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The radical rise of global temperatures has put high pressure on the environment, leading to societal pressure towards politicians to reverse the trend. In light of this environmental crisis, economists all over the world agree that carbon taxes are the most cost-effective instrument for reducing carbon emissions. This study uses difference-in-differences analysis to examine the treatment effect of a carbon tax implementation in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Panel data from 24 OECD countries, between 1978 and 2004, is used throughout this study. This study has not found support that different levels of democracy and GDP per capita affect tax efficiency. Moreover, higher levels of urbanisation are seen to undermine the efficiency of a carbon tax, however, the result may be affected by confounding bias. Lastly, tax rate and tax coverage are both factors that seem to affect carbon tax efficiency.

Sveriges regering införde 1 april 2018 en passagerarskatt på flygresor, med målet att flyget ska bära sina egna klimatkostnader och minska flygets miljöpåverkan. Denna studies syfte är att undersöka hur den svenska flygskatten har påverkat antalet inrikesflyg- och tågresor i Sverige. Metoden som används är den kvasi-experimentella metoden difference-in-difference, där Sverige används som behandlingsgrupp och Finland som kontrollgrupp. Perioden som studeras är januari 2013 till december 2019. Resultatet i studien visar att förändringen i antalet tågresor är betydligt större än minskningen i antalet flygresor, vilket beror på den starkare ökande trenden i tågresandet som råder i Sverige. Effekten av flygskatten på det inhemska tågresandet går därför inte att utläsa i studien. En minskning av antalet inrikesflygresor i Sverige med 53 000 resor i månaden kan emellertid utläsas. Detta resultat är statistiskt signifikant på fem procentsnivå och påvisar att flygskatten haft en effekt på inrikesflygresandet. / On the 1st of April 2018, the Swedish government introduced a tax on air travel, with the intention that the airlines should bear their own climate costs and to reduce the plane’s environmental impact. The object of this study is to examine how the Swedish aviation tax has affected the amount of total internal flight and train journeys in Sweden. The method used is the quasi-experimental method difference-in-differences, where Sweden is used as the treatment group and Finland as the control group. The period of analysis is from January 2013 to December 2019. The result of this study shows that the increase in the amount of train passengers is considerably larger than the decrease in the amount of flight passengers, which depicts the stronger upgoing trend in train journeys in Sweden. Therefore, it is not possible to see the effect of the aviation tax on the internal train journeys in this study. Yet it is feasible to see a diminishment in the amount of internal flight journeys by 53 000 journeys a month in Sweden. This result is statistically significant on a level of five percent and demonstrates that the aviation tax has had an effect on the amount of internal flight journeys.

Urban traffic congestion is recognised as a major problem by most people in world cities. However, the implementation of congestion reducing measures on a wide scale eludes most world cities suffering from traffic congestion, as many oppose the notion of road pricing and despite economists and transportation professionals having advocated its benefits for a number of decades. The effects of road pricing have attracted considerable attention from researchers examining its effects, as it is thought to hold the key in understanding and overcoming some inherent obstacles to implementation. Unfortunately, many of the attempts consider the effects in isolation and with hypothetical, idealised and analytical tools, sometimes loosing sight of the complexities of the problem. This research empirically investigates the effects of road pricing in London, and identifies factors, which may prove to sustain it as a traffic reduction instrument. The results indicate that an integrated approach has to be developed and implemented, based upon the recognition of local perceptions, concerns, aspirations and locally acceptable solutions, if the acceptance of road pricing is to be improved. The key to dealing with the effects of road pricing, is to encourage a concerted effort by various stakeholders developing strategies considering a range of differing initiatives, coordinating and managing them in the realm of the political-economic context in which they exist. / Thesis (M.Art. et Scien. (Town and Regional Planning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Urban traffic congestion is recognised as a major problem by most people in world cities. However, the implementation of congestion reducing measures on a wide scale eludes most world cities suffering from traffic congestion, as many oppose the notion of road pricing and despite economists and transportation professionals having advocated its benefits for a number of decades. The effects of road pricing have attracted considerable attention from researchers examining its effects, as it is thought to hold the key in understanding and overcoming some inherent obstacles to implementation. Unfortunately, many of the attempts consider the effects in isolation and with hypothetical, idealised and analytical tools, sometimes loosing sight of the complexities of the problem. This research empirically investigates the effects of road pricing in London, and identifies factors, which may prove to sustain it as a traffic reduction instrument. The results indicate that an integrated approach has to be developed and implemented, based upon the recognition of local perceptions, concerns, aspirations and locally acceptable solutions, if the acceptance of road pricing is to be improved. The key to dealing with the effects of road pricing, is to encourage a concerted effort by various stakeholders developing strategies considering a range of differing initiatives, coordinating and managing them in the realm of the political-economic context in which they exist. / Thesis (M.Art. et Scien. (Town and Regional Planning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Transportation economists apply different labor supply models when studying anti-congestion policy: (i) endogenous working hours; (ii) endogenous workdays but given daily working hours; (iii) labor supply as a residual. We study whether the outcome of anti-congestion policies that change the relative cost of labor supply margins, and, thus, may affect decisions on working hours and working days, is robust against the model applied. In particular, we focus on welfare implications in the presence of other taxes when there is a congestion externality. We find surprisingly strong differences in quantity and sign. Further, we develop a clear recommendation for future research on issues that include decisions on commuting trips. Researchers shall apply both a model of endogenous working hours that provides an upper limit and a model of endogenous workdays that provide a lower limit of results for welfare changes, optimal policies and two optimal tax components (Pigouvian and Ramsey terms).

