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Taxes on Unhealthy Food and Externalities in the Parental Choice of Children's Diet

Author

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  • Zarko Kalamov
  • Marco Runkel

Abstract

This paper addresses the question whether taxes on unhealthy food are suitable for internalizing intergenerational externalities inflicted by parents when they decide on their children’s diet. Within an OLG model with an imperfectly altruistic parent, the optimal steady state tax rate on unhealthy food is strictly positive. However, it is only second best since it not only reduces food consumption of the child but also distorts the parent's food consumption. Surprisingly, the optimal tax may under- or overinternalize the marginal damage.

Suggested Citation

  • Zarko Kalamov & Marco Runkel, 2019. "Taxes on Unhealthy Food and Externalities in the Parental Choice of Children's Diet," CESifo Working Paper Series 7837, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7837
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Moustapha Sarr, 2023. "Inciting Family Healthy Eating: Taxation and Nudging," EconomiX Working Papers 2023-13, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    2. Thomas Eichner & Marco Runkel, 2022. "Non-Paternalistic Foundation of Sugar Taxation and Missing Markets for Sugar Content," CESifo Working Paper Series 9583, CESifo.
    3. S. Sajeesh & Ozgur M. Araz & Terry T.‐K. Huang, 2022. "Market positioning in food industry in response to public health policies," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(7), pages 2962-2981, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    obesity; fat tax; altruism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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