Tax Sensitivity and Home State Preferences in Internet Purchasing
Name
Ellison_Tax Sensitivity.pdf
Size
187.26 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
db04ef9b838a444f4460ac7ef3e5ca28
Author(s)
Ellison, Glenn
Ellison, Sara F.
Date Issued
August 2009
Journal
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
Publisher
American Economic Association
Citation
Ellison, Glenn, and Sara Fisher Ellison. "Tax Sensitivity and Home State Preferences in Internet Purchasing." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 1(2)(2009): 53–71. © 2009 The American Economic Association.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Data on memory modules sales are used to explore aspects of e-retail demand. Aggregate sales are examined in state-level regressions. Discrete choice techniques are used to examine (incomplete) hourly sales data from a price comparison site. We find a strong relationship between e-retail sales to a given state and sales tax rates that apply to purchases from offline retailers, suggesting substantial online-offline substitution and the importance of tax avoidance motives. Geography matters in two ways: consumers prefer purchasing from firms in nearby states and appear to have a separate preference for buying from in-state firms.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.1.2.53
