Can Taxes Shape an Industry? Evidence from the Implementation of the Amazon Tax

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Baugh, Brian; Ben-David, Itzhak; Park, Hoonsuk
• 署名单位: University of Nebraska System; University of Nebraska Lincoln; University System of Ohio; Ohio State University; National Bureau of Economic Research; Nanyang Technological University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1082
• DOI: 10.1111/jofi.12687
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 1819-1855
• 关键词: sales taxes; state; sensitivity

摘要

For years, online retailers have maintained a price advantage over brick-and-mortar retailers by not collecting sales tax at the time of sale. Recently, several states have required that online retailer Amazon collect sales tax during checkout. Using transaction-level data, we document that households living in these states reduced their Amazon purchases by 9.4% following the implementation of the sales tax laws, implying elasticities of -1.2 to -1.4. The effect is stronger for large purchases, where purchases declined by 29.1%, corresponding to an elasticity of -3.9. Studying competitors in the electronics field, we find some evidence of substitution toward competing retailers.