Enhanced anonymity in tax experiments does not affect compliance

In the domain of classical economic games, it has previously been suggested that deviations from purely rational behavior could be explained by a lack of experimenter-subject anonymity. In fact, some experiments show that contributions and prosocial behavior increase when participants feel observed. In the present study, we investigate whether measures of enhanced anonymity, beyond a conventional standard, are necessary in the particular case of tax behavior experiments. This issue might be pivotal for both the validity and generalizability of existing published studies as well as for designing future studies. We suspect social desirability to be even more relevant in experiments on tax compliance, which often apply a context-rich setting, entailing a strong ethical component. Interestingly, certain common experimental practices reflect potential breaches of anonymity during sign-up, the actual task, and the payment phase. Accordingly, we tested whether (1) tax compliance is higher under conditions of regular anonymity compared to enhanced anonymity, and (2) whether this anonymity manipulation moderates established effects of tax-related parameters, such as audit probability and fine rate. Despite an enhanced perception of anonymity due to our manipulation, we did not observe a difference in relative tax compliance between the regular and enhanced anonymity conditions. Additionally, enhanced anonymity did not interact with the effects of tax rate, audit probability, and fine level on tax compliance. We conclude that commonly used procedures in tax experiments are sufficient to guarantee a satisfactory level of anonymity

Higgs boson off-shell measurements probe nonlinearities

The measurements of off-shell Higgs boson contributions in massive gauge boson pair production are known to probe its electroweak interactions across different energy scales. Often employed as an estimator of the Higgs boson width in restricted theories of beyond the Standard Model physics, we revisit this measurement and readvertise its potential to constrain aspects of Higgs boson nonlinearity. We show that this so-called off-shell measurement complements related analyses of multi-Higgs final states

Information processing in tax decisions:A MouselabWEB study on the deterrence model of income tax evasion

The highly influential Allingham and Sandmo model of income tax evasion assumes that taxpayers are driven by utility maximization, choosing evasion over compliance if it yields a higher expected profit. We test the main assumptions of this so-called deterrence approach considering both compliance decisions and the process of information acquisition using MouselabWEB. In an incentivized experiment, 109 participants made 24 compliance decisions with varying information presented for four within-subject factors (the four central model parameters: income, tax rate, audit probability, and fine level). Additionally, explicit expected value information was indicated in one of two conditions. The results reveal that participants attended to all relevant information, a prerequisite for expected value-like calculations. As predicted by the deterrence model, choices were clearly influenced by audit probability and fine level. Against the model assumptions, the presented parameters were not integrated adequately, indicated by a non-monotonic increase of evasion with rising expected rate of return from evasion. Additionally, more transitions between information necessary for calculating expected values did not result in higher model conformity, just as presenting explicit information on expected values. We conclude that deterrence information clearly influences tax compliance decisions in our setting but observed deviations from the deterrence model can be attributed to failures to properly integrate all relevant parameters

Address-Event Based Stereo Vision with Bio-Inspired Silicon Retina Imagers

Artificial intelligenc

How explicit expected value information affects tax compliance decisions and information acquisition

In a MouselabWEB experiment with 345 participants, we investigated whether different presentations of expected value information in tax compliance decisions increase conformity with classical deterrence models’ assumptions. Recording both choice and process data, we compare conditions of verbal explanation only, verbal explanation plus numerical cue, verbal explanation plus visual cue, and a control condition without expected value information. Only when the expected value was presented as a visual cue the option with the higher expected value (i.e., evasion) was chosen more often than the control condition (58.3% vs. 38.4%). Nevertheless, individuals were more compliant than predicted by the deterrence model. While we identified differences between the experimental conditions in information acquisition patterns and decision times, they do not suggest that one way of presenting expected value information was easier toprocess than the others or that the main behavioral effect can be explained by higher saliency of the visual cue. These results indicate that individuals’ decisions are not predominantly driven by outcome maximization, even when explicit expected value information is provided

Moral relevance varies due to Inter‐individual and Intra‐individual differences across big data technology domains

Theories of moralization argue that moral relevance varies due to inter-individual differences, domain differences, or a mix of both. Predictors associated with these sources of variation have been studied in isolation to assess their unique contribution to moralization. Across three studies (N-Study1 = 376; N-Study2a = 621; N-Study2b = 589), assessing attitudes towards new big data technologies, we found that moralization is best explained by theories focusing on inter-individual variation (similar to 29%) and intra-individual variation across technology domains (similar to 49%), and less by theories focusing on differences between technology domains (similar to 6%). We simultaneously examined 15 inter-individual and 16 intra-individual predictors that potentially explain this variation. Predictors directly relevant to the technologies (e.g., justice concerns), cognitive styles (e.g., faith in intuition), and emotional reactions (e.g., anger) best explain variation in moral relevance. Accordingly, scholars should simultaneously adopt and adapt moralization theories related to inter-individual and intra-individual differences across domains rather than in isolation

