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The Review of Economics and Statistics Vol. 104 No. 1 2022

How Do Taxpayers Respond to Public Disclosure and Social Recognition Programs? Evidence from Pakistan

Joel Slemrod1; Obeid Ur Rehman2; Mazhar Waseem3

1 University of Michigan · 2 Ryerson University · 3 University of Manchester

open access

Abstract

We examine two Pakistani programs to see if the public disclosure of tax information and social recognition of top taxpayers promotes tax compliance. Pakistan began revealing income tax paid by all taxpayers in 2012. Simultaneously, another program began recognizing and rewarding the top 100 tax- paying corporations, partnerships, self-employed individuals, and wage earners. We find that the public disclosure caused an increase of 9 log points and the social recognition program 17 log points in the tax payments of agents exposed to the program. Our results suggest that such programs can be important policy levers to mobilize additional resources.

DOI
10.1162/rest_a_00929
Volume
104
Issue
1
Pages
116-132
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

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