The role of ventromedial prefrontal cortex and temporo-parietal junction in third-party punishment behavior.

Third parties punish, sacrificing personal interests, offenders who violate either fairness or cooperation norms. This behavior is defined altruistic punishment and the degree of punishment typically increases with the severity of the norm violation. An opposite and apparently paradoxical behavior, namely anti-social punishment, is the tendency to spend own money to punish cooperative or fair behaviors.

Are Some Countries More Honest than Others? Evidence from a Tax Compliance Experiment in Sweden and Italy.

This study examines cultural differences in ordinary dishonesty between Italy and Sweden, two countries with different reputations for trustworthiness and probity. Exploiting a set of cross-cultural tax compliance experiments, we find that the average level of tax evasion (as a measure of ordinary dishonesty) does not differ significantly between Swedes and Italians. However, we also uncover differences in national "styles" of dishonesty.

"Willing to Pay?" Tax Compliance in Britain and Italy: An Experimental Analysis.

As shown by the recent crisis, tax evasion poses a significant problem for countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy. While these societies certainly possess weaker fiscal institutions as compared to other EU members, might broader cultural differences between northern and southern Europe also help to explain citizens' (un)willingness to pay their taxes? To address this question, we conduct laboratory experiments in the UK and Italy, two countries which straddle this North-South divide. Our design allows us to examine citizens' willingness to contribute to public goods via taxes while holding institutions constant.

Fair play doesn't matter: MEP modulation as a neurophysiological signature of status quo bias in economic interactions.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies show that watching others' movements enhances motor evoked potential (MEPs) amplitude of the muscles involved in the observed action (motor facilitation, MF). MF has been attributed to a mirror neuron system mediated mechanism, causing an excitability increment of primary motor cortex. It is still unclear whether the meaning an action assumes when performed in an interpersonal exchange context could affect MF.