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Most Individuals Prefer to Compromise among Competing Normative Principles of Taxation

By: Itai Sher and Matthew C. Weinzierl
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
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Abstract

We use a novel survey to gather direct and indirect evidence on how individuals reconcile their simultaneous support for opposing normative principles when forming their policy preferences. Our evidence suggests that, when choosing policy, a minority (approximately one-third) of individuals follow the recommendations of the principle they most strongly support, while the majority of individuals prefer, instead, to compromise. Those who compromise give multiple competing principles weights that roughly correspond to their relative levels of support for them.

Keywords

Normative Principles; Taxation; Policy; Attitudes; Measurement and Metrics

Citation

Sher, Itai, and Matthew C. Weinzierl. "Most Individuals Prefer to Compromise among Competing Normative Principles of Taxation." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-013, September 2021.

About The Author

Matthew C. Weinzierl

Business, Government and the International Economy
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