Impacts of Carbon Prices on Indicators of Competitiveness: A Review of Empirical Findings
Open accessAbstract
Concerns around potential losses of competitiveness as a result of unilateral action on carbon pricing are often central for policy makers contemplating the introduction of such instruments. This paper is a review of literature on ex post empirical evaluations of the impacts of carbon prices on indicators of competitiveness as employed in the literature, including employment, output or exports, at different levels of aggregation.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
There appears to be no significant negative effects of the EU ETS on firm-level competitiveness during Phase I and II.
“However, there appears to be no significant negative effects of the EU ETS on firm-level competitiveness during Phase I and II as documented by the empirical ex post literature (Arlinghaus, Citation2015; Martin et al., Citation2016; Venmans, Citation2012).”
From Why does emissions trading under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) not affect firms' competitiveness? Empirical findings from the literature (2019) · cites this paper as Arlinghaus, 2015
Cites
Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship
Porter, M. E., & Linde, C. V. D. (1995) · Journal of Economic Perspectives · doi:10.1257/jep.9.4.97 · Cited by 13,365 · see citing works
Jaffe, A. B., & Peterson, S. R. (1995) · Journal of Economic Literature · Cited by 1,874 · see citing works
Using Randomization in Development Economics Research: A Toolkit
Duflo, E., Glennerster, R., & Kremer, M. R. (2006) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/t0333 · Cited by 1,208 · see citing works
UNMASKING THE POLLUTION HAVEN EFFECT*
Levinson, A., & Taylor, M. S. (2008) · International Economic Review · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2354.2008.00478.x · Cited by 1,112 · see citing works
The Impacts of Environmental Regulations on Competitiveness
Dechezleprêtre, A., & Sato, M. (2017) · Review of Environmental Economics and Policy · doi:10.1093/reep/rex013 · Cited by 1,029 · see citing works
CO <sub>2</sub> cost pass-through and windfall profits in the power sector
Sijm, J., Neuhoff, K., & Chen, Y. (2006) · Climate Policy · doi:10.1080/14693062.2006.9685588 · Cited by 576 · see citing works
Pass-Through of Emissions Costs in Electricity Markets
Fabra, N., & Reguant, M. (2014) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.104.9.2872 · Cited by 491 · see citing works
Pricing Carbon: The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme
Ellerman, A. D., Convery, F. J., de Perthuis, C., Alberola, É., Büchner, B., Delbosc, A., Hight, C., Keppler, J. H., & Matthes, F. C. (2010) · Cited by 481 · see citing works
OECD (2011) · OECD green growth studies · doi:10.1787/9789264111318-en · Cited by 467 · see citing works
Environmental tax reform: does it work? A survey of the empirical evidence
Bosquet, B. (2000) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/s0921-8009(00)00173-7 · Cited by 385 · see citing works
European Emission Trading Scheme and competitiveness: A case study on the iron and steel industry
Demailly, D., & Quirion, P. (2007) · Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2007.01.020 · Cited by 370 · see citing works
EU Emission Allowances and the Stock Market: Evidence from the Electricity Industry
Oberndorfer, U. (2008) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.07.026 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
Estimating the effect of a gasoline tax on carbon emissions
Davis, L. W., & Kilian, L. (2011) · Journal of Applied Econometrics · doi:10.1002/jae.1156 · Cited by 262 · see citing works
Salience of carbon taxes in the gasoline market
Rivers, N., & Schaufele, B. (2015) · Journal of Environmental Economics and Management · doi:10.1016/j.jeem.2015.07.002 · Cited by 244 · see citing works
Firm competitiveness and the European Union emissions trading scheme
Chan, H. R., Li, S., & Zhang, F. (2013) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.09.032 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
The Competitiveness Impacts of Climate Change Mitigation Policies
Aldy, J. E., & Pizer, W. A. (2015) · Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists · doi:10.1086/683305 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion
Blander, R. R. G. D. (2011) · European Review of Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1093/erae/jbr016 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
Anger, N., & Oberndorfer, U. (2007) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2007.09.007 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Zachmann, G., & von Hirschhausen, C. (2008) · Economics Letters · doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2007.09.024 · Cited by 189 · see citing works
Capital market response to emission rights returns: Evidence from the European power sector☆
Veith, S., Werner, J. R., & Zimmermann, J. (2009) · Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2009.01.004 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
(2011) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Efficiency, productivity and environmental policy: A case study of power generation in the EU
Jaraitė, J., & Maria, C. D. (2011) · Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2011.11.017 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
The Impact Of Carbon Trading On Industry: Evidence From German Manufacturing Firms
Wagner, U. J., Rehdanz, K., & Petrick, S. (2014) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2389800 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
The Competitiveness Impacts of Climate Change Mitigation Policies
Aldy, J. E., & Pizer, W. A. (2011) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w17705 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
The political economy of an energy tax: The United Kingdom's Climate Change Levy
Pearce, D. (2005) · Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2005.10.001 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Asymmetric industrial energy prices and international trade
