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Complexity and Distributive Fairness Interact in Affecting Compliance Behavior

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  • Bellemare, Charles

    (Université Laval)

  • Deversi, Marvin

    (LMU Munich)

  • Englmaier, Florian

    (LMU Munich)

Abstract

Filing income tax returns or insurance claims often requires that individuals comply with complex rules to meet their obligations. We present evidence from a laboratory tax experiment suggesting that the effects of complexity on compliance are intrinsically linked to distributive fairness. We find that compliance remains largely unaffected by complexity when income taxes are distributed to a morally justified charity. Conversely, complexity significantly amplifies non-compliance when income taxes appear wasted as they are distributed to a morally dubious charity. Our data further suggest that this non-compliance pattern is facilitated through the ambiguity that evolves from mostly unstrategic filing mistakes.

Suggested Citation

  • Bellemare, Charles & Deversi, Marvin & Englmaier, Florian, 2019. "Complexity and Distributive Fairness Interact in Affecting Compliance Behavior," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 190, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    • Handle: RePEc:rco:dpaper:190
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    Cited by:

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    2. Blesse, Sebastian, 2021. "Are your tax problems an opportunity not to pay taxes? Evidence from a randomized survey experiment," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-040, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Blesse, Sebastian, 2023. "Do your tax problems make tax evasion seem more justifiable? Evidence from a survey experiment," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    complexity; compliance; distributive fairness; experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

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