Gender, Status and Tax Offenses Over Time

• In Event: Etiology and Correlates of White-Collar Crime

Abstract

Previous literature suggests a relationship between gender and tax compliance, with men being more likely to commit tax offenses than women. However, current research by Reese and McDougal (2018) suggests that these differences may be more appropriately attributed to status rather than gender. This study expands on the work of Reese and McDougal (2018), which looked one year of federal criminal sentencing, by examining the same relationship between gender, status, and tax non-compliance between 1987-2015. In particular, we ask: (1) Does the association between status and tax non-compliance identified by Reese and McDougal (2018) hold over time? (2) Do additional measures of status mediate the relationship between gender and tax non-compliance? (3) How do the effect sizes of different measures of status change over time? To test these relationships, we conducted a series of multiple regressions using cross-sectional data from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) on the Monitoring of Federal Criminal Sentences. Tentative results support Reese and McDougal’s (2018) findings that status matters. Within this sample, the odds of being convicted of a tax offense compared to any other white collar crime were significantly greater for individuals possessing higher status characteristics.

Authors

• Bruce Reese, Concordia University Texas

• Mary K. McDougal, Texas A&M University