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Taxes and Benefits: Two Options to Cheat on the State

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  • Martin Halla
  • Friedrich G. Schneider

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="obes12024-abs-0001"> In this article we study the social norms to abstain from cheating on the state via benefit fraud and tax evasion. We interpret these norms (called benefit morale and tax morale) as moral goods, and derive testable hypotheses on whether their demand is determined by prices. Employing a large survey data set from OECD-member countries we provide robust evidence that the demand responds to price proxy variables as predicted by theory. The main general conclusion of this article is that social norms (which are widely accepted as determinants of individual economic behaviour) are themselves influenced by economic factors.

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  • Martin Halla & Friedrich G. Schneider, 2014. "Taxes and Benefits: Two Options to Cheat on the State," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 76(3), pages 411-431, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:obuest:v:76:y:2014:i:3:p:411-431
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/obes.2014.76.issue-3
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Cullis, John & Jones, Philip & Lewis, Alan & Castiglioni, Cinzia & Lozza, Edoardo, 2015. "Do poachers make harsh gamekeepers? Attitudes to tax evasion and to benefit fraud," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 124-131.
    2. Barile, Lory & Cullis, John & Philip Jones, 2022. "Aint that a Shame : False Tax Declarations and Fraudulent Benefit Claims," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1435, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    3. Mathieu Lefebvre & Pierre Pestieau & Arno Riedl & Marie Villeval, 2015. "Tax evasion and social information: an experiment in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(3), pages 401-425, June.
    4. Andrea Celico & Martin Rode, 2024. "Can we all be Denmark? The role of civic attitudes in welfare state reforms," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 51(1), pages 87-125, February.
    5. Niclas Berggren & Christian Bjørnskov & David Lipka, 2015. "Legitimacy and the cost of government," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 307-328, March.
    6. Martina Manfre' & Viola Angelini, 2018. "Does The Financial Situation affect Cheating Behavior? An Investigation through Financial Literacy," Working Papers 06/2018, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    7. Costas Azariadis & Yannis M. Ioannides, 2014. "Thinking About Corruption in Greece," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0783, Department of Economics, Tufts University.
    8. Schneider Friedrich, 2015. "Schwarzarbeit, Steuerhinterziehung und Korruption: Was ökonomische und nicht-ökonomische Faktoren zur Erklärung beitragen," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 16(4), pages 412-425, December.

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