Tax evasion and state productivity - Anexperimental study

In an overlapping generations-experiment with multiple families participants caneither support their parents directly and thereby reduce their tax burden or hopefor tax-financed old age support. State productivity is captured by the factor withwhich total tax revenues are multiplied to determine old age support. This factoris systematically varied from 0.75 to 1.25. Tax payments depend on declared endowment.Tax evasion is possible, but monitored. Surprisingly state productivityinfluences neither direct support of own parents nor tax evasion. The main effect isthat rich endowment triggers relatively low support of own parents and high (andmore frequent) tax evasion.