The Social Norms of Tax Compliance: Evidence from Australia,Singapore, and the United States

Tax compliance is a concern to governments around the world. Prior research (Alm, J. and I. Sanchez: 1995, KYKLOS 48, 3–19) has attributed unexplained inter-country differences in compliance rates to differences in social norms. Economics researchers studying tax compliance in the United States (U.S.) (see for example J. Andreoni et al.: 1998, Journal of Economic Literature 36, 818–860) have called for more attention to social (as opposed to economic) influences on tax compliance. In this study, we extend this prior research by explicitly examining the role of social norms [Cialdini, R. and M. Trost: 1998, The Handbook of Social Psychology (Oxford University Press, New York)] on tax compliance in three different countries. We test our research hypotheses using a hypothetical compliance scenario, which was administered in Australia, Singapore, and the U.S. There were differences in compliance rates and social norms among the three countries. Factor analysis of the social norm questions identified three distinct social norm constructs. Two of these factors were significant in explaining tax compliance behavior. The first and most influential factor was taxpayers’ own personal moral beliefs, along with the beliefs of those close to them (e.g., friends and important others). The second significant factor represented societal views of proper behavior. We conclude that social norms help to explain tax compliance intentions and why tax compliance rates are higher than would be predicted by strictly economic models. Donna D. Bobek is an Associate Professor in the Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting at the University of Central Florida. Her research focuses on taxpayer and tax professional judgment and decision-making, with an emphasis on ethical decision-making. Donna has published in a number of academic journals including Accounting, Organizations & Society, Behavioral Research in Accounting, the Journal of the American Taxation Association, Advances in Taxation and Advances in Behavioral Accounting Research. John T. Sweeney is the Ted Saldin Distinguished Professor of Accounting and the Chair of the Department of Accounting at Washington State University. His research interests include accounting ethics and organizational justice. He has published in a number of accounting research journals, including Accounting, Organizations, & Society, The Accounting Review, Behavioral Research in Accounting, the Journal of Accounting & Public Policy, the Journal of Business Ethics, and Research on Accounting Ethics. Robin W. Roberts is the Al and Nancy Burnett Eminent Scholar and Director of the Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting at the University of Central Florida. His recent research focuses on ethics and regulation in the accounting profession and on corporate social responsibility. Robin has published in a number of academic journals including Accounting and the Public Interest, Accounting, Organizations & Society, Advances in Accounting, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Business Ethics, Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, and Research in Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting.     

The Role of Refund Expectations in Savings: Evidence from Volunteer Income Tax Preparation Programs in the United States

Millions of households in the United States receive federal income tax refunds annually, many for substantial amounts. Consumers can use the proceeds of income tax refunds for spending and saving, but tests of prior programs to encourage savings show low take‐up rates. This field study shows that the majority of tax filers make no estimate of their refund amount in advance, but that consumers who are able to estimate their refund in advance of completing their tax returns tend to be reasonably accurate in their estimates. Moreover, taxpayers who estimate their refunds before filing their taxes are more likely to save their refunds than those who do not. These results highlight the importance of expectations and planning with respect to savings decisions.     

中国流转税税负归宿分析

本文运用可计算一般均衡模型,计算我国流转税税负在不同收入水平人群之间的归宿。模型中根据我国的二元经济结构,把城镇居民按收入水平分为7组、农村居民分为5组,运用一般均衡原理,分析流转税税收负担在各组居民之间的分布,再把每组居民承担的税负与可支配收入对比,计算我国流转税体系的具体累退程度。根据我国整个税收制度的设计特点,解释流转税体系累退性的原因,并为完善税制公平功能提出建议。     

