Are Fairness Perceptions Related to Moral Licensing Behavior? Evidence From Tax Compliance
通过实验研究税收激励对慈善捐赠和税收遵从的影响，发现捐赠者未表现出道德许可行为，反而更遵从税法；公平感知仅影响非捐赠者的遵从决策。
Abstract This study investigates how the presence, and subsequent repeal, of a tax incentive for a prosocial behavior influences fairness perceptions and tax compliance for those who are and are not eligible for the incentive. Results of a multi-round experiment with 309 U.S. taxpayers show that individuals who engage in the prosocial behavior of making a charitable donation do not exhibit moral licensing behavior. Instead, those who give, versus do not give, engage in higher levels of tax compliance. In fact, we even observe consistency for those with the most motivation to morally license—those who donate to charity but also perceive the tax system as unfair . In addition, tax system fairness perceptions only influence the compliance decisions of individuals who do not engage in the prosocial incentivized behavior. Finally, we also show that a tax incentive for charitable giving is effective. Those who are eligible for a charitable-giving related tax incentive are more likely to give to charity than individuals who are ineligible for such an incentive; additionally, these incentivized activities decrease by one-third when the incentive is repealed. The study results add to the literature on moral licensing, charitable giving, and tax fairness and have several policy implications. We confirm that tax incentives are, on the margin, effective at encouraging prosocial behavior and that perceiving the tax system as unfair can reduce the tax compliance for some individuals. In particular, our results suggest that focusing scarce audit resources on non-donators may be an efficient way to detect non-compliance.