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Income effects and the welfare consequences of tax in differentiated product oligopoly

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  • Rachel Griffith
  • Lars Nesheim
  • Martin O'Connell

Abstract

Random utility models are widely used to study consumer choice. The vast majority of applications assume utility is linear in consumption of the outside good, which imposes that total expenditure on the subset of goods of interest does not affect demand for inside goods and restricts demand curvature and pass‐through. We show that relaxing these restrictions can be important, particularly if one is interested in the distributional effects of a policy change, even in a market for a small budget share product category. We consider the use of tax policy to lower fat consumption and show that a specific (per unit) tax results in larger reductions than an ad valorem tax, but at a greater cost to consumers.

Suggested Citation

  • Rachel Griffith & Lars Nesheim & Martin O'Connell, 2018. "Income effects and the welfare consequences of tax in differentiated product oligopoly," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 9(1), pages 305-341, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:quante:v:9:y:2018:i:1:p:305-341
    DOI: 10.3982/QE583
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    Cited by:

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    2. Firat Cengiz, 2016. "Legitimacy and Multi‐Level Governance in European Union Competition Law: A Deliberative Discursive Approach," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 826-845, July.
    3. Adachi, Takanori & Fabinger, Michal, 2022. "Pass-through, welfare, and incidence under imperfect competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    4. Horowitz, Joel L. & Nesheim, Lars, 2021. "Using penalized likelihood to select parameters in a random coefficients multinomial logit model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 222(1), pages 44-55.
    5. Isis Durrmeyer, 2021. "Winners and Losers: The Distributional Effects of the French Feebate on the Automobile Market," Post-Print hal-03514846, HAL.
    6. Victor Aguirregabiria, 2022. "Dynamic demand for differentiated products with fixed-effects unobserved heterogeneity," Papers 2205.03948, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2022.
    7. Takanori Adachi & Michal Fabinger, 2017. "Multi-Dimensional Pass-Through, Incidence, and the Welfare Burden of Taxation in Oligopoly," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1040, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    8. Naoshi Doi, 2022. "Choice of Policy Instruments with Endogenous Quality: Per‐Passenger and Per‐Flight Airport Charges in Japan," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(1), pages 44-88, March.
    9. Kim, Chul & Smith, Adam N. & Kim, Jaehwan & Allenby, Greg M., 2023. "Outside good utility and substitution patterns in direct utility models," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    10. Biondi, Beatrice & Cornelsen, Laura & Mazzocchi, Mario & Smith, Richard, 2020. "Between preferences and references: Asymmetric price elasticities and the simulation of fiscal policies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 108-128.
    11. Huse, Cristian & Lucinda, Claudio & Cardoso, Andre Ribeiro, 2020. "Consumer response to energy label policies: Evidence from the Brazilian energy label program," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    12. Joel L. Horowitz & Lars Nesheim, 2018. "Using penalized likelihood to select parameters in a random coefficients multinomial logit model," CeMMAP working papers CWP29/18, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    13. Takanori Adachi & Muhammad Michal Fabinger, 2017. "Multi-Dimensional Pass-Through, Incidence, and the Welfare Burden of Taxation in Oligopoly," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1040, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    14. Miravete, Eugenio J. & Seim, Katja & Thurk, Jeff, 2023. "Pass-through and tax incidence in differentiated product markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    15. Wang, Ao, 2021. "A BLP Demand Model of Product-Level Market Shares with Complementarity," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1351, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    16. Takanori Adachi & Michal Fabinger, 2017. "Multi-Dimensional Pass-Through and Welfare Measures under Imperfect Competition," Papers 1702.04967, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2018.
    17. Huse, Cristian & Lucinda, Claudio & Ribeiro, Andre, 2021. "Assessing the effects of a large temporary energy savings program: Evidence from a developing country," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    18. O'Connell, Martin & Smith, Kate, 2020. "Corrective Tax Design and Market Power," CEPR Discussion Papers 14582, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Doi, Naoshi & Kono, Tatsuhito & Suzaki, Izumo, 2023. "Optimizing Multiple Airport Charges with Endogenous Airline Quality Considering the Marginal Cost of Public Funds," MPRA Paper 116176, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Martin O'Connell & Kate Smith, 2021. "Optimal sin taxation and market power," IFS Working Papers W21/30, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    21. Dubois, Pierre & Abi Rafeh, Rossi & Griffith, Rachel & O'Connell, Martin, 2023. "The Effects of Sin Taxes and Advertising Restrictions in a Dynamic Equilibrium," TSE Working Papers 23-1480, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Jul 2024.
    22. Allais, Oliver & Bonnet, Céline & Réquillart, Vincent & Spiteri, Marine, 2020. "Reformulation and taxes for healthier consumption: Empirical evidence in the French Dessert market," TSE Working Papers 20-1082, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    23. Nail Kashaev, 2018. "Identification and estimation of multinomial choice models with latent special covariates," Papers 1811.05555, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2022.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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