Published Research
A World Without Borders Revisited: The Impact of Online Sales Tax Collection on Shopping and Search
Forthcoming at Journal of Economics & Management Strategy
Abstract: For years, online retailers did not have to collect sales taxes at the time of sale. Over the past decade, states have passed laws to capture this lost revenue. I study the effect of closing the online sales tax loophole on online spending and search. Using online shopping data, sales taxes, and Amazon’s staggered sales tax collection, I estimate that a household’s tax elasticity is $-$1.9, implying a 13% decline in Amazon’s revenues upon sales tax collection. After Amazon collects sales taxes, households increase their spending on Amazon’s taxed competitors, but not its untaxed competitors. I find no evidence that households change their search behavior or shift their spending offline. Collecting sales taxes online will help governments recapture lost taxes and increase online competition, but will not shift customers back offline.
Working Papers
Less is More Expensive: Income Differences in Bulk Buying
Abstract: Increasing the salience of unit prices can reduce consumption inequality. Using Nielsen data, I show that low-income households forgo savings by not buying in bulk. I estimate that low-income households could save 5% on groceries if they bought in bulk like high-income households. Using novel data on state-level unit-price regulations and warehouse club entry, I find that cognitive costs, store preferences, liquidity constraints, and storage costs discourage low-income households from bulk buying. Mandating unit price display, a policy adopted by nine states, may reduce cognitive costs, increase the salience of unit prices, and close the ``bulk buying gap'' by 26%.
Research In Progress
Going Off-Script: Physician License Suspensions and Primary Care Access for Medicaid Recipients (in progress) with Emma Dean and Daniel Kaliski
Made from Scratch: SNAP and Lottery Sales (in progress) with Jason Sockin
