In this paper we present an overview of the empirical evidence about the effectiveness of using taxation to influence addictive behaviour, and we address the normative question: should greater use be made of sin taxes to fund health care? First, we raise the desirability of linking health care financing and taxation of addictive goods, taking into account efficiency and equity principles. Secondly we present the approaches adopted by economists in the study of addiction and their policy implications. At the end, the empirical evidence of effectiveness of taxes is summarised.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Volume (Year): 167 (2003) Issue (Month): 4 (December) Pages: 123-153 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
(with abstract),
plain text
(with abstract),
BibTeX,
RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite),
ReDIF
Find related papers by JEL classification: I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.: