Journal Article
No. 2008-25 | August 12, 2008
Richard S. J. Tol
The Social Cost of Carbon: Trends, Outliers and Catastrophes

Abstract

211 estimates of the social cost of carbon are included in a meta-analysis. The results confirm that a lower discount rate implies a higher estimate; and that higher estimates are found in the gray literature. It is also found that there is a downward trend in the economic impact estimates of the climate; that the Stern Review’s estimates of the social cost of carbon is an outlier; and that the right tail of the distribution is fat. There is a fair chance that the annual climate liability exceeds the annual income of many people.

Data Set

JEL Classification:

Q54

Links

Cite As

Richard S. J. Tol (2008). The Social Cost of Carbon: Trends, Outliers and Catastrophes. Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal, 2 (2008-25). http://dx.doi.org/10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2008-25