Framing Effects in Taxation : An Empirical Study Using the German Income Tax Schedule

The subject of this work is framing effects in the perception of taxation. Its purpose is to demonstrate that the framing of the tax system, i.e. describing the tax system either in terms of gains or losses, can significantly alter peoples preferences for taxation. In order to investigate such framing effects empirically , a large survey among the personnel of several North-German firms was conducted. The first part of the book gives a comprehensive survey of the literature concerned with framing effects a task that has not yet been done - and also provides new insights into the theory of framing. The second part reports on the results gained from our empirical investigation. It is shown that people indeed are susceptible to framing effects in the way hypothesized. The results strongly support Richard Thaler's endowment-effect hypothesis