Tax Evasion: From the neoclassical paradigm to behavioural economics

The aim of this research is to analyze the tax evasion phenomenon providing an overview of the main academic and theoretical literature behind this issue. In the first chapter the concept of tax evasion is defined and the negative implications which derive from it are analyzed. A specific section has been dedicated to the Italian case with particular focus on the relation between tax evasion and shadow economy and with a provision of number and statistical data useful to understand the wide scale of the phenomenon. The second section has the objective to present an overview about the main milestones which led to the transition from the Neoclassical Economic approach to the most recent Behavioral Economic approach and their application to the tax evasion topic. Finally, the third chapter present the discipline of Experimental Economics as a means to provide empirical evidence to the prediction of the theoretical model.