Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/198988 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 7628
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
The social cost of carbon is the central economic measure for aggregate climate change damages and functions as a metric for optimal carbon prices. Previous literature shows that inequality significantly influences the level of the social cost of carbon, but mostly neglects a major source of inequality - heterogeneity in income below the national level. We characterize the relationship between climate and redistributional policy in an optimal taxation model that explicitly accounts for inequality between and within countries. In particular, we demonstrate that climate and distributional policy cannot be separated when national governments fail to compensate low-income households for climate change damages: Even if only one country does not compensate especially affected households, the social cost of carbon increases globally. Further, we use numerical methods to estimate the scope of these effects. Our results suggest that it is crucial to correct previous estimates of the social cost of carbon for national distributional policies.
Subjects: 
optimal taxation
inequality
climate change
social cost of carbon
JEL: 
D30
D61
D63
H21
H23
Q54
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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