Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivations for Tax Compliance: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Germany

A-Tier
Journal: American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
Year: 2016
Volume: 8
Issue: 3
Pages: 203-32

Authors (4)

Nadja Dwenger (not in RePEc) Henrik Kleven (not in RePEc) Imran Rasul (University College London (UCL...) Johannes Rincke (CESifo)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 4 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

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

Abstract

We study extrinsic and intrinsic motivations for tax compliance in the context of a local church tax in Germany. This tax system has historically relied on zero deterrence so that any compliance at baseline is intrinsically motivated. Starting from this zero deterrence baseline, we implement a field experiment that incentivized compliance through deterrence or rewards. Using administrative records of taxes paid and true tax liabilities, we use these treatments to document that intrinsically motivated compliance is substantial, that a significant fraction of it may be driven by duty-to-comply preferences, and that there is no crowd-out between extrinsic and intrinsic motivations.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aejpol:v:8:y:2016:i:3:p:203-32
Journal Field
General
Author Count
4
Added to Database
2026-01-25