2004 Conference Program

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11

8:30-10:00 AM – GENERAL SESSION

THE STATE OF THE STATE CORPORATE INCOME TAX
Moderator: Kenneth Levinson, President, Minnesota Taxpayers Association
Presentations:
            Firm-Level Effects of Corporate Income Apportionment Formulas—Kelly D. Edmiston, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City; and F. Javier Arze, Georgia State University
            State Responses to Business Tax Planning—James Wetzler, Deloitte Tax LLP, New York
            On the Extent, Growth, and Efficiency Consequences of State Business Tax Planning—John Deskins, Donald Bruce and William F. Fox, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Discussant:
            Dhammika Dharmapala, University of Connecticut
            LeAnn Luna, University of North Carolina, Wilmington

10:15-11:45 AM - CONCURRENT SESSIONS

TAXES AND EXTERNALITIES
Moderator: Sarah West, Macalester College
Presentations:
            How Much Should Alcohol be Taxed? A Cross-Country Assessment of Fiscal and Externality Arguments—Ian Parry and Ramanan Laxminarayan, Resources for the Future; and Sarah West, Macalester College
            The Effects of Motor Vehicle Wealth Taxes on Vehicle Age: Distributions and Emissions—Karie A. Barbour, Illinois State University
            Playing with Fire: Cigarettes, Taxes and Competition from the Internet—Austan Goolsbee, University of Chicago; and Joel Slemrod, University of Michigan
Discussants:
            Antonio Miguel R. Bento, University of Maryland
            Richard Hawkins, University of West Florida

FISCAL FEDERALISM AND TAX COMPETITION
Moderator: TBA
Presentations:
            Fiscal Interdependence in Tax Setting: Evidence from State and County Jurisdictions—Brian Hill, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
            Tax Exporting, State Income Taxes, and the Alternative Minimum Tax—Charles L. Ballard and Paul L. Menchik, Michigan State University
            Yardstick Competition versus Tax Competition: Reexamining Spatial Analysis Using a Panel of U. S. States—Luz A. Saavedra and Bradley Kemp Wilson, University of Saint Thomas
            An Assessment of the Recent Sub-Federal Fiscal Reforms in the Russian Federation—Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Andrey Timofeev, and L. F. Jameson Boex, Georgia State University
DiscussantS:
            Elisabeth Gugl, University of Victoria
            Jonathan C. Rork, Vassar College

VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE AND EVASION
ORGANIZER: Marsha A. Blumenthal, University of Saint Thomas
Moderator: Binh Tran-Nam, University of New South Wales
Presentations:
            The Determinants of Income Tax Evasion: Heterogeneous Responses with Quantile Regressions and TCMP Data—Omar Arias, The World Bank
            Tax Evasion and Entrepreneurship: The Effect of Non-Matched Income on Evasion—John Deskins and Michael McKee, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and James Alm, Georgia State University
            An Estimation Framework of Individual Income Tax Reporting Compliance Based on the National Research Program Database—Chih-Chin Ho, National Taiwan University; and Brian Erard, B. Erard and Associates
            The Evolution of the Informal Economy and Tax Evasion in Croatia— Katarina Ott, Institute of Public Finance, Zagreb, Croatia
DiscussantS:
            Janet G. McCubbin, Statistics of Income Division, Internal Revenue Service
            Marsha A. Blumenthal, University of Saint Thomas

EXAMINING SALES TAXES
Moderator: Robert D. Ebel, The World Bank
Presentations:
           The Effects of Sales Tax Rates on Food Exemptions—Claudio Agostini, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Santiago, Chile
            Competition over the Tax Base: The State Sales Tax—Jason Fletcher, University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Matthew N.Murray, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
            Grading the Sales Taxes: Are They Ready for the 21^st Century?—John L. Mikesell, Indiana University
            Local (Option) Sales Taxes: A Decentralizing Policy?—Xiaoyi Mu and Cynthia Rogers, University of Oklahoma
Discussant:
            Raymond Ring, University of South Dakota

