Joel Slemrod

Joel Slemrod

  • Paul W. McCracken Collegiate Professor of Business Economics
  • Professor of Economics
  • Chair, Department of Economics
  • Faculty Director, Office of Tax Policy Research
Print
Education
  • PhD Harvard University 1980
  • AB Princeton University 1973

Contact Information

Phone
(734) 936-3914
Fax
(734) 936-8716
Email
Room
R5396
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Research

Joel Slemrod studies and writes about tax policy. In 1984-5 he was senior staff economist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and has been a consultant to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Canadian Department of Finance, the New Zealand Department of Treasury, the South African Ministry of Finance, the World Bank, the OECD, and several corporations. From 1992 to 1998, he was editor of the National Tax Journal. He is co-author with Leonard E. Burman of Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know, co-author with Christian Gillitzer of Tax Systems, published in 2014, and co-author with Jon Bakija of Taxing Ourselves: A Citizen's Guide to the Debate over Taxes, whose 5th edition was published in 2017.  His latest book is Rebellion, Rascals and Revenue: Tax Follies and Wisdom through the Ages, co-authored with Michael Keen and published by Princeton University Press in 2021.

Featured Books

Tax Systems

Tax Systems
Slemrod, J. and Gillitzer, C.

Despite its theoretical elegance, the standard optimal tax model has significant limitations. In this book, Joel Slemrod and Christian Gillitzer argue that tax analysis must move beyond the emphasis on optimal tax rates and bases to consider such aspects of taxation as administration, compliance, and remittance.

Slemrod and Gillitzer explore what they term a tax-systems approach, which takes tax evasion seriously; revisits the issue of remittance, or who...

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Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know

Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know
Joel Slemrod, Leonard E. Burman

Despite their passion and fury, contemporary Americans are remarkably clueless about how their tax system works. But with heated debates over taxation now roiling Congress and the nation, an understanding of our tax system is of vital importance. Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know®, by preeminent tax scholars Leonard E. Burman and Joel Slemrod, offers a clear, concise explanation of how our tax system works, how it affects people and...

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Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue: Tax Follies and Wisdom through the Ages

Authors
Slemrod, J., and Keen, M.
Published Date
04/2021

Source

Princeton University Press

Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know, 2nd edition. Audiobook produced by Recorded Books, forthcoming, 2020.

Authors
Slemrod, J. and Burman, L. E.
Published Date
2020

Source

Oxford University Press

Taxing Ourselves: A Citizen's Guide to the Debate over Taxes, 5th edition

Authors
Slemrod, J. and Bakija, J.
Published Date
2017

Source

Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

Taxation and Migration

Authors
Avi-Yonah, R. and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
2015

Source

Kluwer Press

Tax Systems

Authors
Slemrod, J. and Gillitzer, C.
Published Date
2014

Source

MIT Press
978-0-262-02672-7

Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know

Authors
Joel Slemrod, Leonard E. Burman
Published Date
2013

Source

Oxford University Press
978-0-19-989027-9

Taxing Our Wealth

Authors
Scheuer, F., and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
2021

Source

Journal of Economic Perspectives
Volume: 
35
Issue: 
1
Pages: 
207-230

Heard it Through the Grapevine: A Randomized Experiment Assessing Direct and Network Effects of the Tax Enforcement Strategies.

Authors
Boning, W., Guyton, J., Hodge, R., Troiano, U., and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
2020

Source

Journal of Public Economics
Volume: 
190
Issue: 
C
Pages: 
N-N

Missing Miles: Evasion Responses to Car Taxes

Authors
Slemrod, J., Harju, J., and Kosonen, T.
Published Date
2020

Source

Journal of Public Economics
Volume: 
181
Issue: 
C
Pages: 
N-N

Taxation and the Superrich

Authors
Slemrod, J. and Scheuer, F.
Published Date
2020

Source

Annual Review of Economics
Volume: 
12
Issue: 
0
Pages: 
189-211

Taxing Hidden Wealth: The Consequences of U.S. Enforcement Initiatives on Evasive Foreign Accounts

Authors
Johannesen, N., Langetieg, P., Reck, D., Risch, M., and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
2020

Source

American Economic Journal -- Policy
Volume: 
12
Issue: 
3
Pages: 
312-346

Tax Compliance and Enforcement

Authors
Slemrod, J.
Published Date
12/2019

Source

Journal of Economic Literature
Volume: 
57
Issue: 
4
Pages: 
904-54

Distributional Implications of Joint Tax Evasion

Authors
Nygard, O., Slemrod, J., and Thoresen, T.
Published Date
2018

Source

Economic Journal
Volume: 
10
Issue: 
111
Pages: 
1-30

Do Firms Remit 85% of Tax Everywhere? New Evidence form India

Authors
Slemrod, J., and Velayudhan, T.
Published Date
2018

Source

Journal of Tax Administration
Volume: 
4
Issue: 
1
Pages: 
24-37

Is This Tax Reform, or Just Confusion?

