Do Consumer-Directed Tax Credits Effectively Increase Demand? Experimental Evidence of Conditional Success
通过实验比较消费者导向的税收抵免与传统零售折扣对购买行为的影响，发现当激励产品与标准产品价差小时税收抵免效果较差，价差大时则相对有效，对政策设计有参考价值。
ABSTRACT We investigate whether consumer-directed tax credits motivate purchasing behavior in the same manner as traditional retail concessions (e.g., price discounts). In our experimental study, consumers choose between relatively expensive incentivized products and less expensive standard products. Consistent with negative views toward taxation (Moon 2009) and the default-interventionist model of dual process theories (Evans and Stanovich 2013a; Evans 2011), when the price difference between incentivized and standard products is small, tax credits are a less effective way to encourage demand than traditional retail concessions. However, when the price difference between incentivized and standard products is large, tax credits become a relatively effective purchase inducement. Our results suggest that public policy can be improved by considering the economic setting of tax-incentivized items. JEL Classifications: H21.