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 social desirability response bias in ethics research

This study examines the impact of a social desirability response bias as a personality characteristic (self-deception and impression management) and as an item characteristic (perceived desirability of the behavior) on self-reported ethical conduct. Findings from a sample of college students revealed that self-reported ethical conduct is associated with both personality and item characteristics, with perceived desirability of behavior having the greatest influence on self-reported conduct. Implications for research in business ethics are drawn, and suggestions are offered for reducing the effects of a socially desirable response bias. Donna M. Randall is an Associate Professor in Management and Systems at Washington State University. Her research interests include organizational commitment, media coverage of elite crime, and ethical issues in management. Her publications have appeared in such journals as Decision Sciences, Academy of Management Review, and Journal of Business Ethics.Maria F. Fernandes is a doctoral student in the Department of Management and Systems. Her research interests lie in the area of business ethics and equity theory. Her current research explores cognitive processes involving ethical decision making.     

Adoption of Pollution Prevention Techniques: The Role of Management Systems and Regulatory Pressures

This paper investigates the extent to which firm level technological change that reduces unregulated emissions is driven by regulatory pressures, and firms’ technological and organizational capabilities. Using a treatment effects model with panel data for a sample of S&P 500 firms over the period 1994–1996, we find that organizational change in the form of Total Quality Environmental Management leads firms to adopt pollution prevention practices, after controlling for the effects of various regulatory pressures and firm-specific characteristics. We find that the threat of anticipated regulations and the presence of ‘complementary assets’ is important for creating the incentives and an internal capacity to undertake incremental adoption of pollution prevention techniques.     

改良型与传统型免疫亲和柱净化-荧光光度法检测黄曲霉毒素的比较研究

以高效液相色谱法测定食品中黄曲霉毒素作为确证方法,采用改良型免疫亲和柱净化-荧光光度检测技术检测花生及花生制品中的黄曲霉毒素,并与传统型免疫亲和柱净化-荧光光度法进行比较。结果表明：改良型免疫亲和柱净化-荧光光度检测技术具有更好的准确性（检测两个阳性质控样品的标准偏差分别为0.15和1.28）和精密度（相对标准偏差分别为6.65%和8.97%）;在与HPLC方法进行比较时,具有良好的一致性;检测两个加标空白花生样品的回收率分别为102.20%和101.75%。另外,与传统型免疫亲和柱净化-荧光光度法比较,改良型免疫亲和柱净化-荧光光度检测技术操作更为简便,检测时间由传统的25min缩短至10min,大大提高了检测效率。     

Price dynamics in the Bangladesh rice market: implications for public intervention

In this paper, the price dynamics of a rice market are examined using dynamic programming techniques. The model is parameterised to the case of Bangladesh and thus represents the situation of a very poor country which has characteristically high price elasticity (due to income effects) and high storage and interest costs. The incentives for private sector storage and its impact on price stability are examined. Various options for public intervention in the storage sector are also explored, including price ceiling schemes and subsidisation of storage costs. Results show that interventions that remove private disincentives (such as storage subsidies) are much cheaper than direct intervention by government, but the impact on the probability distribution of prices is quite different. The effect of trade on the probability distribution of prices is also examined.     

Open door policies: Measuring impact using attitude surveys

This study examines employee perceptions of an Open Door Complaint System from both those who have filed claims and those who have not. The sample includes over 4000 employees working in a Fortune 100 company. These perceptions are examined through an organization-wide employee attitude survey. Situation-specific perceptions are analyzed, and their relationship with overall fairness, satisfaction, and intent to remain with the organization are examined. Results suggest that a positive Open Door incident raises both distributive and procedural justice perceptions. In turn, fairness perceptions influence satisfaction levels. Finally, results indicate that satisfaction has a strong effect on the intent to remain with the organization. Implications are discussed for both complaint systems and employee opinion surveys. © 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Key competencies for a transformed human resource organization: Results of a field study

As human resource organizations transform, staff competency requirements alter significantly. The question is: to what? The present study attempts to answer this question using data gathered within a single firm and employing a unique future-oriented, role-focused methodology. The results suggest a competency model with three parts: a relatively small number of core competencies, an even smaller number of leverage competencies applicable to half or more (but not all) of the roles, and a much larger number of competencies that are role-specific. This methodology can be readily replicated in an abbreviated form in virtually any organization. © 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Capitalized amenity value of urban wetlands: a hedonic property price approach to urban wetlands in Perth,Western Australia*

Up to 60 per cent of potable water supplied to Perth, Western Australia, is extracted from the groundwater system that lies below the northern part of the metropolitan area. Many of the urban wetlands are groundwater‐dependent and excessive groundwater extraction and climate change have resulted in a decline in water levels in the wetlands. In order to inform decisions on conserving existing urban wetlands, it is beneficial to be able to estimate the economic value of the urban wetlands. Applying the Hedonic Property Price approach to value urban wetlands, we found that distance to the nearest wetland and the number of wetlands within 1.5 km of a property significantly influence house sales price. For a property that is 943 m away from the nearest wetland, which is the average distance to the wetland in this study, reducing the wetland distance by 1 m will increase the property price by AU$42.40. Similarly, the existence of an additional wetland within 1.5 km of the property will increase the sales price by AU$6976. For a randomly selected wetland, assuming a 20 ha isolated circular wetland surrounded by uniform density housing, the total sales premium to surrounding properties was estimated to be around AU$140 million (AU$40 million and AU$230 million).     

The composition of the debtor's estate on insolvency: A comparative study of exemptions

This article examines one aspect of the issue of the composition of the debtor's estate on insolvency, namely the exemption of certain assets from the debtor's estate. It sets out the responses to a questionnaire completed by leading scholars in selected jurisdictions (Australia, Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, The Netherlands and the USA) on the exemptions available in those jurisdictions, makes preliminary observations on those responses, considers the prospects for harmonisation of this area of law in the light of those observations and puts forward some tentative proposals for the development of model provisions and/or legislative principles in the area of exemptions for comment and discussion. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.