As the US considers extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which included many business tax provisions, and policymakers around the world try to address the challenge of taxing capital income when businesses have some discretion in locating that income, there is new interest at all levels of government in business tax reform. Research can inform these policy debates by characterizing how current business taxes and possible alternatives affect investment, employment, and the distribution of real incomes.
To advance analysis of these issues, on Friday, April 18, 2025, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), with the generous support of the Smith Richardson Foundation, will convene a research conference. The program will be organized by NBER Research Associates James Poterba of MIT and Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato of Stanford University. The conference will last all day; part of the morning session will be held jointly with the NBER Public Economics program meeting.
The conference will highlight research on the economic effects of business taxation. Examples of topics that would be suitable for presentations include, but are not limited to:
• Investment, employment, and revenue effects of business taxes
• International tax policy reforms affecting businesses
• Environmental implications of business tax policy
• Innovation and tax policy
• The extent of tax avoidance and profit shifting on business tax revenues
• Effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 on domestic and international business
• Business taxation and income inequality
• Firm-level incidence of state business tax changes
• Taxation of pass-through entities and small businesses
• Effects of state and local business tax subsidies
To be considered for presentation, upload papers or work-in-progress project summaries of no more than five pages that might be suitable for short presentation slots by 11:59 ET on Monday, February 10, 2025.
Please do not submit papers that will be published by April 2025. Time for short presentations of new projects will be allocated primarily to early-career researchers. Submissions from scholars who are early in their careers, members of groups that are under-represented in the economics profession, and who are not NBER affiliates are welcome. The program will be announced in mid-February.
NBER will cover the travel expenses for up to two authors per paper, and for one author for each short presentation. Questions about this meeting may be addressed to tricias@nber.org.