RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Bundling Private Complements to Finance Public Goods
JF Land Economics
JO Land Econ
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 440
OP 460
DO 10.3368/le.98.3.082621-0099
VO 98
IS 3
A1 Banzhaf, H. Spencer
A1 Smith, V. Kerry
YR 2022
UL http://le.uwpress.org/content/98/3/440.abstract
AB The U.S. National Park Service and other agencies argue that our recreation lands face a crisis of deferred maintenance. This article evaluates two proposals for funding public lands: increasing gate fees and taxing recreational gear. It analyzes the joint welfare effects of such taxes and the services supported by the revenue. It shows that when the taxed goods and the public service are weak complements, there is a simple, sufficient statistic determining whether the joint effect increases welfare for both consumers and sellers: the quantity demanded for the taxed good increases. We illustrate these results with data for recreational services.