Optimal environmental tax swaps and double dividend hypothesis

Abstract

Taking environmental tax rate as given, is there an optimal allocation of tax revenues to benefit economic variables? This paper analyzes this issue in an overlapping-generations model with the pollution-related health damage. It finds the optimal allocations towards pollution abatement and labor income to maximize the steady-state lifetime welfare and per-worker output, respectively. Moreover, a greater shift towards labor income might enhance steady-state welfare while reducing per-worker output.