Andrew Stevens, Peter Berck, and Sofia Berto Villas-Boas

from ARE Update Vol. 19, No. 4, Mar/Apr, 2016

View Article PDF: Taxing Bottled Water as an Environmental Policy

Abstract

Litter from plastic water bottles is an environmental concern for cities and states throughout the country. One potential policy response to this issue is to implement a consumer tax on bottled water in hopes that the subsequent reduction in total sales translates into less litter. We explore evidence from Washington state to analyze how effective and efficient a consumer tax on bottled water is as an environmental policy.

Keywords

consumer response, demand estimation, sales tax, litter, Washington state

Citation

Andrew Stevens, Peter Berck, and Sofia Berto Villas-Boas. 2016. "Taxing Bottled Water as an Environmental Policy." ARE Update 19(4): 9-11. University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics.
https://giannini.ucop.edu/filer/file/1461278500/17280/