Understanding individual decision-making to inform policy making Behavioral Economics

In economics, most approaches to analyzing behavior have traditionally been based on the standard neoclassical economic model of behavior, in which an individual is assumed to be a fully rational, self-controlled, and utility-maximizing decisionmaker.

However, it is increasingly recognized that individuals do not always behave in ways that are consistent with this standard model. Behavioral economics applies methods and evidence from other social sciences such as psychology to study economic decisions and behavior. This approach is based on the belief that increasing the realism with which individual behavior is seen will improve the ability to devise effective policies.

Our team uses administrative data, field and laboratory experiments, as well as surveys to understand economic decision-making. In particular, we investigate determinants of tax evasion, the effects of tax audits and other behavioral interventions to increase compliance, and behavioral responses to complexity in tax law.

Behavioral Economics Projects

  • You Don’t Need an Invoice, Do You? An Online Experiment on Collaborative Tax Evasion

    supported by the Gesellschaft für experimentelle Wirtschaftsforschung (GfeW) and the Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft at the University of Freiburg

    LILITH BURGSTALLER and KATHARINA PFEIL


  • Behavioural Responses to Unfair Institutions: Experimental Evidence on Rule Compliance, Norm Polarisation, and Trust

    Supported by the Kuratorium Freiburger Schule / Forum Ordnungspolitik

    SIMON COLUMBUS, LARS P. FELD, MATTHIAS KASPER and MATTHEW D. RABLEN


  • Fiscal Literacy, Economic Attitudes and Preferences

    Supported by the Kuratorium Freiburger Schule / Forum Ordnungspolitik

    LILITH BURGSTALLER, ARRITA DOMI, AMANDA MÄRZ and MATTHIAS KASPER


  • You’ve Got Mail: The Specific Deterrence Implications of Increased Reliance on Correspondence Audits

    SEBASTIAN BEER, BRIAN ERARD, MATTHIAS KASPER and ERICH KIRCHLER


  • Tax Morale and Tax Compliance: A Meta-Analysis

    YUVAL FELDMAN, YONI SLATER, EWOUT MEIJER and MATTHIAS KASPER


  • Improving Honesty in an Honor System – a Field Experiment

    ROBERT BÖHM, MARINA GROSS, MATTHIAS KASPER and QUINYU XIAO


  • Incentives, Fines, and Social Norms – An Online Experiment

    Supported by the Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft at the University of Freiburg

    MATTHIAS KASPER, AMANDA MÄRZ and SARAH NECKER


  • Speaking Up Against Tax Evasion in a High-Evasion Environment? Why Whistleblowing May Not be the Solution in Collaborative Settings

    supported by the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft at the University of Freiburg

    LILITH BURGSTALLER und KATHARINA PFEIL


  • Incentives for Consumers to Act as Tax Auditors: (When) Are They Effective?

    supported by the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft at the University of Freiburg and the IREF

    LILITH BURGSTALLER, ANNABELLE DOERR and SARAH NECKER


Current publications

  • 2024 Loss Aversion in Auctions: Evidence from TV

    2024, November 5 (ANNA ESSLINGER und MATTHIAS KASPER).

    osf.io
  • 2024 Asymmetric Labor Supply Responses to Taxation

    CESifo Working Paper No. 11317, Munich 2024 (ANNA ESSLINGER, KATHARINA PFEIL and LARS P. FELD)

    cesifo.org
  • 2024 You Don’t Need an Invoice, Do You? An Online Experiment on Collaborative Tax Evasion

    Journal of Economic Psychology 2024, 102708 (LILITH BURGSTALLER and KATHARINA PFEIL)

    sciencedirect.com
  • 2023 Nudges, Boosts, and Sludge: Using New Behavioral Approaches to Improve Tax Compliance

    Economies 2023, 11(9), 223 (JAMES ALM, LILITH BURGSTALLER, ARRITA DOMI, MATTHIAS KASPER and AMANDA MÄRZ).

  • 2023 Individuals benefit individual out-group members rather than harm in-group members

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120 (12), March 2023, e2301107120 (MATTHIAS KASPER, ROBERT BÖHM, QINYU XIAO and SIMON COLUMBUS).

  • 2023 Fakten statt Stimmungslage

    Bericht im Auftrag der Malteser Deutschland, Köln, September 2023, 98 Seiten (LILITH BURGSTALLER, LARS P. FELD and AMANDA MÄRZ).

    malteser.de
  • 2023 Tax Compliance After an Audit: Higher or Lower?

    Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 207, 2023, S. 157–151 (MATTHIAS KASPER and MATTHEW D. RABLEN).

    sciencedirect.com
  • 2023 How to Incentivize Tax Compliance when Households Demand Services? What Works (Better) and General Limitations*

    EconPol/Forum 1/2023, Volume 24, S. 38–41 (LILITH BURGSTALLER and SARAH NECKER).

    econpol.eu
  • 2022 Using Behavioral Economics to Understand Tax Compliance

    Economic and Political Studies, 2022 (MATTHIAS KASPER and JAMES ALM).

    tandfonline.org
  • 2022 The economic crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic has a negative effect on tax compliance: Results from a scenario study in Austria

    Journal of Economic Psychology, 2022 (mit ANDRE J. HARTMANN, KATHARINA GANGL, ERICH KIRCHLER, MARTIN G. KOCHER, MARTIN MUELLER, AXEL SONNTAG).

    cesifo.org
  • 2022 Tax-Rate Biases in Tax Decisions: Experimental Evidence

    Journal of the American Taxation Association, 2022 (MATTHIAS KASPER, HARALD J. AMBERGER and EVA EBERTHARTINGER)

    publications.aaahq.org
  • 2022 Audits, Audit Effectiveness, and Post-Audit Tax-Compliance

    Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 195, 2022, S. 87–102 (MATTHIAS KASPER und JAMES ALM)

    sciencedirect.com
  • 2024 Was uns zu Steuerehrlichkeit motiviert

    in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 28. January 2024 (LILITH BURGSTALLER, MATTHIAS KASPER and AMANDA MÄRZ).

    faz.net