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THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL TAXES An empirical study of water and solid waste levies in Flanders *
Author(s) -
COECK C.,
S'JEGERS R.,
VERBEKE A.,
WINKELMANS W.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
annals of public and cooperative economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.526
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-8292
pISSN - 1370-4788
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8292.1995.tb01002.x
Subject(s) - flemish , municipal solid waste , environmental tax , public economics , environmental policy , business , empirical research , environmental pollution , economics , pollution , natural resource economics , environmental economics , environmental protection , environmental science , waste management , engineering , philosophy , archaeology , epistemology , biology , tax reform , history , ecology
**: Environmental problems are considered by the majority of economic agents as important factors in making public policy. As a result, economic and market‐integrated instruments are increasingly being used as alternatives to traditional environmental policy instruments. This article aims to determine the actual effect of environmental taxes on pollution levels. In particular, a case study of Flemish environmental taxes on water and solid waste pollution is reported. A quantitative model for testing the actual effectiveness of environmental taxes is developed, based on similar studies that analysed Dutch environmental policy. The conclusions of this analysis are extended with a qualitative analysis of information provided by in‐depth interviews. Data‐driven empirical research of the Flemish situation does not confirm the expected direct relationship between an increase in taxation and a decrease in pollution. In general, industrial firms do not consider the present taxation system a legitimate one for changing their polluting activities. As a result, the greening’of management is limited and environmental taxes are considered by the majority of firms as a mere business taxation rather than a system to create a switch from polluting to non‐polluting behaviour .