Search Results
Working Paper
Using vehicle taxes to reduce carbon dioxide emissions rates of new passenger vehicles: evidence from France, Germany, and Sweden
France, Germany, and Sweden have recently linked vehicle taxes to the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions rates of passenger vehicles. France has introduced a system of CO2-based purchase taxes and subsidies, whereas Germany and Sweden impose annual circulation (i.e., registration) taxes that are linear functions of CO2 emissions rates. This paper (a) compares the effects of vehicle taxes on registrations and average emissions rates across countries and (b) estimates the effect of reducing CO2 emissions rates on manufacturers? profits. The taxes have had a significant negative short-run effect on ...
Working Paper
The price of gasoline and the demand for fuel economy: evidence from monthly new vehicles sales data
This paper uses a unique data set of monthly new vehicle sales by detailed model from 1978- 2007, and implements a new identification strategy to estimate the effect of the price of gasoline on consumer demand for fuel economy. We control for unobserved vehicle and consumer characteristics by using within model-year changes in the price of gasoline and vehicle sales. We find a significant demand response, as nearly half of the decline in market share of U.S. manufacturers from 2002-2007 was due to the increase in the price of gasoline. On the other hand, an increase in the gasoline tax would ...
Newsletter
The VW Scandal and Evolving Emissions Regulations
In September 2015, Volkswagen (VW) admitted to having programmed nearly 11 million of its diesel vehicles to cheat on tailpipe emissions tests. To put VW?s emissions rigging into a broader context, the authors review the different approaches that the U.S. and Europe have historically taken in regulating automotive emissions and fuel economy. Moreover, they discuss the scandal?s implications for regulatory changes in both regions.
Working Paper
Corporate average fuel economy standards and the market for new vehicles
This paper presents an overview of the economics literature on the effect of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards on the new vehicle market. Since 1978, CAFE has imposed fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. market. This paper reviews the history of the standards, followed by a discussion of the major upcoming changes in implementation and stringency. It describes strategies that firms can use to meet the standards and reviews the CAFE literature as it applies to the new vehicle market. The paper concludes by highlighting areas for future research in ...
Working Paper
New vehicle characteristics and the cost of the corporate average fuel economy standard
Recent legislation has increased the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAF) standard by 40 percent, which represents the first major increase in the standard since its creation in 1975. Previous analysis of the CAF standard has focused on the short run effects, in which vehicle characteristics are held fixed, or the long run, when firms can adopt new powertrain technology. This paper focuses on the medium run, when firms can choose characteristics such as weight and power, and have a limited ability to adopt engine technology. We first document the historical importance of the medium run and ...
Working Paper
The Effect of Vehicle Fuel Economy Standards on Technology Adoption
Many countries are tightening passenger vehicle fuel economy standards. The literature on passenger vehicle standards has used structural models to estimate their welfare effects. This paper provides the first empirical evidence on the effects of recently tightened fuel economy standards on technology adoption. Specifically, it investigates changes in the rate and direction of technology adoption, that is, the extent to which technology is used to increase fuel economy at the expense of other vehicle attributes. We find that recent U.S. and European standards have both increased the rate of ...