「傳媒外部性」是指傳媒在生產其內容、或閱聽人於消費該內容的過程中，對於非關該市場交易之第三人產生影響，致使傳媒活動可能侵害第三人的權益，抑或可能創生公共利益的現象。作為一種傳播效果，以及一種構成市場失靈、從而需要公共政策介入的概念工具，「傳媒外部性」可以作為聯繫「傳播效果」與「媒介政策」的研究橋樑，因此對於拓展跨學科的溝通，具有潛在貢獻。 外部性是衍生自主流經濟學的概念，其測量無法不涉及量化指標（如貨幣），惟本研究亦闡明：該概念之內涵不可能、亦不應該完全以量化標準來看待；就此檢討後，本研究參照公法學教授Edwin Baker所提之十種傳媒外部性類目，同時酌量採納傳播效果研究的部分成果，提出本研究分析傳媒外部性的類目指標，並試圖使經濟學與傳播研究在對話中，能豐富各自的內涵。 透過相關文獻的檢視與分類，並針對《壹週刊》內容所創生的外部性予以歸納分析，本研究將歷來對於傳媒外部性的回應方式，分做三類八種。第一類是指行政立法部門的「傳播政策」回應，又可略分為宏觀結構管制（傳播哲學、產權與財源的確立）、微觀結構管制（庇古稅及津貼）、經由政府授權以形成三方對傳媒的共管，以及對傳媒內容的規範等；第二類則為民事與刑事等對於特定傳媒內容之「司法仲裁」回應；第三類回應則涉及「市場規則」，又可略分為媒體素養課程之推廣、媒體監督組織的運作、及傳媒與外部性承受者間的私下協商等。由於傳播政策可以是統合或中介前述三類回應的關鍵，本研究最後就公共政策介入以創生優質傳媒環境的作用，提出初步的反省。 / During the production and consumption process of media content, a certain ‘media externality’ is inevitably created that may benefit or harm the third parties who actually are not present in the market exchange relationship between the producers and their audience. Therefore it’s reasonable to conceive ‘media externality’ as one aspect of communication effects, and as a factor that contributes to market failure, as such, this thesis suggests that we employ ‘media externality’ as a conceptual tool bridging ‘communication research’ and ‘media-policy research’ in a way that both disciplines can contribute to each other. To measure ‘externality’, it’s not possible that quantitative indicators such as ‘money’ be not invoked, meanwhile it’s neither desirable nor feasible if economic calculation or consideration exhausts what we mean by ‘media externality’. Having established this methodological principle, and in addition to bringing in relevant communication effect researches, the author builds and expands upon Edwin Baker’s categorization and proposes my own framework for measuring ‘media externality’. It is hoped that communication science and economics can enrich respective tradition via this dialogue. The ‘Next Weekly’ is then subject to a careful investigation and its externality is subsequently assessed. In all, to deal with media externalities, three models with eight variants can be discerned. To begin with, there is a ‘policy dimension’ comprising macro-structural regulation that attends to communication philosophy, arrangements of media property rights and finances of media production. The second policy element is of a micro-structural regulation nature, including Pigouvian tax or subsidy. Also, the state may stipulate that its regulatory power be shared with the industry and the audience’ alike. The second model indicates civilian or criminal lawsuits. Lastly there is a market response to media externality, be it the promotion of media literacy, operations of media watch groups or individual victim’s compromise with the media. This thesis ends in a reflection, since by its definition communication policy is bound to step in all the other variants, that evaluates the relationship between public policy and a more healthy media ecology.

The transport and urban economics literature applies different labor supply approaches when studying economic or planning instruments. Some studies assume that working hours are endogenous while the number of workdays is given, whereas others model only decisions on workdays. Unfortunately, empirical evidence does hardly exist on account of missing data. Against this background, we provide an assessment of whether general effects of transport policies are robust against the modeling of leisure demand and labor supply. We introduce different labor supply approaches into a spatial general equilibrium model and discuss how they affect the welfare implication of congestion policies. We, then, perform simulations and find that in many cases the choice of labor supply modeling not only affects the magnitude of the policy impact but also its direction. While planning instruments are suggested to be quite robust to different labor supply approaches, the way of modeling labor supply may crucially affect the overall welfare implications of economic instruments such as congestion tolls. Based on these findings it becomes clear which labor supply approach is the most appropriate given specific conditions. Our study also emphasizes the need for better micro labor market data that also feature days of sickness, overtime work used to reduce workdays, the actual number of leave days, part-time work, days with telecommuting etc.