Why (field) experiments on unethical behavior are important: Comparing stated and revealed behavior

Understanding unethical behavior is essential to many phenomena in the real world. We carry out a field experiment in a unique setting that varies the levels of reciprocity and guilt in an ethical decision. A survey more than one year before the field experiment allows us to compare at the individual level stated unethical behavior with revealed behavior in the same situation in the field. Our results indicate a strong discrepancy between stated and revealed behavior, regardless of the specific treatment in the field experiment. This suggests that, given a natural setting, people may actually behave inconsistently with the way in which they otherwise “brand” themselves. Our findings raise caution about the interpretation of stated behavioral measures commonly used in research on unethical behavior. However, we show that inducing reciprocity and guilt leads to a decrease in unethical behavior.JEL:C93, D01, D0

The Effect of Carrot and Stick Measures in Fostering Taxpayer Compliance in Tanzania: Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment

With the increasing expectation and demand for the government to supply public goods such as water, health, education, and road infrastructure, the pressure to mobilize more domestic revenue in Tanzania cannot be overemphasized. Due to widespread tax evasion, concerted measures are required to foster taxpayer compliance. But how to achieve higher levels of taxpayer compliance with minimum administration costs remains an empirical question to be investigated. This study contributes to that strain by examining the effect of carrot and stick measures on fostering taxpayer compliance. The study used a laboratory experiment design, and was conducted on a sample of 201 undergraduate students from the University of Dar es Salaam. Using a bootstrapped binary logit model, the study found that both carrot and stick measures have a statistically positive effect on taxpayer compliance. However, the effects of these measures on tax compliance were not statistically different, implying that their effects are more or less the same; and that the choice of which measure to use remains largely a matter of choice as affected by the cost of implementation. Available literature suggests that implementation of stick measures in Tanzania is more costly than implementation of carrot measures due to their costs to the government and externalities such as the stress imposed on taxpayers

The Effect of Carrot and Stick Measures in Fostering Taxpayer Compliance in Tanzania: Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment

With the increasing expectation and demand for the government to supply public goods such as water, health, education, and road infrastructure, the pressure to mobilize more domestic revenue in Tanzania cannot be overemphasized. Due to widespread tax evasion, concerted measures are required to foster taxpayer compliance. But how to achieve higher levels of taxpayer compliance with minimum administration costs remains an empirical question to be investigated. This study contributes to that strain by examining the effect of carrot and stick measures on fostering taxpayer compliance. The study used a laboratory experiment design, and was conducted on a sample of 201 undergraduate students from the University of Dar es Salaam. Using a bootstrapped binary logit model, the study found that both carrot and stick measures have a statistically positive effect on taxpayer compliance. However, the effects of these measures on tax compliance were not statistically different, implying that their effects are more or less the same; and that the choice of which measure to use remains largely a matter of choice as affected by the cost of implementation. Available literature suggests that implementation of stick measures in Tanzania is more costly than implementation of carrot measures due to their costs to the government and externalities such as the stress imposed on taxpayers

Ex ante economic assessment of impacts of GM maize and cassava on producers and consumers in Tanzania

Despite agriculture’s key role in Tanzania, agricultural productivity has remained relatively low compared with that of most other countries producing similar crops globally. Recent innovations in the sector such as development of genetically modified (GM) crop varieties with traits targeted to specific contextual challenges could revolutionize the country’s agricultural performance. Tanzania is attempting to deploy drought- and pest-resistant (WEMA) maize as well as brown-streak-disease-resistant cassava varieties. But little is known, contextually, about potential economic impacts of these crop varieties on Tanzanian farmers and consumers. This study implements an ex ante impact assessment to answer such important policy questions. Using DREAM, a model that estimates economic surplus as projections of consumer and producer gains from the use of a technology, complemented with locally collected and validated data, we document positive net economic impacts from the potential adoption and use of both maize and cassava GM varieties. Results are robust to various sensitivity tests and methodological cross checks that consider a range of values for production markets, performance, and adoption assumptions. Adoption of a GM crop is predicated on compliance with regulatory and other governance requirements, proper product dissemination and stewardship, and the technology’s effectiveness in addressing producer productivity issues. Special attention needs to be paid to reducing regulatory and governance delays so as to minimize inefficiencies and potential coordination issues that may arise over time.Non-PRIFPRI1; CRP2; DCA; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance; G Cross-cutting gender theme; Capacity Strengthening; PBSEPTD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM

Opportunities for orphan crops: Expected economic benefits from biotechnology

An enabling, evidence-based decision-making framework is critical to support agricultural biotechnology innovation, and to ensure farmers’ access to genetically modified (GM) crops, including orphan crop varieties. A key element, and often a challenge in the decision-making process, involves the balancing of identified potential risks with expected economic benefits from GM crops. The latter is particularly challenging in the case of orphan crops, for which solid economic data is scarce. To address this challenge, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in collaboration with local economists analyzed the expected economic benefits to farmers and consumers from the adoption of GM crops in 5 sub-Saharan African countries. This paper focuses on case studies involving insect-resistant cowpea in Nigeria and Ghana; disease-resistant cassava in Uganda and Tanzania; and disease-resistant banana in Uganda. Estimations from these case studies show substantial economic benefits to farmers and consumers from the timely adoption and planting in farmers’ fields of GM orphan crops. Our analysis also shows how the benefits would significantly be reduced by regulatory or other delays that affect the timely release of these crops. These findings underscore the importance of having an enabling policy environment and regulatory system—covering, among other elements, biosafety and food/feed safety assessment, and varietal release registration—that is efficient, predictable, and transparent to ensure that the projected economic benefits are delivered and realized in a timely manner