The Economics of Tax Behavior: The Absence of a Reflexive Ethical-Economic Agent

Abstract

In this article I do four things. First, I set out and critique mainstream economic theory of tax evasion and its lack of a reflexive ethical-economic agent. Second, I set out more innovative work on “tax morale.” Third, I establish that insofar as work on tax morale draws on behavioral economics it has more continuity with previous work on evasion than one might expect, given that the implications of tax morale for an economic agent seem different. Fourth, drawing on concepts of deliberation, moral economy, and positional objectivity, I provide brief discussion of alternatives that encourage and respect a reflexive ethical-economic agent.