The Impact of Energy Pricing Policy on Taiwan's Small Open Economy*

How a fast-growth country like Taiwan can develop its economy under restrictive energy constraints is an interesting and important research subject. This paper describes the impact of energy pricing policy, such as changes in the prices set by the state for oil or gas, on Taiwan's economy. In order to understand the interrelationships between the energy price shocks and the economy of Taiwan, a computable energy general equilibrium model (EGEM 1.1) is set up to study the problem. In this CGE model, the economy is divided into 13 industrial sectors, 2 primary input sectors, and 4 final demand sectors. There are 16 commodities of interest, 7 of which are major energy commodities. The results in this paper may be useful for providing important recommendations to the government of Taiwan and to other developing countries in Asia.