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Tax Morale and Institutions

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  • Benno Torgler

Abstract

This paper analyses the impact of direct democracy, trust in government, the court and the legal system, and federalism on tax morale. In the tax compliance literature it is novel to analyse tax morale as dependent variable and to systematically analyse the effects of formal and informal institutions in Switzerland, a country where participation rights and the degree of federalism vary across different cantons. We used two different data sets at the individual level (World Values Survey and International Social Survey Programme). The findings suggest that direct democratic rights, local autonomy, and trust in government, the court and the legal system have a significantly positive effect on tax morale.

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  • Benno Torgler, 2003. "Tax Morale and Institutions," CREMA Working Paper Series 2003-09, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    • Handle: RePEc:cra:wpaper:2003-09
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax Morale; Tax Compliance; Tax Evasion; Direct Democracy; Local Autonomy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • H73 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Interjurisdictional Differentials and Their Effects
    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General

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