In December 2016, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Musharraf Cyan and Antonios M.Koumpias published an article that examines the determinants of tax morale in Pakistan in the Journal of Asian Economics. Their journal article was among the most downloaded articles from Journal of Asian Economics in the from December 24 – March 24, 2017.
Cyan, Musharraf Rasool, Antonios M. Koumpias, and Jorge Martinez-Vazquez. 2016. “The Determinants of Tax Morale in Pakistan.” Journal of Asian Economics. DOI 10.1016/j.asieco.2016.09.002.
“This paper examines the determinants of tax morale in Pakistan, a country that has struggled with low tax effort over the past decade. We exploit novel data for individual taxpayers collected in 2014 by Pakistan’s Federal Board of 
Revenue to estimate a binary probit regression model. Our results are generally in line with the findings of the modern empirical literature on tax morale in other countries. Overall, groups with lower labor force participation show more positive attitudes toward tax compliance. Educated respondents exhibit higher tax morale than the illiterate, but only for those with very low or very high educational attainment is tax morale higher than for those with bachelor’s degrees. Tax morale is highest in major industrialized population centers that serve as seats of government. Females show generally higher tax morale than males, however, their attitudes tend to worsen with age to such an extent that elderly females have lower tax morale than elderly males. Our findings on gender suggest potential gains from increasing female labor force participation rates. More generally, addressing the current failures of tax administration and dealing with horizontal inequity arising from administrative weaknesses may contribute materially to improving voluntary compliance.” – Journal of Asian Economics-
Martinez-Vazquez is a Regents Professor of Economics and Director of the International Center for Public Policy (ICePP) at the Andrew Young School. Cyan is a Research Assistant Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics and works for ICePP at the Andrew Young School. Koumpias is a Research Associate with ICePP and graduate student in the AYS Department of Economics.
Other Publications
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Musharraf Cyan Research Assistant Professor of Economics, ICePP, (AYSPS) Area of Expertise: Fiscal Decentralization, Tax Policy, Evaluation |
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Antonios M. Koumpias Research Associate, ICePP, (AYSPS) Area of Expertise: Fiscal Decentralization, Tax Policy |
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Jorge Martinez-Vazquez Regents Professor of Economics; Director ICePP (AYSPS) Area of Expertise: Fiscal Decentralization, Tax Policy |
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