TY - JOUR AU - Witte, Erich H. AU - Van Quaquebeke, Niels AU - Mölders, Christina T1 - Mehrwertsteuererhöhung: Eine wirtschaftspsychologische Analyse ihrer Wirkung JF - Wirtschaftspsychologie SP - 115 EP - 128 VL - 3 PY - 2005 AB - An increase in the value added tax rate is usually thought of as reducing the consumption in a country and therefore as not adequate to improve the domestic market situation. To check on these assumptions we undertook two studies (online and offline) based on the principles of Economic Psychology. We could show that an increase in VAT does indeed lead customers to think that they will consume less. Nonetheless in a succeeding experimental scenario technique (16% vs. 19% VAT & unreliable vs. reliable pensions & 11% vs. 6% unemployment rate) we found evidence that a rise in VAT alone would not change the degree of consumption in comparison to today's practices. Moreover by combining the rise with a reduction in other (uncertainty-) factors we could even make out an increase in self-rated consumption. A substantial impact of other possible moderators (e.g. age, sex, income, East-West Germans) could not be detected. These results indicate that the debate on the raise of VAT in Germany is not complex enough. Moreover it focuses on the wrong topics. Interestingly by reducing uncertainty in the populace an increase in VAT can even stimulate consumption in the domestic market. M4 - Citavi ER -