【2024 年1月11日（周四）经济系学术讲座】

题    目：Optimal Carbon Taxes and Misallocation across Heterogeneous Firms

嘉   宾： Seho Kim PhD Candidate 马里兰大学

主持人：钱军辉 教授 上海交通大学安泰经济与管理学院

时   间：2024 年1月11日（周四）8:30-10:00

地   点：线上

内容简介：

This paper studies the optimal carbon tax in an economy with heterogeneous emission intensity and factor misallocation across firms. My starting point is a simple theoretical insight: when firms with lower emission intensity exhibit higher marginal products of production factors, then a carbon tax that reallocates resources to cleaner firms also enhances allocative efficiency. Using firm-level data, I show that firms with lower emissions relative to their output indeed have higher marginal products of capital and labor. Based on the empirical evidence, I develop a quantitative firm dynamics model that incorporates carbon emissions, emission externalities, adjustment costs, and financial frictions. In a calibrated version of this model, the optimal carbon tax is three times higher than in a counterfactual economy in which there is no relation between emission intensity and marginal products. Furthermore, I find that a policy directly targeting adjustment costs and financial frictions can simultaneously reduce carbon emissions and boost output, ultimately surpassing a carbon tax in increasing overall welfare.

演讲人简介：

Seho Kim is a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the University of Maryland, College Park, specializing in macroeconomics, macro-finance, climate change, and firm dynamics. His research primarily focuses on understanding the impact of firm-level frictions and distortions on the formulation of optimal policies. Specifically, his studies have centered on areas such as carbon management policies, macroprudential policy, corporate bankruptcy, and resource misallocation. Previously, he served as a dissertation fellow at the Federal Reserve Board, undertook a Ph.D. internship with the Asia and Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund, and worked as a consultant at the World Bank.