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Fear and caring: Procedural justice, trust, and collective identification as antecedents of voluntary tax compliance

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  • Gobena, Lemessa Bayissa
  • Van Dijke, Marius

Abstract

We investigated the interactive roles of procedural justice of the tax authority, trust in the tax authority, and identification with the nation in predicting voluntary tax compliance. Drawing from fairness heuristic theory and relational models of justice, we predicted that the relationship between procedural justice and voluntary tax compliance that has been found particularly among citizens with low (vs. high) trust in the tax authorities is restricted to citizens who weakly (vs. strongly) identify with the nation. The results of a field study with samples of Ethiopian and US taxpayers as respondents largely support our predictions. This research integrates the role of important and well-studied social psychological factors that shape voluntary tax compliance and reveals support for the hypothesis in a developing (i.e., Ethiopia) and a developed (i.e., US) nation – nations with strongly divergent tax climates.

Suggested Citation

  • Gobena, Lemessa Bayissa & Van Dijke, Marius, 2017. "Fear and caring: Procedural justice, trust, and collective identification as antecedents of voluntary tax compliance," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1-16.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:62:y:2017:i:c:p:1-16
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2017.05.005
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    10. Borzino, Natalia & Fatas, Enrique & Peterle, Emmanuel, 2023. "In transparency we trust an experimental study of reputation, transparency, and signaling," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    11. Nur Sayidah & Sri Suryaningsum & Sri Luna Murdianingrum & Aminullah Assagaf & Hadi Sugiyanto, 2020. "The Justice of Tax Amnesty and Tax Compliance: Empirical Study in Indonesia," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(6), pages 116-128, December.
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    13. Perez-Vincent, Santiago M. & Puebla, David, 2024. "Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy: Evidence from a Vignette Experiment in Central America," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 13626, Inter-American Development Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Procedural justice; Cognition-based trust; Identification with the nation; Voluntary tax compliance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

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