Gasoline Taxes and Consumer Behavior / Shanjun Li, Joshua Linn, Erich Muehlegger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Li, Shanjun.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Linn, Joshua.

Muehlegger, Erich.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w17891.

NBER working paper series no. w17891

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2012.

Summary:

Gasoline taxes can be employed to correct externalities from automobile use and to raise government revenue. Our understanding of the optimal gasoline tax and the efficacy of existing taxes is largely based on empirical analysis of consumer responses to gasoline price changes. In this paper, we directly examine how gasoline taxes affect gasoline consumption as distinct from tax-inclusive retail gasoline prices. We find robust evidence that consumers respond more strongly to gasoline tax changes under a variety of model specifications. We discuss two potential reasons for our main findings as well as their implications.

Notes:

Print version record

March 2012.