Gasoline Taxes and Consumer Behavior

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Li, Shanjun; Linn, Joshua; Muehlegger, Erich
• 署名单位: Cornell University; Resources for the Future; University of California System; University of California Davis; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.6.4.302
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 302-342
• 关键词: fuel-economy; political-economy; COMPETITION; EFFICIENCY; STANDARDS; taxation; price; SALIENCE; rates; gas

摘要

Gasoline taxes can be employed to correct externalities from automobile use and to raise government revenue. Our understanding of the optimal gasoline tax and the efficacy of existing taxes is largely based on empirical analysis of consumer responses to gasoline price changes. In this paper, we examine directly how gasoline taxes affect gasoline consumption as distinct from tax-inclusive retail gasoline prices. We find robust evidence that consumers respond more strongly to gasoline tax changes under a variety of model specifications. We discuss two potential reasons for our main findings as well as their implications.