Retail bottle pricing at the border: evidence of cross-border shopping, fraudulent redemptions, and use tax evasion
研究了密歇根州边境附近可退还押金商品的零售价格模式，发现边境价格因跨境购物和逃税行为而出现高达38%的差异，价格随距离边境增加而趋缓。
This paper examines the pattern of retail prices for deposit eligible goods near Michigan’s borders. Michigan’s unique bottle redemption system and lower sales tax generate incentives for various potentially illegal household responses. Such incentives and behavior should be capitalized in the prices of affected goods. I empirically quantify the spatial price effects and find patterns consistent with theoretical predictions. Michigan’s border prices are higher (lower) for goods with higher (lower) per unit costs by up to 38%. Price-distance trends reflect the waning of these effects away from the border.