This paper analyses how tax morale and countries’ institutional quality affect the shadow economy, controlling in a multivariate analysis for a variety of potential factors. The literature strongly emphasizes the quantitative importance of these factors to understand the level and changes of...

This paper analyses how governance or institutional quality and tax morale affect the shadow economy, using an international country panel and also within country data. The literature strongly emphasizes the quantitative importance of these factors to understand the level and changes of shadow...

20 years ago, William Baumol provided an interesting wish list that outlined his hopes for the future of economics over the next hundred years. Impatiently, this paper puts his wish list to the test by comparing the characteristics of publications that appeared in the American Economic Review...

Keizer et al. (2008) explore disorderly settings linked to a process of spreading norm violation. The results show that if norm violating behavior becomes more common, it negatively affects compliance in other areas. This comment addresses problematic areas in their studies and provides new...

Considerable evidence suggests that enforcement efforts cannot fully explain the high degree of tax compliance. To resolve this puzzle of tax compliance several researchers have argued that citizens’ attitudes toward paying taxes defined as tax morale helps to explain the high degree of tax...

An academic award is method by which peers offer recognition of intellectual efforts. In this paper we take a purely descriptive look at the relationship between becoming a Fellow of the Econometric Society and receiving the Nobel Prize in economics. We discover some interesting aspects: of all...

Algan and Cahuc (2010) argue that “inherited trust†is a key factor in explaining growth rates across countries. They derive a measure of inherited trust by linking respondents' “home countries†in the United States General Social Survey (1972-2004) and the 2000 wave of the...

Despite the social importance of awards, they have been largely disregarded by academic research in economics. This paper investigates whether a specific, yet important, award in economics, the John Bates Clark Medal, raises recipients' subsequent research activity and status compared to a...

McCleary and Barro (2006) analyse whether Max Weber was right in emphasizing the religious impact on work ethic. They find a positive correlation between belief in hell and work ethic (p=0.098). They conclude that “Weber may have been right in emphasizing the religion link with work...

Keizer et al. (2008) explore disorderly settings linked to a process of spreading norm violation. The results show that if norm violating behavior becomes more common, it negatively affects compliance in other areas. This comment addresses problematic areas in their studies and provides new...