By Carlos Scartascini Tax evasion is endemic in many countries. In particular, some developing countries like Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Guatemala do not collect even half of what they should if taxpayers complied with the written letter of the law, according to recent studies summarized in Corbacho, Fretes Cibils, and Lora (2013). This problem is … [Read more...] about Who cares if you don’t pay your taxes?
behavioral economics
Punishment pays?
For a mom or a dad, every day is filled with threats and cajoling. We whisper, shout, sigh. If you finish your homework, you can watch TV for half an hour. Please, this is the third time I ask you to stop bouncing that ball off the wall. One more and I will take it away for the rest of the week! STOP! Gone forever! Like most moms and dads, I was properly schooled on the … [Read more...] about Punishment pays?
Cognition and cost-benefit analysis
More than ten years ago, Cass Sunstein wrote an article on how Cost Benefit analysis can be used to fight our cognitive biases and help unravel our misunderstanding of the facts. … [Read more...] about Cognition and cost-benefit analysis
Impact evaluation, cost effectiveness and cost benefit analysis: back to the future?
In the last decade, attention has increasingly been placed on measuring and establishing the causality of the impact that development projects or interventions – either privately or publicly funded - have on an outcome of interest. In many areas such as health, education and social protection there is an emerging consensus on how to estimate the causal impact of … [Read more...] about Impact evaluation, cost effectiveness and cost benefit analysis: back to the future?
Impact evaluation, cost effectiveness and cost benefit analysis: back to the future?
In the last decade, attention has increasingly been placed on measuring and establishing the causality of the impact that development projects or interventions – either privately or publicly funded - have on an outcome of interest. In many areas such as health, education and social protection there is an emerging consensus on how to estimate the causal impact of interventions. … [Read more...] about Impact evaluation, cost effectiveness and cost benefit analysis: back to the future?