New IZA DPs -- Behavior
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IZA Publications
Sep 13, 2025, 1:17:39 PMSep 13
to it...@umich.edu
Dear Italo Gutierrez,
These new IZA Discussion Papers are now available online.
DP 18015 - Chowdhury/Puente-Beccar/Schildberg-Hörisch/Schneider/Sutter:
Spatial Patterns in the Formation of Economic Preferences
DP 18023 - Cooper/Fang/Wan:
Employee Ownership and Promotive Voice: The Roles of Psychological Ownership and Perceived Alignment of Interests
DP 18073 - Botelho Azevedo/Gonçalves/Pereira dos Santos:
Can’t Buy Me Home: Beliefs, Facts, and Policy in the Housing Affordability Crisis
DP 18082 - Fernandez Sierra/Gonzalez-Navarro/Quintana-Domeque:
Local Public Goods and Property Tax Compliance: Experimental Evidence from Street Pavement
DP 18084 - Gorodnichenko/Georgarakos/Kenny/Coibion:
The Impact of Geopolitical Risk on Consumer Expectations and Spending
DP 18086 - Adamecz/Kiss:
Adolescent Core Self-Evaluation and Adult Interpersonal Trust: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study
DP 18108 - Dong/Satyadini/Sinning:
Location Matters: Insights from a Natural Field Experiment to Enhance Small Business Tax Compliance in Indonesia
Please find the abstracts and download links below.
IZA DP No. 18015
Shyamal Chowdhury, Manuela Puente-Beccar, Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch, Sebastian O. Schneider, Matthias Sutter:
Spatial Patterns in the Formation of Economic Preferences
Abstract:
We investigate how strongly the local environment beyond the family can contribute to understanding the formation of children's economic preferences. Building on precise geolocation data for around 6.000 children, we use fixed effects, spatial autoregressive models and Kriging to capture the relation between the local environment and children's preferences. The spatial models explain a considerable part of so far unexplained variation in preferences. Moreover, the "spatial stability" of preferences exceeds the village level. Our results highlight the importance of the local environment for the formation of children's preferences, which we quantify to be as large as that of parental preferences.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18015.pdf
IZA DP No. 18023
Dylan A. Cooper, Tony Fang, Vincent Wan:
Employee Ownership and Promotive Voice: The Roles of Psychological Ownership and Perceived Alignment of Interests
Abstract:
Using a National Bureau of Economic Research dataset of employees of 14 United States companies with shared capitalism practices, we compare two prominent explanations of employee ownership’s influence on pro-organizational behaviors—psychological ownership and alignment of financial interests—by testing the effects of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and current profit sharing on promotive voice. We conducted a path-analysis of a moderated multiple-mediation regression model using the PROCESS macro. Our sample included 16,557 participants. We find that psychological ownership partially transmits the effects of ESOP participation and current profit sharing on promotive voice. Employee decision influence strengthens the relationship between ESOP participation and psychological ownership. Perceived alignment of interests does not mediate the relationships between employee ownership and promotive voice.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18023.pdf
IZA DP No. 18073
Alda Botelho Azevedo, Inês Gonçalves, João Pereira dos Santos:
Can’t Buy Me Home: Beliefs, Facts, and Policy in the Housing Affordability Crisis
Abstract:
Our study investigates public opinion on the housing affordability crisis in Portugal through a nationally representative survey combined with an information provision experiment. Participants were asked to identify perceived causes of rising housing prices, assess their factual knowledge of the housing market and sociodemographic trends, and indicate their preferred policy solutions, carefully framed to reflect trade-offs. Half of the respondents were randomly assigned to receive official statistical information on these trends before indicating their policy preferences. The findings reveal significant heterogeneity in beliefs about the causes of the crisis, pervasive misperceptions regarding market trends, and a limited impact of information provision on policy preferences. These results underscore the challenges of addressing housing policy through informational interventions alone and highlight the need for strategies that integrate behavioral and contextual factors to foster informed public engagement.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18073.pdf
IZA DP No. 18082
Manuel Fernandez Sierra, Marco Gonzalez-Navarro, Climent Quintana-Domeque:
Local Public Goods and Property Tax Compliance: Experimental Evidence from Street Pavement
Abstract:
Developing countries often face a cycle where weak tax compliance limits public goods, cutting incentives to pay taxes. We test whether improved local infrastructure can disrupt this cycle, using a randomized street paving experiment in Acayucan, Mexico. Of 56 eligible street projects, 28 were randomly selected. A model highlights two mechanisms: belief updating about government efficiency and reciprocity from direct benefits. Three implications follow: (1) belief updating occurs through exposure to paving anywhere in the network; (2) compliance rises with broader exposure; (3) reciprocity boosts compliance among directly treated owners. Survey data supports belief updating: among initially dissatisfied residents, a one-SD increase in exposure to assigned paving lowered dissatisfaction by 7.9 pp, while exposure to actual paving lowered it by 8.8 pp, with no effect among the satisfied. Property tax records show exposure to assigned paving raised compliance by 1.5 pp, and to ac tual paving by 2.6 pp (3% above baseline). Reciprocity mattered too: owners whose street was assigned paving (or actually paved) increased compliance by 3.2 pp (4.8 pp, or 5.5% above baseline). Belief updating yields four times as much revenue as reciprocity.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18082.pdf
IZA DP No. 18084
Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Dimitris Georgarakos, Geoff Kenny, Olivier Coibion:
The Impact of Geopolitical Risk on Consumer Expectations and Spending
Abstract:
Using novel scenario-based survey questions that randomize the expected duration of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Middle East conflict, we examine the causal impact of geopolitical risk on consumers’ beliefs about aggregate economic conditions and their own financial outlook. Expecting a longer conflict leads European households to anticipate a worsening of the aggregate economy, with higher inflation, lower economic growth, and lower stock prices. They also perceive negative fiscal implications, anticipating higher government debt and higher taxes. Ultimately, households view the geopolitical conflict as making them worse off financially and it leads them to reduce their consumption.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18084.pdf
IZA DP No. 18086
Anna Adamecz, Hubert János Kiss:
Adolescent Core Self-Evaluation and Adult Interpersonal Trust: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study
Abstract:
This paper investigates whether adolescents’ core self-evaluation (CSE), a broad personality construct capturing individuals’ appraisal of their self-worth and capabilities, predicts interpersonal trust decades later. Using nationally representative longitudinal data from the BCS70, we construct CSE measures from self-esteem, locus of control, and emotional stability at age 16 and examine their relationship with trust reported at ages 34, 42, 46, and 50. We find that higher adolescent CSE is positively associated with greater trust in others later in life. The estimated associations are comparable in magnitude to those between trust and cognitive ability. They are stable over time and are not explained by selection to the sample, educational attainment, labor market success, or family formation. Importantly, we find that the relative importance of CSE components varies by adolescent mental health: locus of control is more predictive among individuals with better mental health, while emotional stability plays a stronger role among those with elevated depressive symptoms. These findings underscore the long-term social relevance of core self-evaluation and highlight its importance as a psychological antecedent of trust.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18086.pdf
IZA DP No. 18108
Sarah Dong, Agung Satyadini, Mathias Sinning:
Location Matters: Insights from a Natural Field Experiment to Enhance Small Business Tax Compliance in Indonesia
Abstract:
Both theory and evidence suggest an ambiguous relationship between business tax compliance and geographic proximity to tax offices. We study this issue using a large-scale natural field experiment with Indonesia’s tax authority involving 12,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Businesses were randomly assigned to receive deterrence, information, or public goods letters, or no message. All letters improved compliance, with deterrence messages producing the largest gains - substantially increasing filing rates and raising monthly tax payments. Each dollar spent on deterrence letters generated about US$30 in additional revenue over the course of a year. We observe high compliance among non-treated MSMEs near metropolitan tax offices and find that enforcement messages successfully raise compliance in non-metropolitan regions to comparable levels. However, targeting already compliant MSMEs near metropolitan tax offices backfires, underscoring the need for geographical ly tailored tax administration strategies. These results provide novel experimental evidence on the relation between geographic proximity and the effectiveness of tax enforcement, helping to reconcile mixed findings in the tax compliance literature.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18108.pdf
Please click here to change your subscription status.
If you have trouble downloading the papers, or for any other questions regarding the IZA Discussion Paper Series, contact public...@iza.org.