税收分享、征税努力与地方公共支出行为——基于全国县级面板数据的研究

本文将政府间基于共同税基的税收分享定义为共享税收分享,把按地方所产生税收在政府间的事实归宿定义为实际税收分享.基于全国县级面板数据,我们实证分析了两类税收分享对地方支出行为的效应及作用机制.研究发现,不同性质税收分享对地方支出规模效应不同:共享税收分享具有激励效应,其每提高1％,地方支出规模增加0.08％;实际税收分享有抑制效应,其每增加1％,支出规模降低0.112％.共享税收分享对生产性和福利性支出分别存在显著正向和负向效应,而实际税收分享的效应恰恰相反.此外,共享和实际税收分享对地方支出结构的效应也显著不同.地方征税努力是税收分享对支出行为作用的一个传导途径:税收分享通过征税努力产生间接收入效应,并与税收分享的直接收入效应综合影响地方收入,从而影响支出规模并促使地方调整支出决策.     

The Ethical Environment of Tax Practitioners: Western Australian Evidence

This study examines Australian tax agents' perceptions of the ethical environment in which they practice, within the context of an income tax system based on self-assessment principles. The research identifies and ranks an inventory of ethical issues in terms of perceived frequency of occurrence and importance to Western Australian tax agents. In addition, the extent and influence of ethical concerns in the profession are evaluated.The study has determined that the most frequently cited ethical issue is the failure to make reasonable enquiries where information or documentation provided by a client appears to be inaccurate or incomplete. The most important ethical problem is a failure to ensure confidentiality with regard to privileged client information. When the frequency of occurrence and importance means are compared, inadequate technical competence, failure to make reasonable enquiries/conduct research, continuing to act for a client where there is incorrect information, and conflicts in distinguishing between tax planning and tax avoidance emerge as the high frequency/high importance issues. Although acknowledging the potential for unethical actions in tax practice, Western Australian tax agents consider that they carry out their professional activities within an ethical environment.     

税收征管、企业避税与企业全要素生产率——基于2002年企业所得税分享改革的自然实验

提高全要素生产率(TFP)是加快转变经济发展方式的关键。税收征管力度的高低会直接影响企业的生产经营决策,从而影响企业的发展转型。本文基于2002年实施的企业所得税分享改革自然实验,采用双倍差分法(DID)探讨了税收征管对企业TFP的影响。研究发现:(1)税收征管力度的下降会降低企业的TFP水平;(2)机制探讨过程发现,降低税收征管力度会增加企业避税行为,而避税增加会减少企业的研发投入,从而对企业TFP产生负面影响;(3)异质性分析发现,税收征管对非高新技术企业、非民族自治区域企业以及高避税程度企业的TFP的负面影响更大。本文的研究结论对于未来的税收体制改革具有重要启示。     

The Political Economy of State-Owned Lotteries

An incomplete contracts approach is applied to analyse the lottery industry. It is argued that lottery services are more efficiently provided by private enterprises than by public enterprises, even if the addictive potential of lotteries is taken into account and government is assumed to be benevolent. However, in most countries, state-owned enterprises provide lottery services. In Germany, the 16 states each own a monopoly lottery-providing enterprise. This apparent puzzle is resolved by dropping the assumption that members of government are perfectly benevolent. The narrow self-interest of members of the state governments and other influential stakeholders in Germany helps to explain the persistence of the current structure of the lottery industry.     

Social Norms Moderate the Effect of Tax System on Tax Evasion: Evidence from a Large-Scale Survey Experiment

Journal of Business Ethics - In this study, we reconcile conflicting findings from the extant literature on the impact of tax system parameters on tax noncompliance. We argue that social norms play...     

The Long‐run Relationship Between Trade and Population Health: Evidence from Five Decades

In recent years, the increase in international trade has sparked a debate about the impact of international trade on population health. To date, however, there has been very little econometric research on the relationship between these two variables. This paper examines the long‐run relationship between trade openness and population health for a sample of 74 countries over five decades, from 1960 to 2010. Using panel time‐series techniques, it is shown that international trade in general has a robust positive long‐run effect on health, as measured by life expectancy and infant mortality. This effect tends to be greater in countries with lower development levels, higher taxes on income, profits, and capital gains, and less restrictive business and labour market regulations.     

