IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v35y2001i5p433-457.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spatial graduation of fuel taxes; consequences for cross-border and domestic fuelling

Author

Listed:
  • Rietveld, P.
  • Bruinsma, F. R.
  • van Vuuren, D. J.

Abstract

Substantial differences exist among fuel taxes between various countries. These differences represent a form of fiscal competition that has undesirable side effects because it leads to cross-border fuelling and hence to extra kilometres driven. One possible way of dealing with this problem of low fuel taxes in neighbouring countries is to introduce a spatial differentiation of taxes: low near the border and higher farther away. This paper contains an empirical analysis of the consequences of such a spatial graduation of fuel taxes for The Netherlands. Impacts on fuelling behaviour, vehicle kilometres driven, tax receipts, and sales by owners of gas stations are analysed. The appropriate slope of the graduation curve in order to prevent fuel-fetching trips is also discussed. Our conclusion is that in a small country such as The Netherlands, a spatial graduation of fuel taxes will lead to considerable problems, even when the graduation curve is not steep that fuel-fetching trips are prevented. The reason is that - given their activity patterns - car drivers will change the location of their fuelling activity leading to substantial problems for owners of gas stations in areas with high taxes.

Suggested Citation

  • Rietveld, P. & Bruinsma, F. R. & van Vuuren, D. J., 2001. "Spatial graduation of fuel taxes; consequences for cross-border and domestic fuelling," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 433-457, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:35:y:2001:i:5:p:433-457
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965-8564(00)00002-1
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rietveld, Piet & Boonstra, Jaap, 1995. "On the Supply of Network Infrastructure: Highways and Railways in European Regions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 29(2), pages 207-220, May.
    2. Kanbur, Ravi & Keen, Michael, 1993. "Jeux Sans Frontieres: Tax Competition and Tax Coordination When Countries Differ in Size," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 877-892, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bergeaud, Antonin & Raimbault, Juste, 2020. "An empirical analysis of the spatial variability of fuel prices in the United States," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 131-143.
    2. Thomas Y. Mathä & Alessandro Porpiglia & Michael Ziegelmeyer, 2017. "Cross-border commuting and consuming: an empirical investigation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(20), pages 2011-2026, April.
    3. Banfi, Silvia & Filippini, Massimo & Hunt, Lester C., 2005. "Fuel tourism in border regions: The case of Switzerland," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 689-707, September.
    4. Charles Raux, 2011. "Downstream Emissions Trading for Transport," Transportation Research, Economics and Policy, in: Werner Rothengatter & Yoshitsugu Hayashi & Wolfgang Schade (ed.), Transport Moving to Climate Intelligence, chapter 0, pages 209-226, Springer.
    5. Desiderio Romero-Jordán & Marta Jorge Garc𫑉n鳠 & Santiago Álvarez Garc𨀍, 2013. "The impact of fuel tourism on retailers’ diesel price in Spanish neighbouring regions," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 407-413, February.
    6. repec:kap:iaecre:v:16:y:2010:i:2:p:135-148 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Rietveld, Piet & van Woudenberg, Stefan, 2005. "Why fuel prices differ," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 79-92, January.
    8. Andrés Leal & Julio López-Laborda & Fernando Rodrigo, 2010. "Cross-Border Shopping: A Survey," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 16(2), pages 135-148, May.
    9. Jacint Balaguer & Jordi Ripollés, 2018. "Revisiting the importance of border effect in sub‐national regions. Evidence from a quasi‐experimental design," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 97(4), pages 1113-1130, November.
    10. Jansen, David-Jan & Jonker, Nicole, 2018. "Fuel tourism in Dutch border regions: Are only salient price differentials relevant?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 143-153.
    11. Hung, Wing-Tat, 2006. "Taxation on vehicle fuels: its impacts on switching to cleaner fuels," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(16), pages 2566-2571, November.
    12. Susan Xu Tang & David L. Sjoquist, 2019. "Differential Effects of Federal and State Gasoline Taxes on Gasoline Consumption," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 229(2), pages 11-32, June.
