Comparative Politics Workshop with Thad Dunning

DateOctober 27, 2014

Time12:30pm to 2:00pm

Location
4357 Bunche Hall

Contact

Presenter:Thad Dunning, UC BerkeleyTitle: “Positive vs. Negative Incentives for Compliance: Evaluating a Randomized Tax Holiday in Uruguay”Abstract:Can positive rather than negative incentives boost tax compliance in developing countries? We study a unique randomized policy innovation in Montevideo, Uruguay, in which the municipal government raffles tax holidays to good taxpayers who are current on past payments. Using unusual access to over-time tax payment records as well as survey data, we assess the impact of holidays on subsequent tax compliance, as well as citizens’ attitudes towards taxation and governance. We also use field and survey experiments to study the effects of informing eligible and ineligible taxpayers about the rebate lottery—which has not been effectively advertised by the government. Our informational treatments allow us to compare the influence of priming negative incentives for tax compliance, such as fines and punishment for non-payment, with the positive inducement provided by the lottery.Paper:Click to download plan and amended plan.

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