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Car notches: Strategic automaker responses to fuel economy policy

Author Info

  • Sallee, James M.
  • Slemrod, Joel

Abstract

Notches – where marginal changes in behavior lead to discrete changes in a tax or subsidy – figure prominently in many policies. In this paper, we analyze notches in fuel economy policies, which aim to reduce negative externalities associated with fuel consumption. We provide evidence that automakers respond to notches in the Gas Guzzler Tax and mandatory fuel economy labels by precisely manipulating fuel economy ratings so as to just qualify for more favorable treatment. We then describe the welfare consequences of this behavior and derive a welfare summary statistic applicable to many contexts. In brief, notches are an inefficient substitute for smooth policies because they create marginal incentives that vary among decision makers and induce some individual actions that have negative net social benefits.

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Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Public Economics.

Volume (Year): 96 (2012)
Issue (Month): 11 ()
Pages: 981-999

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Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:96:y:2012:i:11:p:981-999
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505578

Keywords: Notches; Fuel economy; Externalities; Corrective taxation;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
  • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
  • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

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  1. Anderson, Soren & Parry, Ian & Sallee, James M. & Fischer, Carolyn, 2010. "Automobile Fuel Economy Standards: Impacts, Efficiency, and Alternatives," Discussion Papers dp-10-45, Resources For the Future.
  2. Christopher R. Knittel, 2011. "Automobiles on Steroids: Product Attribute Trade-Offs and Technological Progress in the Automobile Sector," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(7), pages 3368-99, December.
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  5. Thomas H. Klier & Joshua Linn, 2008. "New vehicle characteristics and the cost of the corporate average fuel economy standard," Working Paper Series WP-08-13, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
  6. Emmanuel Saez, 2010. "Do Taxpayers Bunch at Kink Points?," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 180-212, August.
  7. Soren T. Anderson & James M. Sallee, 2011. "Using Loopholes to Reveal the Marginal Cost of Regulation: The Case of Fuel-Economy Standards," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(4), pages 1375-1409, June.
  8. James A. Kahn, 1986. "Gasoline Prices and the Used Automobile Market: A Rational Expectations Asset Price Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 101(2), pages 323-339.
  9. Blundell, Richard, 2000. "Work Incentives and 'In-Work' Benefit Reforms: A Review," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 27-44, Spring.
  10. Turrentine, Thomas S. & Kurani, Kenneth S., 2007. "Car buyers and fuel economy?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 1213-1223, February.
  11. James M. Sallee, 2013. "Rational Inattention and Energy Efficiency," NBER Working Papers 19545, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  12. Gloria Helfand & Ann Wolverton, 2011. "Evaluating the Consumer Response to Fuel Economy: A Review of the Literature," NCEE Working Paper Series 200904, National Center for Environmental Economics, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, revised Apr 2011.
  13. James M. Sallee, 2011. "The Taxation of Fuel Economy," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(1), pages 1 - 38.
  14. Meghan R. Busse & Christopher R. Knittel & Florian Zettelmeyer, 2009. "Pain at the Pump: The Differential Effect of Gasoline Prices on New and Used Automobile Markets," NBER Working Papers 15590, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  15. Raj Chetty & John N. Friedman & Tore Olsen & Luigi Pistaferri, 2009. "Adjustment Costs, Firm Responses, and Micro vs. Macro Labor Supply Elasticities: Evidence from Danish Tax Records," NBER Working Papers 15617, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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