The Effects of Offshoring on Post‐displacement Wages: Evidence from the United States

This paper studies the effects of offshoring on post‐displacement wages using a large and nationally representative sample of US workers displaced from a manufacturing industry during the 1990s. The empirical results based on Mincerian regressions of individual re‐employment earnings on industry‐level offshoring proxies, show that the effects of offshoring on post‐displacement wages are negative, although not economically large. The preferred specifications suggest, in fact, that a one percentage point increase in offshoring in the pre‐displacement industry reduces earnings on the new job by approximately 0.3–0.6 per cent. These figures imply that the cumulative rise in offshoring over the sample period may have led to a drop of between US$110 and US$330 in the yearly re‐employment wages of US displaced workers. While the magnitude of the effect is largely independent of individual characteristics such as gender, age, occupation and educational level, it does depend on the duration of non‐employment and on workers’ industrial reallocation after displacement. In particular, the effects are relatively stronger for individuals who stay longer before finding a new job, as well as for those who leave the pre‐displacement industry after the job loss.     

中国外贸进出口对税收的影响：理论与实证

对外贸易对中国的税收有怎样的影响?回答这一问题，对制定贸易政策有重要的现实意义。本文对1-2-3模型进行修正，将总产出区分为4种具有不同税收特征的产品，构建相应的税收模型，从理论上分析了对外贸易对税收有正面的影响。实际测算显示，一般贸易出口每增加1元人民币，会相应带动当年税收增加0．4～0．5元人民币。通过对季度数据的Granger因果检验和向量误差修正模型分析，本文发现出口增加对税收有持续的正面影响。     

Exporting and productivity in business services: Evidence from the United States

Does exporting make firms more productive, or do more productive firms choose to become exporters? This paper considers the link between exporting and productivity for a sample of firms in US business services. We find that larger, more productive firms are more likely to become exporters, but that these factors do not necessarily influence the extent of exporting. This conforms with previous literature that there is a self-selection effect into exporting. We then test for the effect of exporting on productivity levels after allowing for this selection effect. We model both the relationship between exporting and productivity, and a simultaneous relationship between export intensity and productivity after allowing for selection bias. In both cases we find an association, indicating that productivity is positively linked both to exporting and to increased exposure to international markets.     

Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Business Ethics: Evidence from the United States and China

A number of empirical studies have examined business ethics across cultures, focusing primarily on differences in ethical profiles between cultures and groups. When managers consider whether or not to develop a business relationship with those from a different culture, their decision may be affected by actual differences in ethical profiles, but potentially even more so by their perceptions of ethicality in the counterpart culture. The latter issue has been largely ignored in extant empirical research regarding cross-cultural ethical profiles. In this study, we employ a design that allows for a more complete analysis of cross-cultural perspectives, examining both the manner in which selected cultures view themselves and the manner in which those same cultures perceive the ethical profiles of others. To this end, we surveyed master’s students in business fields at several universities in the United States and China—two countries/cultures that engage in a significant amount of business transactions—and examined differences in personal ethical profiles across cultures, differences in one group’s ethical profile and the way it is perceived by the other group, and differences in perceived ethical profiles across cultures; that is, differences in how groups view each other. Findings suggest meaningful discrepancies in the ethical perceptions formed toward the counterpart culture. Results support a role for ethical perceptions in future research, and further examination and inquiry into the development and adaptation of ethical perceptions in cross-cultural business dealings.     

Capital Structure Choices and Taxes: Evidence from the Australian Dividend Imputation Tax System

The introduction in 1987 of a dividend imputation tax system in Australia represented a significant change to the tax framework. To the extent that tax incentives influence the use of debt financing, changes in tax laws that alter these incentives will lead to changes in corporate capital structures. This paper examines the changes in corporate capital structure around the introduction of a dividend imputation tax system. The introduction of dividend imputation provides an incentive for firms to (a) reduce the level of debt financing utilized where this incentive varies across firms depending on the firm’s effective corporate tax rate, and (b) increase the level of external equity financing. The results present evidence consistent with these incentives.     

