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Consuming your Way to Efficiency: Public Goods Provision through Non-Distortionary Tax Lotteries

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  • Thomas Giebe
  • Paul Schweinzer
Abstract
We revisit the classical result that financing a pure public good through taxation of private consumption is inefficient. To this standard setup we add a consumption contest in which consumers can win a prize. We show that an appropriately chosen contest—which we call a ‘tax lottery’—can correct the distortion in private consumption while, at the same time, inducing efficient provision of the public good and balancing the government’s budget. The result does not depend on whether the public good is provided exogenously or dependent on actual tax revenue. We show that neither pure fundraising contests nor a sales tax combined with a ‘simple’ lottery can induce efficiency in the standard environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Giebe & Paul Schweinzer, 2013. "Consuming your Way to Efficiency: Public Goods Provision through Non-Distortionary Tax Lotteries," CESifo Working Paper Series 4228, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_4228
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Qiang Fu & Qian Jiao & Jingfeng Lu, 2015. "Contests with endogenous entry," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 44(2), pages 387-424, May.
    2. Bos, O & P. Schweinzer, 2012. "Risk pooling in redistributive agreements," Discussion Papers 12/17, Department of Economics, University of York.
    3. Giebe, Thomas & Schweinzer, Paul, 2014. "Consuming your way to efficiency: Public goods provision through non-distortionary tax lotteries," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 1-12.
    4. Spencer Bastani & Thomas Giebe & Oliver Gürtler, 2019. "A General Framework for Studying Contests," CESifo Working Paper Series 7993, CESifo.
    5. repec:zbw:rwirep:0399 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Duffy, John & Matros, Alexander, 2021. "All-pay auctions versus lotteries as provisional fixed-prize fundraising mechanisms: Theory and evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 434-464.
    7. Fabbri, Marco, 2015. "Shaping tax norms through lotteries," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 8-15.
    8. Olivier Bos & Béatrice Roussillon & Paul Schweinzer, 2016. "Agreeing on Efficient Emissions Reduction," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 118(4), pages 785-815, October.
    9. Franke, Jörg & Leininger, Wolfgang, 2013. "On the Efficient Provision of Public Goods by Means of Lotteries," Ruhr Economic Papers 399, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    10. Jiao, Qian & Shen, Bo & Sun, Xiang, 2019. "Bipartite conflict networks with returns to scale technology," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 516-531.
    11. Liu, Tracy Xiao & Lu, Jingfeng & Wang, Zhewei, 2022. "Efficient public good provision by lotteries with nonlinear pricing," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 680-698.
    12. Lotta Björklund Larsen & Rubina Arakelyan & Teimuraz Gogsadze & Mariam Katsadze & Sophiko Skhirtladze & Nino Muench, 2019. "The Georgian Tax Lottery of 2012. A Multi-Methodological Assessment," Working Papers 009-19 JEL Codes: H26, K4, International School of Economics at TSU, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.
    13. Jörg Franke & Wolfgang Leininger, 2013. "On the Efficient Provision of Public Goods by Means of Lotteries," Ruhr Economic Papers 0399, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    14. Franke, Jörg & Leininger, Wolfgang, 2014. "On the efficient provision of public goods by means of biased lotteries: The two player case," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 125(3), pages 436-439.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    public goods; taxation; contests; lotteries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C70 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - General
    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • H00 - Public Economics - - General - - - General

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