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Regressive Sin Taxes

Author

Listed:
  • Benjamin B. Lockwood
  • Dmitry Taubinsky
Abstract
A common objection to “sin taxes”—corrective taxes on goods like cigarettes, alcohol, and sugary drinks, which are believed to be over-consumed—is that they fall disproportionately on low-income consumers. This paper studies the interaction between corrective and redistributive motives in a general optimal taxation framework. On the one hand, redistributive concerns amplify the corrective benefits of a sin tax when sin good consumption is concentrated on the poor, even when bias and demand elasticities are constant across incomes. On the other hand, a sin tax can generate regressivity costs, raising more revenue from the poor than from the rich. Sin tax regressivity can be offset by targeted transfers or income tax reforms if differences in sin good consumption are driven by income effects, but not if they are driven by preference heterogeneity, and not if the indirect incentives the sin tax generates for labor supply decisions are not salient. The price elasticity of demand determines the extent to which corrective benefits versus regressivity costs determine the size of the optimal tax. We implement our optimal tax formulas in a calibrated model of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption for a range of parameter values suggested by empirical work.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin B. Lockwood & Dmitry Taubinsky, 2017. "Regressive Sin Taxes," NBER Working Papers 23085, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23085
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Pierre Dubois & Rachel Griffith & Martin O'Connell, 2020. "How Well Targeted Are Soda Taxes?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(11), pages 3661-3704, November.
    3. Michael A. Clemens, 2018. "Testing for Repugnance in Economic Transactions: Evidence from Guest Work in the Gulf," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(S1), pages 5-44.
    4. repec:cup:judgdm:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:11-25 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Linda Thunström, 2019. "Welfare effects of nudges: The emotional tax of calorie menu labeling," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 14(1), pages 11-25, January.
    6. Hunt Allcott & Rebecca Diamond & Jean-Pierre Dubé & Jessie Handbury & Ilya Rahkovsky & Molly Schnell, 2019. "Food Deserts and the Causes of Nutritional Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(4), pages 1793-1844.
    7. Xavier Gabaix, 2017. "Behavioral Inattention," NBER Working Papers 24096, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Moser, Christian & Olea de Souza e Silva, Pedro, 2019. "Optimal Paternalistic Savings Policies," MPRA Paper 95383, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Giovanni Immordino & Anna Maria C. Menichini & Maria Grazia Romano, 2020. "Taxing and Regulating Vices," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(2), pages 622-647, April.
    10. Aparna Mathur & Roger Bate & Cody Kallen, 2017. "The perverse effect of sin taxes: The rise of illicit white cigarettes," AEI Economics Working Papers 957068, American Enterprise Institute.
    11. Kalamov, Zarko & Runkel, Marco, 2019. "Sin Taxes, Insurance and the Correction of Internalities," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203620, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

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    JEL classification:

    • H0 - Public Economics - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • K32 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Energy, Environmental, Health, and Safety Law
    • K34 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Tax Law

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