Essays in public economics

Article 1: We study price and volume effects of value added tax reductions for period products. We exploit varying treatment intensities and timing in several European countries and find that prices decrease by 10-14%. This corresponds to full pass-through 12 months post policy change, with low-income households benefiting the most. While the average effect on aggregate purchase volumes is statistically zero, low income households’ demand is stimulated. We find evidence that prices of top-selling products decrease less while households purchase higher quality products as a result of the tax reform.