Frank W. Woods Lunchtime Lecture - Gasoline Taxes and Subsidies over Time

Description

Join us for the annual Frank W. Woods Lunchtime Seminar, where Professor Michael L. Ross (UCLA) will present his latest research.

Taxes and subsidies for fossil fuels have large economic and environmental consequences, yet surprisingly little is known about them – including why some countries subsidize fossil fuels while others tax them, and how and why these policies change over time. To address these and other questions, we use an original data set on monthly gasoline taxes and subsidies for 157 countries. We find that from 2003 to 2014, global taxes on gasoline fell by about 13 percent; that 96.5 percent of all subsidies originate in just 22 countries, all of them oil and gas exporters; and that changes in taxes and subsidies are weakly associated with proximity to elections, but neither this nor other factors have much explanatory power. These findings underscore how little progress has been made on taxing fossil fuels, and how difficult it is to predict reforms.

Lunch will be provided.

Michael L. Ross is a Professor of Political Science at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA. He has published widely on energy politics, the political and economic problems of resource-rich countries, civil war, democracy, and gender rights. He has served on advisory boards for the US government, the World Bank, and his research has been featured in publications such as The Washington Post, Newsweek, Financial Times, etc.