Part I: Externalities and economic policies in road transport

Road transport imposes negative externalities on society. These externalities include environmental and road damage, accidents, congestion, and oil dependence. The cost of these externalities to society is in general not reflected in the current market prices in the road transport sector.An efficient mobility model for the future must take into account the true costs of transport and its regulatory framework will need to create incentives for people to make sustainable transport choices. This paper discusses the use of economic instruments to correct road transport externalities, but gives relatively more weight to the problem of carbon emissions from road transport, as this is particularly challenging, given its global and long-term nature.Economics offers two types of instruments for addressing the problem of transport externalities: command-and-control and incentive-based policies.Command-and-control policies are government regulations which force consumers and producers to change their behaviour. They are the most widely used policy instruments. Examples include vehicle emission and fuel standards in the US as well as driving or parking restrictions in Singapore. The implementation cost of these instruments to the government is small. Although from an economic perspective these policies often fail to achieve an efficient market outcome, the presence of political constraints often make them the preferred option, in terms of feasibility and effectiveness.Economic theory shows how policies, which affect consumption and production incentives, can be used to achieve the optimal outcome in the presence of externalities. Incentive-based policies function within a new or an altered market. We first examine incentive-based policies, which cap the aggregate amount of the externality, such as carbon emissions, by allocating permits or rights to the emitters. The emitters are then free to trade their permits amongst them. The permit allocation mechanism is important-although market efficiency would be satisfied by an auction, political influences usually favour a proportional allocation based on historic emissions. We discuss EU ETS as an example of a cap-and-trade system, however, no such policy for CO₂ emissions in road transport has been implemented anywhere in the world to date.Fiscal instruments are, like command-and-control, widely used in road transport, because they are relatively cheap and simple to implement. They include the use of taxes and charges in order to bridge the gap between private and the social costs and, in principle, can lead to an efficient market solution. Registration, ownership, fuel, emissions, usage taxes, and parking and congestion charges have been implemented in many countries around the world. On the other side of the spectrum, subsidies can be given to those scrapping old cars and buying fuel-efficient vehicles. Some cities, such as London, have implemented congestion charges and many states in the United States have introduced high occupancy lanes. Other interesting possibilities include pay-as-you-drive insurance and other usage charges. However, the size and scope of taxes and subsidies are determined by governments, and because of their imperfect knowledge of the market the outcome is still likely to be inefficient.Governments have many effective economic instruments to create a sustainable road transport model. These instruments can be used separately or together, but their implementation will be necessary in the nearest future.     

最优所得税模型及其算法研究

个人所得税在税制改革后在税收中占的比例日益增大,与法人税加在一起的直接税,往往是税收的主要部分,将运用现代计量经济学的研究方法,给出了理论模型和算法,为我国的所得税制度的选取提供理论依据。     

我国增值税的税收流失问题研究

不同税种的税收流失对源配置的影响程度和影响途径都是不同的,在所有的税种中,以商品税的逃税对市场资源配置的扭曲最为严重,针对我国的具体情况而言,其中尤以增值税的流失影响最大。因此,在我国目前的条件下,要减少税收流失对财政收入、资源配置、宏观调控等国民经济方面造成的危害,关键是要减少增值税的流失。增值税流失的原因主要包括正式制度供给不足和缺乏非正式制度的约束以及税收的实现机制不健全三大方面;政策措施应当包括:进一步完善相关的法制法规、建立现代税收管理体制和建设良好的社会环境三个方面。     

Analysis of Micro-cars' Influence on Traffic Network Using a Microscopic Simulator

The environmental effects and network performance of mixed traffic, consisting of micro-cars and conventional cars, on a small network are investigated using microscopic simulations. After calibrating the simulation model, the effects of three assumptions concerning micro-car speeds are investigated using the model. First, the parameters needed for network performance evaluation are determined iteratively. The power required to meet total travel demand is then computed to predict emissions. A higher ratio of micro-cars in the traffic reduces emissions, as does a lower micro-car speed. To investigate travel efficiency, the main parameters used are average speed, total travel time and total delay time. The results suggest that a higher ratio of micro-cars has a positive effect on the network when their speed is the same as or a slightly lower than that of conventional cars, while a higher ratio of micro-cars has a negative effect when their speed is close to the average traffic speed of the base model. To obtain a suitable balance between desired environmental effects and road network performance, we recommend that the desired speed of micro-cars be set to 40–45 km/h on a small urban traffic network.     

改进我国个人所得税征税对象的思考

个人所得税是一个良税，具有很强的聚财和调控功能，而我国现行的个人所得税制度却不尽合理，影响了其功能的正常发挥。笔者认为，完善个人所得税制度的关键是重新思考其征税对象，据此，本文在理论分析基础上对个人所得税的征税对象提出了改进建议。     

“营改增”对公路工程造价的影响

在公路的工程造价中,“营改增”对其有着促进作用,但若没有应用到相对应的工作层面上则会产生消极影响,工程造价的投资金额和成本都受到了一定的影响。若工程造价比较高的话,那么主要是因为人工成本费用提高;增值税税额存在问题、项目管理工作不到位等一系列问题,依据各项问题提出了具体的相对应的解决方案,希望可以有效解决营改增在公路工程方面的问题,促进公路工程的良性发展。     

Sustainable cold supply chain management under demand uncertainty and carbon tax regulation

