The civic side of tax compliance: Evidence from Italy

This study validates TV fee compliance as a proxy for civic capital in Italy. Using municipality-level data, we show that it strongly correlates with traditional social capital measures such as voluntary associations, referenda, and European elections turnout. The analysis confirms its reliability both at municipal and provincial levels. TV fee compliance provides a scalable, objective, and timely indicator, particularly useful for researchers to examine the socio-economic dynamics of civic capital and its implications for institutional performance and economic development.