Quantifying Loss-Averse Tax Manipulation
研究发现损失厌恶心理影响纳税人报税行为，面临补税的纳税人比获得退税的纳税人平均多减少34美元税负，并提供了估算该心理现象政策影响的分析框架。
This article presents evidence that loss aversion affects taxpayers as they file their annual tax returns, and presents a framework for estimating the policy impact of this psychological phenomenon. In my theoretical framework, taxpayers manipulate the money paid to the tax authority through avoidance and evasion activities. When taxpayers face the prospect of owing the tax authority money on tax day, loss aversion generates the perception of a greater marginal utility of tax reduction and therefore motivates greater pursuit of tax reduction activities. Applying a bunching-based identification strategy to U.S. tax return data, I estimate that taxpayers facing a payment on tax day reduce their tax liability by $34 more than taxpayers owed a refund.