Competitive interstate taxation of western coal

Conference · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6004741

Kolstad, C D; Wolak, Jr, F A

This paper analyzes the potential market power of western states in setting coal severance taxes. An attempt to determine the emphasis placed by the western states on the development of their coal resources is also made. Three market structures are analyzed. One involves a western regional cartel, setting taxes collectively. The other cases are noncooperative tax equilibria with Montana and Wyoming competing against each other. We study the effects on these equilibria of changes in each region's relative emphasis on development of coal resources vs tax revenue. The welfare impacts of these tax setting policies are also addressed. The analysis is based on an activity analysis of US coal markets. The results show that the taxes associated with the noncooperative competitive tax equilibria are close to present tax levels. Additionally, we conclude that western states currently are quite efficient extractors of economic rent from coal produced within their boundaries, in terms of welfare loss per dollar of tax revenue collected. 2 figures.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6004741
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-83-2272; CONF-830698-1; ON: DE83015928
• Resource Relation: Conference: International Association of Energy Economists conference, Washington, DC, USA, 9 Jun 1983
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
COAL
MARKET
TAXES
MONTANA
TAX LAWS
WYOMING
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION VIII
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
LAWS
MATERIALS
NORTH AMERICA
USA
015000* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects
017000 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Legislation & Regulations
294001 - Energy Planning & Policy- Coal