The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Taxing Waste

Tommaso Colussi, Matteo Romagnoli and Elena Villar

No 9946, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: This paper investigates the economic and environmental effects of pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) waste programs. Using a newly constructed longitudinal dataset of Italian municipalities and a staked-by-event design, we obtain three main findings: (i) PAYT programs significantly reduce total waste production; (ii) they further decrease waste management costs and leave municipal finances unaffected; (iii) they generate positive spillover effects on pro-environmental behaviors not directly targeted by the program. Survey evidence suggests that PAYT increases environmental awareness and concerns of the population in treated municipalities.

Keywords: waste management; taxation; difference-in-differences; variation in treatment timing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 H23 Q53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env and nep-pub
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9946

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