Consumption Taxes in a Life-Cycle Framework: Are Sin Taxes Regressive?

Regressive Sin Taxes

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 benef...

Food Taxes: How Likely Are Likely Effects?

How Effective are Taxes in Reducing Tobacco Consumption?

Studying Optimal Paternalism, Illustrated by a Model of Sin Taxes

The classical economic approach to policy analysis assumes that people always respond optimally to the costs and benefits of their available choices. A great deal of evidence suggests, however, that in some contexts people make errors that lead them not to behave in their own best interests. Economic policy prescriptions might change once we recognize that humans are humanly rational rather tha...

How Effective are Emission Taxes

*Ishikawa: Hitotsubashi University, Kunitachi, Tokyo 186-8601, Japan. Fax: 81-42-580-8195; E-mail: [email protected]. Kuroda: Nagoya Gakuin University, Seto, Aichi 480-1298, Japan. Phone: 81-561-42-0350; E-mail: [email protected]. We are grateful to an anonymous referee, seminar participants at Nagoya Gakuin University and RIETI and the participants of Kobe COE One-Day Conference on Labor M...