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Taxing Food to Improve Health: Economic Evidence and Arguments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Sean B. Cash  and
Ryan D. Lacanilao
Sean B. Cash
Affiliation:
Department of Rural Economy at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta
Ryan D. Lacanilao
Affiliation:
Department of Rural Economy at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta
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Abstract

Many observers have suggested that tax policy can be used to change the relative prices of foods in ways that will produce desirable health outcomes. We briefly review the economic evidence regarding such claims, and discuss several conceptual and pragmatic issues surrounding the use of such interventions to achieve public health objectives.

Keywords

nutritiondietfood subsidiesfat taxobesity
Type
Invited Papers
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , October 2007 , pp. 174 - 182
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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