The market power of firms in intermediate good markets is found to generate a substantial welfare cost. Markup pricing of intermediate good firms contributes to increase the wedge between the marginal product of labor and the wage rate received by workers, as intermediate good firms add...

In this paper we analyze how knowledge spillovers influence the optimal timing of R&D policy. We find that the optimal R&D subsidy profile may be falling, increasing or constant. The time profile of the subsidy rates is crucially dependent on the elasticity of scale in R&D production, i.e. the...

This study shows that the second-best optimal difference between tax rates on goods that generate greenhouse gas emissions and non-polluting goods is equal to the quota price plus a Ramsey tax on the quota price when emission quotas are traded between governments and the price elasticity of...

Welfare analyses of energy taxes typically show that systems with uniform rates perform better than differentiated systems, especially if revenue can be recycled by cutting taxes that are more distortionary. However, in practical policy, efficiency gains must be traded off against industrial...

The European competition rules restrict governments' opportunity to differentiate terms of energy accessibility among firms and industries. This easily runs counter with regional and industrial goals of national energy policies. Norway levies a tax on use of electricity, but exempts main...

Welfare analyses of energy taxes typically show that systems with uniform rates perform better than differentiated systems. However, most western countries include some exemptions for their energy-intensive export industries and thereby avoid this potential welfare gain. Böhringer and...

This study investigates whether excess effort to climb a career ladder justifies policy interventions. The answer depends on whether the government is able to levy a higher tax burden on career workers than on non-career workers. Both a tax on top income aimed at lowering the rewards of...

This study tests whether the strong double dividend hypothesis holds within a setting where a uniform tax on green house gas emissions is raised above the international quota price within the Norwegian economy. The hypothesis does not hold within a framework where detailed technology choices...

This study finds that the welfare gain, excluding environmental effects, generated by increasing the Norwegian tax rate on purchase of electric cars from 8 to 37 percent amounts to approximately 5500- 6500 NOK (or 680-820 euro) per ton increase in GHG emissions in the long run. Substantial tax...

This study investigates whether biofuel policies or favourable taxation of electric cars should be employed to satisfy a green house gas emission target connected to private transport within the Norwegian economy. The study shows that implementation of biofuel generates a welfare gain in the...