«Essays on Behavioural Economics and Tax Compliance»
On Friday 17 June 2022 Andreas Olden will hold a trial lecture on a prescribed topic and defend his thesis for the PhD degree at NHH.
Prescribed topic for the trial lecture:
«Behavioral Public Economics»
Trial lecture:
09:15, AUD M, NHH
Title of the thesis:
«Essays on Behavioural Economics and Tax Compliance»
Summary:
The dissertation consists of four chapters in the intersection of behavioral economics and public economics. Since the start of behavioral economics, often attributed to the psychologists Kahneman and Tversky, there has been a tension between more classical economics, such as public economics, and behavioral economics. More recent contributions, like the thesis of Olden weaves between the fields and show how they might complement each other.
The first chapter, single authored, uses a triple difference identification strategy together with a natural experiment to study how demand changes in retail in the face of new technology. By studying sales-pattern in stores that introduce self-service checkout with those that do not, and identifying categories of items that might carry a stigma cost, the chapter suggests that a self-service provides a more anonymous purchasing situation, decreasing stigma costs. While mainly business relevant, it shows how technology and behavioral insights can be used to achieve policy goals.
The second chapter is a methodological companion piece to chapter 1, studying the properties of the triple difference estimator. The chapter is co-authored with Jarle Møen.
The third chapter is joint work with Jonas Andersson and Aija Rusina. It studies how the EM-algorithm can improve upon the use of audit data with imperfect detection rates. Imperfect detection rate, which can lead to biased estimates, invalid inference or poor predictions, can be addressed using a variation of the EM-algorithm for missing data, as this Monte Carlo simulation shows.
Chapter 4 is co-authored with Ingar Haaland. By using a survey information provision experiment it studies how attitudes and beliefs affect support for economic relief packages during economic downturns. In the context of COVID-19 and audit levels of the tax administration, it shows how perceived audit levels impact support for economic relief through trust in the tax administration and beliefs about detection rates.
Defense:
11:15, AUD M, NHH
Members of the evaluation committee:
Professor Arnt Ove Hopland (leader of the committee), Department of Business and Management Science, NHH
Professor Nadja Dwenger, University of Hohenheim
Associate Professor Julian Vedeler Johnsen, University of Bergen
Supervisors:
Professor Jarle Møen (main supervisor), Department of Business and Management Science, NHH
Professor Alexander W Cappelen, Department of Economics, NHH
The trial lecture and thesis defense will be open to the public