Tax Policy on Air Pollution: New Evidence from an Impact Assessment

Governments employ tax measures to improve environmental conditions and reduce atmospheric emissions. This paper aims to analyze the impact of specific types of environmental taxes on air pollutant emissions. The study utilizes OECD panel data on the volumes of four tax types and seven categories of pollutants from nine countries (Austria, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and Kazakhstan) from 2010 to 2022. The models, built using multiple linear regression, revealed a strong and statistically significant positive correlation between all types of pollutants, the volumes of resource taxes paid, and a negative correlation with transport and pollution taxes. The similarity of results across each model is explained by the high degree of correlation between the different types of pollutants. A potential factor of endogeneity in the models prevents a definitive conclusion about causality, but it contributes to econometric research in this area. A limitation of this study is the availability of data on the specific tax types and pollutant emissions. The research extends the ongoing discussion on the role of tax measures in reducing air pollution by providing new empirical evidence.