Behavioral and Cultural Approaches to Tax Compliance

Abstract

Nation-states differ widely in their ability to elicit compliance with fiscal demands. Significantly, the tax gap across countries is correlated with citizens’ intrinsic willingness to pay their taxes. Understanding the determinants of voluntary compliance promises to yield important insights for states facing obstacles to efficient tax administration.  How does “tax morale” differ across individuals and societies?  How is the willingness to pay linked to historical and contemporary institutional performance and tax policies?  To what extent is voluntary compliance a product of social capital, or broader cultural norms about honesty and rule-following?  How is tax morale shaped by immigration and demographic change? This panel brings together a diverse set of scholars employing a variety of theoretical perspectives and empirical approaches to address these and related questions.