Asymmetry in Civic Information: An Experiment on Tax Participation among Small and Informal Firms in Togo

Paul Dower of the Dept of Ag & Applied Economics will discuss his randomized controlled trial on informal and small scale firms in Lomé, Togo, that investigated whether alleviating informational asymmetry improved tax participation. Surprisingly, the researchers found that treated firms, who they show are now better informed, participate less in the tax system. However, Dower and colleagues also found that this decline is steeper for treated firms with lower revenues at baseline.