Too Levered for Pigou: carbon pricing, financial constraints, and leverage regulation
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Published version
Author(s)
Döttling, Robin
Rola-Janicka, Magdalena
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We analyze optimal carbon pricing under financial constraints and endogenous climate-related transition and physical costs. The socially optimal emissions tax may be above or below a Pigouvian benchmark, depending on the strength of physical climate impacts on pledgeable resources. We derive necessary conditions for emissions taxes alone to implement a constrained-efficient allocation, and show a cap-and-trade system may dominate emissions taxes because it can be designed to have a less adverse effect on financial constraints. We also assess how capital structure, carbon price hedging markets, and socially responsible investors interact with emissions pricing, and evaluate other commonly used policy tools.
Date Issued
2025-10-01
Date Acceptance
2025-05-19
Citation
Journal of Financial Economics, 2025, 172
ISSN
0304-405X
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Financial Economics
Volume
172
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
10.1016/j.jfineco.2025.104105
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
104105
Date Publish Online
2025-05-29