How does petty corruption affect tax morale in sub-Saharan Africa? An empirical analysis

Arbeitspapier

Revenues from taxation gain importance to finance economic development in sub-Saharan Africa. Extortion of bribes by public officials can provide one obstacle for tax compliance. This paper uses micro-level data from the Afrobarometer to analyse how petty corruption erodes tax morale. A mediation analysis shows that petty corruption directly reduces tax morale but also diminishes trust in the tax department and hence indirectly affects tax morale. The effect on tax morale is more severe in countries and regions where fewer people are affected by petty corruption and becomes insignificant if extortion of bribes is particularly prevalent.

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• ISBN: 978-92-9256-232-8
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: WIDER Working Paper ; No. 2017/8

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption ; Tax Evasion and Avoidance ; Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law ; Economic Impacts of Globalization: Economic Development
• Subject: corruption ; tax morale ; economic development ; mediation analysis ; regional disaggregation

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Jahnke, Björn
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
• (where): Helsinki
• (when): 2017

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.35188/UNU-WIDER/2017/232-8
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/161573