Moral frames are persuasive and moralize attitudes:Nonmoral frames are persuasive and de-moralize attitudes

Moral framing and reframing strategies persuade people holding moralized attitudes (i.e., attitudes having a moral basis). However, these strategies may have unintended side effects: They have the potential to moralize people’s attitudes further and as a consequence lower their willingness to compromise on issues. Across three experimental studies with adult U.S. participants (Study 1: N = 2,151, Study 2: N = 1,590, Study 3: N = 1,015), we used persuasion messages (moral, nonmoral, and control) that opposed new big-data technologies (crime-surveillance technologies and hiring algorithms). We consistently found that moral frames were persuasive and moralized people’s attitudes, whereas nonmoral frames were persuasive and de-moralized people’s attitudes. Moral frames also lowered people’s willingness to compromise and reduced behavioral indicators of compromise. Exploratory analyses suggest that feelings of anger and disgust may drive moralization, whereas perceiving the technologies to be financially costly may drive de-moralization. The findings imply that use of moral frames can increase and entrench moral divides rather than bridge them

Transport Simulation for Sustainable, Resilient, and Quality-preserving Wood Logistics

Wood is the renewable raw material of the future contributing strongly to a sustainable development. Climate crisis induced forest calamities such as windstorms followed by insect infestations challenge wood supply chain management. To fulfil increasing production amounts sustainable, resilient, and quality-preserving wood logistics is needed. Discrete event simulation provides an excellent methodology for a digital representation of wood supply chains focusing on straightforward business processes. Further strengths in facilitating stakeholder participation and establishing credibility through visualization and animation enable the implementation of quantitative decision support for researchers, students, and stakeholders of wood supply chains. Consequently, unique models for unimodal, multimodal, and multi-echelon unimodal wood transport are presented, which enable multicriteria-based strategy development, optimal fleet configurations, and wood quality preservation in challenging scenarios. The presented models were applied in scientific, educational, and managerial settings and set the stage for knowledge transfer in serious-game-based workshops, advanced risk management, and contingency planning

Mental accounting of income tax and value added tax among self-employed business owners

Mental accounting describes a series of cognitive operations that help organize financial activities and facilitate money management. Self-employed taxpayers who make use of a separate mental account for future income tax payments or collected value added tax (VAT) might find it easier to declare their taxes correctly than taxpayers who do not. This study used a questionnaire to investigate whether self-employed taxpayers (N = 350) use mental accounting to manage their income tax and VAT obligations, whether mental accounting relates to tax knowledge, business and personality characteristics, and to what extent mental accounting is related to intended tax behavior. Our results reveal that some taxpayers mentally segregate taxes from turnover (segregators) while others do not (integrators). We found small differences in mental accounting between income taxes and VAT. Moreover, confirmatory factor analyses suggested that tax knowledge and mental accounting are distinct constructs. Segregation of taxes was related to lower impulsivity and more positive attitudes toward taxation. Individuals who stated they segregate taxes due from turnover more often claimed to run financially prosperous businesses. Mental accounting was not related to intentions of evading taxes, but individuals with higher mental accounting scores reported more pronounced levels of tax planning. While our research design does not allow drawing causal inferences, these findings could suggest that increasing self-employed taxpayers’ ability to organize their financial activities might be a promising strategy to strengthen the competitiveness of their businesses. Keywords: mental accounting, tax, income tax, VAT, tax complianc

Perceptions of trust and power are associated with tax compliance:A cross-cultural study

The slippery slope framework (SSF) of tax compliance postulates that taxpayers’ compliance behaviour depends on the two dimensions: trust in authorities and power of authorities. In an attempt to overcome common-method biases, the present study tests the main assumptions of the SSF with a sample of 44 countries/regions. Country/region-level trust and power indices are calculated based on experimental data involving 14,509 participants and related to shadow economy estimates and – as an alternative indicator of non-compliance – corruption indices. The results indicate that both trust and power are negatively related to the size of the shadow economy and the extent of corruption. These results emphasise the importance of both SSF dimensions in combating tax evasion and counterproductive behaviour within a society in general