Tax compliance across sociodemographic categories:Meta-analyses of survey studies in 111 countries

Tax compliance varies across sociodemographic categories. However, research on the relationships between compliance and age, sex, education as well as income level shows inconsistent results, both regarding the direction of the relationship and its size. The current meta-analyses target to merge findings in survey studies on age, sex, education, and income and estimate the strength of the impact on compliance by taking into account geographical regions. In four meta-analyses, comprising 459 samples (N = 614,286) from 111 countries published between 1958 and 2012, average estimated effect sizes were small, ranging from r = 0.12 for the relationship between compliance and age, r = 0.06 for sex, r = -0.02 for education to r = -0.04 for income. These effects are more pronounced in Western countries. It thus appears sociodemographic characteristics have little impact on compliance, but nevertheless should be controlled for in tax research

Radical Enhanced Charge Transport in Single-Molecule Phenothiazine Electrical Junctions

We studied the single-molecule conductance through an acid oxidant triggered phenothiazine (PTZ-) based radical junction using the mechanically controllable break junction technique. The electrical conductance of the radical state was enhanced by up to 200 times compared to the neutral state, with high stability lasting for at least two months and high junction formation probability at room-temperature. Theoretical studies revealed that the conductance increase is due to a significant decrease of the HOMO–LUMO gap and also the enhanced transmission close to the HOMO orbital when the radical forms. The large conductance enhancement induced by the formation of the stable PTZ radical molecule will lead to promising applications in single-molecule electronics and spintronics

Sex differences in tax compliance: Differentiating between demographic sex, gender-role orientation, and prenatal masculinization (2D:4D)

We used decision-making experiments to investigate tax compliance of women and men and focused on gender-role orientation as well as on the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D), a putative marker of prenatal testosterone exposure. In 60 experimental periods, participants were endowed with a certain amount of money representing income and had to pay taxes. They were audited with a certain probability and fined in case of detected evasion. Both demographic sex and gender-role orientation were significantly related to tax compliance, whereas 2D:4D was not. Women and less male-typical individuals were more compliant than men and more male-typical individuals. Women and men also differed regarding their taxpaying strategies. Whereas for men audits increased subsequent evasion, women's tax payments were less affected by prior audits.Tax compliance Sex differences Gender-role orientation Digit ratio (2D:4D) Prenatal testosterone