← Search

Journal of Political Economy Vol. 130 No. 10 2022

Equilibrium Trade in Automobiles

Kenneth Gillingham1; Fedor Iskhakov2; Anders Munk-Nielsen3; John Rust4; Bertel Schjerning3

1 Yale University · 2 Australian National University · 3 University of Copenhagen · 4 Georgetown University

Abstract

We introduce a computationally tractable dynamic equilibrium model of automobile markets with heterogeneous consumers, focused on stationary flow equilibria. We introduce a fast, robust algorithm for computing equilibria and use it to estimate a model using nearly 39 million observations on car ownership transitions from Denmark. The estimated model fits the data well, and counterfactual simulations show that Denmark could raise total tax revenue by reducing the new-car registration tax rate. We show that reducing this tax rate while raising the tax rate on fuel increases aggregate welfare, tax revenue, and car ownership, while reducing car ages, driving, and CO2 emissions.

DOI
10.1086/720463
Volume
130
Issue
10
Pages
2534-2593
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite