smoke gets into your eyes.pdf

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1、AmericanEconomicJournal:EconomicPolicy2013,5(1):302–336http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/pol.5.1.302SmokeGetsinYourEyes:†CigaretteTaxSalienceandRegressivityByJacobGoldinandTatianaHomonoff*Recentevidencesuggestsconsumerspaylessattentiontocommoditytaxesleviedattheregisterthantotaxesincludedinagood’spos

2、tedprice.Ifthisattentiongapislargerforhigh-incomeconsumersthanforlow-incomeconsumers,policymakerscanmanipulateatax’sregressivitybyalteringthefractionofthetaximposedattheregister.Weinvestigateincomedifferencesinattentivenesstocigarettetaxes,exploitingstateandtimevariationincigaretteexciseandsa

3、lestaxrates.Whereasallconsumersrespondtotaxesthatappearincigarettes’postedprice,ourresultssuggestthatonlylow-incomeconsumersrespondtotaxesleviedattheregister.(JELD12,H22,H25,H71,L66)Shouldgovernmentslevycommoditytaxesattheregisterorincludetheminagood’spostedprice?Traditionalapproachestotheeco

4、nomicsoftaxationofferlittleguidancetopolicymakerschoosingbetweenthetwotaxtypes.Indeed,neoclas-sicaltheorysuggeststhatthisaspectoftaxdesign—thechoicebetween“posted”and“register”taxes—doesnotaffectconsumerwelfarebecauseconsumerscor-rectlycomputeandaccountforalltaxesthatwillbeassessedonagiventra

5、nsaction.However,aseriesofrecentfindingscallthatinvariancepredictionintodoubt.Forexample,Chetty,Looney,andKroft(2009),hereafterCLK(2009),presentcompel-lingevidencethatconsumerspaymoreattentiontogoods’postedpricesthantoregistertaxesbecausetheformeraremoresalient—consumersseethepostedtax-inclus

6、ivepricewhenmakingtheirpurchasingdecisions.RelatedempiricalfindingsbyFinkelstein(2009)andCabralandHoxby(2010)arealsoconsistentwiththehypothesisthatthesalienceofataxshapestheextenttowhichconsumersperceiveit.Thislineofresearchsuggeststhatthepolicychoicebetweenpostedandregistertaxesmaynotbeasirr

7、elevantasneoclassicaltheorypredicts.Thispaperinvestigatesthedistributionaleffectsofthegovernment’schoicebetweenpostedandregistertaxes.SectionIconsidersthecaseinwhichconsumers*Goldin:DepartmentofEconomics,PrincetonUniversity,IndustrialRelation