Assessing the effects of a carbon tax in industrial GHG emissions on the competitiveness of the Port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands

This thesis assesses the impacts that a carbon tax would have in the competitiveness of the Port of Rotterdam.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide insights for the design of policies aimed at the decarbonisation of the industrial sector in the Netherlands by assessing the applicability of both the carbon leakage hypothesis and the theory of induced innovation in the case of a carbon tax on industrial GHG. Therefore, the main research question ais: How would a carbon tax on the industrial greenhouse gas emissions affect the competitiveness of the Port of Rotterdam? The sub-questions are: What are the characteristics of the proposed carbon tax, and how would it complement the existing policy (EU ETS)? What are the determinants of port competitiveness and what are the competitive advantages of the PoR over its competitors? To what extent and under which conditions can a carbon tax enhance carbon leakage in the firms operating in the industrial cluster of the PoR? To what extent and under which conditions can a carbon tax induce technological innovation aimed at the decarbonisation of the industrial cluster of the PoR?