On Wednesday, June 17, 2026, Maxime Tranchard will defend his dissertation, *Essays on Sugar Taxes, Firm Behavior, and Policy Design*, co-supervised by Olivier Allais (PSAE) and Céline Bonnet (TSE).
The event will take place at: AgroParisTech – Agro Paris-Saclay Campus, 22 Place de l’Agronomie, 91123 Palaiseau Cedex, in Amphitheater “Pal-A-1” at 2:00 p.m.
Abstract:
This thesis analyzes the role of fiscal policies in reducing sugar consumption and improving public health. Rising obesity rates and diet-related diseases have led many governments to implement taxes targeting products with high sugar content, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages. However, important questions remain regarding the broader effectiveness of such policies, their potential extension to other food categories, and the role played by firms’ strategic responses. This thesis contributes to this debate by studying how sugar taxes affect consumer choices, firms’ behavior, and welfare in food markets.
The results show that sugar taxes can significantly reduce sugar purchases, although their effectiveness varies across markets and consumer groups. Product reformulation merges as a key channel through which taxes reduce sugar intake, sometimes accounting for a large share of the overall reduction. At the same time, the design of the tax plays an important role. The analysis shows that tiered taxes based on sugar thresholds can generate larger welfare gains than simpler tax structures by encouraging both consumer substitution toward healthier products and firms’ adjustments in product composition.