Environmental taxes: Drivers behind the revenue collected

This paper investigates the determinants of environmental taxes revenue. While the effects of environmental taxations are well discussed across academic and political debate, less analysis have been specifically devoted to investigate the factors influencing the revenue variations. By using an Index Decomposition Techniques, the present paper separates the contribution of economic factors from the contribution provided by taxation rates and regulations. The data pertain to the period 2004–2016 and 25 European Member States are included in the analysis. Results show that stricter environmental taxation rates and regulations has been the main factor influencing the revenue increase just for 5 of the 25 countries considered in this paper. For the other Member States, economic growth and the role played in the European economic panorama have been the main drivers of variations. By providing a comparative analysis of the factors influencing the environmental taxes revenue of European areas, this paper contributes to identify how regulations and economic factors have influenced the sustainability paths of countries and can be used to support the design of policies across the EU.