Publisher:
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Institut für Allgemeine Wirtschaftsforschung, Abteilung für Wirtschaftspolitik und Ordnungsökonomik, Freiburg i. Br.
Abstract:
Are the effects of tax aversion on labor supply symmetric? In a real-effort online experiment, participants are exposed to manipulated wages and taxes after first experiencing the same reference wage. We find no significant differences in their productivity; however, we find significant asymmetries in fairness perceptions of the treatments. We find that tax increases are viewed as more unfair than equivalent wage decreases and tax decreases are viewed as more fair than equivalent wage increases. Additionally, the negative effect of tax increases is larger than the positive effect of tax decreases. However, we find little to no evidence that these asymmetric fairness perceptions significantly shape working behavior.