Should Utility-Reducing Media Advertising be Taxed?

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Should Utility-Reducing Media Advertising be Taxed?

Author Info

Hans Jarle Kind ()
Marko Köthenbürger ()
Guttorm Schjelderup ()

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Abstract

Empirical evidence suggests that people dislike ads in media products like TV programs. In such situations standard economic theory prescribes that the advertising volume can be optimally reduced by levying a tax on ads. However, making use of recent advances in the theory of Industrial Organization and two-sided markets we show that taxing ads may be counterproductive. In particular, we identify a number of situations in which ad-adverse consumers are negatively affected by the tax, and we even show that the tax may lead to higher ad volumes. This unorthodox reaction to a tax may arise when consumers significantly dislike ads, i.e. in situations where traditional arguments for corrective taxes are strongest.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by CESifo Group Munich in its series CESifo Working Paper Series with number CESifo Working Paper No. 2589.

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Date of creation: 2009
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Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_2589

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - General
D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence
L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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.:

Mark Armstrong Author-Email: mark.armstrong@ucl.ac.uk, 2006. "Competition in Two-Sided Markets," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 37(3), pages 668-691, Autumn.
Other versions:
- Mark Armstrong, 2005. "Competition in Two-Sided Markets," Industrial Organization 0505009, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
David S. Evans, 2003. "Some Empirical Aspects of Multi-Sided Platform Industries," Review of Network Economics, Concept Economics, vol. 2(3), pages 191-209, September. [Downloadable!]
Don Fullerton & Gilbert E. Metcalf, 2002. "Tax Incidence," NBER Working Papers 8829, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Don Fullerton & Gilbert E. Metcalf, 2001. "Tax Incidence," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0106, Department of Economics, Tufts University. [Downloadable!]
- Gilbert E. Metcalf, 2006. "Tax Incidence," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0607, Department of Economics, Tufts University. [Downloadable!]
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Anderson, Simon P. & Gabszewicz, Jean J., 2006. "The Media and Advertising: A Tale of Two-Sided Markets," Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Simon P., ANDERSON & Jean J., GABSZEWICZ, 2005. "The media and advertising : a table of two-sided markets," Discussion Papers (ECON - DÃ©partement des Sciences Economiques) 2005060, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques. [Downloadable!]
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- ANDERSON, Simon P. & GABSZEWICZ, Jean J., 2005. "The media and advertising : a tale of two-sided markets," CORE Discussion Papers 2005088, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE). [Downloadable!]

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