Week in Insights: In Norway, Tax Transparency Goes Both Ways

If a database existed containing the income and tax details of every tax filer in the country, whom would you investigate first? Your boss, colleagues, or those you consider economically similar to yourself?

Would knowing that others could see that you had accessed their tax records affect your choice?

Evidence from Norway indicates it would. Tax records have been publicly accessible there for decades and, until 2014, Norwegians could view this information anonymously. But once the government changed the system to alert taxpayers when and by whom their information was accessed, the practice sharply declined.

This phenomenon offers an interesting ...