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Does the Frequency of Reminders Matter for their Effectiveness? A Randomized Controlled Trial

Author

Listed:
  • Antinyan, Armenak

    (Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University.)

  • Asatryan, Zareh

    (ZEW Mannheim)

  • Dai, Zhixin

    (China Financial Policy Research Center, School of Finance, Renmin University of China)

  • Wang, Kezhi

    (Shanghai Municipal Tax Service, State Taxation Administration)

Abstract

We assess the impact of reminder frequency on the probability of paying overdue property taxes in a randomized controlled trial in China. One reminder a week (sent as a text message) considerably increases the probability of tax compliance and results in tangible fiscal gains compared to a one-off reminder. However, increasing the frequency of reminders to two text messages a week diminishes their effectiveness. The takeaway of our study is that frequent reminders are an important trigger for human behavior, nonetheless, beyond a certain frequency the effectiveness of additional reminders seems to decline.

Suggested Citation

  • Antinyan, Armenak & Asatryan, Zareh & Dai, Zhixin & Wang, Kezhi, 2021. "Does the Frequency of Reminders Matter for their Effectiveness? A Randomized Controlled Trial," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2021/17, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdf:wpaper:2021/17
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    Cited by:

    1. Antinyan, Armenak & Asatryan, Zareh, 2019. "Nudging for tax compliance: A meta-analysis," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-055, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Jin, Liyin & Li, Lingfang (Ivy) & Zhou, Yi & Zhou, Yifang, 2022. "How to Remind People to Work Out via Feedback: Evidence from a Field Experiment," MPRA Paper 112418, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Sloboda, Matúš & Pavlovský, Patrik & Sičáková-Beblavá, Emília, 2024. "Simplify and Deter: Nudging waste collection fee debtors," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    4. Matej Lorko & Tomas Miklanek & Maros Servatka, 2024. "Why do some nudges work and others not?," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp777, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Reminder Frequency; Randomized Controlled Trial; Tax Compliance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

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