THE THEORY OF WELFARE ECONOMICS AND TAX REGULATIONS
THE THEORY OF WELFARE ECONOMICS AND TAX REGULATIONS

AN EMPIRICAL EXAMPLE OF PIGOUVIAN TAXES

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is to present the impact of the economic theories and empirical studies on the contemporary tax laws and regulations in numerous jurisdictions, based on a case study of the economic concept of Pigouvian taxes which stems from the neoclassical theory of welfare economics. The author presents the theoretical concept of the Pigouvian taxation and its econometric verification and tries to demonstrate that the empirical examples of the implementation of such fiscal instruments have proved to be effective based on the quantitative assessment. However, serious deficiencies in the methodology of empirical studies on this phenomenon can also be identified, which affects the possibility of assessing the potential practical implications of introducing such mechanisms. Nevertheless, as the author emonstrates by referring to the World Bank data, the discussed concept significantly influences contemporary tax law in many countries and is a source of inspiration for many tax jurisdictions. The analysis carried out in this paper indicates that not every implementation and post-hoc evaluation of economic theory implemented into tax systems can be effectively studied with the use of economic analysis of law; when analysing regulations introduced to influence the behaviour of individuals, it is also necessary to take into account the research in other disciplines, for example psychology and sociology, even if the inspiration for the regulations in question was well-grounded and developed in economic theories. For this reason, it can be argued that economic analysis of law, also referred to as law and economics, although a valuable cognitive approach, should never be the only basis of analysis, even if a regulation in question has a strictly economic origin.

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