Do Consumers Buy Less of a Taxed Good?

This paper shows that consumers may buy more of a taxed good if it is sold by a two-sided platform firm. Two-sided platform industries serve distinct customer groups that are connected through interdependent demand, and include major businesses such as the media industry (newspapers/magazines and advertisers), banking (cardholder and merchant), and the software industry (users and application developers). The paper compares ad-valorem and specific taxes and shows that they may have opposite effects on quantities sold, and that the ad-valorem tax - the most commonly used tax throughout the OECD - has effects on prices and quantities not previously recognized.