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7th World Bank / ODI Global / IFS Public Finance Conference

Join us for the 7th edition of the World Bank / ODI Global / IFS Public Finance Conference. This year's edition will take place on London, UK, on September 25-26, 2025.

Add to Calendar 25-09-2025 00:00 26-09-2025 17:00 America/New_York 7th World Bank / ODI Global / IFS Public Finance Conference Hello,\n\nThis is a reminder to join us virtually on World Bank: 7th World Bank / ODI Global / IFS Public Finance Conference \n\nAbout the event: Join us for the 7th edition of the World Bank / ODI Global / IFS Public Finance Conference. This year's edition will take place on London, UK, on September 25-26, 2025. \n\nGo to event page: https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2025/09/25/7th-world-bank-ifs-odi-public-finance-conference \n\nWe look forward to seeing you! \n\n WORLD BANK - https://www.worldbank.org \nDevelopment Events Brought to You Live Online
Call for Papers 7th Public Finance Conference

This event will be streamed here in

Date & Time

September 25 - 26, 2025 ET

Location

London, UK

We are pleased to announce the 7th World Bank/ODI Global/IFS Public Finance Conference, to be held in London, UK, on September 25–26, 2025. This annual event brings together researchers and practitioners to discuss frontier research on public finance, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries (L&MICs).

The 2025 conference will include sessions on tax audits and compliance, labor market formalization, progressive taxation, government accountability, international tax reform, and emerging tax instruments such as carbon and property taxes. The agenda also features country-focused sessions on Brazil and Uganda, highlighting recent research on tax policy, social protection, and development. 

Keynote Address

We are pleased to feature the following keynote presentations: 

  • Tim Besley, School Professor of Economics and Political Science and W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics at the London School of Economics.
  • Annette Alstadsæter, Professor at the School of Economics and Business, Norwegian University of Life Sciences. 

Format

The conference will take place in person in London, UK, on September 25-26 with streaming available for non-presenting attendees. 

You can find below the conference program. The registration will be published in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Academic Committee

Laura Abramovsky, Pierre Bachas, Anne Brockmeyer, Rishabh Choudhary, Lucie Gadenne, Pablo Garriga, François Gerard, Hazel Granger, Jonas Hjort, Christopher Hoy, Jonathan Karver, Justine Knebelmann, Kyle McNabb, Joana Naritomi, Marina Ngoma, Oyebola Okunogbe, David Phillips, Thiago Scot, Mahvish Shaukat, Dario Tortarolo, Yani Tyskerud, Ben Waltmann, Mazhar Waseem.

DATE: September 25-26, 2025

TIME: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM (UK time UTC+1)

FORMAT: In-Person with Online Livestreaming

CONTACT: Email us at datax@worldbank.org

8:30–9:00  Registration and Coffee
9:00–9:10 Welcome Remarks 

 

 

9:10–10:40

Uganda Session: Understanding Tax Challenges in Uganda: Audits, Evasion, and the Cost of Compliance

 

“Tax Audits and their Distortionary Effects” 
David Henning, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Oxford University (United Kingdom)

 

“You Can't Tax What You Can't See: Using Fixed Cargo Scanners to Combat Tax Evasion”
Miroslav Palanský, Assistant Professor of Economics, Charles University (Czech Republic)

 

“Beyond the tax bill: Measuring tax compliance costs for Ugandan firms”
Adrienne Lees, Doctoral researcher, University of Sussex (United Kingdom) 

 

Panel discussion
10:40–11:00 Coffee Break

 

 

11:00–12:00

 

 

Fire-Session 1: Labor Market Formalization: Insights on Informality, Tax Policy, and Incentives 

 

“The Role of Cash in Illegal Labor Market Practices: Evidence from Uruguay”
Maximiliano Lauletta, Economist, Federal Reserve Board (United States)

 

“Encouraging Formal Work: Experimental Evidence from Administrative Data in Jordan”
Jade Siu, Assistant Professor, University of Reading (United Kingdom)

 

“Estimating employment responses to South Africa Employment Tax Incentive”
Amina Ebrahim, Research Fellow at the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) (Finland)

 

“Minimum wage and tax kink effects in the formal and informal sectors in Zambia”
Kwabena Adu-Ababio, Research Fellow at the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) (Finland)
12:00–12:10 Break
12:10 - 13:00

Keynote Session: Taxation and the State: Institutions, Incentives, and Development

 

Tim Besley, School Professor of Economics and Political Science and Sir Arthur Lewis, Professor of Development Economics at the London School of Economics (LSE) (United Kingdom)
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 - 15:15

Session 1: Taxing Top Incomes: Progressivity, State Capacity, and Redistribution

 

"Tax Progressivity and Inequality in Brazil: Evidence from Integrated Administrative Data”
Theo Palomo, Researcher, Paris School of Economics (France)

 

“The Political Economy of Progressive Tax Reform: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan” 
Adnan Qadir Khan, Professor in Practice at the School of Public Policy, London School of Economics, (United Kingdom)

 

