A PhD Course on Tax and Transfer Systems in Helsinki, 10-14 June 2024

The Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research (FIT), led by Tampere University with VATT Institute for Economic Research and the University of Helsinki as partners, and the Uppsala Center for Fiscal Studies (UCFS) will arrange a course for doctoral students in public economics, with an emphasis on tax policy.

The course will take place in Helsinki, 10 – 14 June 2024. The first two and the half days consist of lectures and student presentations. Students will then follow the proceedings of the Transatlantic Public Economics Seminar (TAPES) in the latter half of the week as observers. TAPES brings together some of the very best researchers in the field discussing their recent research.

Professors Emmanual Saez (University of California, Berkeley) and Joel Slemrod (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) will deliver lectures during the course. Lecturers also include faculty members from UCFS and FIT.

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Tentative programme

Monday, 10 June

Venue: Economicum, Arkadiankatu 7, Helsinki

09:00 – 10:30 Optimal tax  (Jukka Pirttilä)

10:30 – 10:45 Break

10:45 – 12:15 Marginal cost of public funds (Spencer Bastani)

12:15 – 13:30 Lunch at Postitalo

13:30 – 15:00 Empirical tax analysis (Håkan Selin)

15:00 – 15:30 Coffee break at the café of the Natural History Museum

15:30 – 17:00 Behavioural public economics (Kaisa Kotakorpi)

18:00 – 20:00 Light dinner + student posters, Venue: Solo Sokos Hotel Helsinki, Room: Blomstedt Hall, Entrance via Yliopistonkatu 8

Tuesday, 11 June

Venue: Economicum, Arkadiankatu 7, Helsinki

09:00 – 10:30 Consumption taxation  (Tuomas Kosonen)

10:30 – 10:45 Break

10:45 – 12:15 Taxation of firms (Jarkko Harju)

12:15 – 13:30 Lunch at Postitalo

13:30 – 15:00 The role of remittance regimes: Why it matters who writes the check to the government (Joel Slemrod)

16:00 – 18:00 Emmanuel Saez: Inequality and the Welfare State: Challenges and Perspectives

In his work Emmanuel Saez, Professor of Economics at University of California, Berkeley, focuses on broad questions around taxation, economic inequality and wealth redistribution.
In 2023, he was awarded the Wihuri International Prize for exceptional research on the prerequisites for the sustainability of the welfare state. This lecture will build on Emmanuel Saez’s extensive work on financing and structures of the welfare state, as well as open new insights into its future – both globally and in Finland.

After the lecture, cocktails and a light buffet will be served in the hall.

Venue: The Great Hall of Aalto University Töölö (the former main building of the School of Business), Runeberginkatu 14-16

Wednesday, 12 June

Venue: Hotel Kämp, Mirror Room, Pohjoisesplanadi 29, Helsinki

08:30 – 09:00 Coffee

09:00 – 11:00 Inequality: Lessons from the World Inequality Database (Emmanuel Saez)

11:00 – 12:25 Lunch

12:25 onwards: TAPES – Note! Please register at the TAPES Reception at 11:00-12:30

12:25 – Welcome: Hilary Hoynes & Tuomas Kosonen

12:30 – Session 1, Chair: Tuomas Kosonen, VATT Institute for Economic Research
Distributional Tax Analysis in Theory and Practice: Harberger Meets Diamond-Mirrlees
Emmanuel Saez, University of California, Berkeley and NBER
Co-author: Gabriel Zucman
Discussant: Joel Slemrod, University of Michigan and NBER

13:45 – Coffee break

14:00 – Session 2, Chair: Tuomas Matikka, VATT Institute for Economic Research
Taxing Wealth in the Presence of Liquidity Constraints: Evidence from France
Arthur Guillouzouic, Paris School of Economics and IPP
Co-authors: Laurent Bach, Clement Malgouyres
Discussant: Spencer Bastani, IFAU and Uppsala University

15:15
Taxing Top Wealth: Migration Responses and their Aggregate Economic Implications
Mathilde Muñoz, University of California, Berkeley and NBER
Co-authors: Katrine Jakobsen, Henrik Kleven, Jonas Kolsrud, Camille Landais
Discussant: Jukka Pirttilä, University of Helsinki and FIT

