Økland has been working as a postdoctoral researcher at Skatteforsk since 2022 and has now stepped into a new position at the School of Economics as Associate Professor.
The Norwegian economist will continue to develop his research on households' investment and tax compliance behavior and how this is shaped by tax rules and regulatory context.
– I am very excited about taking on the role of associate professor. Skatteforsk has been the home of my research since I started my PhD, and I look forward to continuing our effort to establish the centre as the leading place for tax research in Norway, says Økland.
In his new role, Økland will be responsible for Skatteforsk’s teaching efforts for bachelor and master students. Skatteforsk today offers the courses “Taxes, Inequality and Sustainability (BUS360)” and “Internasjonal Skatt, Skatteparadiser og Bærekraft (BUS262)”.
– The courses give the students at the business school a general introduction to the taxation of individuals and corporations. They then show how insights from accounting and economics can be used to understand the consequences of the tax systems. We are very proud of how the courses combine policy relevance and application of the foundational theory, says Økland.
Økland's most prominent work to date analyzes much wealth is hidden in real estate and who owns it using a leaked dataset on the property market in Dubai. Other work explore the role of the tax base in property taxation and the extent of foreign investment in the Norwegian real estate market.
In his role as a postdoctoral researcher, Økland has expanded his research to also cover other hard-to-trace sources of wealth, like cryptocurrency, and whether international information-sharing agreements works as intended. He also coordinates the real estate data behind the Atlas of the Offshore World, a joint initiative with the International Tax Observatory.
Skatteforsk Director, Annette Alstadsæter, emphasizes that Økland's appointment marks an important milestone for Skatteforsk - Norwegian Centre for Tax Research, doubling its permanent academic staff.
– This reflects the centre’s strong anchoring at NMBU and the School of Economics and Business’ ambition to invest in top research and teaching in Taxation and Public Economics, says Alstadsæter.
– Andreas has played an important role in building Skatteforsk from the very beginning, and I am thrilled that he will now join us permanently and help shape the next phase of the big Skatteforsk-project.