Does Britain or the United States Have the Right Gasoline Tax?
构建分析框架，评估考虑污染、拥堵和事故外部性后的次优汽油税，计算美英最优税率，发现美国税率过低而英国偏高，并探讨转向里程税的巨大福利收益。
This paper develops an analytical framework to assess the second-best optimal level of gasoline taxation taking into account unpriced pollution, congestion, and accident externalities, as well as interactions with the broader fiscal system. We provide calculations of the optimal taxes for the US and the UK under a variety of parameter scenarios. Under our central parameter values, the second-best optimal gasoline tax is $1.01/gal for the US and $1.34/gal for the UK. Current tax rates are much lower than this in the US and higher in the UK. The calculations are moderately sensitive to alternative parameter assumptions. The congestion externality is the largest component in both nations; revenue-raising needs also play a significant role, as do accident externalities and local air pollution. Potential welfare gains from reducing the current UK tax rate are estimated at nearly one-fourth the production cost of all gasoline used in the UK. Even larger gains could be achieved by switching to a tax on vehicle miles with equal revenue yield. For the US, the welfare gains from optimizing the gasoline tax are smaller, but those from switching to an optimal tax on vehicle miles are very large.