摘要：We estimate the impacts of an energy tax – the Climate Change Levy (CCL) – on
the manufacturing sector using panel data from the UK production census. Our
identification strategy builds on the comparison of trends in outcomes between
plants subject to the CCL and plants that were granted an 80% discount on the
levy after joining a so-called Climate Change Agreement (CCA). Since the CCAs
stipulate specific targets for energy usage or carbon emissions, this comparison
yields a lower bound on the impact of the discount. To address a likely
selection endogeneity in CCA participation, we adopt an IV approach that
exploits exogenous variation in pollution discharges that determined eligibility
for CCA participation. We find robust evidence that CCA participation had a
strong positive impact on growth in both energy intensity and energy
expenditures. An analysis of fuel choices at the plant level reveals that this
effect is mainly driven by stronger growth in electricity use and translates
into a positive impact on CO2 emissions. We do not find any statistically
significant impacts of the tax on employment, gross output or total factor
productivity. We conclude that, had the CCL been implemented at full rate for
all businesses, further cuts in energy use of substantial magnitude could have
been achieved without jeopardizing economic performance.
