scholarly journals If We Could Choose The Way We Pay: The Impact Of Decision Complexity On Tax Scheme Preference

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey P. Katz ◽  
Richard L. Ott
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Tax Policy ◽  
Organizational Psychology ◽  
Tax Structure ◽  
Business Decisions ◽  
Tax Simplification ◽  
Policy Impacts ◽  
Decision Complexity ◽  
The Impact

A continuing debate exists about how the complex U.S. tax code has resulted in counter-productive business decisions. Our study examines how tax policy impacts taxpayer decision-making. We present a model addressing factors impacting taxpayer decision-making and test our resulting hypotheses using an experimental design drawn from industrial and organizational psychology. We find that the context of the taxpayer's personal situation significantly affects the decision to favor changes in tax policy. Consistent with our hypotheses, we find that taxpayers having a more complex tax situation will tend to support a tax simplification proposal less than those with simpler tax situations. Our study provides unique evidence that taxpayers having more complex tax situations feel more in control of their decisions under the existing tax structure than those having simpler tax situations. Implications for decision-making researchers and tax policymakers are offered.

scholarly journals Policy impacts of ecosystem services knowledge

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (7) ◽  
pp. 1760-1765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Posner ◽  
Emily McKenzie ◽  
Taylor H. Ricketts
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Policy Impact ◽  
Predictor Variables ◽  
Policy Impacts ◽  
The Impact

Research about ecosystem services (ES) often aims to generate knowledge that influences policies and institutions for conservation and human development. However, we have limited understanding of how decision-makers use ES knowledge or what factors facilitate use. Here we address this gap and report on, to our knowledge, the first quantitative analysis of the factors and conditions that explain the policy impact of ES knowledge. We analyze a global sample of cases where similar ES knowledge was generated and applied to decision-making. We first test whether attributes of ES knowledge themselves predict different measures of impact on decisions. We find that legitimacy of knowledge is more often associated with impact than either the credibility or salience of the knowledge. We also examine whether predictor variables related to the science-to-policy process and the contextual conditions of a case are significant in predicting impact. Our findings indicate that, although many factors are important, attributes of the knowledge and aspects of the science-to-policy process that enhance legitimacy best explain the impact of ES science on decision-making. Our results are consistent with both theory and previous qualitative assessments in suggesting that the attributes and perceptions of scientific knowledge and process within which knowledge is coproduced are important determinants of whether that knowledge leads to action.

scholarly journals Why are decisions for oil and gas projects not always made the way they ‘should' be?

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 130 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Newman ◽  
Steve Begg ◽  
Matthew Welsh
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Analysis ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Decision Quality ◽  
Good Decision ◽  
Business Decisions ◽  
Business Outcomes ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
The Impact

The outcomes of many business decisions do not live up to expectations or possibilities. A literature review of neuroscience and psychological factors that affect decision making has been undertaken, highlighting many reasons why it is hard for people to be good decision makers, particularly in complex and uncertain situations such as oil and gas projects. One way to diminish the impact of these human factors is to use the structured methodology and tools of Decision Analysis, which have been developed and used over 50 years, for making good decisions. Interviews with senior personnel from oil and gas operating companies, followed up by a larger-scale survey, were conducted to determine whether or how Decision Analysis and Decision Quality are used and why they are used in particular ways. The results showed that Decision Analysis and Decision Quality are not used as often as the participants think they should be; some 90% of respondents believed that they should be used for key project decisions, but only ~50% said that they are used. Six propositions were tested for why Decision Analysis and Decision Quality are not used more, and the following three were deemed to be supported: • Decision Analysis and Decision Quality are not well understood. • There is reliance on experience and judgment for decision-making. • Projects are schedule-driven. Further research is proposed to determine the underlying causes, and tackle those, with the aim being to improve business outcomes by determining how to influence decision makers to use Decision Analysis and Decision Quality more effectively.

scholarly journals Can process accountability mitigate myopic biases? An experimental analysis

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mina Ličen ◽  
Sergeja Slapničar
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Discount Rate ◽  
Experimental Analysis ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Probability Discounting ◽  
Choice Tasks ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis paper examines the impact of process accountability on two biases causing myopic or short-sighted decision making. These biases are strong preferences for immediate and certain outcomes known as delay and risk aversion. We hypothesize that accountability alone is insufficient to undo the biases, but if coupled with a cue on subjective discount rates, it will attenuate biases. To analyze our research question, we used a within- and between-subjects experimental design (two accountability conditions compared with a non-accountability condition and with each other) with delay and probability discounting choice tasks involving 118 students of accounting, finance and management in an online experiment. In line with our hypotheses, we find that process accountability successfully reduces excessive delay and risk aversion only if it provides a cue about the subjective discount rate. We discuss the implications of our findings for management control.

Quota Women Are Threatening to Men

2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 107-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klea Faniko ◽  
Till Burckhardt ◽  
Oriane Sarrasin ◽  
Fabio Lorenzi-Cioldi ◽  
Siri Øyslebø Sørensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Preferential Treatment ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Women In Decision Making ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Two studies carried out among Albanian public-sector employees examined the impact of different types of affirmative action policies (AAPs) on (counter)stereotypical perceptions of women in decision-making positions. Study 1 (N = 178) revealed that participants – especially women – perceived women in decision-making positions as more masculine (i.e., agentic) than feminine (i.e., communal). Study 2 (N = 239) showed that different types of AA had different effects on the attribution of gender stereotypes to AAP beneficiaries: Women benefiting from a quota policy were perceived as being more communal than agentic, while those benefiting from weak preferential treatment were perceived as being more agentic than communal. Furthermore, we examined how the belief that AAPs threaten men’s access to decision-making positions influenced the attribution of these traits to AAP beneficiaries. The results showed that men who reported high levels of perceived threat, as compared to men who reported low levels of perceived threat, attributed more communal than agentic traits to the beneficiaries of quotas. These findings suggest that AAPs may have created a backlash against its beneficiaries by emphasizing gender-stereotypical or counterstereotypical traits. Thus, the framing of AAPs, for instance, as a matter of enhancing organizational performance, in the process of policy making and implementation, may be a crucial tool to countering potential backlash.

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