The Impact of a 'Soda Tax' on Prices: Evidence from French Micro Data

29 Pages Posted: 22 Dec 2012

See all articles by Nicoletta Berardi

Nicoletta Berardi

Banque de France - Economic Study and Research Division

Patrick Sevestre

Aix-Marseille University

Marine Tepaut

Banque de France

Alexandre Vigneron

Banque de France

Date Written: December 2012

Abstract

Based on a unique database consisting of hundreds of thousands of non-alcoholic beverage price records collected in about 800 supermarkets in France, we evaluate the impact on prices of the soda tax, an excise on drinks with added sugar or sweetener, introduced in January 2012 in France. We adopt a difference in differences approach and find that the tax was passed-through to consumer prices gradually over the first semester of 2012. After 6 months, the tax was fully shifted to soda prices while the pass-through to prices of fruit drinks and flavored waters was not complete. We also find that the impact of this tax was different across retailing groups and beverage brands

Keywords: excise tax, beverage, added sugar, tax incidence, price adjustment

JEL Classification: C31, D22, H22, L81

Suggested Citation

Berardi, Nicoletta and Sevestre, Patrick and Tepaut, Marine and Vigneron, Alexandre, The Impact of a 'Soda Tax' on Prices: Evidence from French Micro Data (December 2012). Banque de France Working Paper No. 415, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2192470 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2192470

Nicoletta Berardi

Banque de France - Economic Study and Research Division ( email )

31, rue Croix des Petits Champs
75049 Paris Cedex 01
FRANCE

Patrick Sevestre (Contact Author)

Aix-Marseille University ( email )

3 Avenue Robert Schuman
3 Avenue Robert Schuman,
Aix-en-Provence, 13628
France

Marine Tepaut

Banque de France ( email )

Paris
France

Alexandre Vigneron

Banque de France ( email )

Paris
France

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