바람직한 환경세 도입방안에 관한 연구 - 최적환경세율과 이중배당가설에 대한 논의를 중심으로 -

A Study on environmental tax reform in Korea: review on optimal environmental tax rate, and double dividend hypothesis

This paper reviewed two major issues regarding environmentally motivated tax, ‘double dividend hypothesis’ and ‘optimal environmental taxation in the second best situation’. In this paper, I found that if the utility function reflects certain kind of non-homothetic preference, a revenue neutral environmental tax reform could achieve efficiency gain in overall tax system, as well as environmental quality improvement. Unlike to previous studies, I also found that under the non-homothetic preference, the optimal environmental tax rate in the second best situation typically lies above the tax rate under the first best situation which is same as Pigouvian tax rate. With computational general equilibrium(CGE) simulation analysis, I also clarify the relationship between the double dividend which is associated with a marginal change from a tax system with low reliance on environmentally motivated taxes, and the situation in which the optimal environmental tax rate in second best world is greater than the Pigouvian tax rate, that representing the first best world. These two situations are generated by rather similar combinations of parameters.