Green Technology and Patents in the Presence of Green Consumers

Corinne Langinier, A. Ray Chaudhuri

Research output: Working paperDiscussion paperOther research output

241 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We develop a theoretical framework to investigate the impact of patent policies and emission taxes on green innovation that reduces the emission output ratio, and on the emission level. In the absence of green consumers, the introduction of patents results in a paradox whereby increasing emission tax beyond a certain threshold leads to a discrete increase in the emission level, which may be avoided by reducing the patenting cost. In the presence of green consumers, this paradox is restricted to an intermediate range of tax rates, and at sufficiently high tax rates, reducing the patenting cost may increase the emission level. Also, higher emission taxes increase green investment only if the fraction of green consumers is sufficiently small, and the magnitude of this effect decreases as this fraction increases.Moreover, a stricter patentability requirement is only effective at reducing emissions if the fraction of green consumers is sufficiently small.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationTilburg
PublisherCentER, Center for Economic Research
Number of pages46
Volume2019-020
Publication statusPublished - 23 May 2019

Publication series

NameCentER Discussion Paper
Volume2019-020

Keywords

  • patent
  • clean technologies
  • environmentally friendly consumers

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Green Technology and Patents in the Presence of Green Consumers'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this