How does progressivity impact tax morale? Experimental evidence across developing countries

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Development Economics
Year: 2025
Volume: 172
Issue: C

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper examines how the progressivity of taxes and government transfers impacts tax morale through a randomized survey experiment with over 30,000 respondents across eight developing countries. Respondents increased (decreased) their tax morale when they received accurate information that taxes in their country are progressive (not progressive). These effects were predominantly driven by respondents in cases where the information they received was counter to their prior beliefs and/or consistent with their preferences. These results suggest changes in policies that increase (decrease) the progressivity of tax systems may also lead to increases (decreases) in tax compliance.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:deveco:v:172:y:2025:i:c:s0304387824001470
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-02-02