Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study is the first to evaluate the French experience of
adding a carbon tax directly onto existing taxes on fossil fuel consumption by
performing an econometric case study. Furthermore, the introduction of the French
carbon tax resulted in the so called “yellow vests protests”, the protests acted as a
catalyst, and further stressed the need to evaluate environmental taxes, not only in
relation to combating global warming but also regarding the procedures of
providing information to the public. Correctly estimating the effects of the French
tax can then provide the crucial information needed. This thesis finds a significant
effect of carbon taxes on emissions, analysing the implementation of a carbon
component on transport fuel in France. After the policy intervention, carbon dioxide
emissions from cars declined 6.3 per cent every year between 2016-2019, relative
to a synthetic control unit constructed from a grouping of similar EU countries.