Technology, Taxation, and Corruption: Evidence from the Introduction of Electronic Tax Filing

Many e-government initiatives introduce technology to improve efficiency and avoid potential human bias. Using experimental variation, we examine the impact of electronic tax filing (to replace in-person submission to tax officials) using data from Tajikistan firms. E-filing reduces the time firms spend on taxes by 40 percent. Further, among firms previously more likely to evade, e-filing doubles taxes paid. Conversely, evidence suggests that e-filing reduces tax payments among firms previously less likely to evade. These firms also pay fewer bribes, as e-filing reduces extortion opportunities. These patterns are consistent with differential treatment of firms by tax officials prior to e-filing. (JEL D22, H25, H26, O14, O23) </jats:p

Essays in Political Economy and Development

Chapter 1 examines the impact of interethnic exposure on national integration in a multiethnic state. It uses variation arising from a mandatory program in Nigeria that randomly posted university graduates to different states of the country for a year of national service. I administer a survey to a cohort of university alumni seven years after their participation and compare participants who served in a state where they are the ethnic majority to those exposed to a state where they are not the majority. The results indicate two concurrent effects: interethnic exposure creates a stronger connection to the country while also reinforcing participants' connection to their ethnic group. In Chapter 2, using data from Nigeria, I provide descriptive evidence on how the prevalence of spousal violence varies with status differences (as reflected in age, education and income) and ethnic and religious differences among couples. I document that women who are older, more educated or earn more money than their spouses experience more violence consistent with the backlash hypothesis in sociology. I also show that marriages with partners of the same religion have less violence consistent with socialization theories but this effect is not significant for ethnically endogamous marriages. Lastly, I explore potential reasons for the coexistence of domestic violence and indicators of women’s empowerment in households. Chapter 3 is part of a broader project that studies the impact of technology on service delivery and corruption. We examine the decisions of firms to adopt electronic tax filing (e-filing) in Tajikistan. E-filing allows taxpayers to submit their tax declarations online thereby reducing travel time to the tax office and direct interactions with tax officials. Using a randomized experiment, we find that e-filing training coupled with logistical help with registration (but not training alone) is highly successful at promoting e-filing adoption. Further, we find suggestive evidence that firms that report prior extortion from tax officials are more likely to adopt whereas those with greater likelihood of evading taxes are less likely to adopt.Public Polic