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Braathen, Nils Axel --- "The political economy of environmental taxation" [2012] ELECD 1239; in Milne, E. Janet; Andersen, S. Mikael (eds), "Handbook of Research on Environmental Taxation" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012) 230

Book Title: Handbook of Research on Environmental Taxation

Editor(s): Milne, E. Janet; Andersen, S. Mikael

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848449978

Section: Chapter 13

Section Title: The political economy of environmental taxation

Author(s): Braathen, Nils Axel

Number of pages: 16

Abstract/Description:

This chapter will—from an economist’s angle—address the political economy of environmental taxation. The first task is to define the term ‘political economy.’ A couple of hundred years ago, the term was used to describe anything covered by the term ‘economics’ today, but over roughly the last century, the term has more specifically referred to economic analyses of political decision processes. Stavins (2004b, 1) stated, ‘In the environmental realm, questions of political economy emerge along three fundamental dimensions, which are closely interrelated but conceptually distinct: (1) the degree of government activity; (2) the form of government activity; and (3) the level of government that has responsibility.’ Oates and Portney (2003, 327) gave the following definition: ‘The term “political economy” has come to take on a variety of shades of meaning. It is now, in fact, a rather elusive term that typically refers to the study of the collective or political processes through which public economic decisions are made.’