Testing Local Descriptive Norms and Salience of Enforcement Action: A Field Experiment to Increase Tax Collection

The use of behavioural science interventions, and particularly social norms, in tax compliance has become a growth industry for scholars and practitioners alike in recent years. However, these interventions largely represent a 'black box', where effects could be explained by a pro-social desire to support one's community, conditional cooperation, desire to conform, or fear of reprisals. We conduct an experiment in local government taxation in...