Fines, Non-Payment, and Revenues: Evidence from Speeding Tickets
- We estimate the effect of the level of fines on payment compliance and revenues collected from speeding tickets. Exploiting discontinuous increases in fines at speed cutoffs and reform induced variation in these discontinuities, we implement two complementary regression discontinuity designs. The results consistently document small payment responses: a 10% increase in the fine (i.e. the payment obligation) induces a 1.2 percentage point decline in timely payments. The implied revenue elasticity is about 0.9. Expressed in absolute terms, a one dollar increase in the fine translates into a roughly 60 cent increase in payments collected within 15 days.
Document Type: | Working Paper |
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Language: | English |
Author(s): | Christian Traxler, Libor Dušek |
Parent Title (English): | Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers |
Hertie Collections (Serial Number): | Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers (23) |
Publication year: | 2023 |
Publishing Institution: | Hertie School |
Number pages: | 38 |
Related URL: | https://berlinschoolofeconomics.de/insights/bse-discussion-papers |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-5046 |
Release Date: | 2023/07/31 |
Edition: | No. 23 |
AY 22/23: | AY 22/23 |
Hertie School Research: | BerlinSchoolOfEcon_Discussion_Papers |
Licence of document (German): | ![]() |