“Progressivity, fairness, and tax capacity: Evidence from the Democratic Republic of the Congo"
Augustin Bergeron, Assistant Professor, University of Southern California (United States)
15:15-15:35 Coffee Break

15.35- 16.50

 

Session 2: Government Accountability and Relations with Citizens 

 

“Access to Loans and Local Development”
Renata Motta Café, Fiscal Management Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank (Brazil)

 

“Pay-to-Play: Political Contributions and Long-term Distortions in Public Procurement”
Juan Felipe Ladino, PhD Student, Stockholm University (Sweden)

 

“Public Procurement and Firms: Evidence from Kenya”
Justice Mensah, Senior Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist, Africa Region at the World Bank (United States)
16:50 – 17:00  Break

 

 

17:00 – 18:00

 

 

Fire-Session 2: Social Protection and Efficiency of the Public Sector

 

“Spillovers in Earnings Responses to Social Assistance Programs: Evidence from the Workplace”
Marcelo Bergolo, Professor of Economics, School of Economics and Administration IECON-UDELAR (Uruguay)

 

“Financial Incentives, Pension Claiming, and the Value of Early Retirement Benefits”
Juan Rios, Assistant Professor, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

 

“Tax Productivity and Development: A Quantitative Macroeconomic Analysis”
Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Assistant Professor NYU Stern School of Business (United States)

 

“How (In)Efficient are Governments? Evidence from matched customs transactions data”
Bob Rijkers, Senior Economist at World Bank Group and Professor of Political Economy at Utrecht University (United States) 
18:00-19:30 Informal Dinner
8:30 – 9:00  Registration and Coffee

 

 

9:00 – 10:30

 

 

Brazil Session:  Conditional Cash Transfers and Social Mobility in Brazil

 

“Do CCTs Create Conditions to Thrive? Bolsa Familia and Social Mobility in Brazil”
Alexandre Fonseca, Tax Auditor and Researcher, Federal Revenue of Brazil (Brazil)

 

“Cash Transfers and Poverty Trap: Evidence from Bolsa Familia”
Felipe Lobel, Researcher, Stanford University (United States)

 

“Today's Bonus, Tomorrow's Budget: Equity-Efficiency Tradeoff in Performance-Based Transfers”
Luigi Caloi, Researcher, Columbia University (United States)

 

Panel discussion
10:30 – 10:50 Coffee Break

 

 

10:50 –11:35

 

 

Fire-Session 3: International Taxation Evidence on Profit Shifting, Disclosure, and Information Exchange

 

"Profit Shifting after BEPS: The Analysis of Past Measures and Future Reforms”
Tomáš Boukal, Charles University (Czech Republic)

 

“How Do Individuals Respond to an Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program? Evidence from Brazil”
Davi Bhering, PhD Candidate, Paris School of Economics (France)

 

“When Bankers become Informants: Behavioral Effects of Automatic Exchange of Information”
Matthew Collin, Senior Researcher, EU Tax Observatory (France)
11:35 – 11:45 Break
11:45 - 12:35

Keynote Session - Key Developing Areas of International Tax Evasion

Annette Alstadsæter, Professor at the School of Economics and Business, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (Norway)
12:35- 13:35 Lunch Break

 

 

13:35 - 14:40

Session 3: Accountability and Social Protection: Evidence on Trust, Targeting, and Citizen Oversight in Public Service Delivery

 

"Scaling Accountability: Experimental Evidence on Impacts of Citizen-Led Audits on Social Protection Delivery and Election Outcomes”
Charity Troyer Moore, Research Assistant Professor, Ohio State University (United States)

 

“Building Trust in Government: Evidence from Large-Scale Infrastructure Projects”
Christopher Dann, PhD Student, Stanford University (United States)

 

“Missing the Target: Does Increased Capacity of the Local Government Improve Beneficiary Selection?"
Viola Asri, Senior Researcher, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) (Norway)
14:40-15:00 Coffee Break

 

 

15:00- 16:15

 

 

Session 4:  Emerging Tax Instruments and Policies

 

“The three body problem: Ecuador's tax on tax haven ownership”
Jakob Brounstein, Postdoctoral Scholar at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (United Kingdom)

 

“Carbon Taxation and Firm Behavior in Emerging Economies: Evidence from South Africa”
Johannes Gallé, Postdoctoral Researcher, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Germany)

 

“Wealth and Property Taxation in the United States"
Sacha Dray, Economist, The World Bank (Vietnam)
16:15 – 16:25 Break

 

 

16:25 – 17:10

Fire-Session 4: Tax Compliance

 

“Static and Dynamic Effects of Tax Audits on Corporate Tax Evasion, Indirect Tax Evasion, and Tax Non-Compliance"
Zehra Farooq, Second Secretary Revenue Analysis, Federal Board of Revenue (Pakistan)

 

"Enhancing Revenue Collection Capacity through Automation: Evidence from a VAT”
Tejaswi Velayudhan, Assistant Professor, University of California Irvine (United States)

 

“Cashless Tax Systems: Voluntary vs. Mandated Digital Payments in Eswatini"
Fabrizio Santoro, Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (United Kingdom)
17:10-17:15

Closing Remarks