Three essays on the political economy of green taxation

This dissertation deals with issues pertaining to the political economy of green taxation. The first chapter examines observed environmental taxes and revenue structures in the European Union in light of the two major contrasting approaches to the study of public finance. The aim of this chapter is to highlight the explanatory power of these contrasting approaches with respect to the observed stylized facts concerning environmental taxes. The second chapter examines the effects of the enforcement of a flat rate CO2 tax introduced on all emitting sources in the European Union when the tax administration is a risk neutral net tax revenue maximizer. The third chapter compares the distributional effects of a harmonized CO2 tax with a permit market in the European Union.