Higher taxes, more evasion? Evidence from border differentials in TV license fees

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Berger, Melissa; Fellner-Roehling, Gerlinde; Sausgruber, Rupert; Traxler, Christian
• 署名单位: Leibniz Association; Zentrum fur Europaische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW); Ulm University; Vienna University of Economics & Business; Hertie School; Max Planck Society; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.01.007
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: 74-86
• 关键词: evasion; TV license fees; Border tax differentials; regression discontinuity design

摘要

This paper studies the evasion of TV license fees in Austria. We exploit border differentials to identify the effect of fees on evasion. Comparing municipalities at the low- and high-fee side of state borders reveals that higher fees trigger significantly more evasion. Our preferred estimator indicates that a one percent increase in fees raises the evasion rate by 0.3 percentage points. The positive effect of fees on evasion is confirmed in different parametric and non-parametric approaches and survives several robustness checks. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.