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The balance between specific and ad valorem taxation

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Author Info
Michael Keen

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Abstract

A recurring issue in indirect tax design — most obviously, but not only, for goods traditionally subject to heavy excises — is the appropriate balance between specific and ad valorem taxation. Recent work has developed new perspectives on the issue, which is also one of the oldest in the formal study of public finance. This paper provides a broadly non-technical account of the central considerations that arise in choosing the balance between specific and ad valorem taxation, reviewing and somewhat extending the lessons of theory and experience. There emerge clear presumptions as to the relative effects of the two kinds of tax on such attributes as price, profits, product quality and variety. But the socially optimal balance between them is likely to be quite sensitive to the characteristics of the market at issue.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Institute for Fiscal Studies in its journal Fiscal Studies.

Volume (Year): 19 (1998)
Issue (Month): 1 (February)
Pages: 1-37
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Handle: RePEc:ifs:fistud:v:19:y:1998:i:1:p:1-37

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence

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.:

  1. Timothy J. Besley & Harvey S. Rosen, 1998. "Sales Taxes and Prices: An Empirical Analysis," NBER Working Papers 6667, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Cremer, Helmuth & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 1994. "Commodity Taxation in a Differentiated Oligopoly," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 35(3), pages 613-33, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Barnett, Paul G. & Keeler, Theodore E. & Hu, Teh-wei, 1995. "Oligopoly structure and the incidence of cigarette excise taxes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 457-470, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Steven C. Salop, 1979. "Monopolistic Competition with Outside Goods," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 141-156, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. N. Gregory Mankiw & Michael D. Whinston, 1986. "Free Entry and Social Inefficiency," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 17(1), pages 48-58, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Dierickx, I. & Matutes, C. & Neven, D., 1988. "Indirect taxation and cournot equilibrium," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 385-399. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Stern, Nicholas, 1987. "The effects of taxation, price control and government contracts in oligopoly and monopolistic competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 133-158, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Sumner, Michael, 1993. "Tax on Price: A Comment," Public Finance = Finances publiques, , vol. 48(2), pages 297-302.
  9. Myles, Gareth D, 1987. "Some Implications of Quality Differentials for Optimal Taxation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 98(390), pages 148-60, Supplemen. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Dixit, Avinash K & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1977. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 297-308, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Paul Baker & Vanessa Brechling, 1992. "The impact of excise duty changes on retail prices in the UK," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 13(2), pages 48-65, January.
  12. Johnson, Terry R, 1978. "Additional Evidence on the Effects of Alternative Taxes on Cigarette Prices," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(2), pages 325-28, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Fraser, R. W., 1985. "Commodity taxes under uncertainty," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 127-134, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Barzel, Yoram, 1976. "An Alternative Approach to the Analysis of Taxation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(6), pages 1177-97, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, 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.)

  1. Sybren Cnossen, 2006. "Tobacco Taxation in the European Union," CPB Discussion Papers 67, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. [Downloadable!]
  2. Simon Cowan, 2002. "Commodity Taxation as Insurance Against Price Risk," Economics Series Working Papers 110, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Simon Loertscher & Andras Niedermayer, 2008. "Fee Setting Intermediaries: On Real Estate Agents, Stock Brokers, and Auction Houses," Discussion Papers 1472, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science. [Downloadable!]
  4. Ramón Torregrosa, 2008. "Macroeconomic effects of an indirect tax substitution," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 94(3), pages 199-221, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Luca Bossi, . "Per Unit Versus As Valorem Taxes Under Dynamic Monopoly," Working Papers 0703, University of Miami, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Francois Boldron, 2002. "On the subsidization of local monopolies," Economics Bulletin, Economics Bulletin, vol. 8(3), pages 1-10. [Downloadable!]
  7. Herman Vollebergh, 2004. "Lessons from the Polder: Is Dutch CO2-Taxation Optimal?," Working Papers 2004.6, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei. [Downloadable!]
  8. Sophia Delipalla & Peter Sanfey, 1998. "Commodity Taxes, Wage Determination and Profits," Studies in Economics 9816, Department of Economics, University of Kent. [Downloadable!]
  9. Vincenzo Denicolo & Massimo Matteuzzi, 2000. "Specific and Ad Valorem Taxation in Asymmetric Cournot Oligopolies," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 335-342, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. S. P. Anderson & A. de Palma & B. Kreider, 2000. "Tax Incidence in Differentiated Product Oligopoly," THEMA Working Papers 2000-10, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Blackorby, Charles & Murty, Sushama, 2007. "Unit Versus Ad Valorem Taxes : The Private Ownership of Monopoly In General Equilibrium," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 797, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  12. Richard M. Bird & Sally Wallace, 2003. "Taxing Alcohol in Africa: Reflections from International Experience," International Tax Program Papers 0304, International Tax Program, Institute for International Business, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, revised Nov 2003. [Downloadable!]
  13. Susanne Dröge & Philipp J. H. Schröder, 2005. "Corrective Ad Valorem and Unit Taxes: A Welfare Comparison," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 534, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  14. Jon Strand & Michael Keen, 2006. "Indirect Taxes on International Aviation," IMF Working Papers 06/124, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  15. John Asker, 2007. "This Paper is No Longer Available," Working Papers 07-2, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
  16. Blackorby, Charles & Murty, Sushama, 2006. "Unit Versus Ad Valorem Taxes : Monopoly In General Equilibrium," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 761, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. Sophia Delipalla & Peter Sanfey, 2000. "Commodity Taxes, Wage Determination and Profits," Studies in Economics 0016, Department of Economics, University of Kent. [Downloadable!]
  18. Sijbren Cnossen, 2001. "How Should Tobacco Be Taxed in EU-Accession Countries?," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  19. X. Wang & Jingang Zhao, 2009. "On the efficiency of indirect taxes in differentiated oligopolies with asymmetric costs," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 96(3), pages 223-239, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Philipp J. H. Schröder, 2003. "The Comparison between Ad Valorem and Unit Taxes under Monopolistic Competition," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 333, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
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