Gasoline Taxes and Consumer Behavior
研究了汽油税如何独立于零售价格影响汽油消费,发现消费者对税收变化的反应比对价格变化更强烈,并探讨了原因和启示。
Gasoline taxes can be employed to correct externalities from automobile use and to raise government revenue. Our understanding of the optimal gasoline tax and the efficacy of existing taxes is largely based on empirical analysis of consumer responses to gasoline price changes. In this paper, we examine directly how gasoline taxes affect gasoline consumption as distinct from tax-inclusive retail gasoline prices. We find robust evidence that consumers respond more strongly to gasoline tax changes under a variety of model specifications. We discuss two potential reasons for our main findings as well as their implications.