2009/08/01 by Raj Chetty, Adam Looney, Kory Kroft · 67 citations
Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics #Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth #Taxation and Compliance Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1257/aer.99.4.1145
Using two strategies, we show that consumers underreact to taxes that are not salient. First, using a field experiment in a grocery store, we find that posting tax-inclusive price tags reduces demand by 8 percent. Second, increases in taxes included in posted prices reduce alcohol consumption more than increases in taxes applied at the register. We develop a theoretical framework for applied welfare analysis that accommodates salience effects and other optimization failures. The simple formulas we derive imply that the economic incidence of a tax depends on its statutory incidence, and that even policies that induce no change in behavior can create efficiency losses. (JEL C93, D12, H25, H71)