Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/205703 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
New Zealand Treasury Working Paper No. 16/09
Publisher: 
New Zealand Government, The Treasury, Wellington
Abstract: 
This paper has two aims. First, it surveys some of the literature on the likely effectiveness of sugar taxes as a policy instrument for reducing morbidity and mortality associated with obesity. There is a wide range of estimates among the literature of the price elasticity of demand for sugary products. A plurality of studies found that groups most at risk from obesity have greater price sensitivity. Studies also found there is a risk of consumers substituting unhealthy but non-taxed products for taxed products, negating any potential health improvements from a tax. The paper's second aim is to build on the literature review by analysing the possible incidence of a sugar tax in New Zealand, based on New Zealand household expenditure data. The empirical analysis presented is consistent with international evidence that a sugar tax would be regressive at the general population level.
Subjects: 
Sugar sweetened beverages
tax progressivity
JEL: 
H2
H3
ISBN: 
978-0-947519-48-3
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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