Projects
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Nudge to tax compliance |
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Description The "Nudge to Tax Compliance" project originates from a specific need identified by the Tuscany Region and is funded through IRPET to explore behavioral economics-based strategies aimed at improving voluntary tax compliance. The initiative focuses on studying and developing behavioral interventions (nudges) applied to tax compliance, with particular attention to lump sum taxes characterized by high evasion rates despite their ease of verification. Vehicle tax represents an emblematic case of this problem, where non-compliance rates exceeding 15% generate significant revenue losses for regional administrations. The project aims to identify and experiment with different types of fiscal nudges, including automatic payment systems, administrative procedure simplification, personalized communications, and choice architectures optimized to foster spontaneous compliance. The methodological approach combines controlled laboratory experiments with behavioral analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of each intervention. The main objectives include reducing compliance costs for taxpayers, increasing voluntary compliance rates, and developing policy tools replicable in different regional fiscal contexts. The project represents an example of applied research that, starting from concrete territorial needs, develops evidence-based solutions to improve the efficiency and equity of the local tax system while reducing administrative enforcement costs. |
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Researchers Domenico Colucci - BEELab+, University of Florence |
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Endowment Effect: Timing and Commodity Types |
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Description The endowment effect represents one of the most documented behavioral anomalies in economic literature, highlighting how individuals systematically assign higher value to goods they own compared to those they do not possess. This phenomenon creates a significant discrepancy between willingness to pay for acquiring a good and willingness to accept payment for relinquishing the same good once owned. The research project "Endowment effect: timing and commodity types" aims to explore two fundamental and still under-investigated aspects of the endowment effect. First, the influence of possession duration on the effect's manifestation, analyzing whether and how the intensity of the endowment effect evolves from instant possession to prolonged ownership periods. Second, the impact of different commodity types on the emergence and intensity of the effect, with particular attention to the distinction between tangible goods, intangible goods, and exchange goods. The research, based on both online and lab experiments, adopts innovative methodological approaches combining experimental techniques with in-depth behavioral analysis, aiming to contribute to the development of a more comprehensive theoretical framework of the endowment effect. The project offers potential applications in areas such as commercial policies, market mechanism design, and consumer protection strategies, positioning itself within the broader research program of behavioral economics. |
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Researchers Domenico Colucci - BEELab+, University of Florence |
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Social Preferences And Social Entrepreneurships |
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Description The “Social Preferences And Social Entrepreneurships” project was initially conceived as part of the broader European research program EFESEIIS (Enabling the Flourishing and Evolution of Social Entrepreneurship for Innovative and Inclusive Societies) and then continued independently. The research stems from the need to understand whether decision makers in social enterprises actually behave differently from traditional entrepreneurs, moving beyond the predominantly anecdotal approach that characterizes much of the existing literature. Social entrepreneurship, by definition oriented towards solving social and environmental problems, should theoretically translate into more pro-social choices than conventional businesses focused on profit maximization. The project uses behavioral economics tools to analyze entrepreneurs' social preferences through laboratory experiments. The methodology involves testing real entrepreneurs—not just students, as is usually the case—in market games that simulate decision-making situations similar to those they encounter in their daily activities. The experiments include both sessions with students from different disciplines and tests with active entrepreneurs, allowing social preferences to be assessed in controlled contexts. The research represents one of the first attempts (perhaps the first) to conduct laboratory economic experiments with real entrepreneurs to analyze their social preferences through market games with positive externalities. The experimental approach overcomes the limitations of questionnaire- and interview-based analyses, which are potentially subject to bias, by providing rigorous empirical evidence on the actual behavior of social entrepreneurs compared to traditional entrepreneurs. The project thus contributes to filling a significant gap in the understanding of the behavioral mechanisms underlying social entrepreneurship. |
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Researchers Mario Biggeri - University of Florence |
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Bounded Rationality and Expectations Formation |
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Description The aim of the project is to understand how economic agents with limited rationality form expectations and how these expectations influence macroeconomic dynamics. The motivation stems from evidence that real agents do not always update in a fully rational manner and resort to heuristics, with significant effects on volatility, cycles, and the transmission of economic policies. The project, which has been running for a long time and has been funded in several PRIN cycles by the MUR (2002, 2004, 2008, 2017), is divided into two complementary areas: Cross-cutting objectives include: defining selection criteria for micro-evidence-based heuristics, integrating heterogeneity and learning into macro models, and providing guidelines for policy robustness in the presence of irrational expectations. The project aims to bridge the gap between experimental evidence and theoretical modeling, offering reliable tools for policy analysis and evaluation. |
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Researchers Domenico Colucci - BEELab+, University of Florence |
Last update
08.10.2025