Carbon pricing and power sector decarbonization: Evidence from the UK
研究了英国2013年实施的碳税对电力行业碳排放的影响，发现该税通过减少现有电厂排放、关闭高排放电厂以及加速受空气质量法规影响的电厂关闭，使碳排放年均下降20%至26%。
Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation is crucial to tackle climate change. Empirically, however, little is known about the effectiveness of existing economic instruments in the power sector. This paper examines the impact of the UK Carbon Price Support (CPS), a carbon tax implemented in the UK power sector in 2013. Relative to a synthetic control unit built from other European countries, I find that emissions from the UK power sector declined by 20 to 26 percent per year on average between 2013 and 2017. The tax operated via three mechanisms: a decrease in emissions at the intensive margin; the closure of some high-emission plants at the extensive margin; and a higher probability of closure for plants already at risk due to European air quality regulations.