How well targeted are soda taxes?

Pierre Dubois, Rachel Griffith, Martin O'Connell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Soda taxes aim to reduce excessive sugar consumption. We assess who is most impacted by soda taxes. We estimate demand using micro longitudinal data covering on-the-go purchases, and exploit the panel dimension to estimate individual-specific preferences. We relate these preferences and counterfactual predictions to individual characteristics and show that soda taxes are relatively effective at targeting the sugar intake of the young, are less successful at targeting the intake of those with high total dietary sugar, and are unlikely to be strongly regressive especially if consumers benefit from averted internalities.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3661-3704
Number of pages44
JournalThe American Economic Review
Volume110
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2020

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