Course Catalog

This course focuses on two major topics in empirical research on taxation: the real and the reporting effects of taxation. Tax policy changes are often intended to stimulate economic growth by motivating firms to hire more workers and increase investment spending. Researchers face two challenges when studying these real investment and employment effects. First, state and national governments engage in cross-border tax competition that alters where companies invest, complicating efforts to fully capture the real response. Second, governments use reporting regimes and disclosure incentives to facilitate firms’ real responses, but these regimes can induce reporting effects (Slemrod, 1992; Hanlon and Heitzman, 2010). Measuring the reporting response is critical because it can alter the effectiveness of business tax policies.

The course consists of 8 lectures (90 minutes each). In addition, there are student presentations of 20-30 minutes each.

Visit our website for more information (see course details).