16:30 – Coffee break

17:00 – Keynote: Joel Slemrod, University of Michigan and NBER
None of Your Business: Some Thoughts on Tax Privacy

18:00 – Adjourn

A brief walk (500 m) to the restaurant

19:00 – Dinner at Restaurant Haven, Eteläranta 16, Helsinki

Thursday, 13 June

Venue: Hotel Kämp, Mirror Room, Pohjoisesplanadi 29, Helsinki

8:30 – 15:30 TAPES

08:30 – Coffee

09:00 – Session 3, Chair: Jukka Pirttilä, University of Helsinki and FIT
The Efficiency-Equity Tradeoff of the Corporate Income Tax: Evidence from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
Patrick J. Kennedy, UCLA and NBER
Co-authors: Christine L. Dobridge, Paul Landefeld, Jacob Mortenson
Discussant: Andreas Peichl, University of Munich

10:15
Insuring Landlords
Antoine B. Levy, University of California, Berkeley
Co-authors: Thomas Bezy, Timothy McQuade
Discussant: Jarkko Harju, Tampere University and FIT

11:30 – Coffee Break

12:00 – Keynote: Henrik Kleven, Princeton University and NBER
Equality of Opportunity vs Equality of Outcomes: A Theory of Optimal Predistribution

13:00 – Lunch

14:00 – Session 4, Chair: Hilary Hoynes, University of California, Berkeley and NBER
Studying a Sin Tax Scheme with Multiple Reforms
Tuomas Kosonen, VATT Institute for Economic Research
Co-authors: Sami Jysmä, Riikka Savolainen
Discussant: Emmanuel Saez, University of California, Berkeley and NBER

15:15 – Adjourn

Note! The excursion to Suomenlinna and Lonna is by invitation only.

Friday, 14 June

Venue: Hotel Kämp, Mirror Room, Pohjoisesplanadi 29, Helsinki

08:30 – 14:30 TAPES

08:30 – Coffee

09:00 – Session 5, Chair: Kaisa Kotakorpi, Tampere University and FIT
Precautionary Liquidity and Worker Decisions in French Employee Saving Plans
James Poterba, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Co-authors: Marie Briere, Ariane Szafarz
Discussant: Mathilde Muñoz, University of California, Berkeley and NBER

10:15
Growing Up Over the Social Safety Net: The Effects of a Cash Transfer Program on the Transition to Adulthood
Matias Giaccobasso, VATT Institute for Economic Research and FIT
Discussant: Hilary W. Hoynes, University of California, Berkeley and NBER

11:30 – Lunch

12:00 – Session 6, Chair: Jarkko Harju, Tampere University and FIT
Forward-Looking Labor Supply Responses to Changes in Pension Wealth: Evidence from Germany
Giulia Giupponi, Bocconi University
Co-authors: Elisabeth Artmann, Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln
Discussant: Håkan Selin, IFAU

13:15
Lost in Information: National Implementation of Global Tax Agreements
Barbara Stage, WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management
Co-authors: Annette Alstadsæter, Elisa Casi-Eberhard, Jakob Miethe
Discussant: Kaisa Kotakorpi, Tampere University and FIT

14:30 – Adjourn

14:30 – Coffee

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Registration

The registration is closed.

The course is free of charge and meals are provided on the course, but participants are expected to cover their own accommodation and travel expenses.

Course completion

Students are asked to write a thorough, referee-style report on one of the papers presented in the TAPES seminar. The assignment is graded as passed or not. With a satisfactory completion of the course, each participant will be issued a certificate with 5 ECTS credits as a recommendation to be acknowledged by the student’s own university.

More detailed instructions will be shared in due course.

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Looking forward to seeing you in Helsinki!

Spencer Bastani (IFAU and UCFS)
Jarkko Harju (Tampere University)
Tuomas Kosonen (VATT Institute for Economic Research)
Kaisa Kotakorpi (Tampere University)
Jukka Pirttilä (University of Helsinki, VATT, and Helsinki GSE)
Håkan Selin (IFAU and UCFS)                      

Additional information and inquiries: fit.events@tuni.fi

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Photo: SKYFOX / Marko Kallio