To combat growing levels of obesity, health-related taxes have been suggested with taxes on foods high in fat or sugar. Such taxes have been criticised on the basis of their regressivity and potentially adverse impact upon poverty. This paper analyses the effect of such taxes on a range of poverty measures and also examines the effect of a revenue-neutral tax subsidy mixed with a tax on unhealt...

This study examines the relationships between alcohol taxation, drinking during pregnancy, and infant health. Merged data from the US Natality Detailed Files, as well as the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (1985-2002), data regarding state taxes on beer, wine, and liquor, a state- and year-fixed-effect reduced-form regression were used. Results indicate that a one-cent ($0.01) increa...

In recent years, with the implementation of the tax rate increases and ad hoc earnings base increases included in the 1977 Amendments to the Social Security Act, many observers have noted that social security taxes (for the old-age and survivors insurance (OASI), disability insurance (DI), and hospital insurance (HI) programs combined) now exceed Federal income taxes for many families. The ques...

We use a 1985-2005 panel of state data to investigate the relative tax base elasticities of two major US state taxes—corporate income taxes and sales taxes—with respect to changes in their tax rates. We focus on these two taxes because they are essentially flat-rate taxes at the state level, making it relatively straightforward to construct estimates of their bases using aggregate collections a...

This article is part of a series of Policy Issues articles on Soda Tax. You can also find articles on Should Soft Drinks be Taxed More Heavily?, Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxation as Public Health Policy-Lessons from Tobacco, Soda Taxes and Substitution Effects: Will Obesity be Affected?, Better Milk than Cola: Soft Drink Taxes and Substitution Effects, Evaluating Excise Taxes: The Need to Consi...

Technology, not as a collection of devices, but as a disinterested, scientifically based process of management system, provided a framework for "thinking about" the identification and solution to a predefined problem. Behind the mask of neutrality, disinterest, and a modernist notion of "truth," an ideology of control and a consciousness of process earmarked the development of western thinking ...

This chapter provides an overview of key economic issues in the use of taxation as an instrument of environmental policy in the UK. It first reviews economic arguments for using taxes and other market mechanisms in environmental policy, discusses the choice of tax base, and considers the value of the revenue from environmental taxes. It is argued that environmental tax revenues do not significa...

The way a health system is organized and financed is one of the key determinants of whether it provides equitable access to essential health care and improves population health. Financing is important as it determines access to and availability of health care, and the level of protection against catastrophic costs of illness. In lowand middle-income countries, financing becomes a central issue ...