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Alcohol/Leisure Complementarity: Empirical Estimates and Implications for Tax Policy

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  • West, Sarah E.
  • Parry, Ian W.H.

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Abstract

This paper provides a first attempt to estimate the cross-price elasticity between alcoholic beverages and leisure, which is critical for assessing how much alcohol taxation might be warranted on fiscal grounds. We estimate an Almost Ideal Demand System defined over alcohol, leisure, and other goods, using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and other sources. Our results suggest that alcohol is a relative complement for leisure over a range of specifications. This implies that the optimal alcohol tax may substantially exceed the Pigouvian tax, reinforcing the efficiency case for higher taxation. These findings should be viewed as preliminary however, given a number of data and other limitations of the analysis.

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  • West, Sarah E. & Parry, Ian W.H., 2009. "Alcohol/Leisure Complementarity: Empirical Estimates and Implications for Tax Policy," RFF Working Paper Series dp-09-09, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-09-09
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    Cited by:

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    2. Jon P. Nelson, 2014. "Gender Differences In Alcohol Demand: A Systematic Review Of The Role Of Prices And Taxes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(10), pages 1260-1280, October.
    3. Parry Ian W. H. & West Sarah E & Laxminarayan Ramanan, 2009. "Fiscal and Externality Rationales for Alcohol Policies," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-48, July.
    4. Chen, Qiu & Huang, Jikun & Mirzabaev, Alisher, 2022. "Does fuel price subsidy work? Household energy transition under imperfect labor market in rural China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    5. Barrie M. Craven & Michael L. Marlow & Alden F. Shiers, 2013. "The Economics of Minimum Pricing for Alcohol," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 174-189, June.
    6. David Mesa-Ruiz & Yolanda Rebollo-Sanz & Jesús Rodríguez-López, 2018. "Hidden figures behind two-vehicle crashes: An assessment of the risk and external costs of drunk driving in Spain," Working Papers 18.07, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics.
    7. Louis Kaplow, 2008. "Taxing Leisure Complements," NBER Working Papers 14397, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Evan Herrnstadt & Ian Parry & Juha Siikamäki, 2015. "Do alcohol taxes in Europe and the US rightly correct for externalities?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(1), pages 73-101, February.
    9. Indrek Saar, 2011. "Optimal alcohol taxation: Simulation results for Estonia," Baltic Journal of Economics, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies, vol. 11(1), pages 65-90, July.
    10. John T. Revesz, 2014. "A Numerical Model of Optimal Differentiated Indirect Taxation," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 211(4), pages 9-66, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    alcohol tax; demand system; alcohol; labor supply; labor tax;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies

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