7th Berlin-Vallendar Conference on Tax Research

Now in its 7th year, Martin Jacob (WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management) and Frank Hechtner (Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuernberg) invited participants to the popular Berlin-Vallendar Tax Conference, which - like last year - had to take place in a virtual setting.

Organizer Martin Jacob was able to welcome just about 90 participants at 2 p.m. CET. "For some participants it is just 5 am, for others 8 pm. I am very pleased about the high participation of international experts, as this exchange in specific is very precious and provides new impulses for the research community."

First, seven current projects in the field of tax research were presented by their respective authors.

Preetika Joshi (McGill University) presented the research paper titled "Private Country-by-Country Reporting and the Misalignment between Profits and Economic Activity," written in collaboration with Kevin S. Markle (Michigan State University). The paper was discussed by Johannes Voget (University of Mannheim).

"Tax Avoidance or Recent Losses," the title of the paper by Scott D. Dyreng (Duke University), Robert W. Hills (Penn State University), and Bradley P. Lindsey (Utah State University), which was presented by author Christina M. Lewellen (North Carolina State University). Nathan Goldman (also North Carolina State University) discussed the work.

Duy Tan Do (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) showed a valuable contribution to the exchange of current research results with his recent research paper, "Mostly Good Robin Hood: Impact of Financial Transaction Tax on Corporate Investment." The paper was discussed by Rahul Vashishta (Duke University).

Aruhn Venkat (University of Texas, Austin) presented his paper on "Corporate tax subsidies, local spillovers and corporate innovation," which he co-authored with Yoojin Lee (California State University, Long Beach) and Shaphan Ng from Singapore Management University. Their findings were discussed by Maximilian Todtenhaupt (NHH Norwegian School of Economics).

"When Are Effective Tax Rate Changes Persistent? The Role of Incentives and Tax-Specific Experience," presented by Mehmet C. Kara (University of Kansas), was the next joint paper on the agenda. He co-authored the paper with Erik L. Beardsley (University of Notre Dame) and Connie D. Weaver (Texas A&M University). Allison Koester (Georgetown University) previewed and discussed this paper.

"The Effect of Statutory Tax Rates on the CEO Performance-Turnover Relation" was the scholarly paper presented to conference attendees by Casey Schwab (University of North Texas), Bridget Stomberg (Indiana University) and Adam Manlove (Indiana University). Fabio Gaertner (University of Madison-Wisconsin) considered the paper from his perspective.

Ryan Wilson (University of Oregon) discussed the paper "Foreign Aid through Domestic Tax Cuts? Evidence from Multinational Firm Presence in Developing Countries," which was presented in advance by Daniel Klein (University of Mannheim). Co-authors are Jeffrey L. Hoopes (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Rebecca Lester (Stanford Graduate School of Business), and Marcel Olbert (London Business School).

Once again, this year, four tax researchers had the opportunity to present one of their early-stage paper for discussion. Harald Amberger (WU Vienna), Elisa Casi (NHH Bergen), Svea Holtmann (University of Ingolstadt) and Frank Murphy (University of Orgeon) gave first insights into current tax topics in a 10-minute presentation each.

Many helpful comments and suggestions from the conference topics will certainly be further utilized in future work.

The coffee breaks between the presentations were filled with relaxed conversations far away from the tax world - and clearly showed that all participants are already looking forward to meeting again next year in Vallendar.

Martin Jacob and Frank Hechtner can once again look back on a valuable event that will have a lasting positive influence on all participants in their further research.