IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/ifwedp/201260.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Indirect taxation of monopolists: A tax on price

Author

Listed:
  • Vetter, Henrik

Abstract

A digressive tax like a variable rate sales tax or a tax on price gives firms an incentive for expanding output. Thus, unlike unit and ad valorem taxes which amplify the harm from monopoly, a digressive tax lessens the harm. We analyse a tax on price with respect to efficiency and practical policy appeal. Using a tax on price in combination with ad valorem taxation it is possible to achieve the Ramsey solution. That is, the combination of the two taxes secures tax revenue in the least distortive way. We also show how tax reforms based only on observation of price and quantity can make use of a tax on price in order to improve welfare. That is, it is practical to use a tax on price.

Suggested Citation

  • Vetter, Henrik, 2012. "Indirect taxation of monopolists: A tax on price," Economics Discussion Papers 2012-60, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201260
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.economics-ejournal.org/economics/discussionpapers/2012-60
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/67492/1/732552141.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hamilton, Stephen F., 1999. "Tax incidence under oligopoly: a comparison of policy approaches," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 233-245, February.
    2. Stephen F. Hamilton, 2009. "Excise Taxes with Multiproduct Transactions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(1), pages 458-471, March.
    3. Gareth Myles, 1996. "Imperfect competition and the optimal combination of ad valorem and specific taxation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 3(1), pages 29-44, January.
    4. D. B. Suits & R. A. Musgrave, 1953. "Ad Valorem and Unit Taxes Compared," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 67(4), pages 598-604.
    5. Glaister, Stephen, 1987. "Regulation through Output Related Profits Tax," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 281-296, March.
    6. Tam, Mo-Yin S, 1993. "Tax on Price: A Response," Public Finance = Finances publiques, , vol. 48(2), pages 303-309.
    7. Sumner, Michael, 1993. "Tax on Price: A Comment," Public Finance = Finances publiques, , vol. 48(2), pages 297-302.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carbonnier, Clément, 2014. "The incidence of non-linear price-dependent consumption taxes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 111-119.
    2. Kojun Hamada & Takao Ohkawa & Makoto Okamura, 2022. "Optimal taxation in a free‐entry Cournot oligopoly: The average cost function approach," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(2), pages 1166-1192, May.
    3. Henrik Vetter, 2016. "Tax Reform in Monopolistic Competition with Increasing Preferences for Variety," Public Finance Review, , vol. 44(2), pages 245-262, March.
    4. Hiroshi Aiura & Hikaru Ogawa, 2019. "Indirect taxes in a cross-border shopping model: a monopolistic competition approach," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 128(2), pages 147-175, October.
    5. Neelanjan Sen & Rajit Biswas, 2017. "Indirect Taxes in Oligopoly in Presence of Licensing Opportunities," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 61-82, March.
    6. Anderson, Simon P. & de Palma, Andre & Kreider, Brent, 2001. "The efficiency of indirect taxes under imperfect competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 231-251, August.
    7. Adachi, Takanori & Fabinger, Michal, 2022. "Pass-through, welfare, and incidence under imperfect competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    8. Wang, Vey & Lai, Chung-Hui, 2010. "Franchise Fee, Tax/Subsidy Policies and Economic Growth," MPRA Paper 27745, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Aiura, Hiroshi & Ogawa, Hikaru, 2013. "Unit tax versus ad valorem tax: A tax competition model with cross-border shopping," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 30-38.
    10. Rajit Biswas & Vandana Thandassery Ramakrishnan, 2022. "Taxes and unemployment," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 18(2), pages 182-194, June.
    11. Ellalee, Haider & Alali, Walid Y., 2022. "A Welfare and Pass-Through Effects of Regulations within Imperfect Competition," MPRA Paper 116512, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. repec:diw:diwwpp:dp333 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Vincenzo Denicolo & Massimo Matteuzzi, 2000. "Specific and Ad Valorem Taxation in Asymmetric Cournot Oligopolies," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 7(3), pages 335-342, May.
    14. repec:diw:diwwpp:dp534 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Carbonnier Clément, 2013. "Pass-through of Per Unit and ad Valorem Consumption Taxes: Evidence from Alcoholic Beverages in France," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 13(2), pages 837-863, September.
    16. Philipp J. H. Schröder, 2004. "The Comparison between Ad Valorem and Unit Taxes under Monopolistic Competition," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 83(3), pages 281-292, December.
    17. Amarjyoti Mahanta, 2023. "Ad valorem tax versus tax per unit of output in a Bertrand competition with strictly increasing marginal cost," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 105-117, June.
    18. Zhu Wang & Julian Wright, 2017. "Ad valorem platform fees, indirect taxes, and efficient price discrimination," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 48(2), pages 467-484, May.
    19. Laszlo Goerke, 2011. "Commodity tax structure under uncertainty in a perfectly competitive market," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 103(3), pages 203-219, July.
    20. Auerbach, Alan J. & Hines, James Jr., 2002. "Taxation and economic efficiency," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 21, pages 1347-1421, Elsevier.
    21. Jörg Plewka, 2007. "Fiscal Discrimination Between Consumer Groups: Tax Burden Distribution Under Price Discrimination," Ruhr Economic Papers 0019, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    22. GRAZZINI, Lisa, 2000. "Ad valorem and per unit taxation in an oligopoly model," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2000054, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    tax on price; ad valorem tax; tax incidence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201260. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwkiede.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.