The Impact of Ecolabels and Green Taxes on Market Outcomes

Abstract Ecolabels and green taxes aim to achieve more sustainable market outcomes by affecting suppliers’ production and sales behaviour, consumers’ purchasing behaviour, or both. In this chapter, we present the economic rationale for how these approaches may impact suppliers and consumers in various settings and review recent published empirical research on the topic. We focus specifically on examples where ecolabels and green taxes have been used to protect oceans and fisheries by reducing plastic waste and reducing purchases of less sustainable seafood. We conclude by discussing other possible policy instruments and highlight important avenues for future work in pursuing more sustainable market outcomes.