Increasing Public Debt Collection with Nudging

Abstract


 
 
 Using two natural field experiments, we tested whether nudging could contribute as a cost-free instrument to increase voluntary public debt collection. We manipulated standard reminder notices sent to two samples (N = 396 and N = 549) with public debt in a municipality in Denmark, a country with a high tax morale. Results from both studies showed that initial debt payment rates were significantly higher in intervention groups receiving a simplified, kind, and attractive reminder notice as compared to a control groups receiving a standard and complex reminder notice. The results suggest that nudging may contribute to public debt collection in countries with a high tax morale.