Sato, M., & Dechezleprêtre, A. (2015) · Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2015.08.020 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Environmentally Related Taxes in OECD Countries
OECD (2001) · OECD eBooks · doi:10.1787/9789264193659-en · Cited by 93 · see citing works
The impact of the European Union emission trading scheme on the electricity-generation sector
Kirat, D., & Ibrahim Ahamada, Y. (2011) · Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2011.01.012 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
The Political Economy of British Columbia's Carbon Tax
Harrison, K. (2013) · OECD environment working papers · doi:10.1787/5k3z04gkkhkg-en · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Unmasking the Pollution Haven Effect
Levinson, A. M., & Taylor, M. S. (2004) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w10629 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Egenhofer, C., Alessi, M., Georgiev, A., & Fujiwara, N. (2011) · SSRN Electronic Journal · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Cost Pass-Through of the EU Emissions Allowances: Examining the European Petroleum Markets
Alexeeva-Talebi, V. (2011) · Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2011.07.029 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Empirical Evidence on the Effects of Environmental Policy Stringency on Productivity Growth
Albrizio, S., Kozluk, T. J., & Zipperer, V. (2014) · OECD Economics Department working papers · doi:10.1787/5jxrjnb36b40-en · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Pass-through of Emissions Costs in Electricity Markets
Fabra, N., & Reguant, M. (2013) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w19613 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
The Effect of Carbon Taxes on Agricultural Trade
Rivers, N. J., & Schaufele, B. (2014) · Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d agroeconomie · doi:10.1111/cjag.12048 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Globalisation, transport and the environment
Braathens, N.-A. (2010) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.47-6975 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Firm Competitiveness and the European Union Emissions Trading SchemePreprint
Chan, H. R., Li, S., & Zhang, F. (2012) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2167298 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
The Impact of the EU ETS on Regulated Firms: What is the Evidence after Nine Years?Preprint
Martin, R., Muûls, M., & Wagner, U. J. (2013) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2344376 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
The EU ETS and firm profits: an ex-post analysis for Swedish energy firmsPreprint
Yu, H. (2013) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 28 · see citing works
A Top-down and Bottom-up look at Emissions Abatement in Germany in response to the EU ETS
Feilhauer, S., & Ellerman, A. D. (2008) · DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Border Carbon Adjustment and International Trade
Condon, M., & Ignaciuk, A. (2013) · OECD trade and environment working papers · doi:10.1787/5k3xn25b386c-en · Cited by 23 · see citing works
(2010) · OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Understanding the Competitiveness Implications of Future Phases of EU ETS on the Industrial Sectors
Oberndorfer, U., Alexeeva-Talebi, V., & Löschel, A. (2010) · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1649445 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Carbon Tax Salience and Gasoline DemandPreprint
Rivers, N. J., & Schaufele, B. (2012) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · doi:10.20381/ruor-25547 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Le coût du bonus/malus écologique
D’Haultfœuille, X., Durrmeyer, I., & Février, P. (2011) · Revue économique · doi:10.3917/reco.623.0491 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Obernhofer, U., Rennings, K., & Sahin, B. (2006) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 16 · see citing works
The effect of regulatory scrutiny: Asymmetric cost pass-through in power wholesale and its end
Mokinski, F., & Wölfing, N. M. (2013) · Journal of Regulatory Economics · doi:10.1007/s11149-013-9233-8 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Assessment of cumulative cost impact for the steel industry
Renda, A., Pelkmans, J., Egenhofer, C., & Marcu, A. (2013) · Cadmus - EUI Research Repository (European University Institute) · Cited by 9 · see citing works
The impact of phase II of the EU ETS on the electricity-generation sectorPreprint
Ibrahim Ahamada, Y., & Kirat, D. (2012) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Climate Policy and Corporate BehaviourPreprint
Commins, N., Lyons, S., Schiffbauer, M., & Tol, R. S. J. (2009) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 3 · see citing works
European Emission Trading Scheme and competitiveness: A case study on the iron and steel industryPreprint
Demailly, D., & Quirion, P. (2018) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/w9cq5 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
The United Kingdom Climate Change Levy
OECD (2005) · OECD Papers · doi:10.1787/oecd_papers-v5-art19-en · Cited by 2 · see citing works
The Effect of Regulatory Scrutiny Asymmetric Cost Pass-Through in Power Wholesale and Its EndPreprint
Mokinski, F., & Wölfing, N. M. (2013) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2314356 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
6 of the 59 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Investing in Climate, Investing in Growth
OECD (2017) · OECD eBooks · doi:10.1787/9789264273528-en · Cited by 394 · see citing works
Joltreau, E., & Sommerfeld, K. (2019) · Climate Policy · doi:10.1080/14693062.2018.1502145 · Cited by 183 · see citing works
“More details on the competitiveness and other firm-level effects of environmental policies can also be found in Venmans (2012), Arlinghaus (2015) and Martin et al. (2016).”
