Call for Papers: Conference on Taxing Personal Income and Wealth in Developing Countries

Together with the World Bank, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IFS - Institute for Fiscal Studies, UK Aid, Columbia University, OTPR - Office of Tax Policy Research and University of Michigan Ross School of Business, Skatteforsk is organizing the second World Bank tax conference. It will be held in Washington D.C., May 7-8, 2020. Submission by December 15, 2019.

Call for papers:
This conference brings together leading researchers and policy makers to discuss recent research on taxing personal income and wealth with relevance for developing countries. Individual income taxes are a key source of revenue in high-income countries, and the primary tool for redistribution via the tax system. In lower-income countries, however, taxing individual income and wealth is challenging. Many individuals in the lower part of the income distribution operate outside of the formal sector, and those in the upper part of the distribution have diverse sources of non-wage income, which can be de jure or de facto untaxed. We invite submissions featuring empirical or theoretical analyses of personal income taxes (PAYE), property taxes, wealth taxes, withholding taxes and topics related to taxing high net-worth individuals. A unique feature of the conference will be the blending of frontier academic research with the practical experience of policy makers.

Program:
The conference will feature a keynote address by Wojciech Kopczuk, Professor of Economics and of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, research presentations and academic discussions, and a special session dedicated to shorter presentations of early-stage work. A brainstorming session on potential new projects will facilitate interactions between researchers and policy makers, and the testing of innovative research ideas with high policy relevance.

Submission:
We invite researchers (at academic and policy institutions) to submit a paper (preferable) or an extended abstract of two or more pages to gisellev@worldbank.org (subject “WB Tax Conference”) by December 15, 2019. If you would like to invite a policy maker connected to your research project, please provide her name, position and a brief description of her background. We aim to notify the authors of selected papers by January 2020. Economy class travel and hotel accommodation will be covered for presenters and selected policy makers.

Committee: Annette Alstadsæter, Pierre Bachas, Anne Brockmeyer, Anna Custers, Roel Dom, Wojciech Kopczuk, Oyebola Okunogbe, David Phillips, Joel Slemrod, Yani Tyskerud, Marijn Verhoeven.