Driving innovation? Carbon tax effects in the Swedish transport sector

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Moore, Nils aus dem; Brehm, Johannes; Gruhl, Henri
• 署名单位: Hertie School; Leibniz Association; RWI - Leibniz Institut fur Wirtschaftsforschung; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2025.105444
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: Carbon tax; Low-carbon innovation; technological change; Synthetic control; SALIENCE

摘要

Does a carbon tax stimulate low-carbon innovation in the transport sector? We exploit an environmental tax reform in Sweden that introduced both a carbon and a value-added tax on transport fuels. Synthetic control estimates consistently find that the tax reform caused large and significant increases in low-carbon patents. We provide suggestive evidence that the carbon tax drives the effect while fuel price changes with comparable magnitude did not significantly affect low-carbon innovation. Our findings suggest that salient carbon prices may foster low-carbon innovation more effectively than fuel price elasticity estimates suggest.