Applying Behavioral Economics to the Public Sector

Alm, James; Bourdeaux, Carolyn

doi:10.7866/hpe-rpe.13.3.4

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 182 publications

(143 reference statements)

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“…An underlying assumption about tax policies is that individuals are aware that the change in prices is due to taxes, so they are conscious of the tax as a penalty for consumption behaviour ( 13 , 28 ) . However, our findings suggest that most adolescents in our sample were not aware of the price increases being due to tax.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring perceptions of the Mexican sugar-sweetened beverage tax among adolescents in north-west Mexico: a qualitative study

Ortega-Avila

Papadaki

Jago

2017

Public Health Nutr.

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ObjectiveTo explore awareness and perceptions of the sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax implemented in Mexico in 2014 among a sample of Mexican adolescents, and to investigate how the tax has affected their purchases and intake of SSB.DesignQualitative.SettingSemi-structured interviews were conducted in April–May 2016. The data were analysed using thematic analysis.SubjectsAdolescents residing in north-west Mexico (n29, 55·2 % females), aged 15–19 years.ResultsFour main themes emerged: awareness of taxation; perceptions of how the tax has affected SSB intake; reasons why the tax was not perceived to have affected SSB intake; and preferences for substitution of the taxed SSB. Participants were mostly unaware of the tax and perceived that it would not cause reductions in their intake of SSB; they felt that the price increase was low and insufficient to affect intake. Taste preferences and ‘addiction’ to SSB were highlighted as the main reasons why participants perceived taxation would not affect intake. If SSB prices were to increase further via a higher tax, participants would consider substituting SSB with other beverages, namely home-made drinks (e.g. 100 % fruit juices), non-caloric, instant-flavoured drinks and water.ConclusionsThese findings provide important insights into the views of this sample of Mexican adolescents regarding the taxation of SSB, by pointing out several possible limitations of the tax policy in Mexico. These results could inform the design of future interventions directed at Mexican youth that would complement and strengthen the current SSB taxation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring perceptions of the Mexican sugar-sweetened beverage tax among adolescents in north-west Mexico: a qualitative study

Ortega-Avila

Papadaki

Jago

2017

Public Health Nutr.

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“…There are several possible explanations for a differential response by tax. One explanation is what behavioral economists refer to "tax aversion bias," that is, an individual perceives that a tax has an additional burden beyond its monetary value; see for example, Kirchler (1998), Schmölders (1959), Alm and Bourdeaux (2013), and Hill (2010). Tax aversion, also referred to as a labeling effect, has been studied using survey responses and laboratory experiment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential Effects of Federal and State Gasoline Taxes on Gasoline Consumption

Tang¹,

Sjoquist²

2019

HPE-RPE

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Previous studies find that gasoline consumption is more responsive to the gasoline tax than the taxexclusive price. We examine this topic more extensively by considering the differential effects of the tax-exclusive price, federal gasoline excise tax, and total state taxes on gasoline. We find some evidence that the response to changes in the federal excise tax is larger than to changes in state taxes and the tax-exclusive price. We also consider the three specific state taxes and fees on gasoline: excise tax, sales tax, and fees.

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“…While these assumptions may be a useful starting point for the analysis of individual behavior, there is increasing evidence that they are inaccurate and unrealistic depictions of many, perhaps most, individuals. As discussed by [17] and [60], there is growing acceptance that, contrary to the standard neoclassical approach:…”

Section: Theoretical Background: Enforcement Nudges and Compliancementioning

confidence: 99%

Can Behavioral “Nudges” Improve Compliance? The Case of Colombia Social Protection Contributions

Alm

Cifuentes²,

Niño³

et al. 2019

Games

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The Government of Colombia imposes a variety of taxes that must be paid by individual wage earners, called in their entirety “social protection contributions”. Since 2007 individual payments have been collected using an on-line mechanism. In order to improve compliance, the Government used a controlled field experiment in which various “pop-up messages” were sent to individuals when making their on-line payments, as behavioral “nudges”. We examine the impact of these nudges on individual reporting behavior. We find mixed evidence that these messages increased compliance rates relative to a control group that received a so-called “neutral” message. However, we also demonstrate that the use as the control group of individuals receiving a so-called “neutral” message creates considerable bias; that is, the receipt of any message of any type clearly influences behavior. Instead, we show that the appropriate control group should be individuals who receive no message at all. When this control group is used, we find that self-employed individuals generally increase their contributions; individuals who are making declarations on behalf of all employees in their company are less likely to respond to messages in a systematic way.

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Applying Behavioral Economics to the Public Sector

Cited by 5 publications

References 182 publications

Exploring perceptions of the Mexican sugar-sweetened beverage tax among adolescents in north-west Mexico: a qualitative study

Exploring perceptions of the Mexican sugar-sweetened beverage tax among adolescents in north-west Mexico: a qualitative study

Differential Effects of Federal and State Gasoline Taxes on Gasoline Consumption

Can Behavioral “Nudges” Improve Compliance? The Case of Colombia Social Protection Contributions

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