Research

Voice and Punishment: A Global Survey Experiment on Tax Morale

The Global Governance Practice at the World Bank commissioned RIWI to conduct a survey in 50 countries, examining attitudes and opinions towards tax-related questions through a series of message tests using different information interventions. Over 65,000 random respondents from all corners of the globe took part in the survey, making it the largest study on this topic. The results were published in a May 2019 World Bank Policy Research Working Paper.

Considerable improvements in tax morale are observed “when (a) the salience of anti-corruption efforts is increased and (b) citizens are allowed to voice their expenditure preferences to the government”. These results remain consistent across the large sample and when analyzed through various theoretical lenses, as explained by the report’s authors.

See the full report online here.

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