About
Contact Information
Mailing Address:
The School of Public Policy
University of Calgary, Downtown Campus
500 - 906 8th Avenue SW
Calgary, AB T2P 1H9
Email: jwinter [at] ucalgary.ca
Phone: 403.210.7889
Other links:
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta. From August 2022 to August 2023 I am on sabbatical and a Visiting Scholar at Environment and Climate Change Canada.
My research evaluates climate policies, and examines the effects of government regulation and policy on energy development and the associated consequences and trade-offs. My research interests include climate policy, energy policy, environmental policy, natural resource development, public finance and the environmental consequences of resource development. Current projects are listed on my research page, academic publications are available here, and policy articles are available here.
I serve on the Mitigation Expert Panel for the Canadian Climate Institute, the City of Calgary Climate Panel, the Canadian Society for Evolving Energy Board of Directors, WPC Canada's Future Leaders Board, and Global Affairs Canada's Environmental Assessment Advisory Group. I am also treasurer for the Canadian Resource and Environmental Economics Association.
See here for my bio, and here for a shorter bio.
My CV is available here.
Featured Research
Carbon Tax Costs and Distributional Impacts
This is joint work with Dr. Brett Dolter, University of Regina and Dr. G. Kent Fellows, University of Calgary.
Given the differences in provincial approaches to emissions pricing and the differences in household spending, it can be difficult to determine exactly how much this carbon price costs Canadian households. In an effort to help people understand the household impact of carbon pricing in Canada, for each province and by income decile, we present estimates of:
costs by energy type (electricity, natural gas, gasoline, heating oil),
total costs from carbon pricing,
the value of a rebate under different rebate mechanisms, and
the net effect of carbon pricing for Canadian household budgets.
We analyse four revenue-recycling options: (1) a means-tested sales tax (GST/HST) credit increase; (2) a lump sum dividend; (3) a sales tax rate reduction; and (4) an increased basic exemption for personal income taxes. We characterise the distributional impact and progressivity of each revenue-recycling option.
We find the carbon tax is generally progressive even without revenue recycling, the GST rebate and lump sum rebate are progressive, the sales tax rate reduction is mostly regressive, and the income tax change is regressive. Importantly, the large-emitters system mitigates the indirect costs that exacerbates the effect of carbon pricing on households.
We have a working paper explaining our methodology and results in detail, and report results on the website www.carbontaxcosts.ca.