Norms, Self Interest and Taxpayer Decisions: Adaptations to 1986 Tax Reform

Scholz博士和McGraw博士利用一个独特的机会， 对税法变化的影响进行大规模研究 关于遵守。 从实证角度看，本研究 采用复杂的设计，使用几种不同的数据收集 技术，包括纳税人调查、实验和 丰富但尚未开发的内部纳税申报数据库 税务局（IRS）。 纳税人调查前后 《1986年税收改革法》的出台， 法律的变化对公民影响的自然主义实验 行为 结合个人自我报告的措施， 来自国税局记录的客观信息尤其是创新 只要它允许建模之间的相互关系 感知、信念和行为。 除了调查之外， 实验研究进一步探讨了不同类型的影响， 关于纳税人取向和行动的信息和呼吁。 这些研究人员的分析方法结合了 自我利益和规范模式的要素， 测试替代理论的综合框架 合规 因此，这项工作应大大增加我们的 了解公民如何应对税收制度和我们的 对规范与自我的相互作用的理论理解 对塑造合规性感兴趣。 其次，主观 在社会控制研究中很少考虑这些因素， 尽管关于它们是如何调节 法律、惩罚和执行的结构性变化。 这 研究提供了关于推理和感知的直接数据， 应该推进我们对潜在过程的了解， 调解合规性。 最后，除了这些调查人员自己的 科学野心，该项目将产生一个数据库， 其他研究人员的使用。

Drs. Scholz and McGraw capitalize on a unique opportunity to undertake a massive study of the impact of changes in the tax law on compliance. From an empirical perspective, this research employs a complex design using several different data collection techniques, including surveys of taxpayers, experiments, and a rich but untapped data base of tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The surveys of taxpayers before and after the introduction of the 1986 Tax Reform Act constitutes a naturalistic experiment of the effects of legal change on citizen behavior. Combining the individual self-reported measures with objective information from IRS records is especially innovation insofar as it permits modelling the interrelationship between perceptions, belief, and behavior. In addition to the surveys, experimental study further probes the impact of different types of information and appeals on taxpayer orientation and action. The analytic approach of these investigators combines elements of self-interest and normative models to produce a comprehensive framework for testing alternative theories of compliance. As such, this work should add substantially to our knowledge of how citizens respond to the tax system and to our theoretical understanding of the interaction of norms and self- interest in shaping compliance. Further, subjective considerations are rarely examined in social control research, although speculation abounds about how they mediate the effects of structural changes in law, punishment, and enforcement. This study provides direct data on reasoning and perceptions that should advance our knowledge of the underlying processes that mediate compliance. Finally, beyond these investigators' own scientific ambitions, the project will yield a data base for other researchers' use.