These new IZA Discussion Papers are now available online.
DP 18015 - Chowdhury/Puente-Beccar/Schildberg-Hörisch/Schneider/Sutter:
Spatial Patterns in the Formation of Economic Preferences
DP 18023 - Cooper/Fang/Wan:
Employee Ownership and Promotive Voice: The Roles of Psychological Ownership and Perceived Alignment of Interests
DP 18073 - Botelho Azevedo/Gonçalves/Pereira dos Santos:
Can’t Buy Me Home: Beliefs, Facts, and Policy in the Housing Affordability Crisis
DP 18082 - Fernandez Sierra/Gonzalez-Navarro/Quintana-Domeque:
Local Public Goods and Property Tax Compliance: Experimental Evidence from Street Pavement
DP 18084 - Gorodnichenko/Georgarakos/Kenny/Coibion:
The Impact of Geopolitical Risk on Consumer Expectations and Spending
DP 18086 - Adamecz/Kiss:
Adolescent Core Self-Evaluation and Adult Interpersonal Trust: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study
DP 18108 - Dong/Satyadini/Sinning:
Location Matters: Insights from a Natural Field Experiment to Enhance Small Business Tax Compliance in Indonesia
Please find the abstracts and download links below.
IZA DP No. 18015
Shyamal Chowdhury, Manuela Puente-Beccar, Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch, Sebastian O. Schneider, Matthias Sutter:
Spatial Patterns in the Formation of Economic Preferences
Abstract:
We investigate how strongly the local environment beyond the family can contribute to understanding the formation of children's economic preferences. Building on precise geolocation data for around 6.000 children, we use fixed effects, spatial autoregressive models and Kriging to capture the relation between the local environment and children's preferences. The spatial models explain a considerable part of so far unexplained variation in preferences. Moreover, the "spatial stability" of preferences exceeds the village level. Our results highlight the importance of the local environment for the formation of children's preferences, which we quantify to be as large as that of parental preferences.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18015.pdf
IZA DP No. 18023
Dylan A. Cooper, Tony Fang, Vincent Wan:
Employee Ownership and Promotive Voice: The Roles of Psychological Ownership and Perceived Alignment of Interests
Abstract:
Using a National Bureau of Economic Research dataset of employees of 14 United States companies with shared capitalism practices, we compare two prominent explanations of employee ownership’s influence on pro-organizational behaviors—psychological ownership and alignment of financial interests—by testing the effects of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and current profit sharing on promotive voice. We conducted a path-analysis of a moderated multiple-mediation regression model using the PROCESS macro. Our sample included 16,557 participants. We find that psychological ownership partially transmits the effects of ESOP participation and current profit sharing on promotive voice. Employee decision influence strengthens the relationship between ESOP participation and psychological ownership. Perceived alignment of interests does not mediate the relationships between employee ownership and promotive voice.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18023.pdf
IZA DP No. 18073
Alda Botelho Azevedo, Inês Gonçalves, João Pereira dos Santos:
Can’t Buy Me Home: Beliefs, Facts, and Policy in the Housing Affordability Crisis
Abstract:
Our study investigates public opinion on the housing affordability crisis in Portugal through a nationally representative survey combined with an information provision experiment. Participants were asked to identify perceived causes of rising housing prices, assess their factual knowledge of the housing market and sociodemographic trends, and indicate their preferred policy solutions, carefully framed to reflect trade-offs. Half of the respondents were randomly assigned to receive official statistical information on these trends before indicating their policy preferences. The findings reveal significant heterogeneity in beliefs about the causes of the crisis, pervasive misperceptions regarding market trends, and a limited impact of information provision on policy preferences. These results underscore the challenges of addressing housing policy through informational interventions alone and highlight the need for strategies that integrate behavioral and contextual factors to foster informed public engagement.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18073.pdf
IZA DP No. 18082
Manuel Fernandez Sierra, Marco Gonzalez-Navarro, Climent Quintana-Domeque:
Local Public Goods and Property Tax Compliance: Experimental Evidence from Street Pavement
Abstract:
