Gender, Status, and Tax Evasion

• In Event: Understanding and Addressing White-Collar Crime

Abstract

Current literature on tax evasion finds that men are more likely to evade paying appropriate taxes compared to women. My research looks at how expectation states theory (Berger, 1992) may help to explain gender differences in tax evasion. Expectation states theory states that diffused status characteristics (such as gender) impact interactions and behavioral expectations. The goal of this paper is to address the role of status and gender’s effect on tax evasion. Research has shown that when women are given higher status positions, their behavior matches those of a person of high status more so than a person of low status. Using multivariate logistic regression analyses, I investigate if the association between gender and tax evasion is explained when you control on occupation as a measure of status. In this paper, I will present a detailed framework of how expectation states theory can be used to further the study of tax evasion. I will also present the results of preliminary data analysis with Wheeler, Weisburd, and Bode’s “Nature and Sanctioning of White Collar Crime, 1976–1978: Federal Judicial Districts” to investigate how gender is associated with tax evasion with and without controls for occupation.

Author

• Bruce Reese, Texas A&M University