Authors: Jan Mazač, Dániel Muth, Matúš Mišík, Lukáš Tichý, Paweł Żuk

In: Civic Energy Self-Defense in the Visegrad Gruop. Bratislava: Comenius University, September 2024

Abstract

The war in Ukraine has triggered several different psychological, social, and economic reactions in societies. In the socio-economic aspect, the armed conflict in Ukraine evokes a sense of financial and social threat in many European societies. Among the main reasons for unrest in the economic area is the concern about energy security and price of energy that started in connection with economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and spiked as the consequence of the Russian invasion. To examine these challenges in the Visegrad Group (V4) countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – the International Visegrad Fund supported project entitled “Civic energy self-defence in the shadow of the war in Ukraine: grassroots energy activities in V4”. This project was implemented by researchers from universities and think-tanks of all four countries and this report is one of its outputs. It presents findings from our empirical research conducted in early 2024. After this short introduction, four chapters discuss results of research conducted in individual countries. Conclusion summarizes the main findings and aggregates them for the whole Visegrad Group. Besides this report the project’s outputs include also four policy briefs with a short summary of our findings and policy recommendations. These policy briefs are in English language, but also all four national languages (Czech, Hungarian, Polish, and Slovak) can be found on project web pages.

A Mazač, J., Muth, D., Mišík, M., Tichý, L., Żuk, P.: Civic Energy Self-Defense in the Visegrad Gruop bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.

Author: Dániel Muth

In: Review of Policy Research – 11 June 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12625

Abstract

This paper analyzes the causal relationship between the carbon tax’s revenue recycling measures and political acceptability. The Irish carbon tax reform of 2019 forms the basis of the study. The findings are based on deductive content analysis and semi-structured, elite interviews with key politicians, climate policy advisors, and other influential figures involved in the policy-making process. Analyzing the extensive Irish revenue recycling scheme, encompassing compensatory measures and various forms of climate spending, provides researchers with the chance to track distinctive causal mechanisms over the course of a politically intense period, leading up to general elections. The results show that relief measures were crucial to alleviate concerns about the negative distributional impact of the policy, which was fiercely attacked by some opposition parties. Additionally, climate spending increased political acceptance by offering low-carbon alternatives to consumers, even though the policy was initially construed as punitive measure, especially in regions and sectors where switching to low-carbon options, public transport, or less carbon intense heating, were challenging or even impossible. A unique finding of the study is that revenue recycling facilitates the emergence of cross-party agreement among ideologically distant parties. Another crucial contribution of this study is the detailed comparison, from the perspective of political acceptability, of two alternative social compensation models, the fee and dividend model, and the integration of targeted social cushioning and climate spending (hypothecation).

A Muth, D.: Investigating the mechanisms linking revenue recycling to increased political acceptability of carbon pricing: The case study of the Irish carbon tax reform bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.

Abstract

A Muth, D., Weiner, C., Lakócai, Cs. Public support and willingness to pay for a carbon tax in Hungary: can revenue recycling make a difference? bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.

2024-ben második alkalommal választottak be 23 tudóst a nemzetközi fenntarthatósági verseny tudományos döntőjébe. Munkatársunk Muth Dániel a 23 tudós egyike. Kollégánk a Pathways to stringent carbon pricing: Configurations of political economy conditions and revenue recycling strategies. A comparison of thirty national level policies című kutatásával érdemelte ki a rangos elismerést.

A Frontiers Planet Prize 2024. április 22-én hirdette ki a globális verseny második évében a hat kontinens tudományos kutatócsoportjai közül kiválasztott 23 Nemzeti Bajnokot. Az idei versenyben már 20 tudományos akadémia és 43 ország 475 vezető egyeteme és kutatóintézete vett részt. A díj olyan tudósokat ismer el, akiknek a kutatási eredményei hozzájárulnak ahhoz, hogy az emberiség biztonságban maradjon a Föld ökoszisztémájának határain belül. A Nemzeti Bajnokok jelenleg a verseny utolsó fordulójába való bejutásért versengenek, ahol három nemzetközi bajnok egyenként 1 millió svájci frankot kap kutatásaik támogatására. A Frontiers Research Foundation által a Föld napján, 2022-ben indított Frontiers Planet Prize célja, hogy mozgósítsa a tudományt a globális zöld célok érdekében. A díj a fenntarthatósági tudományok terén olyan úttörő ötleteket támogat, amelyek a leginkább alkalmasak arra, hogy a Föld ne lépje át a Johan Rockström professzor által felállított kilenc bolygóhatárt. A Nemzeti Bajnokokat egy független, 100 tagú zsűri választja ki, amely a fenntarthatóság elismert szakértőiből áll, és amelynek Rockström professzor az elnöke. A Nemzeti Bajnokok egy második fordulóján esnek át, ahol a zsűri kiválasztja a három Nemzetközi Bajnokot, akik kutatásaik további támogatására egyenként egymillió svájci frankot kapnak.

BŐVEBBEN

A Kollégánk, Muth Dániel elnyerte a Frontiers Research Foundation National Champions díját bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.

Author: Dániel Muth

In: Ecological Economics, 214(2023), 107995

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107995

Abstract

There is general agreement among economists and climate policy practitioners that carbon pricing should play a central role among all policies used to tackle climate change effectively. However, in most jurisdictions that have adopted carbon pricing mechanisms, the prevailing price levels remain too low to accelerate decarbonization and drive down emissions. This deficiency can be attributed to numerous political economy constraints, but most pressingly, to the negative distributional effects of the policies combined with the drain they impose on firms’ competitiveness. These factors negatively influence the public acceptability of these policies and, thus, the feasibility of introducing ambitious carbon pricing. Recent innovations in the literature suggest that using the revenue from carbon pricing for specific social purposes may ease this political impasse. This study analyzes which revenue recycling strategies are effective, in various political economy environments, to support stringent carbon pricing. Employing the method of fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, this research draws findings from a cross-case comparison of thirty national-level policies. The salient conclusion is that hybrid use of carbon revenue that combines various compensatory schemes and spending on climate projects is the most effective strategy to enhance stringency, while a lack of compensation renders the introduction of ambitious carbon pricing implausible, even in some highly developed countries.

A Muth, D.: Pathways to stringent carbon pricing: Configurations of political economy conditions and revenue recycling strategies. A comparison of thirty national level policies bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.