Resource Tax Reform: A Case Study of Coal from the Perspective of Resource Economics

以煤炭为例, 利用修正的El Serafy使用者成本法估计煤炭资源耗减成本可以证 明, 中国煤炭资源的开发利用存在使用者成本, 并随着煤炭产量的大幅增加而迅 速提高, 需要通过征收从价资源税来反映煤炭资源的真实成本。计算结果还表明, 1992—2009年间, 中国基于使用者成本的从价煤炭资源税理论税率在2%—14%之间 波动。进一步通过动态可计算一般均衡 (CGE) 模型分析从价煤炭资源税对宏观经济 的影响, 可以发现, 对煤炭资源征收5%—12%的从价资源税, 宏观经济成本将在可 承受范围之内, 而且能够反映煤炭作为稀缺性资源的耗减成本。因此, 中国的资源税 改革具有可持续发展的意义。

关键词: 资源税 资源耗减成本 宏观经济影响

Using the adjusted El Serafy user cost approach to estimate the depletion cost of coal resources, this paper demonstrates that user cost exists in the exploitation of China’s coal resources and has increased rapidly with the substantial growth of coal output. It is necessary to levy a resource tax that reflects the real cost of coal resources. The results of our calculations show that from 1992 to 2009, the theoretical ad valorem coal tax rate determined in accordance with the user cost fluctuated between 2 and 14 percent. A further analysis of the impact of an ad valorem coal tax on the Chinese macroeconomy with a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model shows that a tax rate of 5-12 percent for coal resources would better reflect the cost of depletion of coal as a scarce resource, with the macroeconomic impact falling within the acceptable range. Therefore, resource tax reform is significant for China’s sustainable development.