Call for Papers: Tax in Politics, Politics in Tax. A dialogue on the political economy of tax laws.

January 10, 2025

Call for Papers:
Tax in Politics, Politics in Tax.
A dialogue on the political economy of tax laws.

Deadline for submitting abstract: 24 March 2025
Submission should be sent to: Yvette.lind@bi.no
Workshop held in Oslo 23 May 2025
Edited book planned to be published in late 2026

Editors and organizers:
Yvette Lind, Professor of Law at BI Norwegian Business School
James Alm, Professor emeritus of Economics at Tulane University

Background and motivation for workshop and edited book
Taxation is essential for the functioning of our modern states as it funds the maintenance of
law and security, collective decision-making, provision of public goods and services, and
redistribution. In short, no government or state can survive without taxation. This is apparent
when considering the Nordic welfare states. Given this importance, the design and execution
of taxes are fundamental. Moreover, taxation encompasses the relationship between
individuals, governments, and public policy and thus naturally concerns various disciplines
such as economics, politics, and law. Taxes have been extensively studied by these disciplines
but rarely collectively, despite the apparent benefits of doing so. In addition, the actual making
of taxes through tax laws and tax policies is of great interest to both legal scholars and legal
practitioners when they apply and interpret these tax laws. Despite this apparent linking and
importance, the political aspects of tax laws are often left out of tax studies done by legal
scholars.

Consequently, BI Tax and Fiscal Policy Centre at BI Norwegian Business school is organising
a workshop as a recognition of this research gap and the growing need to consider taxation in
a more holistic fashion, especially in light of ongoing global and local developments.
The workshop strives to gather scholars from various disciplines with the purpose of
advancing the interlinking of political economy and tax law as a recognised and progressively
growing research field. Those accepted to the workshop will have the chance to have their
research papers included in a book that will be edited by Yvette Lind and James Alm and is
planned to be published by Edinburgh University Press in the second half of 2026.
The proposed workshop and publication aim to (1) answer questions about the relationship
between tax law and political economics in a number of differing settings, and (2) provide
scholars with the methodological and theoretical tools necessary for conducting studies on
taxation through the lenses of political economy and tax law. Consequently, we welcome
papers of a broad variety that may be linked to any of our three outlined themes.

1. The power to tax. This includes questions such as: Who has the power to tax and how
   does this affect our tax systems and subsequently our tax laws? Who ought to have the
   power and why? How should tax laws be enforced? How do political considerations
   affect the power to tax? This theme naturally also covers aspects associated with the
   administrative, procedural, and legislative processes associated with taxation, i.e. the
   making of tax laws and the fashion in which we interpret and apply them.
2. The fundamentals of our tax systems. What principles underpin our tax systems?
   Should we design our tax systems and tax laws to achieve justice or efficiency, or
   simply to raise revenues? Who/what should be taxed?
3. Redistribution of tax revenues. Tax scholars from law rarely consider the ways in
   which the tax revenues that are collected are actually spent, especially via their
   redistribution to various groups in society. The uses of taxes form a vital part of the
   publication. Within this umbrella authors may naturally wish to explore the goals of
   redistribution, e.g. equal treatment or equity. Redistribution and progressive taxation
   naturally deviate from equal treatment. Does our (formally) neutral tax systems
   discriminate against – or in favour of – various groups based on – for instance – gender,
   race, and economic status? And if so, has this been addressed politically and/or legally
   in our tax systems?

The above outlined themes have been dealt with extensively within disciplines such as
economics and political economics yet less so by law, at least those outside of the US. It is our
wish to address this research gap through this workshop and publication and to foster research
in this area of law when considering the Nordics in particular.

Papers selection will be done by editors based on the following criteria: quality, novelty,
multidisciplinary approach or appeal to multidisciplinary audience, and overall fit with
planned publication.

We strongly encourage early-career scholars and/or Nordic tax scholars to apply as we wish
to strengthen the Nordic tax community through this networking and international
publication opportunity. We can sadly not offer funding for travel and stay during the
workshop, but the workshop itself is cost-free for participants. Nordic tax scholars are
encouraged to apply for funding for participation (travel and stay) from the Nordic Tax
Research Council who are co-funding this event.

Proposed time plan
✓ Deadline for submitting abstract: 24 March 2025.
✓ The decision on accepted/rejected papers will be communicated in mid-April 2025.
✓ First drafts of papers are to be submitted to editors by the 12 May 2025.
✓ The workshop will be held in Oslo at BI Norwegian Business School 23 May 2025.
✓ Revised draft papers are expected to be sent to editors by 12t October 2025.
✓ Editors will request additional changes by 1 December 2025.
✓ Papers subjected to additional revision are expected to be received by 15 February 2026.
✓ Final publication is expected in the second half of 2026.

Review process
✓ Editors will make the initial sorting when accepting/rejecting papers for workshop.
✓ External reviewers will be invited to comment on papers at the workshop.
✓ Editors will provide supplementary comments on the papers after the workshop.
✓ Revised drafts will be subject to additional review from editors and possible external
reviewers based on individual need