Taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages are growing in popularity and have generated an active public debate. Are they a good idea? If so, how high should they be? Are such taxes regressive? People in the U.S. and some other countries consume remarkable quantities of sugar-sweetened beverages, and the evidence suggests that this generates significant health costs. Building on recent work by Allcott, Lockwood, and Taubinsky (Forthcoming) and others, we review the basic economic principles that determine the socially optimal SSB tax. The optimal tax depends on (1) externalities: uninternalized health system costs from diseases caused by sugary drink consumption; (2) internalities: costs consumers impose on themselves by consuming too many sugary drinks due to poor nutrition knowledge or lack of self-control; and (3) regressivity: how much the financial burden and the internality benefits from the tax fall on the poor. We summarize the empirical evidence about the key parameters affect how large the tax should be. In the theoretical framework of Allcott, Lockwood, and Taubinsky (Forthcoming), our calculations imply that sugar-sweetened beverage taxes are welfare enhancing, and indeed that the optimal nationwide SSB tax rate may be higher than the one cent per ounce rate most commonly used in U.S. cities. Using our theoretical framework, we end by deriving seven concrete implications for optimal SSB tax structure.

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我们应该对含糖饮料征税吗？理论与证据概述

含糖饮料的税收越来越受欢迎，并引起了公众的积极辩论。他们是个好主意吗？如果是这样，它们应该有多高？这样的税收是退税的吗？在美国和其他一些国家，人们食用大量的含糖饮料，证据表明这会产生巨大的健康成本。在Allcott，Lockwood和Taubinsky（即将出版）等人最近的工作的基础上，我们回顾了确定社会最优SSB税的基本经济原则。最佳税收取决于（1）外部性：含糖饮料消费引起的疾病引起的未内部化的卫生系统成本；（2）内部性：由于营养知识不足或缺乏自我控制，消费者因食用过多的含糖饮料而使自己承担的费用；（3）回归性：税收将给穷人带来多少财务负担和内部收益。我们总结了有关关键参数影响税额多少的经验证据。在Allcott，Lockwood和Taubinsky（即将出版）的理论框架中，我们的计算表明含糖饮料税将提高福利水平，实际上，全国最佳SSB税率可能高于最常用的每盎司税率1％。在美国城市中。使用我们的理论框架，我们最后得出最佳SSB税结构的七个具体含义。我们的计算结果暗示，加糖饮料税将提高福利水平，实际上，全国最佳SSB税率可能会高于美国城市最常用的每盎司1％的税率。使用我们的理论框架，我们最后得出最佳SSB税结构的七个具体含义。我们的计算结果暗示，加糖饮料税将提高福利水平，实际上，全国最佳SSB税率可能会高于美国城市最常用的每盎司1％的税率。使用我们的理论框架，我们最后得出最佳SSB税结构的七个具体含义。