NOON-1:30 PM - LUNCHEON
Presiding: Thomas S. Neubig, President, National Tax Association
Speaker: David Wessel, Wall Street Journal

1:45-3:15 PM - CONCURRENT SESSIONS

OPTIONS FOR DEALING WITH STATE REVENUE INSTABILITY
Moderator: TBA
Presentations:
            Determining the Optimal Size of Rainy Day Funds Using Value at Risk—Ray D. Nelson and Gary C. Cornia, Brigham Young University
            Tax and Expenditure Limitations and the Median Voter—John A. Spry, University of Saint Thomas
            A Decade of Minnesota Revenue Forecasts and Budget Reserves—Paul A. Wilson, Fiscal Analysis, Minnesota House
            State-Local Revenue Diversification, Stability, and Growth: Time Series Evidence—Donald L. Schunk, Douglas P. Woodward, and Sanela Porca, University of South Carolina
Discussant:
            Thomas Stinson, Minnesota State Economist and University of Minnesota

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LAND VALUE TAXATION
ORGANIZER: Michael E. Bell, George Washington University and MEB Associates
Moderator: Daniel A. Salomone, Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue
Presentations:
            Implications of a Split-Rate Real Property Tax: An Initial Look at Three Virginia Local Government Areas—John H. Bowman, Virginia Commonwealth University (Emeritus); and Michael E. Bell, George Washington University and MEB Associates
            Evaluating the Feasibility and Burden Shifting Impacts of a Statewide Land Value Tax on Commercial and Industrial Property in Minnesota—Mark Haveman, Minnesota Taxpayers Association
            Land Value Assessment by Community Consultation: An Experimental Approach—David Solomon, University of Witswatersrand
Discussants:
            Riël Franzsen, Southern African Tax Institute
            Alan S. Dornfest, Idaho State Tax Commission (invited)

THE FEDERAL ESTATE TAX
ORGANIZER/MODERATOR: Jenny Wahl, Carleton College
Presentations:
            The Mismeasure of Man’s Well-being: Evidence from Federal Estate Tax Records on Connections               between Wealth and Income—Barry Johnson, Internal Revenue Service; and Jenny Wahl, Carleton College
            Distributional Effects of Estate Tax Reform—Leonard E. Burman and Jeffrey Rohaly, The Urban Institute; and William G.Gale, The Brookings Institution
            Bequest and Tax Planning: Evidence from the Shadow of Death—Wojciech Kopczuk, Columbia University
            Charitable Giving, Charitable Bequests and the Estate Tax—Robert McClelland, Congressional Budget Office
Discussant:
            Joel Slemrod, University of Michigan

TAXES, COMPENSATION, AND LABOR
Moderator: TBA
Presentations:
            Anticipated Tax Changes and Intertemporal Labor Supply— Monica Singhal and Adam Looney, National Bureau of Economic Research
            The Earned Income Tax Credit and the Wage Schedule: Evidence on Incidence and Compensating Differentials—Jesse Rothstein, Princeton University
             Who Responded to the Tax Reform of the Century?—Martin Ljunge and Kelly S. Ragan, University of Chicago
Discussants:
         Max Sawicky, Economic Policy Institute
         Kevin B. Moore, Federal Reserve Board of Governors

3:30-5:00 PM - GENERAL SESSION
IN HONOR OF CHARLES E. MCLURE, JR., RECIPIENT - 2004 DANIEL M. HOLLAND MEDAL
Moderator: George Zodrow, Rice University
PRESENTERS:
            Richard M. Bird, University of Toronto
            Walter Hellerstein, University of Georgia Law School
            George Zodrow, Rice University

5:00-6:00 PM - ANNUAL MEETING OF THE NATIONAL TAX ASSOCIATION - TAX INSTITUTE OF AMERICA
6:00-7:00 PM - RECEPTION

November 11-13, 2004