search query: @author Rabin, M. / total: 5
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| Author: | O'Donoghue, T. Rabin, M. |
| Title: | Optimal sin taxes |
| Journal: | Journal of Public Economics
2006 : NOV, VOL. 90:10-11, p. 1825-1849 |
| Index terms: | food self-discipline taxation |
| Language: | eng |
| Abstract: | This study explores sin taxes on unhealthy items, such as fatty food, that people may consume too much of. It shows that imposing taxes on unhealthy items and returning the proceeds to consumers can generally improve total surplus. Such taxes can even create Pareto improvements because taxes counteract over-consumption by consumers with self-control problems while at the same time they naturally redistribute income to consumers with no self-control problems. Finally, the authors demonstrate with some simple numerical examples that even if the population exhibits relatively few self-control problems, optimal taxes can still be large. |
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