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Tax incidence with endogenous quality and costly bargaining: Theory and evidence from hybrid vehicle subsidies

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  • Gulati, Sumeet
  • McAusland, Carol
  • Sallee, James M.
Abstract
Endogenous quality and bargaining are important features of many markets but are typically omitted from studies of incidence. We develop a model with product upgrades and costly bargaining and find that tax rate pass-through only partially characterizes the welfare impact of taxation; consumers may respond to a tax or subsidy by changing product quality or by changing their bargaining effort. We apply the insights of our theory to the study of subsidies for green goods, specifically hybrid electric vehicles in Canada. We utilize highly detailed transaction data and leverage panel variation in subsidies across provinces for identification. Our baseline estimate finds that prices rises by $570 for every $1000 increase in the subsidy. But, this pass-through estimate substantially underestimates consumer gains because a majority of this price increase ($459–≈ 80%) is due to increased product quality in the form of additional options and features.

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  • Gulati, Sumeet & McAusland, Carol & Sallee, James M., 2017. "Tax incidence with endogenous quality and costly bargaining: Theory and evidence from hybrid vehicle subsidies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 93-107.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:155:y:2017:i:c:p:93-107
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2017.09.003
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    3. Muehlegger, Erich & Rapson, David S., 2022. "Subsidizing low- and middle-income adoption of electric vehicles: Quasi-experimental evidence from California," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    4. Uddin, Main & Wang, Liang Choon & Smyth, Russell, 2021. "Do government-initiated energy comparison sites encourage consumer search and lower prices? Evidence from an online randomized controlled experiment in Australia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 167-182.
    5. David P Byrne & Leslie A Martin & Jia Sheen Nah, 2023. "Price Discrimination by Negotiation: a Field Experiment in Retail Electricity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 137(4), pages 2499-2537.
    6. Anna Rita Bennato & Franco Mariuzzo & Patrick Paul Walsh, 2018. "Competition and Welfare Effects of Differentiated Taxation: Evidence from the Irish Automobile Market," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) 2018-05, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    7. Bohland, Moritz & Schwenen, Sebastian, 2022. "Renewable support and strategic pricing in electricity markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    8. Lohawala, Nafisa, 2023. "Roadblock or Accelerator? The Effect of Electric Vehicle Subsidy Elimination," RFF Working Paper Series 23-13, Resources for the Future.
    9. David S. Rapson & James B. Bushnell, 2022. "The Electric Ceiling: Limits and Costs of Full Electrification," NBER Working Papers 30593, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Wang, Kunlun & Zheng, Leven J. & Lin, Boqiang, 2024. "Demand-side incentives, competition, and firms’ innovative activities: Evidence from automobile industry in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    11. Xing, Jianwei & Leard, Benjamin & Li, Shanjun, 2021. "What does an electric vehicle replace?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    12. David P Byrne & Leslie A Martin & Jia Sheen Nah, 2022. "Price Discrimination by Negotiation: a Field Experiment in Retail Electricity [“Redistribution through Markets,”]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 137(4), pages 2499-2537.
    13. Shanjun Li & Xianglei Zhu & Yiding Ma & Fan Zhang & Hui Zhou, 2022. "The Role of Government in the Market for Electric Vehicles: Evidence from China," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(2), pages 450-485, March.
    14. Jiemiao Dong & Yinxia Mi & Zhuangxiong Yu, 2022. "Industrial plans, export destinations and product quality," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 812-840, March.
    15. Muehlegger, Erich & Rapson, David, 2018. "Understanding the Distributional Impacts of Vehicle Policy: Who Buys New and Used Alternative Vehicles?," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt0tn4m2tx, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    16. Hunt Allcott & Daniel Cohen & William Morrison & Dmitry Taubinsky, 2022. "When do "Nudges" Increase Welfare?," NBER Working Papers 30740, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Incidence; Bargaining; Green subsidies; Energy efficient technologies; Hybrid electric vehicles; Automobiles;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • L98 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Government Policy

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