What's trust got to do with it? Non-payment of service charges in local authorities in South Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3139712 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Odd-Helge Fjeldstad, Odd‐Helge Fjeldstad (0000-0002-2527-0707, Chr. Michelsen Institute, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 539-562 |
| Publication date | 2004-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Modern African Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-278X • E-ISSN: 1469-7777 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0022278x04000394 |
| OpenAlex | W2154562246 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 48 |
| References cited | 21 |
A major financial problem in many municipalities in South Africa is the inadequate collection of service charges due to widespread non-payment. The prevailing view is that non-compliance is caused by poverty and the existence of an 'entitlement culture'. However, huge variations in compliance exist both within poor communities and between communities with similar socio-economic characteristics. How can these differences be explained? Moreover, what factors determine citizens' compliance? This paper argues that non-payment is related not only to inability to pay and 'a culture of entitlement', but also to whether citizens perceive the local government to act in their interest. In particular, three dimensions of trust may affect citizens' compliance: (1) trust in the local government to use revenues to provide expected services; (2) trust in the authorities to establish fair procedures for revenue collection and distribution of services; and (3) trust in other citizens to pay their share
Affect (linguistics) · Business · Compliance (psychology) · Distribution (mathematics) · Economic growth · Economics · Entitlement (fair division) · Government (linguistics) · Local government · Payment · Political science · Poverty · Public economics · Revenue · Service (business) · Finance · Homelessness and Social Issues · Marketing · Microfinance and Financial Inclusion · Public Administration · Taxation and Compliance Studies
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How South African Citizens Evaluate Their Economic Obligations to the State
The Economic Psychology of Tax Behaviour
Service Delivery and Legitimacy in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States
Migration, Remittances, and Petty Corruption in Africa
Tax Evasion Attitudes of Small Firms in Low‐ and Middle‐income Countries
Non-payment culture and the financial performance of urban electricity utilities in South Africa
Mobile money and the social contract
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The symbolic violence of debt discourse
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Factors affecting nonpayment of water service by rural households in Nepal
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The Participation Divide? Political Participation, Trust in Government, and E‐government in Australia and New Zealand
Power and Prejudice
Leaving the hearth you know
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Building a Social Contract? Understanding Tax Morale in Nigeria
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Enforced versus voluntary tax compliance
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Trust in Authorities and Power to Enforce Tax Compliance
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Taxation in Namibia
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E-Government Services Adoption
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Income tax evasion
Consent, Dissent, and Patriotism
How South African Citizens Evaluate Their Economic Obligations to the State
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Of Rule and Revenue
Social and Unsocial Capital
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Reciprocity
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Trust, Social Dilemmas and Collective Memories
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A Communication Model of Taxpayer Honesty
Taxation, coercion and donors
| Unique citing works | 48 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2002 - 2026 (25) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 46 |