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Assessing the Economic Impacts of Environmental Policies

Evidence from a Decade of OECD Research

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Over the past decades, governments have gradually adopted more rigorous environmental policies to tackle challenges associated with pressing environmental issues, such as climate change. The ambition of these policies is, however, often tempered by their perceived negative effects on the economy. The empirical evidence in this volume – covering a decade of OECD analysis – shows that environmental policies have had relatively small effects on economic outcomes such as employment, investment, trade and productivity. At the same time, they have been effective at reducing emissions from industry. The policies can however generate winners and losers across firms, industries and regions: while the least productive firms from high-polluting sectors are adversely affected, more productive firms and low-pollution sectors benefit. Environmental policies can be designed and combined with other policies to compensate workers and industries that may lose and to emphasise their positive impacts.

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The economic impacts of environmental policies: Key findings and policy implications

This chapter summarises the conclusions from the report and presents the main policy implications of these findings. It shows that environmental policies have become more stringent in OECD countries over the past decades, but at a different pace across countries. The empirical evidence in this volume shows that climate policies have been effective at reducing emissions from industry. At the same time, the policies had relatively small effects on economic outcomes such as employment, investment and productivity. The evidence suggests that well-designed environmental policies do not have large negative effects on the economy. The policies can however generate winners and losers. Policy packaging can help compensate workers and industries that may lose and strengthen public support for more ambitious environmental policies.

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