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Toward an understanding of collaborative tax evasion: A natural field experiment with businesses

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  • Doerr, Annabelle
  • Necker, Sarah

Abstract

Sales from businesses to consumers provide fertile ground for collaborative tax evasion. However, little is known about the phenomenon. We conduct a natural field experiment with 2,900 businesses in which we take the role of consumers and vary if we request an invoice for the delivery of a service. We find that 56% of businesses approach consumers with the intention to evade. The fraction is zero in the regulated market and 72% in the unregulated market. It increases when consumers signal their willingness to collude. Consumers can save 25% of the legal price on average if they agree to evade.

Suggested Citation

  • Doerr, Annabelle & Necker, Sarah, 2018. "Toward an understanding of collaborative tax evasion: A natural field experiment with businesses," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 18/13, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:aluord:1813
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    collaborative tax evasion; evasion rent; field experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • E26 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Informal Economy; Underground Economy
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

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