Commodity taxes and taste heterogeneity

B-Tier
Journal: European Economic Review
Year: 2018
Volume: 101
Issue: C
Pages: 284-296

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We study optimal linear commodity taxes in the presence of non-linear income taxes when agents differ in skills and tastes for consumption. We show that optimal commodity taxes are partly determined by a many-person Ramsey rule when there is taste heterogeneity within income classes. The usual role of commodity taxes in relaxing incentive constraints explains the remaining part of these taxes when there is taste heterogeneity between income classes. We quantify these two parts using French consumption microdata and find that commodities taxes are only shaped by many-person Ramsey considerations.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:eecrev:v:101:y:2018:i:c:p:284-296
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25