Elasticity & Tax Incidence

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Elasticity & Tax Incidence

The analysis, or manner, of how a tax burden is divided between consumers and producers is called tax incidence.

Purpose of taxes

Sin taxes generally serve two purposes: to raise tax revenue for the government and to discourage consumption.
When a government agency tries to calculate the effects of altering its cigarette tax, it must analyze how much the tax affects the quantity of cigarettes consumed. This issue reaches beyond governments and taxes. Every firm faces a similar issue. When a firm considers raising the sales price, it must consider how much a price increase will reduce the quantity demanded of what it sells.
The effectiveness of any tax depends on prevailing elasticity in that market.

Tax incidence defined

Typically, the tax incidence, or burden, falls both on the consumers and producers of the taxed good.
However, if one wants to predict which group will bear most of the burden, all one needs to do is examine the elasticity of demand and supply.

Passing on higher costs to consumers

Higher costs, like a higher tax on cigarette companies for the example we gave in the text, lead supply to shift to the left.

Passing on higher costs to consumers

The supply shift is identical in (a) and (b). However, in (a), where demand is inelastic, companies largely can pass the cost increase along to consumers in the form of higher prices, without much of a decline in equilibrium quantity. In (b), demand is elastic, so the shift in supply results primarily in a lower equilibrium quantity.
Consumers suffer in either case, but in (a), they suffer from paying a higher price for the same quantity, while in (b), they suffer from buying a lower quantity (and presumably needing to shift their consumption elsewhere).

The example of cigarette taxes demonstrated that because demand is inelastic, taxes are not effective at reducing the equilibrium quantity of smoking, and they mainly pass along to consumers in the form of higher prices.

How to determine tax incidence

Tax incidence is the analysis of how a tax burden is divided between consumers and producers.
If demand is more inelastic than supply, consumers bear most of the tax burden, and if supply is more inelastic than demand, sellers bear most of the tax burden.

Inelastic demand

When the demand is inelastic, consumers are not very responsive to price changes, and the quantity demanded reduces only modestly when the tax is introduced. In the case of smoking, the demand is inelastic because consumers are addicted to the product.
The government can then pass the tax burden along to consumers in the form of higher prices, without much of a decline in the equilibrium quantity.

Inelastic supply

Similarly, when a government introduces a tax in a market with an inelastic supply, such as, for example, beachfront hotels, and sellers have no alternative than to accept lower prices for their business, taxes do not greatly affect the equilibrium quantity. The tax burden now passes on to the sellers.
If the supply was elastic and sellers had the possibility of reorganizing their businesses to avoid supplying the taxed good, the tax burden on the sellers would be much smaller.

Example

This example shows two markets, one with an inelastic supply curve (a) an one with an inelastic demand curve (b).

Example - inelastic supply

In (a), the supply is inelastic and the demand is elastic, such as in the example of beachfront hotels.
While consumers may have other vacation choices, sellers can’t easily move their businesses.
By introducing a tax, the government essentially creates a wedge between the price paid by consumers Pc and the price received by producers Pp. In other words, of the total price paid by consumers, part is retained by the sellers and part is paid to the government in the form of a tax. The distance between Pc and Pp is the tax rate.

Example - inelastic supply

The new market price is Pc, but sellers receive only Pp per unit sold, as they pay Pc-Pp to the government.
Since we can view a tax as raising the costs of production, this could also be represented by a leftward shift of the supply curve, where the new supply curve would intercept the demand at the new quantity Qt.
The tax revenue is given by the shaded area, which we obtain by multiplying the tax per unit by the total quantity sold Qt. The tax incidence on the consumers is given by the difference between the price paid Pc and the initial equilibrium price Pe. The tax incidence on the sellers is given by the difference between the initial equilibrium price Pe and the price they receive after the tax is introduced Pp.

Example - inelastic demand

The diagram (b) describes the example of the tobacco excise tax where the supply is more elastic than demand.
The tax incidence now falls disproportionately on consumers, as shown by the large difference between the price they pay, Pc, and the initial equilibrium price, Pe.
Sellers receive a lower price than before the tax, but this difference is much smaller than the change in consumers’ price.

