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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2024, Vol. 23 Issue (12): 4237-4249    DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2024.10.006
Special Issue: 农业经济与管理Agricultural Economics and Management
Agricultural Economics and Management Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Taxing sugar-sweetened beverages in China: By volume or sugar content?  A consumer welfare approach

Tianchang Zhai1, Jingjing Wang2, 3, Lei Li4, Wei Si2, 3# 

1 Rural Development Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100732, China

2 College of Economics Management, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China

3 Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China

4 College of Economics Management, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou 311300, China

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摘要  

基于2014-2017年中国城镇居民家庭即饮液体饮料消费调查数据,本研究估算了各类饮料的价格弹性。在此基础上,对比分析了基于容量和基于含糖量两种征税策略的消费者福利效应。研究结果表明:在减少等量添加糖摄入量的情况下,基于含糖量的征税策略比基于容量的征税策略的补偿变化更小。这表明,在保护消费者福利方面,基于含糖量征税比基于产品容量征税的策略更有效。鉴于中国目前的饮料消费状况,相比于基于容量的征税策略,基于糖含量的征税策略具备显著的效率优势。以上结论可以为食品行业行业和政府在降低中国居民糖摄入水平方面提供了有益的启示。



Abstract  

Using scanner data on the consumption of packaged liquid beverages by Chinese urban households, we estimated the price elasticity of various beverages and compared the effects of volume-based versus sugar-content-based taxation strategies on consumer welfare.  Compared to the volume-based tax, the sugar-content-based beverage tax was predicted to cost less in compensating variation under the same amount of sugar reduced, indicating that taxation based on sugar content may be more efficient in preserving consumer welfare.  Further comparison across different socioeconomic groups reveals that, given current beverage consumption status in China, the efficiency advantage of the sugar-content-based taxation strategy is more pronounced than that of the volume-based taxation.  Our conclusions can provide insights for the food industry and the government to reduce the sugar content in beverages.


Keywords:  sugar-sweetened beverages       consumption tax        welfare effect        QUAIDS  
Received: 07 November 2023   Accepted: 17 July 2024
Fund: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71773122, 42177463, and 72203214) and the Youth Development Program (YDP) of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2024QQJH112).
About author:  Tianchang Zhai, E-mail: zhaitch@cass.org.cn; #Correspondence Wei Si, E-mail:siwei@cau.edu.cn

Cite this article: 

Tianchang Zhai, Jingjing Wang, Lei Li, Wei Si . 2024. Taxing sugar-sweetened beverages in China: By volume or sugar content?  A consumer welfare approach. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 23(12): 4237-4249.

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