Non‐Linear Effects of Soda Taxes on Consumption and Weight Outcomes
研究检验了汽水税是否因非线性消费反应或阈值效应而有效降低体重，利用现有税率范围和1990年代初两个州的突然大幅增税数据，发现几乎没有证据支持非线性或阈值效应。
The potential health impacts of imposing large taxes on soda to improve population health have been of interest for over a decade. As estimates of the effects of existing soda taxes with low rates suggest little health improvements, recent proposals suggest that large taxes may be effective in reducing weight because of non-linear consumption responses or threshold effects. This paper tests this hypothesis in two ways. First, we estimate non-linear effects of taxes using the range of current rates. Second, we leverage the sudden, relatively large soda tax increase in two states during the early 1990s combined with new synthetic control methods useful for comparative case studies. Our findings suggest virtually no evidence of non-linear or threshold effects.