Tax Policy and Entrepreneurship: New Time Series Evidence

Have tax policies affected entrepreneurial activity in the U.S.? We extend the time series literature on this topic by using more recent data and modern econometric techniques to examine the importance of federal income, payroll, capital gains, corporate income, and estate taxes on self-employment rates. Regression results show that most of these taxes have significant but small effects on self-employment activity. A battery of cointegration and causality tests confirms the general finding that taxes can have significant influences on entrepreneurship, but they are likely to be ineffective tools for generating meaningful changes in entrepreneurial activity.     

The Prevalence of Nascent Entrepreneurs in the United States: Evidence from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics

The Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) is a national longitudinal sample of 64,622 U.S. households that were contacted to find individuals who were actively engaged in starting new businesses. The PSED includes information on: the proportion and characteristics of the adult population involved in attempts to start new businesses, the kinds of activities nascent entrepreneurs undertake during the business startup process, and the proportion and characteristics of the start-up efforts that become infant firms. Prevalence rates for nascent entrepreneurs are reported by gender and ethnicity (whites, blacks and Hispanics) on such demographic variables as: age, education, household income, and urban context.     

营改增与劳动收入份额:来自中国上市公司的证据

营改增作为中国税制改革的重要举措,其对要素收入分配格局的影响尚有待研究.本文首先通过一个理论框架揭示了营改增影响劳动收入份额的经济逻辑,即营改增使企业购进固定资产可以进项抵扣,降低了资本要素相对价格,由于服务业的资本和劳动互补,这将提高企业劳动收入份额.其次采用2009-2015年中国服务业上市公司数据和双重差分模型进行经验研究,结果表明,营改增使企业劳动收入份额显著提高了5.96％,并且在实施后第2年的影响最大.异质性分析表明,营改增显著提升了非国有、劳动密集型和出口企业劳动收入份额.进一步的影响机制分析表明,营改增提高了企业固定资产投资,由于服务业中资本和劳动互补,这将提高劳动需求,进而提高平均工资率,最终导致劳动收入份额的上升.     

税收分成、财政激励与制造业企业活力——来自增值税分成改革的证据

作为中国政府间财政关系的重要维度,税收分成是观察政府与市场关系的重要视角.本文基于2016年的增值税分成改革,构造了强度DID模型,采用上市公司数据,实证检验了增值税分成改革产生的财政激励对制造业企业活力的影响.研究发现,增值税分成改革使地方政府发展制造业的财政收益提高,显著提升了制造业企业活力;增值税分成产生的财政激励通过降低企业税负,激发了企业活力.进一步分析表明,增值税分成改革对企业活力的促进作用,对创新驱动型企业、位于财政自给率更高地区的企业效应更大.本文的研究丰富了税收分成激励理论方面的文献,同时对于优化政府促进企业发展的方式、处理好政府与市场的关系具有政策价值.     

税制宽容视角下房地产税种的简化整合

当代中国以房地产税制为主体的财产税改革已经成为新一轮税制改革的热点议题之一。本文试从税制宽容理念出发,研究分析复杂重叠的房地产诸多税种的简化整合,为进一步的房地产税制改革乃至我国财产税的改革奠定基础。     

Tax Impact on Corporate Income Remittances to and from Japan and the United States

This study examines the combined impact of bilateral tax treaties and domestic tax policies on corporate income remit- tances to and from Japan and thc United States. Thc study calculates the two-way flows of corporate reminanccs between these two coun- tries and 100 other countries. We find very significant differences in the tax treatment by these two countries across bolh remittance methods and countries. The study recommends that both govern- ments seek ways to promote greatcr worldwide uniformity in tax treatment of corporate income remittanccs.