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Understanding Cross-Cultural Dfferences in Peer Reporting Practices: Evidence from Tax Evasion Games in Moldova and France

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  • Rostan Romaniuc

    (CEREN - Centre de Recherche sur l'ENtreprise [Dijon] - BSB - Burgundy School of Business (BSB) - Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Dijon Bourgogne (ESC))

  • Dimitri Dubois

    (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement)

  • Eugen Dimant

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Adrian Lupusor

    (Expert-Grup)

  • Valeriu Prohnitchi

    (Expert-Grup)

Abstract

Authorities rely on reporting from private citizens to detect and enforce more than a trivial portion of e ective law breaking. This article is the first to experimentally study the cultural aspect of peer reporting. By collecting data in a post-Soviet country (Moldova), we focus in particular on how the Soviet legacy of using citizens as private informants may have a long-lasting e ect on their willingness to cooperate with state authorities in present day; we then contrast these e ects with peer reporting behavior in a Western society (France). Our results suggest that participants in Moldova view the act of cooperating with central authorities as less socially acceptable than subjects in France and that participants in Moldova engage less frequently in peer reporting than participants in France. However, we also find that less reporting does not necessarily imply less tax compliance. Participants in both countries share very similar tax compliance rates. We explain the e ect of peer reporting on tax compliance in Moldova by the country's past experience during the Soviet era when being reported to central authorities was common and came with serious consequences for the person being denounced, ranging from shaming to expropriation.

Suggested Citation

  • Rostan Romaniuc & Dimitri Dubois & Eugen Dimant & Adrian Lupusor & Valeriu Prohnitchi, 2020. "Understanding Cross-Cultural Dfferences in Peer Reporting Practices: Evidence from Tax Evasion Games in Moldova and France," Working Papers hal-02991776, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02991776
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02991776
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    Cited by:

    1. Lompo, Miaba Louise & Ouoba, Marie Madeleine, 2022. "How they hide money? An investigation on tax evasion of large corporations and wealthy taxpayers," MPRA Paper 114235, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Bicchieri, Cristina & Dimant, Eugen & Sonderegger, Silvia, 2023. "It's not a lie if you believe the norm does not apply: Conditional norm-following and belief distortion," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 321-354.
    3. Bicchieri, Cristina & Dimant, Eugen & Xiao, Erte, 2021. "Deviant or wrong? The effects of norm information on the efficacy of punishment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 209-235.
    4. Gregory DeAngelo & Matthew Gomies & Rustam Romaniuc, 2023. "Do civilian complaints against police get punished?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 196(3), pages 453-482, September.
    5. Lompo, Miaba Louise & Ouoba, Marie Madeleine, 2022. "How they hide money? An investigation on tax evasion of large corporations and wealthy taxpayers," MPRA Paper 113410, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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