In an effort to reduce the growing prevalence of overweight and obesity, food taxes have been introduced in several European countries, the so-called ‘obesitax’. As yet little evidence is at hand, policy measures are being taken to counterweight the consumption of unhealthy food or the increasing diet-related diseases. Several questions need to be discussed, starting from a general perspective:...

The present study examined whether a high tax on high calorie dense foods effectively reduces the purchased calories of high energy dense foods in a web based supermarket, and whether this effect is moderated by budget and weight status. 306 participants purchased groceries in a web based supermarket, with an individualized budget based on what they normally spend. Results showed that relative ...

BACKGROUND Rising greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) have implications for health and up to 30 % of emissions globally are thought to arise from agriculture. Synergies exist between diets low in GHGEs and health however some foods have the opposite relationship, such as sugar production being a relatively low source of GHGEs. In order to address this and to further characterise a healthy sustaina...

Overview This brief examines the incidence of the proposed 1 percent Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST) on different income and age groups in the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) region. The T-SPLOST is to be voted on by Georgians on July 31, 2012. Of particular interest is the effect the 1 percent sales tax would have on low-income families and senior citizens. W...

terms of expenditure. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) program, an earnings subsidy program, which provides tax credits to low-income families with earnings, is third largest. The Food Stamp program, which provides food coupons to the poor, and programs for subsidized housing for the poor are fourth and fifth, respectively. The TANF program is, as the table shows, only the sixth largest prog...

Overview This brief examines the incidence of the proposed 1 percent Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST) on different income and age groups in the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) region. The T-SPLOST is to be voted on by Georgians on July 31, 2012. Of particular interest is the effect the 1 percent sales tax would have on low-income families and senior citizens. W...

It has recently been shown that incorporating “keeping up with the Joneses”preferences into a prototypical two-ability-type optimal nonlinear income tax model leads to higher marginal tax rates for both types of agents. In particular, the high-skill type faces a positive marginal tax rate, rather than zero as in the conventional case. In this paper, agents’utility functions are postulated to ex...

Current economic instruments aimed at climate change mitigation focus mainly on CO(2) emissions, but efficient climate mitigation needs to focus on other greenhouse gases as well as CO(2). This study investigates the distributional effects of climate change taxes on households belonging to different income and lifestyle groups; and it compares the effects of a CO(2) tax with a multiple GHG tax ...

OBJECTIVE The current research examined the association between state disfavoured tax on soda (i.e. the difference between soda sales tax and the tax on food products generally) and a summary score representing the strength of state laws governing competitive beverages (beverages that compete with the beverages in the federally funded school lunch programme) in US schools. DESIGN The Classifi...

BACKGROUND Food tax-subsidy policies are proposed to hold promise for helping to produce healthier patterns of food purchasing and consumption at population level. Evidence for their effects derives largely from simulation studies that explore the potential effects of untried policies using a mathematical modelling framework. This paper provides a critique first of the nature of the evidence de...