Sales Taxes and Internet Commerce

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Einav, Liran; Knoepfle, Dan; Levin, Jonathan; Sundaresan, Neel
• 署名单位: Stanford University; National Bureau of Economic Research; eBay Inc.
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.1.1
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 1-26
• 关键词: sensitivity; DECISION; state

摘要

We estimate the sensitivity of Internet retail purchasing to sales taxes using eBay data. Our first approach exploits the fact that a seller's location-and therefore the applicable tax rate-is revealed only after a buyer has expressed interest in an item. We document how adverse tax surprises reduce the likelihood of purchase and shift subsequent purchases toward out-of-state sellers. We then use more aggregated data to estimate that every one percentage point increase in a state's sales tax increases online purchases by state residents by almost 2 percent, while decreasing their online purchases from state retailers by 3-4 percent.