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Customs Compliance and the Power of Imagination

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  • Kai A. Konrad
  • Tim Lohse
  • Salmai Qari

Abstract

This paper studies the role of beliefs about own performance or appearance for compliance at the customs. In an experiment in which underreporting has a higher expected payoff than truthful reporting we find: a large share, about 15-20 percent of the subjects, is more compliant if they have reason to imagine that their performance influences their subjective audit probability. In contrast, we do not find evidence for individuals who believe that by their personal performance they can reduce the subjective probability for an audit. Our results suggest that the power of imagination, i.e. the role of second-order beliefs in the process of customs declarations is important and may potentially be used to improve customs and tax compliance.

Suggested Citation

  • Kai A. Konrad & Tim Lohse & Salmai Qari, 2012. "Customs Compliance and the Power of Imagination," CESifo Working Paper Series 3702, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_3702
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    Cited by:

    1. Kai A. Konrad & Tim Lohse & Salmai Qari, 2017. "Compliance with Endogenous Audit Probabilities," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(3), pages 821-850, July.
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    3. Tim Lohse & Salmai Qari, 2016. "Dubious versus trustworthy faces: what difference does it make for tax compliance?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(6), pages 394-401, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    customs; tax compliance; audit probability; second-order beliefs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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