Developing countries often face a cycle where weak tax compliance limits public goods, cutting incentives to pay taxes. We test whether improved local infrastructure can disrupt this cycle, using a randomized street paving experiment in Acayucan, Mexico. Of 56 eligible street projects, 28 were randomly selected. A model highlights two mechanisms: belief updating about government efficiency and reciprocity from direct benefits. Three implications follow: (1) belief updating occurs through exposure to paving anywhere in the network; (2) compliance rises with broader exposure; (3) reciprocity boosts compliance among directly treated owners. Survey data supports belief updating: among initially dissatisfied residents, a one-SD increase in exposure to assigned paving lowered dissatisfaction by 7.9 pp, while exposure to actual paving lowered it by 8.8 pp, with no effect among the satisfied. Property tax records show exposure to assigned paving raised compliance by 1.5 pp, and to ac tual paving by 2.6 pp (3% above baseline). Reciprocity mattered too: owners whose street was assigned paving (or actually paved) increased compliance by 3.2 pp (4.8 pp, or 5.5% above baseline). Belief updating yields four times as much revenue as reciprocity.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18082.pdf
IZA DP No. 18084
Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Dimitris Georgarakos, Geoff Kenny, Olivier Coibion:
The Impact of Geopolitical Risk on Consumer Expectations and Spending
Abstract:
Using novel scenario-based survey questions that randomize the expected duration of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Middle East conflict, we examine the causal impact of geopolitical risk on consumers’ beliefs about aggregate economic conditions and their own financial outlook. Expecting a longer conflict leads European households to anticipate a worsening of the aggregate economy, with higher inflation, lower economic growth, and lower stock prices. They also perceive negative fiscal implications, anticipating higher government debt and higher taxes. Ultimately, households view the geopolitical conflict as making them worse off financially and it leads them to reduce their consumption.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18084.pdf
IZA DP No. 18086
Anna Adamecz, Hubert János Kiss:
Adolescent Core Self-Evaluation and Adult Interpersonal Trust: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study
Abstract:
This paper investigates whether adolescents’ core self-evaluation (CSE), a broad personality construct capturing individuals’ appraisal of their self-worth and capabilities, predicts interpersonal trust decades later. Using nationally representative longitudinal data from the BCS70, we construct CSE measures from self-esteem, locus of control, and emotional stability at age 16 and examine their relationship with trust reported at ages 34, 42, 46, and 50. We find that higher adolescent CSE is positively associated with greater trust in others later in life. The estimated associations are comparable in magnitude to those between trust and cognitive ability. They are stable over time and are not explained by selection to the sample, educational attainment, labor market success, or family formation. Importantly, we find that the relative importance of CSE components varies by adolescent mental health: locus of control is more predictive among individuals with better mental health, while emotional stability plays a stronger role among those with elevated depressive symptoms. These findings underscore the long-term social relevance of core self-evaluation and highlight its importance as a psychological antecedent of trust.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18086.pdf
IZA DP No. 18108
Sarah Dong, Agung Satyadini, Mathias Sinning:
Location Matters: Insights from a Natural Field Experiment to Enhance Small Business Tax Compliance in Indonesia
Abstract:
Both theory and evidence suggest an ambiguous relationship between business tax compliance and geographic proximity to tax offices. We study this issue using a large-scale natural field experiment with Indonesia’s tax authority involving 12,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Businesses were randomly assigned to receive deterrence, information, or public goods letters, or no message. All letters improved compliance, with deterrence messages producing the largest gains - substantially increasing filing rates and raising monthly tax payments. Each dollar spent on deterrence letters generated about US$30 in additional revenue over the course of a year. We observe high compliance among non-treated MSMEs near metropolitan tax offices and find that enforcement messages successfully raise compliance in non-metropolitan regions to comparable levels. However, targeting already compliant MSMEs near metropolitan tax offices backfires, underscoring the need for geographical ly tailored tax administration strategies. These results provide novel experimental evidence on the relation between geographic proximity and the effectiveness of tax enforcement, helping to reconcile mixed findings in the tax compliance literature.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18108.pdf
Please click here to change your subscription status.
If you have trouble downloading the papers, or for any other questions regarding the IZA Discussion Paper Series, contact public...@iza.org.
IZA Publications
Sep 13, 2025, 1:19:51 PMSep 13
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