E-ZTAX: Tax Salience and Tax Rates
研究电子收费系统如何降低司机对通行费的感知，导致通行费在稳态下比无电子收费时高出20%至40%，并分析其背后的税收凸显性机制。
This paper examines whether the salience of a tax system affects equilibrium tax rates. I analyze how tolls change after toll facilities adopt electronic toll collection (ETC); drivers are substantially less aware of tolls paid electronically. I estimate that, in steady state, tolls are 20 to 40 percent higher than they would have been without ETC. Consistent with a salience-based explanation for this toll increase, I find that under ETC, driving becomes less elastic with respect to the toll and toll setting becomes less sensitive to the electoral calendar. Alternative explanations appear unlikely to be able to explain the findings.