Economic Principles of Commodity Taxation

The authors provide a broad overview of the economic aspects of commodity taxation, focusing in particular on theory and policy applications in OECD countries. Some major papers in public economics have discussed whether these taxes should be levied at a uniform rate, or whether different commodities should be taxed differently, for reasons of either equity or efficiency. The authors begin with this question, and then discuss further issues, including the economic incidence of commodity taxes…