Reducing Tax Resistance: Experimental Evidence on a Property Tax Reform

Last registered on May 18, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Reducing Tax Resistance: Experimental Evidence on a Property Tax Reform
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0018560
Initial registration date
May 05, 2026

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
May 18, 2026, 4:04 AM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Nadja Dwenger
Affiliation
University of Hohenheim
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Lea Weiz
PI Affiliation
University of Hohenheim
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-05-06
End date
2029-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Other
Additional Keywords
Tax resistance, taxes, taxation, protest, fiscal transparency, governmental transparency, fairness, unrealized gains, appeal
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This project studies how the state may reduce tax resistance.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Dwenger, Nadja and Lea Weiz. 2026. "Reducing Tax Resistance: Experimental Evidence on a Property Tax Reform." AEA RCT Registry. May 18. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.18560-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This project studies how the state may reduce tax resistance.
Intervention Start Date
2026-05-06
Intervention End Date
2026-06-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
(1) Stated attitudes toward the property tax and (2) Behavioral expressions of tax resistance.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This project studies how the state may reduce tax resistance. At the beginning of the treatment intervention, all respondents are informed about the 2018 ruling of Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court, which declared the existing property tax system unconstitutional. Respondents are then randomly assigned to one of four intervention groups:
1. Control (no further info)
2. Transparency
3. Unrealized gains
4. Fairness
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done by software
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2,000
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
For outcomes measured on a 7-point Likert scale, the standard deviation reaches its theoretical maximum of 3 when half of respondents choose the lowest category and half choose the highest category. Under this conservative assumption, a two-sided test (one-sided test) with 80% power and a significance level of 5% requires 567 (446) observations per group to detect a treatment effect of 0.5 scale points.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Hohenheim
IRB Approval Date
2026-05-05
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

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