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The ghost of institutions past: History as an obstacle to fighting tax evasion?

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  • Kamm, Aaron
  • Koch, Christian
  • Nikiforakis, Nikos

Abstract

Can a history of evasion affect tax compliance after a major institutional reform? We address this question in a novel laboratory experiment varying the quality of past and present institutions. We find that past institutions continue to exert considerable influence on individuals’ expectations about others’ compliance even after a major, common-knowledge institutional change. Consequently, we observe low compliance in good-quality institutions when there is a history of evasion, but high compliance when there is no such history. These findings suggest that history should not be ignored as it is in traditional models of compliance: the higher evasion has been historically, the stronger incentives may need to be to overcome the “ghost of institutions past”. We show that a society-wide poll in which individuals express their attitudes toward compliance can help break the link with the past.

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  • Kamm, Aaron & Koch, Christian & Nikiforakis, Nikos, 2021. "The ghost of institutions past: History as an obstacle to fighting tax evasion?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:132:y:2021:i:c:s0014292120302713
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2020.103641
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    3. Allam, Amir & Moussa, Tantawy & Abdelhady, Mona & Yamen, Ahmed, 2023. "National culture and tax evasion: The role of the institutional environment quality," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    4. Koch, Christian & Müller, Cornelius, 2024. "Tax amnesties and the insurance effect: An experimental study," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    5. Sacco, Pier Luigi & Arenas, Alex & De Domenico, Manlio, 2023. "The political economy of big data leaks: Uncovering the skeleton of tax evasion," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax evasion; Interdependence; Multiple equilibria; Path dependence; Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

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