Calculation of a Population Externality

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bohn, Henning; Stuart, Charles
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Santa Barbara
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20130012
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 61-87
• 关键词: Social discount rate; fertility choice; child-bearing; GROWTH; EFFICIENCY; models

摘要

It is known that when people generate externalities, a birth also generates an externality and efficiency requires a Pigou tax/subsidy on having children. The size of the externality from a birth is important for studying policy. We calculate the size of this population externality in a specific case: we consider a maintained hypothesis that greenhouse gas emissions are a serious problem and assume government reacts by optimally restricting emissions. Calculated population externalities are large under many assumptions.