Informality and tax evasion. An experimental test among female entrepreneurs in Bogotá

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Mayda Alejandra Calderon Diaz
Olga Lucia Manrique Chaparro
Samantha Chloe Jade Day
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4467-7243

Abstract

The majority of informal entrepreneurs and workers in Bogota are women, most of whom do not have social security provision or job stability.This research investigates to what extent female entrepreneurs in the city of Bogota, Colombia, prefer to situate their business in the informal labor market. Some theorists as represented by De Soto, argue informality occurs due to a preference-based rational decision to avoid paying taxes, while others consider it to be primarily related to an 'escape' from poverty as a unique option. The study used an experiment, featuring a tax evasion game targeting500 women participants, formal and informal entrepreneurs, from the city of Bogota. The null hypothesis of the study was tested using Chi-square (X2) and inferential statistical model at a 5% level of significance. The findings revealed that a significant difference between attitudes towards taxation in formal and informal female entrepreneurs in Bogota does not exist.

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Author Biographies

Mayda Alejandra Calderon Diaz, National University of Colombia

Economist, Universidad Industrial de Santander. MBA, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. PhD in Economics, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Faculty of Economics, Bogota, Colombia. E-mail: maacalderondi@unal. edu.co. Address: Carrera 45 N° 26-85. ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6591-7184

Olga Lucia Manrique Chaparro

Economist, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. PhD in Economics, Universidad de Barcelona. Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia. E-mail: omanriquec@unal.edu.co. Address: Carrera 45 N° 26-85. ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5847-6296

Samantha Chloe Jade Day, King’s College London

BA Hons Business Studies, University of Greenwich, MA Climate change: History, Societyand Culture. PhD (c) in Geography. Department of Geography. King’s College London, Strand, London, United Kingdom. Email: samantha.day@kcl.ac.uk. Address: Strand, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom. ORCID https://orcid.org/0000- 0003-4467-7243

How to Cite

Calderon Diaz, M. A. ., Manrique Chaparro, O. L. ., & Jade Day, S. C. . (2020). Informality and tax evasion. An experimental test among female entrepreneurs in Bogotá. Semestre Económico, 23(55), 239-257. https://doi.org/10.22395/seec.v23n55a11

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