摘要：This paper first describes the new literature in environmental economics on the so-called "double dividend" and then explores its implications for a broad range of economicissues. The basic finding in this literature is that in a second-best, general equilibrium setting,environmental measures raise costs and prices and thereby reduce the real wage. This rise inthe cost of living reduces slightly the quantity of labor supplied in an already highly distortedlabor market, giving rise to losses in social welfare that can be large relative to the basicwelfare gains from improved environmental policy. These losses may be offset to someextent by using revenues (if any) from the environmental programs to reduce existing taxes onlabor.This same line of analysis applies to many programs and institutions in the economythat raise the cost of living: tariffs and quotas on imports, agricultural price-support programs,monopoly pricing, programs of occupational licensure that limit entry, and many others. Thepaper thus suggests that traditional, partial equilibrium benefit-cost analysis has, in manyinstances, unwittingly omitted a potentially quite significant class of social costs from thecalculations.
关键词：regulatory policies; welfare effects; pre-existing taxes; general equilibrium
