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Generating Voluntary Compliance Across Doctrines and Nations: Interlocking the Behavioral and Regulatory Aspects of Governments’ Ability to Trust Public' Cooperation, Ethicality and Compliance

Project description

Comparing voluntary compliance through different doctrines and nations

The extent to which governments and regulators can trust the public without compromising regulatory goals or damaging other social values is limited. Identifying and analysing the precursors of voluntary compliance (VC) across doctrines and countries can increase the theoretical understanding of the interaction between states and residents and assess the relative efficacy of behaviourally based regulatory tools. The EU-funded VCOMP project will develop a new conceptual model and methodology to compare the relative efficacy of VC across different doctrines such as taxation, environmental behaviour, commercial ethics and high-low trust nations. This model will consider national, organisational, situational and individual factors exploring the extent to which varieties of regulatory tools can achieve VC as well as increased trustworthiness and civic virtue by the public.

Objective

The distinct advantages of enhancing the public’s voluntary compliance (VC) with regulations has made it an advantageous form of governance. However, its use is limited by the extent to which governments and regulators can trust the public without jeopardizing regulatory purposes and harming other social values. Identifying and analysing the antecedents of VC across doctrines and countries can enhance our theoretical understanding of the underlying nature of the interaction between countries and their residents, as well as evaluate the relative efficacy of behaviourally based regulatory tools. This project proposes, examines, and develops a new conceptual model and a methodology that will facilitate a systematic comparison of the relative efficacy across different doctrines and nations. This model will take into account national, organizational, situational, and individual factors and will draw on and combine material from the fields of organizational, situational, and individual factors and will draw on and combine material from the fields of Compliance, Regulation, Behavioural Public Policy, Behavioural Ethics, Trust & Social Norms on how to advance public VC. We will empirically explore if and to what extent VC and greater trustworthiness by the public can be achieved across countries (high vs. low trust) using regulatory tools such as nudges, pledges, incentives, sanctions, and morality in the context of the situations of tax, environment, COVID-19 and ethics. The comprehensive picture of VC that will emerge from this project will include not just effect sizes, but also factors such as the proportion of those who comply, the sustainability of compliance, the impact on social norms, and the likelihood of positive externalities (e.g. trust enhancement) following the enactment of a specific regulatory tool. Better insights into VC can help elucidate the descriptive and normative understanding of the nature of the interaction between countries and their residents.

Host institution

BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY
Net EU contribution
€ 2 096 500,00
Address
BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
52900 Ramat Gan
Israel

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 2 096 500,00

Beneficiaries (5)