The Effect of Environmental Tax - Spending Mix on Province Air Quality

Riatu Mariatul Qibthiyyah, Fauziah Zen

Abstract


The provincial government in Indonesia has been mandated to collect environmental-related taxes in recurrent vehicle taxes, vehicle transfer taxes, and gasoline taxes. These vehicle-related taxes have been the dominant type for the provincial government. Yet, the environment-related spending has been relatively low, within 1-3% of total expenditures. This study examines to what extent such environmental tax–spending mix affects the environmental outcomes measured by the air quality index. The novelty of this study comes in using detailed environmental-related tax revenues at the sub-national level and providing a context of the large developing country in a decentralized economy – Indonesia – as a case study. Our study finds the link between environmental tax in the case of the vehicle recurrent tax and gasoline tax in improving air quality and environmental quality index, respectively. But on the spending side, there is no evidence that provincial environmental spending may improve the air or environmental quality index. Nonetheless, we found a correlation between the vehicle transfer tax revenues and the share of province environmental spending, implying that environmental tax revenues, to some extent, correspond to the related provincial expenditures on environmental protection. This study signals the need also to expand environmental spending to complement existing environmental tax policy at the provincial level.

JEL Classification: H71, H76, Q53

How to Cite:

Qibthiyyah, R. M., & Zen, F. (2023). The Effect of Environmental Tax Spending Mix on Province Air Quality Index. Signifikan: Jurnal Ilmu Ekonomi, 12(2), 221-230. https://doi.org/10.15408/sjie.v12i2.32395.


Keywords


environmental taxes; vehicle-related taxes; sub-national level; air quality; environmental spending

References


ADB, 2016. River Basin Management Planning in Indonesia: Policy and Practice. Asian Development Bank.

Aydin, C. & Esen, Ö. (2018). Reducing CO2 emissions in the EU member states: Do environmental taxes work? Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 61:13, 2396-2420.

Bosquet, B., (2020), Environmental tax reform: does it work? A survey of the empirical evidence, Ecological Economics, 34, 19-32.

Cadman, T., Sarker, T., Muttaqin, Z., Nurfatriani, F., Salminah, M., & Maraseni, T. (2019). The role of fiscal instruments in encouraging the private sector and smallholders to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation: Evidence from Indonesia, Forest Policy and Economics, Volume 108.

Central Bureau of Statistic (2021). Environmental Quality Indexes. Statistic on Environmental Quality Index.

Dargay, J., and D Gatley, (1999). Income's effect on car and vehicle ownership, worldwide: 1960–2015, Transportation Research Part A ,3, 101-138.

Desdiani, N.A, Afifi, F. A. R., Cesarina, A., Sabrina, S., Husna, M., Violeta, R. M., Adinegoro, A., Halimatussadiah, A. (2021). Climate and Environmental Financing at Regional Level: Amplifying and Seizing the Opportunities. LPEM FEB UI Working Paper, 067.

Fairbrother, M. (2019). When Will People Pay to Pollute? Environmental Taxes, Political Trust and Experimental Evidence from Britain. British Journal of Political Science, 49(2), 661-682.

Fullerton, D. & Muehlegger, E. (2019). Who Bears the Economic Burdens of Environmental Regulations? Review of Environmental Economics and Policy,13:1, 62-82.

Kaufmann, R.K. (2019). Pass-through of motor gasoline taxes: Efficiency and efficacy of environmental taxes. Energy Policy, Volume 125, Pages 207-215.

Kulin, J. & Sevä, I.J. (2019). The Role of Government in Protecting the Environment: Quality of Government and the Translation of Normative Views about Government Responsibility into Spending Preferences, International Journal of Sociology, 49:2, 110-129.

Lopez, R., Galinato, G. I., & Islam, A. (2011). Fiscal spending and the environment: Theory and empirics. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 62:2, 180-198.

Mutiara, Z.Z., Krishnadianty, D., Setiawan, B., & Haryanto, J.T. (2021). Climate Budget Tagging: Amplifying Sub-National Government’s Role in Climate Planning and Financing in Indonesia. In: Djalante, R., Jupesta, J., Aldrian, E. (eds) Climate Change Research, Policy and Actions in Indonesia. Springer Climate. Springer, Cham.

Ministry of Finance (2021). Provinces Financial Statements by Functions 2015-2020. Directorate General of Fiscal Relations.

Qibthiyyah, R. (2019). An Inquiry of Indonesia Central and Sub-national Government Cooperation on National Expenditure Program. LPEM FEB Working Paper, 035.

Resosudarmo, B., P., & L. Napitupulu (2004). Health and Economic Impact of Air Pollution in Jakarta. The Economic Record, 80.

Santosa, S. J., Okuda, T., & S. Tanaka (2008). Air Pollution and Air Quality Management in Indonesia, Clean, 5-6, 466-475.

Yudhistira, M.H., Kusumatmadja, R., and M. F., Hidayat (2019). Does Traffic Management Matter? Evaluating Congestion Effect Of Odd-Even Policy In Jakarta. LPEM FEB UI Working Paper - 029.

Safi, A., Chen, Y., Wahab, S., Zheng, L., & Rjoub H. (2021). Does environmental taxes achieve the carbon neutrality target of G7 economies? Evaluating the importance of environmental R&D. Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 293.


Full Text: PDF

DOI: 10.15408/sjie.v12i2.32395

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.