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Trial Status completed on_going
Abstract Our study will conduct a number of survey experiments to investigate the accuracy of different approaches widely used to estimate the prevalence of sensitive behavior in the social sciences.The context of the study is tax compliance in a sample of small- to mid-sized enterprises in Kampala, Uganda. By combining survey data with administrative tax records for the same firms, we assess the performance of different measurement approaches, benchmarked against the administrative data, within the same survey. This allows us to quantify measurement error in different self-reported measures of tax compliance and make recommendations for policy and research based on our findings. Our study will conduct a number of survey experiments to investigate the accuracy of different approaches widely used to estimate the prevalence of sensitive behavior in the social sciences.The context of the study is tax compliance in a sample of small- to mid-sized enterprises in Kampala, Uganda. By combining survey data with administrative tax records for the same firms, we assess the performance of different measurement approaches, benchmarked against the administrative data, within the same survey. This allows us to quantify measurement error in different self-reported measures of tax compliance and make recommendations for policy and research based on our findings. Based on the findings of the first survey data collection, we are running a second survey round to replicate the findings and study key mechanisms behind our results.
Trial End Date October 21, 2023 March 31, 2025
Last Published November 01, 2023 04:10 PM February 09, 2025 02:29 PM
Intervention (Public) We conduct a number of survey experiments to collect self reported data on tax compliance among the firms in our sample. We conduct a number of survey experiments to collect self reported data on tax compliance among the firms in our sample. We then conduct a second survey to understand mechanisms behind respondents' reporting behavior.
Intervention End Date October 21, 2023 December 11, 2024
Planned Number of Clusters 1500 firms First survey: 1500 firms Second survey: 2000 firms
Planned Number of Observations 1500 firms First survey: 1500 firms Second survey: 2000 firms
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms Even split for each survey experiment and tax level. Expected sample sizes per experiment: Experiment 1: List experiment 750 (URA), 750 (KCCA) Experiment 2: Randomized Response 750 (URA), 750 (KCCA) Experiment 3: Bayesian Truth Serum 750 (BTS), 750 (Control / Direct Questioning) Even split for each survey experiment and tax level. Expected sample sizes per experiment: ** Survey 1 ** Experiment 1: List experiment 750 (URA), 750 (KCCA) Experiment 2: Randomized Response 750 (URA), 750 (KCCA) Experiment 3: Bayesian Truth Serum 750 (BTS), 750 (Control / Direct Questioning) ** Survey 2 ** Respondents were randomized into the following treatment arms 1) Municipal tax (trade license) compliance: 1000 2) National business tax compliance: 1000 For the question phrasing experiment, respondents in each treatment arm were randomized into 1) Original (negated) question format: 1800 (90%) 2) Non-negated question format: 200 (10%) we conducted this randomization stratified by the abovementioned two treatment arms.
Intervention (Hidden) We conduct a number of survey experiments to collect self reported data on tax compliance among the firms in our sample. Specifically, we compare estimates from 1) direct questioning, 2) a list experiment, 3) a randomized response, 4) incentivized response (Bayesian Truth Serum, Prelec 2004). We conduct a number of survey experiments to collect self reported data on tax compliance among the firms in our sample. Specifically, we compare estimates from 1) direct questioning, 2) a list experiment, 3) a randomized response, 4) incentivized response (Bayesian Truth Serum, Prelec 2004). In a second survey, we study (i) whether our main findings replicate in a new sample of households from the same population, (ii) how differences in question phrasing affect our main findings, (iii) the mechanisms behind the response patterns we find (insufficient understanding, inattention/satisficing), (iv) alternative ways to obtain unbiased estimates of sensitive behavior in survey data (error-correction methods for existing techniques, enumerator guesses, second-order beliefs, ensemble/meta-analytical techniques that combine various estimates into one).
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Irbs

Field Before After
IRB Name Ethics Review Committee Inner City Faculties (ERCIC), Maastricht University
IRB Approval Date July 15, 2024
IRB Approval Number ERCIC_587_10_06_2024_Dietrich
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