The virtual conference on May 27-29th is open to registration here. Here is the agenda:

“Politics and Administration in Public Finance”

Virtual
Paul H. O’Neill Graduate Center
School of Public & Environmental Affairs

Virtual Format: All events to be held in Gather.Town

Presentations and Discussions: Keynote Hall (East)
Posters: Poster Hall (North)
Reception Area: Plaza

Thursday, May 27

7:30-9:00         Virtual Reception, BYOB

Friday, May 28

8:30 – 8:40      Welcome from Sian Mooney, Dean of the Paul H. O’Neill School

Session I: Politics & Budgets

8:40 – 9:20      “A Distaste for Deficits: Voter Opinion and Balanced Budget Laws in the U.S. States.”
Carolyn Abott, Assistant Professor, Department of Government & Politics, St. John’s University
Discussant: Dan Smith, Associate Professor, Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware

9:20 – 10:00    “Priority Based Budgeting: An Honest Broker Among Municipal Departments?”
David Mitchell, Assistant Professor, School of Public Administration, University of Central Florida
Discussant: Katherine Willoughby, Margaret Hughes and Robert T. Golembiewski Professor of Public Administration and Policy, University of Georgia

10:00 – 10:40   “Tax Now or Tax Never: Political Optionality and the Case for Current-Assessment Reform”
David Gamage, Professor of Law, Maurer School of Law, Indiana University
John R. Brooks, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Discussant: Daniel Shaviro – Wayne Perry Professor of Taxation, NYU School of Law

Session II: Sales Tax Incidence

10:55-11:35     “Using the COVID-19 Pandemic to Understand Local Sales Tax Base and the Question of ‘Who Pays’”
Whitney Afonso, Associate Professor, School of Government, University of North Carolina
Jeremy Moulton, Associate Professor, Department of Public Policy, University of North Carolina
Discussant: Enda Patrick Hargaden, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

11:35-12:15     “The Inequality Implications of the Local Option Sales Tax”
Felipe A. Lozano-Rojas, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration & Policy, University of Georgia
Michelle L. Lofton, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration & Policy, University of Georgia
Discussant: Mike Pagano, Dean, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs

12:45-1:45       KEYNOTE:

“Vested Interests in Failed Policies”
By Casey Mulligan
University of Chicago

Session III: Fiscal Consequences of Political Structure

2:15 – 2:55      “The Impact of Horizontal Fragmentation on Inter-Municipal Fiscal Equality.”
Robert E. Hines, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Georgia School of Public & International Affairs
Discussant: Chris Berry, William J. and Alicia Townsend Friedman Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and the College.

2:55 – 3:35      “Does Yardstick Competition Exist Among Overlapping Localities? Evidence on the Fiscal Effects of Direct Democracy.”
Yoon-Jung Choi, Doctoral Candidate, Maxwell School, Syracuse University
Discussant: David Brasington, James C. and Caroline Kautz Chair in Political Economy Professor, University of Cincinnati Department of Economics

Session IV: Applied Topics I

3:50 – 4:30       “Decentralization and Firm Performance: Evidence from China”
Denvil Duncan, O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University
Yongzheng Liu, School of Finance, Renmin University of China
Discussant: Jerry Zhao, Professor, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

4:30 – 5:10      “State Electric Vehicle Tax Credits: An Analysis of Incidence and Equity”
Peter Bluestone, Senior Research Associate, Center for State & Local Government, Georgia State University
Robert Buschman, Georgia State University
Laura Wheeler, Georgia State University
Discussant: Shanthi Ramnath, Policy Economist at Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Saturday, May 29

8:30 – 8:35      “Welcome to the 2^nd Day”

Session V: Political Leadership & Public Finances

8:35 – 9:15      “Do Top Business Leaders Make Good Governors: A Regression Discontinuity Design”
Can Chen, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Policy and Administration, Florida International University
Discussant: Russell Sobel, Professor of Economics & Entrepreneurship, The Citadel

9:15 – 9:55      “Political Party Polarization and US Spending”
Carla Flink, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration & Policy, American University
Soren Jordan, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Auburn University
Discussant: Phil Joyce, Senior Associate Dean and Professor of Public Policy, University of Maryland School of Public Policy

9:55 – 10:35    “Decree or Democracy? State Takeovers and Local Government Financial Outcomes”
Akheil Singla, Assistant Professor, Arizona State University
Thomas Luke Spreen, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland
Jason Shumberger, Doctoral Candidate, Arizona State University
Discussant: Peter Calcagno, Professor of Economics, College of Charleston

Session VI: Applied Topics II

10:50 – 11:30   “Property Tax Assessment Appeals in the United States Over Time and Across Space”
Iuliia Shybalkina, Assistant Professor, Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Kentucky
Discussant: William Doerner, Supervisory Economist, Federal Housing Finance Agency

11:30 – 12:10   “State Income Taxes and Entrepreneurship in the Gig Economy”
Bradley J. Heim, Paul H. O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University
Justin M. Ross, Paul H. O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University
Angela Brunner, Paul H. O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University
Discussant: Sally Wallace, Dean and Professor of Andrew Young School of Public Policy, Georgia State University