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Tax evasion and Prospect Theory in a OLG economy

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  • Francesco Busato
  • Francesco Giuli

Abstract

This paper presents a simple Overlapping Generation Model (OLG), aug-mented with Prospect Theory elements in the spirit of al-Nowaihi and Dhami (2007). Themodel tackle several open questions in the analysis of tax evasion and compliance decisions. In particular, the paper presents a new and complementary approach to address tax compliance decision in a OLG economy with behavioral components. Our main results are the following: there exists an equilibrium with a tax evasion level which can be coherent with the empirical estimates for the US economy; for our calibrations we ¯nd that the relationship between the tax rate and the evasion rate is a positive one (i.e., the model offers a solution to the Yitzhaki puzzle); we can highlight the role played in the context of tax evasion by an essential component of Prospect Theory, the framing effect, which was precluded to simple individual choice models.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Busato & Francesco Giuli, 2014. "Tax evasion and Prospect Theory in a OLG economy," Departmental Working Papers of Economics - University 'Roma Tre' 0196, Department of Economics - University Roma Tre.
    • Handle: RePEc:rtr:wpaper:0196
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax evasion; OLG models; Prospect theory;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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