivenessoffirmsorindustriescausedbyinvestinginresearchanddevelopmentprojects.Theproductionprocessinnovationleadingtoincreasingreturntoscalemaydisconnectthenegativetiebetweeneconomicgrowthandenvironment.Theinnovationforcleanproductsandproductionfacilitiesmayaccompanytheenvironmentalprotectionwithfirms’competitivenessenhancement.Asaresult,theenvironmentalregulationsmayleadtoinnovationmorethantheoffsettinglevelofcostincrease.Inthelongrun,theinitialimpactontheenergypriceincreasecanbeaneconomicbenefit.Forthis,Cho（2004）makesanexampleofItaly’sincreasingexportshareofsmallvehiclesequippedwithtechnologydevelopedinresponsetohightaxonfossilfuel.

Thecarbontaxsystemistheoutcomeoffindingameasurepositivelytoresolvetheenvironmentalproblemswithoutbeingcontrolledundertheenvironmentalpolicysystemofthepast.Thissystemisbelievedtobeconvenienttolevy,increasethetaxevenueandreducetheomissionofCO2.Thissystemiseffectiveinabout6Europeancountries,butotherEUcount