1Microeconomics

1.1Competitive Markets: Demand & Suply

1.1.1Markets & Demand

1.1.2Diminishing Marginal Returns

1.1.3Supply

1.1.4Market Equilibrium

1.1.5Price Mechanism

1.1.6Consumer & Producer Surplus

1.1.7IB Multiple Choice - Demand

1.1.8IB Multiple Choice - Supply

1.2Elasticity

1.2.1Elasticities of Demand

1.2.2Factors Affecting Price Elasticity of Demand

1.2.3Elasticity of Supply

1.2.4Price Elasticity of Supply

1.2.5IB Multiple Choice - Price Elasticity of Demand

1.2.6IB Multiple Choice - Price Elasticity of Supply

1.2.7IB Multiple Choice - Other Elasticities

1.3Government Intervention

1.3.1Indirect Taxes & Subsidies

1.3.2Application Question - Taxing Prices or Quantities

1.3.3Subsidies & Price Controls

1.3.4Deadweight Loss & Government Intervention

1.3.5Elasticity & Tax Incidence

1.3.6IB Multiple Choice - Government Intervention

1.4Market Failure

1.4.1Types of Market Failure

1.4.2Introduction to Externalities

1.4.3Negative Externalities

1.4.4Policy for Negative Externalities

1.4.5Positive Externalities

1.4.6The Deadweight Welfare Loss of Externalities

1.4.7Case Study - The Externalities of Education

1.4.8Public Goods & the Free-Rider Problem

1.4.9Asymmetric Information

1.4.10End of Topic Test - Market Failure

1.4.11Application Questions - Market Failure

1.5HL: Theory of the Firm & Market Structures

1.5.1Theory of the Firm & Market Structures

2Macroeconomics

2.1The Level of Overall Economic Activity

2.1.1The Circular Flow of Income

2.1.2Defining GDP

2.1.3Limitations of GDP

2.1.4IB Multiple Choice - Economic Indicators

2.1.5Business Cycles

2.1.6Output Gaps

2.2Aggregate Demand & Aggregate Supply

2.2.1The Aggregate Demand Curve

2.2.2Components of Aggregate Demand

2.2.3Shape of the Aggregate Demand Curve

2.2.4Shifts in Aggregate Demand

2.2.5IB Multiple Choice - Aggregate Demand

2.2.6Short & Long-Run Aggregate Supply

2.2.7Alternative Models of LRAS

2.2.8Equilibrium in the AD-AS Model

2.2.9Output Gaps & the AD-AS Model

2.3Macroeconomic Objectives

2.3.1Introduction to Unemployment

2.3.2Limitations of Unemployment

2.3.3Types of Unemployment

2.3.4Causes & Impact of Unemployment

2.3.5Defining Inflation

2.3.6Measuring Inflation

2.3.7Use of Index Numbers

2.3.8The Consumer Price Index

2.3.9Consequences of Inflation

2.3.10Causes of Inflation

2.3.11Inflation & Unemployment Tradeoff

2.3.12The Short-Run Phillips Curve

2.3.13The Long-Run Phillips Curve

2.4Economic Growth, Poverty & Inequality

2.4.1Measuring Economic Growth

2.4.2Determinants of Productivity

2.4.3Economic Growth & Productivity

2.4.4Absolute & Relative Poverty

2.4.5Inequality

2.4.6Inequality 2

2.4.7Lorenz Curve

2.4.8Government Policy on Poverty

2.4.9End of Topic Test - Poverty & Inequality

2.4.10Application - Inequality & Poverty

2.5Fiscal Policy

2.5.1Introduction to Fiscal Policy

2.5.2Fiscal Policy and AD-AS Model

2.5.3Fiscal Policy Lags

2.5.4Automatic Stabilizers

2.5.5IB Multiple Choice - Fiscal Policy

2.6Monetary Policy

2.6.1Objectives of Monetary Policy

2.6.2Monetary Policy Implementation

2.6.3Monetary Policy & AD-AS Model

2.6.4Monetary Policy Lags & Pitfalls

2.7Supply-Side Policies

2.7.1Supply-Side Policies

2.7.2Supply-Side Policies 2

3The Global Economy

3.1International Trade

3.1.1Globalisation

3.1.2Globalisation for LEDCs

3.1.3Globalisation for MEDCs

3.1.4Comparative Advantage & Trade

3.1.5Protectionism

3.1.6Arguments for Protectionism

3.1.7Arguments Against Protectionism

3.1.8End of Topic Test - Globalisation & Trade

3.1.9Case Study - Globalisation & Trade

3.2Exchange Rates

3.2.1Floating Exchange Rates

3.2.2Fixed Exchange Rate

3.2.3Effect of a Stronger & Weaker Dollar

3.3The Balance of Payments

3.3.1Balance of Payments

3.3.2Balance of Payments 2

3.3.3FDI & Reducing a BoP Deficit

3.4Economic Integration

3.4.1Customs Unions & WTO

3.4.2Merged Currency

3.5Terms of Trade

3.5.1Absolute & Comparative Advantage

3.5.2Gains from Trade

3.5.3Terms of Trade

3.5.4IB Multiple Choice - Comparative Advantage & Trade

3.6Economic Development

3.6.1Factors Influencing Growth & Development

3.6.2International Institutions

3.6.3Measures of Development

3.6.4Barriers to Development

3.6.5Case Study - The Bottom Billion

3.6.6End of Topic Test - Emerging & Developing

3.7The Role of Domestic & International Factors

3.7.1Interventionist Strategies

3.7.2Development Strategies

3.7.3Development Promotion Policies

3.7.4End of Topic Test - Growth & Global Development

3.7.5Application Questions -Growth & Global Development

3.8The Role of International Trade

3.8.1International Institutions

3.8.2End of Topic Test - Globalisation & Trade

3.9The Role of Foreign Aid

3.9.1Aid

3.9.2Limitations of Aid

3.9.3Support for Aid

3.9.4Application Questions - Developing Countries

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