Increasing awareness of sustainability in supply chain management has prompted organizations and individuals to consider environmental impacts when managing supply chains. The issues concerning environmental impacts are significant in cold supply chains due to substantial carbon emissions from storage and distribution of temperature-sensitive product. This paper investigates the impact of carbon emissions arising from storage and transportation in the cold supply chain in the presence of carbon tax regulation, and under uncertain demand. A two-stage stochastic programming model is developed to determine optimal replenishment policies and transportation schedules to minimize both operational and emissions costs. A matheuristic algorithm based on the Iterated Local Search (ILS) algorithm and a mixed integer programming is developed to solve the problem in realistic sizes. The performance and robustness of the matheuristic algorithm are analyzed using test instances in various sizes. A real-world case study in Queensland, Australia is used to demonstrate the application of the model. The results highlight that higher emissions price does not always contribute to the efficiency of the cold supply chain system. Furthermore, the analyses indicate that using heterogeneous fleet including light duty and medium duty vehicles can lead to further cost saving and emissions reduction.     

Modelling emission control taxes in port areas and port privatization levels in port competition and co-operation sub-games

Using a game theory approach, this paper analyses a situation in which the government imposes a certain emission tax on vessels and port operations for emission control in port areas. Two ports are considered: a purely private port and a landlord (partial public) port. These two ports are in Cournot or Bertrand competition or cooperation with differentiated service. Our model outcomes lead to the following conclusions. First, the optimal private level of port 2 under Cournot and Bertrand competitions varies between fully private and highly public concerned port, while government will prefer a highly public concerned or close to highly public concerned port in the cooperation scenario. Second, government will have to make more and stricter efforts to enhance environmental protection in the situation of port cooperation (monopoly) than in the case of inter-port competition, and all the optimal emission tax should be always lower than the marginal emission damage. Third, port privatization has a non-monotonous effect on ports’ environmental damage in the inter-port competition scenarios and a monotonous decreasing effect in the cooperation scenario. Fourth, the total emission tax revenue is always higher than the overall environmental damage in the cooperative scenario, and it may or may not be able to cover the whole environment damage in Cournot and Bertrand competitions. Finally, the government may face a trade-off among environmental protection, maximizing social welfare, satisfying individual motivation, when considering port cooperation (monopoly).     

Six years of CO2-based tax incentives for new passenger cars in The Netherlands: Impacts on purchasing behavior trends and CO2 effectiveness

There is growing evidence that consumers respond more effectively to upfront price signals, such as vehicle purchase taxes and feebate policies, and to tax incentives that are more salient than others, such as company car taxes graded by CO₂ emissions. This paper examines tax changes in The Netherlands, which are among the most stringent and most salient in Europe, and assesses the ex-post purchasing impacts and CO₂ effectiveness of six years of CO₂-based tax incentives for low-carbon cars in The Netherlands. Dutch tax incentives resulted in 13 g/km, or 11% lower average CO₂ emissions in 2013. The Netherlands has moved from the 12th position before the tax changes in 2007 to become Europe’s number one in terms of the lowest average new car CO₂ emissions and highest share of electric vehicles in 2013. Tax incentives for new cars sold between 2008 and 2013 have resulted in 4.6 million tons of potential lifetime CO₂ abatement at the cost of a drop in tax revenues of 30–50%. However, when corrected for the Dutch policy-induced increasing real-world fuel-economy shortfall and leakage of carbon reduction potential through vehicle export of low-carbon cars, only 3.5 million tons or 75% of the CO₂ reduction remains. CO₂-based tax incentives for company cars seem to have contributed the most to the observed turnaround in purchasing behavior towards lower CO₂-emitting passenger cars.     

How much should gasoline be taxed when electric vehicles conquer the market? An analysis of the mismatch between efficient and existing gasoline taxes under emerging electric mobility

The taxation of gasoline is characterized by large variability across countries and recent research has analyzed existing gasoline tax levels from an economic efficiency point of view focusing on conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. Most studies find that existing fuel tax rates do not coincide with economically efficient levels. As long as policymakers do not take action to reduce the resulting efficiency gap, there will be an ongoing welfare loss to the economy. However, the composition of passenger car fleets will probably be subject to fundamental changes in the (near) future due to the emergence of electric mobility. This raises the question of whether the mismatch between current and efficient fuel taxation will persist, shrink, or even exacerbate under emerging electric mobility. This paper aims at answering this question by determining the structure and level of optimal gasoline taxes in the presence of electric vehicles (EVs). First, the optimal (nationwide) gasoline tax is analytically derived employing a general equilibrium approach. It is shown that differences in traffic related marginal external costs among fuel powered cars and EVs affect the corrective Pigouvian component of the optimal gasoline tax while a differential tax treatment influences the fiscal rational of the tax. Second, the model is applied to Germany using differentiated data on e.g. external costs and behavioral responses. Under a wide range of scenarios, the present analyses indicate a strong relationship between optimal gasoline taxes and electric mobility, calling for a downward adjustment of efficient gasoline taxes. The effect is mainly driven by financial incentives for purchasing and using EVs. Since fuel is likely to be undertaxed in many countries, the emergence of electric mobility will therefore close the gap between gasoline taxes in place and economically efficient taxes. On the other side, it will increase the efficiency gap in those countries where gasoline is overtaxed. This also has important implications for policy concerned with environmental objectives. Pushing electric mobility seriously and at the same time taxing gasoline efficiently could actually prevent sufficient CO₂ emission savings. However, at least in the case of Germany, even a downward adjusted optimal gasoline tax under electric mobility is likely to be higher than the current (non-optimal) tax.