Tax Education to Improve Tax Knowledge and Tax Morale of Young Adults in Cameroon.

Last registered on October 23, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Tax Education to Improve Tax Knowledge and Tax Morale of Young Adults in Cameroon.
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017018
Initial registration date
October 15, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
October 23, 2025, 6:37 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Cameroon
Region
Mfoundi division

Primary Investigator

Name
Guylaine Nouwoue N D Epse Tchakounte
Affiliation
University of Exeter
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Marc Ateba
PI Affiliation
Central Africa Catholic University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Miguel Fonseca
PI Affiliation
University of Exeter
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PI Name
Jannesquin Royer
PI Affiliation
University of Douala
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2023-11-30
End date
2025-05-30
Keywords
Behavior, Other
Additional Keywords
Tax education, tax compliance, tax morale, social norms, field experiments
JEL code(s)
H26, D91, I25, O12, C93
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
We aim to explore how instructing future taxpayers on basic tax information helps build a tax-paying culture under low state capacity. We embedded a randomized survey experiment in a large tax awareness campaign towards young adults in Cameroon. We randomly assigned 1,962 public and private secondary school students from 42 classes to tax information classes. We aim to provide causal evidence of significant effects on basic tax knowledge and compliance attitudes, and test differential treatment effects across gender, risk attitudes and family background.
External Link(s)
OSF pre-registration
OSF pre-registration

Registration Citation

Citation
Ateba, Marc et al. 2025. "Tax Education to Improve Tax Knowledge and Tax Morale of Young Adults in Cameroon.." AEA RCT Registry. October 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17018-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention randomly assigns students to one of the following experimental groups.
We randomly assigned classrooms to four experimental groups . (i) Students receive no teaching in baseline classrooms, also called the Control group. They were only allowed to complete the survey form. (ii) Students assigned to the TaxOfficial treatment received tax
lessons delivered by tax officials; (iii) while students assigned to the TaxExpert treatment were taught by tax experts. The distinction between the two groups intends to assess whether the delivery messenger matters (Martin and Marks, 2019).(iv) In the last experimental group, which we refer to as the SocialNorm treatment, tax researchers led the lessons and provided information about the prevalence of compliance in the Cameroonian community.
Intervention (Hidden)
The intervention randomly assigns students to one of the following experimental groups.
We randomly assigned classrooms to four experimental groups . (i) Students receive no teaching in baseline classrooms, also called the Control group. They were only allowed to complete the survey form. (ii) Students assigned to the TaxOfficial treatment received tax
lessons delivered by tax officials; (iii) while students assigned to the TaxExpert treatment were taught by tax experts. The distinction between the two groups intends to assess whether the delivery messenger matters (Martin and Marks, 2019).(iv) In the last experimental group, which we refer to as the SocialNorm treatment, tax researchers led the lessons and provided information about the prevalence of compliance in the Cameroonian community.
Intervention Start Date
2023-11-30
Intervention End Date
2025-05-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Tax knowledge
Tax morale
Beliefs about the prevalence of tax compliance
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Demographics (Age, gender, family characteristics)
Behavioural attributes (Trust, preference for giving, risk)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Trust ( in school, tax service, local authority, stranger)
Preference for giving ()to a known friend, to a needy)
Risk attitude (derived the bomb elicitation game)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The intervention randomly assigns students to one of the following experimental groups.
We randomly assigned classrooms to four experimental groups . (i) Students receive no teaching in baseline classrooms, also called the Control group. They were only allowed to complete the survey form. (ii) Students assigned to the TaxOfficial treatment received tax
lessons delivered by tax officials; (iii) while students assigned to the TaxExpert treatment were taught by tax experts. The distinction between the two groups intends to assess whether the delivery messenger matters (Martin and Marks, 2019).(iv) In the last experimental group, which we refer to as the SocialNorm treatment, tax researchers led the lessons and provided information about the prevalence of compliance in the Cameroonian community.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomiation done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Classroom
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
60 clusters.
Sample size: planned number of observations
2000 high school students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
2000 high school students from 60 clusters
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
MDE of 0.3
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Cameroon's Regional Ethics Comittee
IRB Approval Date
2023-12-13
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials