IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wiw/wiwwuw/wuwp356.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Free the Period? Evaluating Tampon Tax Reforms Using Household Scanner Data

Author

Listed:
  • Klara Kinnl

    (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business)

  • Ulrich Wohak

    (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business)

Abstract

We study price and volume effects of VAT reductions for period products. We exploit varying treatment intensities and timing in several European countries and find that in response to a one percentage point reduction in the VAT, prices decrease by 0.55% in the following 12 months. Pass-through rates range from full pass-through to over-shifting 12 months post policy change, with low-income households benefiting the most. While the average effect on aggregate purchase volumes is statistically zero, low income households’ demand is stimulated. We find evidence that households purchase higher quality products as a result of the tax reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Klara Kinnl & Ulrich Wohak, 2023. "Free the Period? Evaluating Tampon Tax Reforms Using Household Scanner Data," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp356, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp356
    Note: PDF Document
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://research.wu.ac.at/ws/portalfiles/portal/59343851/WP356.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Doyle Jr., Joseph J. & Samphantharak, Krislert, 2008. "$2.00 Gas! Studying the effects of a gas tax moratorium," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(3-4), pages 869-884, April.
    2. Christos Genakos & Mario Pagliero, 2022. "Competition and Pass-Through: Evidence from Isolated Markets," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 35-57, October.
    3. Laura Rossouw & Hana Ross, 2021. "Understanding Period Poverty: Socio-Economic Inequalities in Menstrual Hygiene Management in Eight Low- and Middle-Income Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-14, March.
    4. Malani, Anup & Reif, Julian, 2015. "Interpreting pre-trends as anticipation: Impact on estimated treatment effects from tort reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 1-17.
    5. Lydia Dimitrakopoulou & Christos Genakos & Themistoklis Kampouris & Stella Papadokonstantaki, 2023. "VAT pass-through and competition: evidence from the Greek Islands," CEP Discussion Papers dp1923, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. Laporte, Audrey & Windmeijer, Frank, 2005. "Estimation of panel data models with binary indicators when treatment effects are not constant over time," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 389-396, September.
    7. Lydia Dimitrakopoulou & Christos Genakos & Themistoklis Kampouris & Stella Papadokonstantaki, 2023. "VAT pass-through and competition: Evidence from the Greek Islands," POID Working Papers 078, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    9. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    10. E. Glen Weyl & Michal Fabinger, 2013. "Pass-Through as an Economic Tool: Principles of Incidence under Imperfect Competition," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 121(3), pages 528-583.
    11. Nathan H. Miller & Matthew Osborne & Gloria Sheu, 2017. "Pass-through in a concentrated industry: empirical evidence and regulatory implications," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 48(1), pages 69-93, March.
    12. Hindriks, Jean & Serse, Valerio, 2019. "Heterogeneity in the tax pass-through to spirit retail prices: Evidence from Belgium," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 142-160.
    13. Lydia Dimitrakopoulou & Christos Genakos & Themistoklis Kampouris & Stella Papadokonstantaki, 2023. "VAT Pass-Through and Competition: Evidence from the Greek Islands," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2039, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Kinnl, Klara & Wohak, Ulrich, 2023. "Free the Period? Evaluating Tampon Tax Reforms Using Household Scanner Data," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 356, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    2. Carl Hase & Johannes Kasinger, 2024. "The Pass-through of Retail Crime," Papers 2407.07201, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2024.
    3. Frederik von Waldow & Heike Link, 2024. "Spatial Competition and Pass-through of Fuel Taxes: Evidence from a Quasi-natural Experiment in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2086, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Drolsbach, Chiara Patricia & Gail, Maximilian Maurice & Klotz, Phil-Adrian, 2023. "Pass-through of Temporary Fuel Tax Reductions: Evidence from Europe," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277655, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. Drolsbach, Chiara Patricia & Gail, Maximilian Maurice & Klotz, Phil-Adrian, 2023. "Pass-through of temporary fuel tax reductions: Evidence from Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    6. Luo, Lianfa & Cheng, Zhiming & Ye, Qingqing & Cheng, Yanjun & Smyth, Russell & Yang, Zhiqing & Zhang, Le, 2024. "Nonmonetary awards and innovation: Evidence from winning China's Top Brand Contest," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    7. Richards, Timothy J. & Paudel, Ujjwol, 2024. "Minimum Wages and Pass-Through," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343648, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Harju, Jarkko & Kosonen, Tuomas & Laukkanen, Marita & Palanne, Kimmo, 2022. "The heterogeneous incidence of fuel carbon taxes: Evidence from station-level data," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    9. Sun, Puyang & Ma, Kewei & Su, Li, 2024. "Import licenses, intermediaries, and price pass-through: Evidence from the Chinese steel market," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    10. Chiara Drolsbach & Maximilian Maurice Gail & Phil-Adrian Klotz, 2022. "Pass-through of Temporary Fuel Tax Reductions: Evidence from Europe," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202239, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    11. Johannes Kasinger, 2024. "Shrouded Sin Taxes," Papers 2409.01493, arXiv.org.
    12. Christos Genakos & Mario Pagliero, 2022. "Competition and Pass-Through: Evidence from Isolated Markets," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 35-57, October.
    13. Kurt Schmidheiny & Sebastian Siegloch, 2023. "On event studies and distributed‐lags in two‐way fixed effects models: Identification, equivalence, and generalization," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(5), pages 695-713, August.
    14. Burra, Lavan T. & Sommer, Stephan & Vance, Colin, 2024. "Free-ridership in subsidies for company- and private electric vehicles," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    15. George Deltas & Michael Polemis, 2024. "Price Pass-Through Dependence on the Source of Cost Increases: Evidence from the European Gasoline Market," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 65(2), pages 595-626, September.
    16. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    17. Frondel, Manuel & Thiel, Patrick & Vance, Colin, 2024. "Heterogeneous pass-through over space and time: The case of Germany's fuel tax discount," Ruhr Economic Papers 1087, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    18. Roth, Jonathan & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Bilinski, Alyssa & Poe, John, 2023. "What’s trending in difference-in-differences? A synthesis of the recent econometrics literature," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 2218-2244.
    19. Kahl, Mats Petter, 2024. "Was the German fuel discount passed on to consumers?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    20. Galindo-Silva, Hector & Tchuente, Guy, 2021. "Fighting for not-So-Religious souls: The role of religious competition in secular conflicts," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 127-152.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    tax pass-through; VAT reduction; tampon tax; scanner data; tax incidence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp356. 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: Department of Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.wu.ac.at/economics/en .

    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.