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The Swedish carbon tax: A resilient success

Hildingsson, Roger LU orcid and Knaggård, Åsa LU (2022) p.239-262
Abstract
The Swedish carbon tax of 1991, one of the first of its kind, has positioned Sweden as a forerunner in climate governance. It is often depicted an international success and today constitutes the backbone of Swedish climate policy. At first, however, the tax received widespread criticism and had limited political support. The policy design process was short, with limited time for deliberation. While providing the required tax revenues for the tax reform of which it was part, it was set at a level too low to reach the political goal of stabilizing carbon emissions. However, over the years, the tax has been redesigned, strengthening its delivery and gradually increasing political support. Discounts for industry motivated by competitiveness... (More)
The Swedish carbon tax of 1991, one of the first of its kind, has positioned Sweden as a forerunner in climate governance. It is often depicted an international success and today constitutes the backbone of Swedish climate policy. At first, however, the tax received widespread criticism and had limited political support. The policy design process was short, with limited time for deliberation. While providing the required tax revenues for the tax reform of which it was part, it was set at a level too low to reach the political goal of stabilizing carbon emissions. However, over the years, the tax has been redesigned, strengthening its delivery and gradually increasing political support. Discounts for industry motivated by competitiveness concerns have eased opposition, while households have carried the main burden. This has formed the basis for a counter-narrative about distributive impacts, which, however, has not yet succeeded in getting hold politically and only temporarily hindered continued increases in the tax rate. In terms of the four success dimensions in the PPPE assessment framework (programmatic, process, political and endurance), it represents what McConnell (2010) would call a ‘resilient success’—not perfect but a policy successful to a second-best degree. This chapter tells the story of how a highly energy dependent and export-oriented Nordic country came to introduce this novel policy so early on, and how a policy that initially was not seen as a success, over time came to be taken for granted. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
carbon tax, Sweden, resilient success, Tax reform, Climate policy, Carbon pricing
host publication
Successful Public Policy in the Nordic Countries: Cases, Lessons, Challenges
editor
de la Porte, Caroline ; Eydal, Guðný Björk ; Kauko, Jaakko ; Nohrstedt, Daniel ; 't Hart, Paul and Tranøy, Bent Sofus
pages
239 - 262
publisher
Oxford University Press
ISBN
9780192856296
9780191946714
DOI
10.1093/oso/9780192856296.003.0012
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fe0569d3-cee3-40f2-bc41-485f73eb50c9
date added to LUP
2023-03-01 18:35:01
date last changed
2023-03-02 15:39:23
@inbook{fe0569d3-cee3-40f2-bc41-485f73eb50c9,
  abstract     = {{The Swedish carbon tax of 1991, one of the first of its kind, has positioned Sweden as a forerunner in climate governance. It is often depicted an international success and today constitutes the backbone of Swedish climate policy. At first, however, the tax received widespread criticism and had limited political support. The policy design process was short, with limited time for deliberation. While providing the required tax revenues for the tax reform of which it was part, it was set at a level too low to reach the political goal of stabilizing carbon emissions. However, over the years, the tax has been redesigned, strengthening its delivery and gradually increasing political support. Discounts for industry motivated by competitiveness concerns have eased opposition, while households have carried the main burden. This has formed the basis for a counter-narrative about distributive impacts, which, however, has not yet succeeded in getting hold politically and only temporarily hindered continued increases in the tax rate. In terms of the four success dimensions in the PPPE assessment framework (programmatic, process, political and endurance), it represents what McConnell (2010) would call a ‘resilient success’—not perfect but a policy successful to a second-best degree. This chapter tells the story of how a highly energy dependent and export-oriented Nordic country came to introduce this novel policy so early on, and how a policy that initially was not seen as a success, over time came to be taken for granted.}},
  author       = {{Hildingsson, Roger and Knaggård, Åsa}},
  booktitle    = {{Successful Public Policy in the Nordic Countries: Cases, Lessons, Challenges}},
  editor       = {{de la Porte, Caroline and Eydal, Guðný Björk and Kauko, Jaakko and Nohrstedt, Daniel and 't Hart, Paul and Tranøy, Bent Sofus}},
  isbn         = {{9780192856296}},
  keywords     = {{carbon tax; Sweden; resilient success; Tax reform; Climate policy; Carbon pricing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  pages        = {{239--262}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  title        = {{The Swedish carbon tax: A resilient success}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192856296.003.0012}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/oso/9780192856296.003.0012}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}