BackgroundInfluentialThe use of revenues from carbon pricing
Marten, M., & Dender, K. V. (2019) · OECD taxation working papers · doi:10.1787/3cb265e4-en · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Delivering on sustainable infrastructure for better development and better climate
Bhattacharya, A., Meltzer, J. P., Oppenheim, J., Qureshi, Z. M., & Stern, N. H. (2016) · London School of Economics and Political Science Research Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Carbon pricing design: Effectiveness, efficiency and feasibility
Flues, F. S., & Dender, K. V. (2020) · OECD taxation working papers · doi:10.1787/91ad6a1e-en · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Fossil fuel subsidy reforms and their impacts on firms
Rentschler, J. E. M., Kornejew, M., & Bazilian, M. (2017) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2017.06.036 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Capturing a soil carbon economy
Keenor, S. G., Rodrigues, A. F., Mao, L., Latawiec, A. E., Harwood, A. R., & Reid, B. J. (2021) · Royal Society Open Science · doi:10.1098/rsos.202305 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
EFFECTS OF CARBON PRICING AND OTHER CLIMATE POLICIES ON CO 2 EMISSIONS
Kohlscheen, E., Moessner, R., & Takáts, E. (2025) · National Institute Economic Review · doi:10.1017/nie.2025.10066 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Rammer, C., Gottschalk, S., Peneder, M., Wörter, M., Stucki, T., & Arvanitis, S. (2017) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2017.06.062 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Energy price variation and competitiveness: Firm level evidence from Indonesia
Rentschler, J. E. M., & Kornejew, M. (2017) · Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2017.08.015 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Stepanov, I., & Makarov, I. A. (2021) · Post-Communist Economies · doi:10.1080/14631377.2021.1943918 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
OECD (2015) · OECD eBooks · doi:10.1787/9789264238787-en · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Competitiveness Impacts of the German Electricity Tax
Flues, F. S., & Lutz, B. J. (2015) · OECD environment working papers · doi:10.1787/5js0752mkzmv-en · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Report of the High-Level Commission on Carbon Pricing and Competitiveness
Coalition, C. P. L. (2019) · World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks · doi:10.1596/32419 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Gianoli, A., & Bravo, F. (2020) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su12187667 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Carbon Leakage: Theory, Evidence and Policy Design
Bank, W. (2015) · World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks · doi:10.1596/k8516 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Crossroads in Alberta: Climate Capitalism or Ecological Democracy
Adkin, L. E. (2017) · Socialist studies · doi:10.18740/s4bp7h · Cited by 18 · see citing works
OECD (2017) · Tax Policy Reforms ... · doi:10.1787/9789264279919-en · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Santos, L. B. M., Lucena, A. F. P., & Garaffa, R. (2019) · Climate Policy · doi:10.1080/14693062.2019.1627180 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Environmental transaction costs and speed of adjustment to target debt in European carbon emitters
Fernández, M. T. T., Castro, P., Fernández-Cuesta, C., & Castaño, F. J. (2020) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120483 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Carbon price: theory and practice of greenhouse gas emissions regulation
Stepanov, I., & Galimova, K. (2021) · Lomonosov Economics Journal · doi:10.38050/01300105202145 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Meeting the Challenge of Sustainable Infrastructure: The Role of Public Policy
Qureshi, Z. M. (2016) · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Carvajal, C. R., Muñiz, A. S. G., & Moreno, B. (2019) · Energies · doi:10.3390/en12234486 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: The Netherlands 2015
OECD (2015) · OECD Environmental Performance Reviews · doi:10.1787/9789264240056-en · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Switching it up: The effect of energy price reforms in Oman
