A Price-Based Primer on Carbon Taxation
面向学生、政策制定者和从业者，解释碳税如何通过将碳成本纳入市场价格来纠正市场失灵，激励清洁生产和消费，并讨论其相比补贴等政策的优势与实施挑战。
SYNOPSIS Addressing the risks climate change poses may involve various policy responses. This article explains how carbon taxation could serve as an effective market-based mechanism for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. By incorporating all costs of carbon into market prices, a carbon tax corrects a market failure, incentivizing cleaner production and consumption choices. Compared to alternative policies like subsidies, carbon taxes avoid market distortions and allow greater financial flexibility, as carbon taxes generate revenue that can be used elsewhere. Although implementation challenges exist, experience suggests that a well-designed carbon tax can reduce emissions, offering a pragmatic tool for addressing climate change. These reductions have costs, of course, and it is a question of public policy whether the costs of a carbon tax are worth its benefits. This article is intended as a primer for students, policymakers, and practitioners, and anyone less familiar with carbon taxation, on the price-based case for carbon taxation. JEL Classifications: H23; H20; Q58; Q54.