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Theoretically robust but empirically invalid? An experimental investigation into tax equivalence

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  • Rudolf Kerschbamer
  • Georg Kirchsteiger

Abstract

The idea that the final distribution of the tax burden (economic incidence) does not depend on the initial distribution of tax liabilities (statutory incidence) is referred to as the Liability Side Equivalence principle. This paper tests this principle in the laboratory and finds that subjects who actually have to pay the tax carry a higher tax burden. It is argued that this violation of Liability Side Equivalence is due to the fact that a change in the distribution of tax liabilities induces a shift in behaviorally relevant social norms. This shift, in turn, affects the impact of the tax. Our results explain some striking empirical observations and have important theoretical and practical implications.

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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Springer in its journal Economic Theory.

Volume (Year): 16 (2000)
Issue (Month): 3 ()
Pages: 719-734

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Handle: RePEc:spr:joecth:v:16:y:2000:i:3:p:719-734

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Related research

Keywords: Tax equivalence; Tax incidence; Social norms.;

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Cited by:
  1. Jean-Robert Tyran & Arno Riedl, 2003. "Tax Liability Side Equivalence in Gift-Exchange Labor Markets," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2003 2003-15, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
  2. Rupert Sausgruber & Jean-Robert Tyran, 2008. "Tax Salience, Voting, and Deliberation," Working Papers 2009-25, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, University of Innsbruck.
  3. Blumkin, Tomer & Ruffle, Bradley J. & Ganun, Yosef, 2012. "Are income and consumption taxes ever really equivalent? Evidence from a real-effort experiment with real goods," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1200-1219.
  4. Casoria Fortuna & Riedl Arno, 2012. "Experimental labor markets and policy considerations: Incomplete contracts and macroeconomic aspects," Research Memoranda 058, Maastricht : METEOR, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization.
  5. Konrad, Kai A. & Morath, Florian & Müller, Wieland, 2010. "Taxation and market power," Discussion Papers, Research Professorship & Project "The Future of Fiscal Federalism" SP II 2010-07, Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB).
  6. Ruffle, Bradley J., 2005. "Tax and subsidy incidence equivalence theories: experimental evidence from competitive markets," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(8), pages 1519-1542, August.
  7. Raj Chetty & Adam Looney & Kory Kroft, 2009. "Salience and taxation: theory and evidence," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2009-11, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
  8. Sausgruber, Rupert & Tyran, Jean-Robert, 2011. "Are we taxing ourselves?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 164-176.
  9. Arno Riedl & Jean-Robert Tyran, 2003. "Tax Liability Side Equivalence in Gift-Exchange Labor Markets," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 03-065/1, Tinbergen Institute.
  10. Raj Chetty, 2009. "The Simple Economics of Salience and Taxation," NBER Working Papers 15246, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  11. Arno Riedl, 2009. "Behavioral and Experimental Economics Can Inform Public Policy: Some Thoughts," CESifo Working Paper Series 2902, CESifo Group Munich.

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