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Seeing wealth as a responsibility improves attitudes towards taxation

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  • Whillans, Ashley V.
  • Wispinski, Nathan J.
  • Dunn, Elizabeth W.

Abstract

Taxes are beneficial; society depends on the revenue generated from taxation to provide essential public services such as education and health care. Taxes also attract a high degree of loathing. Tax noncompliance is a major problem for governments worldwide—with hundreds of billions of potential tax revenue uncollected each year. It is therefore critical for research to examine factors that encourage tax satisfaction. In this research, we hypothesized that people would be more inclined to view taxation in a favorable light if they believed that wealth incurs a responsibility to give back to society (wealth-as-responsibility). Consistent with this prediction, in Study 1, people who reported stronger wealth-as-responsibility beliefs felt better about paying taxes. In Study 2, individuals assigned to read text encouraging the idea that wealth incurs a responsibility to give back to society felt better about paying taxes compared to a neutral control group. In Study 3, individuals assigned to read text encouraging wealth-as-responsibility felt better about paying taxes on earned income in the lab. Together, these studies show that reframing the meaning of wealth can shape people’s attitudes about paying their taxes, thus providing evidence for a novel lever to encourage more positive attitudes about taxation.

Suggested Citation

  • Whillans, Ashley V. & Wispinski, Nathan J. & Dunn, Elizabeth W., 2016. "Seeing wealth as a responsibility improves attitudes towards taxation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 146-154.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:127:y:2016:i:c:p:146-154
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2016.04.009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David Laibson, 1997. "Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(2), pages 443-478.
    2. Christian Daude & Hamlet Gutiérrez & Ángel Melguizo, 2012. "What Drives Tax Morale?," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 315, OECD Publishing.
    3. Shane Frederick & George Loewenstein & Ted O'Donoghue, 2002. "Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 351-401, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Emily M Thornton & Lara B Aknin & Nyla R Branscombe & John F Helliwell, 2019. "Prosocial perceptions of taxation predict support for taxes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(11), pages 1-12, November.

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