Are Fuel Economy Standards Regressive?

Are Fuel Economy Standards Regressive?

Despite widespread agreement that a carbon tax would be more efficient, many countries use fuel economy standards to reduce transportation-related carbon dioxide emissions. We pair a simple model of the automakers’ profit maximization problem with unusually-rich nationally representative data on vehicle registrations to estimate the distributional impact of U.S. fuel economy standards. The key ...

The Impact of Automobile Fuel Economy Standards

FiC Burean of Ecooomics working papers are preliminary materials circulated to stimulate discussion and critical commeot All data cootained in them are in the pnblic domaio. This includes infonnation obtained by the CommiSliioo which has become part of pnblic record. The analyses and conclnsions set forth are those of the anthors 8IId do not necessarily reflect the views of other members of the...

Fuel Economy Standards Versus a Gasoline Tax

Proponents of increasing corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for passenger vehicles see the policy as a relatively low cost and proven way to decrease the United States’ dependence on oil and emissions of carbon dioxide (the predominant greenhouse gas). Opponents argue that CAFE standards are a costly and cumbersome way to reduce gasoline consumption, that they interfere with the ma...

Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards

The Economics of Fuel Economy Standards versus Feebates

Fuel economy standards are the workhorse of U.S. policy to reduce emissions and oil use by the light duty fleet, and are slated to be dramatically tightened over the next decade. This paper elucidates the relationship between fuel economy standards and “feebate” policies that penalize low fuel economy vehicles with a fee and reward high fuel economy vehicles with a rebate. The analytical result...