An Optimal-Tax Approach to Alcohol Policy

Authors: Aronsson, Thomas; Sjögren, Tomas

Source: FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Volume 66, Number 2, June 2010 , pp. 153-169(17)

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

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Abstract:

This paper deals with optimal income and commodity taxation in an economy, where alcohol is an externality-generating consumption good. In our model, alcohol can be bought domestically, imported, or produced illegally. Border trade alone implies an incentive to set the domestic alcohol tax below the marginal social damage of alcohol, and to tax (subsidize) commodities that are complementary with (substitutable for) alcohol. The income tax will also be used as a corrective instrument. Furthermore, although the effects of adding illegal production are ambiguous in general, a realistic outcome is, nevertheless, that it reduces both the optimal alcohol tax and the marginal income tax rate.

Keywords: OPTIMAL TAXATION; EXTERNAL EFFECTS; ALCOHOL; BORDER TRADE

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1628/001522110X524197

Publication date: 2010-06-01

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  • FinanzArchiv founded in 1884 is one of the world's oldest professional journals in public finance.

    FinanzArchiv publishes original work from all fields of public economics which are of interest to an international readership, e.g. taxation, public debt, public goods, public choice, federalism, market failure, social policy, and the welfare state. Special emphasis is on high-quality theoretical and empirical papers on current policy issues.

    FinanzArchiv is a well-established, internationally oriented journal in the field of public economics, widely read in Europe and all over the world.

    FinanzArchiv is listed in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI, JCR impact factor 2007 0,296), in Current Contents/Social and Behavioral Sciences, in IDEAS and RePEc (IDEAS/RePEc simple impact factor 2008 1.177), in the Journal of Economic Literature (CD and online), and in the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences.

    FinanzArchiv is a fully peer-reviewed journal committed to a prompt turnaround of submissions. No more than four months should pass between online submission of a manuscript and the editor's decision on acceptance, revision, or rejection.
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