From the 19th to the 23rd of August 2024, students from all over Europe and US attended intensive classes that offered them a comprehensive overview of how company taxation affects business decisions, both real and reporting ones. The course is a EngageEU course and is part of the initiative to foster education at PhD level within the alliance.

Structured into eight lectures, the course began with an overview of the subject matter, followed by an in-depth exploration of the theory of real investment response to taxation. Subsequent lectures covered the investment response to taxation, employment response to taxation, interactive effects of reporting incentives and tax policies, disclosure regimes, cross-border income shifting, and the real and reporting effects of climate policies. The course leveraged on a multidisciplinary approach, drawing on public economics, finance, and accounting.

"The Business Taxation course at NHH, taught by Dr. Rebecca Lester, was an invaluable opportunity to deepen my understanding of tax in academic research. As a PhD candidate in Finance, I am grateful for the chance to learn from such an esteemed instructor in this exceptionally well-organized course. Thank you, NHH!"

From Ausra Speer (Finance PhD Student, Stockholm School of Economics)

“In addition to the content of the classes, I enjoyed their strong pragmatic orientation towards research. We systematically had an overview of where the literature is standing, including recent frontier works and potential gaps in what we know. I feel that this was an excellent way to get up to speed and move forward with our own projects. The idea that we can make an actual contribution is highly motivating!

I also really appreciated the integration within the department. Participating in the Wednesday brownbag seminar, group talks with the faculty, or bilateral meetings truly made me feel as a visitor to NHH, in spite of the short stay. I have received precious feedback and inspiration at all these occasions. I am grateful for this opportunity!”

From Paul-Emmanuel Chouc (Economics PhD student, Ensae Paris)

The course has been organized by Elisa Casi-Eberhard (Assistant Professor at the Department of Business and Management Science) and the lectures have been conducted by Rebecca Lester. Rebecca is Associate Professor of Accounting at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Research Fellow at both the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and the Hoover Institution. Her research primarily focuses on the impact of tax policies on corporate investment and employment choices, paying particular attention to the role of reporting incentives, information frictions, and disclosure regimes in shaping the effectiveness of local, federal, and cross-border tax incentives. Her research has been published in leading accounting and economics journals like Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, The Accounting Review and Journal of Public Economics. Before joining the PhD program at MIT, she worked eight-year at Deloitte in Chicago working on topics related to M&A and taxes.

During the week in Bergen, the students had also the opportunity to get to know NHH faculty and what working in academia and living in Norway looks like. Group meetings and bilateral talks with several members of the Norwegian Center for Taxation (NoCeT) gave students the opportunity to ask questions to the faculty about the job market, publication process, and academic life in general. Social events including a guided tour of the city and hiking to Fløyen stimulated further interactions among the students as well as with NoCeT faculty.

“I particularly enjoyed discussing the opportunities for advancing the literature on real effects of taxation. This gave me several insights that I can use to improve current projects and ideas!”

From Darci Fischer (PhD Student, Accounting, Boston University)

“Being able to follow Rebecca’s lectures for a week has been a real chance for me. Her positive energy spilled over every PhD student in the room! Now, I can confidently say that I really do know more about what currently matters in the field taxation, and that I'll be keen on bringing all insights I've gained from economics, accounting and finance fields to my future research.”

From Mickael Sixdenier (Economics PhD Student, NHH Norwegian School of Economics)



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