IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nea/journl/y2023i58p32-46.html

On the connection between cultural values and personal income taxation

Author

Listed:
  • Chargaziya, L.

    (HSE University, Moscow, Russia
    Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia)

Abstract

The article explores the relationship between Hofstede's cultural dimensions and personal income taxation, as it is, what was never done in the scientifi c literature. It briefly describes the current level of scientific discourse and history of thought development in this problem field, forming the theoretical basis for substantiating the assumed relationship. Using theoretical reasoning as well as comparative quantitative methods (logistic and linear regression analysis), the paper shows the connection between some of Hofstede's cultural dimensions (power distance, individualism) and the establishment of progressive income taxation and top marginal tax rates. It is found that lower scores of power distance are associated with progressive income taxation, as well as higher tax rates. In addition, some potential mechanisms underlying this relationship are discussed. It is emphasized that cultural values can have two levers of infl uence on tax policy (bottom-up and top-down), since both the politicians responsible for designing tax systems and the citizens who shape the redistribution demand carry the national cultural values. The sample under study includes 115 countries at different levels of economic development.

Suggested Citation

  • Chargaziya, L., 2023. "On the connection between cultural values and personal income taxation," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 58(1), pages 32-46.
    • Handle: RePEc:nea:journl:y:2023:i:58:p:32-46
    DOI: 10.31737/22212264_2023_1_32
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econorus.org/repec/journl/2023-58-32-46r.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.31737/22212264_2023_1_32?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson, 2009. "The Origins of State Capacity: Property Rights, Taxation, and Politics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(4), pages 1218-1244, September.
    2. Christian Bjørnskov & Gert Svendsen, 2013. "Does social trust determine the size of the welfare state? Evidence using historical identification," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 269-286, October.
    3. Gordon, Roger & Li, Wei, 2009. "Tax structures in developing countries: Many puzzles and a possible explanation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(7-8), pages 855-866, August.
    4. repec:isv:jouijm:v:1:y:2012:i:1:p:91-108 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Henrik Jacobsen Kleven, 2014. "How Can Scandinavians Tax So Much?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 77-98, Fall.
    6. Charles I. Jones, 2022. "Taxing Top Incomes in a World of Ideas," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 130(9), pages 2227-2274.
    7. Nerré, Birger, 2008. "Tax Culture: A Basic Concept for Tax Politics," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 153-167, March.
    8. Peter Diamond & Emmanuel Saez, 2011. "The Case for a Progressive Tax: From Basic Research to Policy Recommendations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(4), pages 165-190, Fall.
    9. Johnson, James P. & Lenartowicz, Tomasz, 1998. "Culture, freedom and economic growth: Do cultural values explain economic growth?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 332-356, January.
    10. Torgler, Benno, 2006. "The importance of faith: Tax morale and religiosity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 81-109, September.
    11. Richardson, Grant, 2008. "The relationship between culture and tax evasion across countries: Additional evidence and extensions," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 67-78.
    12. Kleven, Henrik Jacobsen, 2014. "How can Scandinavians tax so much?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 66111, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chengrui Xiao, 2020. "Intergovernmental revenue relations, tax enforcement and tax shifting: evidence from China," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(1), pages 128-152, February.
    2. Henrik Jacobsen Kleven & Claus Thustrup Kreiner & Emmanuel Saez, 2016. "Why Can Modern Governments Tax So Much? An Agency Model of Firms as Fiscal Intermediaries," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 83(330), pages 219-246, April.
    3. Ann-Sofie Kolm & Birthe Larsen, 2019. "Underground activities and labour market performance," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(1), pages 41-70, February.
    4. Pickhardt, Michael & Prinz, Aloys, 2014. "Behavioral dynamics of tax evasion – A survey," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1-19.
    5. Konstantinos Fotiadis & Prodromos Chatzoglou, 2022. "The tax morale of exhausted taxpayers. The case of Greece," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 354-377, September.
    6. Joana Naritomi, 2019. "Consumers as Tax Auditors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(9), pages 3031-3072, September.
    7. Carina Neisser, 2021. "The Elasticity of Taxable Income: A Meta-Regression Analysis [The top 1% in international and historical perspective]," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(640), pages 3365-3391.
    8. Guerra, Alice & Harrington, Brooke, 2018. "Attitude–behavior consistency in tax compliance: A cross-national comparison," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 184-205.
    9. Timothy Besley, 2020. "State Capacity, Reciprocity, and the Social Contract," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(4), pages 1307-1335, July.
    10. Francisco Javier Fonseca Corona, 2024. "Tax morale: a global scoping review from the cultural approach to economics," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 71(2), pages 343-365, June.
    11. Rubolino, Enrico, 2023. "Does weak enforcement deter tax progressivity?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    12. Benkraiem, Ramzi & Uyar, Ali & Kilic, Merve & Schneider, Friedrich, 2021. "Ethical behavior, auditing strength, and tax evasion: A worldwide perspective," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    13. Chen, Shawn Xiaoguang, 2017. "The effect of a fiscal squeeze on tax enforcement: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 62-76.
    14. Nicolae-Bogdan IANC & Thierry BAUDASSE, 2021. "How can culture affect taxation? A postmaterialism value approach," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 2848, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    15. Boadway,Robin & Cuff,Katherine, 2022. "Tax Policy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108949453, Enero-Abr.
    16. Milena Mathé & Gaetan Nicodeme & Savino Rua, 2015. "Tax shifts," Taxation Papers 59, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    17. Felix FitzRoy & Jim Jin, 2017. "Higher Tax for Top Earners," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 121-136, October.
    18. Stefanos A. Tsikas, 2020. "Enforce taxes, but cautiously: societal implications of the slippery slope framework," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 149-170, August.
    19. Musab Kurnaz & Mehmet Soytas, 2019. "Early Childhood Investment and Income Taxation," 2019 Meeting Papers 290, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    20. Livingston Michael A., 2016. "The Nordic model of taxation and its influence in North America: Image and Reality," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2016(2), pages 77-86, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • P5 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nea:journl:y:2023:i:58:p:32-46. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Alexey Tcharykov (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nearuea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.