Working paper no. 10/2003

Comments on Yergin and West, "Oil Taxation and Oil Company Motivation”

In a recent paper commissioned by the North Sea Operators Committee-Denmark, Daniel Yergin and Julian West of Cambridge Energy Research Associates offer conclusions contradicting the recommendations of the Danish government's 2001 report on hydro-carbon taxation as well as standard corporate and public finance theory. These include the view that the concept of neutral taxation is flawed, that the current Danish tax regime is already severe, that the proposed changes will reduce government revenue, and that symmetric tax treatment of gain and loss is undesirable. These conclusions are found to lack theoretical and empirical underpinnings.

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Author: Niels Kleis Frederiksen