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Fiscal Autonomy and Tax Morale: Evidence from Germany

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  • Benno Torgler
  • Jan Werner

Abstract

This paper analyses fiscal autonomy in Germany. First, it provides an overview of fiscal autonomy. What is novel in this paper compared to previous studies is the development of a fiscal autonomy coefficient for the states, based on communal data. The basic intention in the empirical part is to analyse how fiscal autonomy affects tax morale, defined as the intrinsic motivation to pay taxes, in Germany. Strong evidence has been found that a higher fiscal autonomy leads to a higher tax morale, controlling in a multivariate analysis for additional factors. Thus, this paper fills a gap in the tax compliance literature, which has rarely analysed the impact of fiscal autonomy on compliance

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  • Benno Torgler & Jan Werner, 2005. "Fiscal Autonomy and Tax Morale: Evidence from Germany," CREMA Working Paper Series 2005-07, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    • Handle: RePEc:cra:wpaper:2005-07
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Juan Molero & Francesc Pujol, 2012. "Walking Inside the Potential Tax Evader’s Mind: Tax Morale Does Matter," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 105(2), pages 151-162, January.
    2. Lars P. Feld & Benno Torgler & Bin Dong, 2008. "Coming Closer? Tax Morale, Deterrence and Social Learning after German Unification," CREMA Working Paper Series 2008-09, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    3. Julio López-Laborda & Jaime Vallés-Giménez & Anabel Zárate-Marco, 2021. "Personal Income Tax Compliance at the Regional Level: The Role of Persistence, Neighborhood, and Decentralization," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 44(2), pages 289-317, March.
    4. Alexander, Phyllis & Balavac-Orlic, Merima, 2022. "Tax morale: Framing and fairness," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 46(1).
    5. Friedrich Heinemann, 2011. "Economic crisis and morale," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 35-49, August.
    6. Jan Werner, 2009. "Fiscal Solidarity: Key Benefits and Pitfalls for Spain to Lower their Fiscal Conflicts," Working Papers 02-2009, Institute of Local Public Finance.
    7. Benno Torgler & Christoph A. Schaltegger, 2005. "Tax Morale and Fiscal Policy," CREMA Working Paper Series 2005-30, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    8. Nichita Ramona-Anca & Batrancea Larissa-Margareta, 2012. "The Implications Of Tax Morale On Tax Compliance Behavior," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 739-744, July.
    9. Guglielmo Barone & Sauro Mocetti, 2011. "Tax morale and public spending inefficiency," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 18(6), pages 724-749, December.
    10. Mauro Marè & Antonello Motroni & Francesco Porcelli, 2015. "Family Ties and Underground Economy," Working papers 16, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    11. Grazzini Lisa & Petretto Alessandro, 2022. "Heterogeneous capital tax competition in a federation with asymmetric tax compliance," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 23(4), pages 669-705, December.
    12. Juan Prieto Rodríguez & María José Sanzo Pérez & Javier Suárez Pandiello, 2006. "Economic analysis of attitudes towards fiscal fraud in Spain”," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 177(2), pages 107-128, April.
    13. Benno Torgler & Christoph A. Schaltegger, 2006. "Tax Morale: A Survey with a Special Focus on Switzerland," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 142(III), pages 395-425, September.
    14. Belmonte, Alessandro & Dell'Anno, Roberto & Teobaldelli, Désirée, 2018. "Tax morale, aversion to ethnic diversity, and decentralization," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 204-223.
    15. Vincent, Rose Camille, 2023. "Vertical taxing rights and tax compliance norms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 443-467.
    16. Colin C. Williams, 2014. "Confronting the Shadow Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15370.
    17. Lago-Peñas, Ignacio & Lago-Peñas, Santiago, 2010. "The determinants of tax morale in comparative perspective: Evidence from European countries," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 441-453, December.
    18. 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.
    19. Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2011. "Tax Morale, Tax Evasion and the Shadow Economy," Chapters, in: Friedrich Schneider (ed.), Handbook on the Shadow Economy, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Emmanuelle Deglaire & Peter Daly & Fabrice Lec, 2021. "Exposure to tax dilemmas deteriorate individuals' self-declared tax morale," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 363-397, December.
    21. Jan Werner & David Nguyen-Thanh, 2007. "Municipal Infrastructure Delivery in Ethiopia: A bottomless pit or an option to reach the Millennium Development Goals?," Working Papers 01-2007, Institute of Local Public Finance.
    22. Jan Werner, 2016. "Options to support urban infrastructure delivery in Pakistan – a survey for the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Abstract: Pakistan has 191.7 million inhabitants with a population that is increasing b," Working Papers 01-2016, Institute of Local Public Finance.
    23. Wilfried Anicet Kouamé, 2015. "Tax Morale and Trust in Public Institutions," Cahiers de recherche 15-14, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke, revised Oct 2017.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax Morale; Tax Compliance; Fiscal Autonomy; Germany;
    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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