Michael Dorsch

Does historically rooted trust explain individuals' compliance with government regulations? To evaluate this central question, we examine the effect of historical Habsburg rule on contemporary levels of public trust and a variety of compliance outcomes. We conducted online surveys in Northern Italy and Austria to gauge compliance behavior over a range of outcomes, such as bribery, tax evasion, and COVID-19 related restrictions.  For tax compliance, we introduce a novel incentivized behavioral choice in the survey -- signing up for pre-paid expert tax consultation vs. receiving an Amazon gift card -- that elicits revealed preference for tax compliance.  We demonstrate that higher levels of public trust have a positive impact on compliance behavior, using the long-gone borders of the Habsburg empire.