The Design and Implementation of U.S. Climate Policy: An Introduction

18 Pages Posted: 14 Oct 2011 Last revised: 26 Apr 2023

See all articles by Don Fullerton

Don Fullerton

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Department of Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Catherine Wolfram

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: October 2011

Abstract

While economic models have already proven useful to analyze big picture questions about climate policy such as the choice between a carbon tax or cap-and-trade permit system, the 19 chapters in this book show how economic models also are useful to address the many remaining smaller questions that arise as policy is implemented. For example, chapters consider: the tradeoffs policymakers confront in deciding whether to implement the policy upstream on energy producers or downstream on energy users; how to monitor and enforce climate policy; how Federal actions might interact with climate policies at other levels of government or with other non-climate policies; the distributional effects of different policy variations; policies that might impact particular sectors, including residential energy use, agriculture and transportation; and specific questions regarding offsets, trade, innovation, and adaptation.

Suggested Citation

Fullerton, Don and Wolfram, Catherine, The Design and Implementation of U.S. Climate Policy: An Introduction (October 2011). NBER Working Paper No. w17499, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1943997

Don Fullerton (Contact Author)

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Department of Finance ( email )

1206 South Sixth Street
Champaign, IL 61820
United States
(217) 244-3621 (Phone)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Catherine Wolfram

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management ( email )

100 Main Street
E62-416
Cambridge, MA 02142
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
48
Abstract Views
552
PlumX Metrics