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Perfect Taxation with Imperfect Competition

Author

Listed:
  • Alan J. Auerbach
  • James R. Hines Jr.
Abstract
This paper analyzes features of perfect taxation also known as optimal taxation when one or more private markets is imperfectly competitive. Governments with perfect information and access to lump-sum taxes can provide corrective subsidies that render outcomes efficient in the presence of imperfect competition. Relaxing either of these two conditions removes the government's ability to support efficient resource allocation and changes the perfect policy response. When governments cannot use lump-sum taxes, perfect tax policies represent compromises between the benefits of subsidizing output in the imperfectly competitive sectors of the economy and the costs of imposing higher taxes elsewhere. This tradeoff is formally identical for ad valorem and specific taxes, even though ad valorem taxation is welfare superior to specific taxation in the presence of imperfect competition. When governments have uncertain knowledge of the degree of competition in product markets, perfect corrective tax policy is generally of smaller magnitude than that when the degree of competition is known with certainty.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan J. Auerbach & James R. Hines Jr., 2001. "Perfect Taxation with Imperfect Competition," NBER Working Papers 8138, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8138
    Note: PE
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kory Kroft & Jean-William Laliberté & René Leal-Vizcaíno & Matthew J Notowidigdo, 2024. "Salience and Taxation with Imperfect Competition," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 91(1), pages 403-437.
    2. Desai, Mihir A. & Hines Jr., James R., 2008. "Market reactions to export subsidies," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 459-474, March.
    3. Saku Aura & Thomas Davidoff, 2005. "Optimal Commodity Taxation When Land and Structures Must Be Taxed at the Same Rate," Working Papers 0505, Department of Economics, University of Missouri.
    4. Sheshinski, Eytan, 2007. "Optimum commodity taxation in pooling equilibria," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(7-8), pages 1565-1573, August.
    5. Debapriya Sen & Giorgos Stamatopoulos, 2019. "Decreasing Returns, Patent Licensing, and Price-Reducing Taxes," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 175(2), pages 291-307.
    6. Ali Abcha, 2014. "Imperfect competition, government spending and estimated markup," Working Papers hal-04141357, HAL.
    7. Ana-Isabel Guerra & Laura Varela-Candamio & Jesús López-Rodríguez, 2022. "Tax reforms in Spain: efficiency levels and distributional patterns," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 41-68, January.
    8. 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.
    9. Muhammad Fawdy Renardi Wahyu & Ardyanto Fitrady, 2023. "Optimal Tax Rate Of Cigarette Excise Tax In Indonesia," Gadjah Mada Economics Working Paper Series 202303001, Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada.
    10. Zrinka Lukač, 2023. "Optimal taxation of a perfectly competitive firm with Cobb–Douglas production function as a bilevel programming problem," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 31(3), pages 891-909, September.
    11. McCalman, Phillip, 2023. "Robust trade policy to offset foreign market power," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    12. Arefiev, Nikolay & Baron, Tatyana, 2006. "Capital Taxation and Rent Seeking," MPRA Paper 9988, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection

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