    13. repec:mea:meawpa:14284 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Balaguer, Jacint & Ripollés, Jordi, 2018. "Disentangling the importance of international border effects. Some evidence from Portugal–Spain based on diesel retailers," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 260-269.
    15. Leal, Andrés & López-Laborda, Julio & Rodrigo, Fernando, 2009. "Prices, taxes and automotive fuel cross-border shopping," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 225-234.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wagener, Andreas, 2001. "Double Bertrand tax competition: a fiscal game with governments acting as middlemen," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2-3), pages 273-297, April.
    2. Nora Paulus & Patrice Pieretti & Benteng Zou, 2021. "Is a Dynamic Approach to Tax Games Relevant?," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 144, pages 113-138.
    3. Asplund, Marcus & Friberg, Richard & Wilander, Fredrik, 2007. "Demand and distance: Evidence on cross-border shopping," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1-2), pages 141-157, February.
    4. Andreas HaufLer & Guttorm Schjelderup & Frank Stähler, 2005. "Barriers to Trade and Imperfect Competition: The Choice of Commodity Tax Base," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 12(3), pages 281-300, May.
    5. Zodrow, George R, 2003. "Tax Competition and Tax Coordination in the European Union," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 10(6), pages 651-671, November.
    6. Jean Gabszewicz & Ornella Tarola & Skerdilajda Zanaj, 2016. "Migration, wages and income taxes," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(3), pages 434-453, June.
    7. De Borger, B. & Dunkerley, F. & Proost, S., 2007. "Strategic investment and pricing decisions in a congested transport corridor," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 294-316, September.
    8. Jan Jacobs & Jenny Ligthart & Hendrik Vrijburg, 2010. "Consumption tax competition among governments: Evidence from the United States," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 17(3), pages 271-294, June.
    9. Anna Matas & Ginés de Rus & Stef Proost & Salvador Bertoméu-Sánchez & Antonio Estache, 2018. "The Financing of Infrastructure / La financiación de las infraestructuras / El finançament de les infraestructures," IEB Reports ieb_report_1_2018, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    10. Haufler, Andreas & Schjelderup, Guttorm, 2004. "Tacit collusion and international commodity taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3-4), pages 577-600, March.
    11. Franto Ricka, 2012. "The right-wing power of small countries," Working Papers 153, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Office of the Chief Economist.
    12. John Whalley, 2008. "Globalisation and Values," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(11), pages 1503-1524, November.
    13. Kempf, Hubert & Rota-Graziosi, Grégoire, 2010. "Endogenizing leadership in tax competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(9-10), pages 768-776, October.
    14. Jørgen Aasness & Odd Erik Nygård, 2009. "Revenue functions and Dupuit curves for indirect taxes with cross-border shopping," Discussion Papers 573, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    15. Johannesen, Niels, 2022. "The global minimum tax," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    16. O. Amerighi & G. De Feo, 2007. "Competition for FDI in the Presence of a Public Firm and the Effects of Privatization," Working Papers 605, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    17. Pete Maniloff & Dale T. Manning, 2015. "Division of Nonrenewable Resource Rents: A Model of Asymmetric Nash Competition with State Control of Heterogeneous Resources," Working Papers 2015-08, Colorado School of Mines, Division of Economics and Business.
    18. Picard, Pierre M. & Pieretti, Patrice, 2011. "Bank secrecy, illicit money and offshore financial centers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 942-955.
    19. Apolte, Thomas, 2001. "How Tame Will Leviathan Become in Institutional Competition? Competition among Governments in the Provision of Public Goods," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 107(3-4), pages 359-381, June.
    20. George Crowley & Russell Sobel, 2011. "Does fiscal decentralization constrain Leviathan? New evidence from local property tax competition," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 5-30, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:35:y:2001:i:5:p:433-457. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.