Resource taxation and regional planning: revenue recycling for local sustainability in the aggregates sector

We address the possible outcomes of combining environmental taxes and environmental planning in managing non-renewable resources such as aggregates. We empirically investigate resource taxation issues by focusing on aggregate extraction policy in two large northern Italian regions, Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. The evidence shows that environmental planning, in addition to economic instruments, is needed to shape and monitor environmental policies. We highlight that the complementarity of land use planning and economic instruments can be a key driver of sustainability performances. The unintended effects of economic instruments are also crucial.