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Circumstantial risk: Impact of future tax evasion and labor supply opportunities on risk exposure

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  • Doerrenberg, Philipp
  • Duncan, Denvil
  • Zeppenfeld, Christopher

Abstract

This paper examines whether investment in a risky asset depends on future circumstances. We conduct a laboratory experiment where subjects have the opportunity to invest earned income in a risky asset and, depending on randomly assigned treatment states, have the opportunity to respond to the outcome of the investment through extra labor effort and/or tax evasion. We find evidence that ex-post access to labor opportunities decreases ex-ante risk-taking, while access to tax evasion has no effect. Having both opportunities leads to lower risk-taking, but this effect is not statistically significant. We explore the channels behind these results with two additional treatments and find that our results are driven by background risk rather than flexibility.

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  • Doerrenberg, Philipp & Duncan, Denvil & Zeppenfeld, Christopher, 2015. "Circumstantial risk: Impact of future tax evasion and labor supply opportunities on risk exposure," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 85-100.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:109:y:2015:i:c:p:85-100
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2014.11.005
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax evasion; Labor supply; Risk behavior; Lab experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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