Finnish Centre of Excellence
in Tax Systems Research (FIT)
Economics @ Tampere University has been awarded the status of Centre of Excellence, funded by the Academy of Finland, for the period 2022-2029. We are the leading partner in the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research (FIT).
Contact: Leader of the CoE, prof. Kaisa Kotakorpi, kaisa.kotakorpi@tuni.fi
Partners: Tampere University, VATT Institute for Economic Research & University of Helsinki
WEBSITE: www.taxresearch.fi
NEWS (note this list is no longer updated after 1st Sept 2022 - please refer to FIT website for current info):
We are organizing a PhD course on public economics, with a focus on tax policy, together with the Uppsala Centre for Fiscal Studies. The course will take place in Helsinki on 31 May - 3 June 2022. Please consult the course flyer for more information!
We are organizing a public launch event of FIT on 1 Sept - more information to follow!
FIT researcher Heikki Palviainen is defending his PhD thesis on 27 May 2022 - more information here.
FIT-seminars
29 March 2022, 13:00 - 14:00 (Tampere University, room PinniB1097): Peter Matthews (Middlebury College): Income Rank and Individual Welfare - Experimental Evidence
4 May 2022, 11:00 - 12:00 (Tampere University, Room PinniA3111): Ran Sun Lyng (University of Toronto): Job Amenities in the Market for CEOs
WORK PACKAGES:
WP1: Inequality (leader: Jukka Pirttilä, University of Helsinki)
In WP1, we gather new data to measure the true extent of economic inequality in Finland, and analyze how it is affected by tax-benefit policy. We also examine how inequality can be alleviated, using large-scale randomized controlled trials e.g. on how to remove bureaucracy traps that limit the effectiveness of welfare policies. Further, we analyze the consequences of inequality and relative income concerns on individual well-being and behaviour, through an incentivized survey experiment.
WP2: Environment and Health (leader: Tuomas Kosonen, VATT Institute for Economic Research)
In WP2, we examine which policies targeted at reducing emissions from transportation are effective in doing so, analyzing the relative merits of tax-subsidy policy and various regulatory tools. We also analyze whether and under what circumstances taxes and regulation can be used to reduce unhealthy consumption. Throughout, we focus also on the distributional consequences of corrective policies, which may be crucial for their implementation.
WP3: Societal costs of taxation (leader: Kaisa Kotakorpi, Tampere University)
In WP3, we examine the excess burden from income and commodity taxation. We provide a methodological contribution to measuring labour supply responses, and hence the excess burden of income taxes. We examine multiple margins of reactions to policy (labour supply and labour market participation, migration and evasion), as well as various outcome measures beyond income and employment (health, child outcomes).
WP4: Productivity and firms (leader: Jarkko Harju, Tampere University)
In WP4, we ask how tax policies, administrative rules and regulation affect firm performance – firm birth, growth, and exit rates as well as productivity – and inequality. We provide rigorous new evidence on the fundamental question of how production decisions are made: we extend the knowledge of how value is created in firms, and how it is distributed between workers and capital owners. We also examine how entrepreneurs and business owners should be insured against macroeconomic shocks.
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD (nominated by the Academy of Finland):
Matz Dahlberg (Uppsala University)
Mick Keen (Tokyo College)
Nadine Riedel (University of Münster)
(plus representatives of the Academy of Finland and the consortia institutions)
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD:
Richard Blundell (University College London)
Claus Thustrup Kreiner (University of Copenhagen)
Eva Mörk (Uppsala University)
Andreas Peichl (University of Munich)
Emmanuel Saez (University of California, Berkeley)
Guttorm Schjelderup (Norwegian School of Economics, NHH)