Amann, J., Cantore, N., Cali, M. A., Todorov, V., & Cheng, C. F. C. (2021) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105252 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Energy Prices and their Impact on the Competitiveness of the EU Steel Industry
Baláž, P., & Bayer, J. (2019) · Prague Economic Papers · doi:10.18267/j.pep.715 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
An sssessment of the social costs and benefits of vehicle tax reform in Ireland
Ryan, L., Petrov, I., Kelly, A., Guo, Y., & Monaca, S. L. (2019) · OECD environment working papers · doi:10.1787/952e7bff-en · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Hà, L. T. (2024) · Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics · doi:10.1108/apjml-10-2023-1047 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Gomółka, K., & Kasprzak, P. (2024) · Economics and Environment · doi:10.34659/eis.2024.90.3.844 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Business Insights on Emerging Markets 2018
OECD (2018) · Business Insights on Emerging Markets · doi:10.1787/96b085d7-en · Cited by 1 · see citing works
EU ETS- broken beyond repair ? An analysis based on Faster principlesPreprint
Timbeau, X., & Wiejski, P. (2017) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Laukkanen, M., Ollikka, K., & Tamminen, S. (2019) · Doria (University of Helsinki) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Lessons learnt and good practice from APEC-economy fossil-fuel subsidy peer reviews
OECD (2022) · OECD environment policy papers · doi:10.1787/63ba96a5-en · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Decarbonization and Energy Policy Instruments in the EU: Does Explicit Carbon Pricing Prevail?Preprint
Stepanov, I., & Albrecht, J. (2022) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1882070/v1 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Resource-based growth and eco-innovation in mining countries: The case of Australia and Chile
Perincek, R. (2019) · UCL Discovery (University College London)
The Effects of Restricting Coal ConsumptionPreprint
Barbe, A. (2016) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics
OECD (2009) · OECD economic surveys. Italy · doi:10.1787/19990340
Studi economici dell'OCSE: Italia
OECD (2021) · Studi economici dell'OCSE. Italia · doi:10.1787/20159dc9-it
グリーン・リカバリーのためのグリーン予算編成と租税政策ツール
OECD (2020) · Singata korona wairusu (Covid-19) he no OECD seisaku tai'ō · doi:10.1787/cce7db0e-ja
OECD (2023) · OECD series on carbon pricing and energy taxation · doi:10.1787/292d6785-en
European Carbon Pricing in Boom and Bust TimesPreprint
Maxand, S. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4724014
Holding of domestic sovereign debt remains elevated
OECD (2024) · OECD economic surveys. Italy · doi:10.1787/327c375b-en
Projects worth 40% of planned additional renewable capacity await authorisation
OECD (2024) · OECD economic surveys. Italy · doi:10.1787/40084fa6-en
OECD (2024) · Studi economici dell'OCSE. Italia · doi:10.1787/aa382bf4-it
OECD (2024) · Studi economici dell'OCSE. Italia · doi:10.1787/b02c7492-it
Lithuania’s current and planned policy mix
OECD (2023) · OECD eBooks · doi:10.1787/3843f0b6-en
Zero-emission scenario for Dutch industry
OECD (2021) · OECD eBooks · doi:10.1787/fa067b82-en
Environmental Tax Policy Review of Romania
OECD (2026) · OECD eBooks · doi:10.1787/42ed5f84-en
Rizaldianto, A. R., Ramadan, B. S., Utami, H. P., Devinna, E., & Kurniawan, A. (2026) · ENERGY ENVIRONMENT & STORAGE · doi:10.52924/exbw6429
- Authors
- Arlinghaus, J.
- Affiliations
- Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Johanna Arlinghaus
- Venue
- OECD Environment Working Papers
- Published
- 2015-03-27
- ISSN
- 1997-0900 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1748453623
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 4
- Type
- report
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- OECD environment working papers (publishedVersion)
- OPUS 4 (Zuse Institute Berlin) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Climate Change Policy and Economics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Global Trade and Competitiveness
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Energy, Environment, Economic Growth
- Keywords
- carbon pricing, competitiveness, unilateral climate policy, employment, output, exports, carbon leakage, ex-post evaluation, climate policy impacts
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review