Authors
Joel Slemrod
Published Date
2018

Source

Journal of Economic Perspectives
Volume: 
32
Issue: 
4
Pages: 
73-96

Public Tax-Return Disclosure

Authors
Hoopes, J., Neubig, T., Robinson, L., and Slemrod J.
Published Date
8/2018

Source

Journal of Accounting & Economics
Volume: 
66
Issue: 
1
Pages: 
142-162

Real Firms in Tax Systems

Authors
Boning, W. and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
2018

Source

Finanzarchiv (Public Finance Analysis)
Volume: 
74
Issue: 
1
Pages: 
131-143

Tax Reform and Tax Experts

Authors
Slemrod, J.
Published Date
2018

Source

Journal of the American Tax Association
Volume: 
40
Issue: 
2
Pages: 
83-88

A Characteristics Approach to Optimal Taxation: Line Drawing and Tax-Driven Product Innovation

Authors
Gillitzer, C., Kleven, H., and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
04/2017

Source

Scandinavian Journal of Economics
Volume: 
119
Issue: 
2
Pages: 
240-267

A Characteristics Approach to Optimal Taxation: Line Drawing and Tax-Driven Product Innovation

Authors
Gillitzer, C., Kleven, H., and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
2017

Source

Scandinavian Journal of Economics
Volume: 
119
Issue: 
2
Pages: 
240-267

Does Credit-Card Information Reporting Improve Small-Business Tax Compliance?

Authors
Collins, B., Hoopes, J., Reck, D., Sebastiani, and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
2017

Source

Journal of Public Economics
Volume: 
149
Issue: 
May
Pages: 
1-19

Optimal Tax Administration

Authors
Keen, M. and Slemrod J.
Published Date
2017

Source

Journal of Public Economics
Volume: 
152
Issue: 
August
Pages: 
133-142

The Behavioral Response to Housing Transfer Taxes: Evidence from a Notched Change in D.C. Policy

Authors
Shan, H., Slemrod, J., and Weber, C.
Published Date
2017

Source

Journal of Urban Economics
Volume: 
100
Issue: 
July
Pages: 
137-153

Caveats on the Research Use of Tax-Return Administration Data

Authors
Slemrod, J.
Published Date
12/2016

Source

National Tax Journal
Volume: 
69
Issue: 
4
Pages: 
1003-1020

Does Evasion Invalidate the Welfare Sufficiency of the ETI?

Authors
Gillitzer, C. and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
10/2016

Source

BE Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy (Advances Tier)
Volume: 
16
Issue: 
4
Pages: 
Article 7

Does Tax-Collection Invariance Hold? Evasion and Pass-Through of State Diesel Taxes

Authors
Kopczuk, W., Marion, J., Muehlegger, E., and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
05/2016

Source

AEJ - Economic Policy
Volume: 
8
Issue: 
2
Pages: 
251-286

How Do Corporate Tax Bases Change When Corporate Tax Rates Change? With Implications for Tax Rate Elasticity of Corporate Taxable Income

Authors
Kawano, L. and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
06/2016

Source

International Tax and Public Finance
Volume: 
23
Issue: 
3
Pages: 
401-433

Using the "Smart Return" to Reduce Tax Evasion and Simplify Tax Filing

Authors
Bankman, J., Nass, C., and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
2016

Source

Tax Law Review
Volume: 
69
Issue: 
4
Pages: 
459-484

Sexing Up Tax Administration (lead article in inaugural issue)

Authors
Slemrod, Joel
Published Date
2015

Source

Journal of Tax Administration
Volume: 
1
Issue: 
1
Pages: 
6-22

Subnational Competition: Tax Competition, Competition in Urban Areas, and Education Competition

Authors
Agrawal, D., Fox, W., and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
2015

Source

National Tax Journal
Volume: 
68
Issue: 
3S
Pages: 
701-734

Taxes on the Internet: Deterrence Effects of Public Disclosure in Norway

Authors
Slemrod, J., Thoresen, T.O., Bo, E. E.
Published Date
2015

Source

AEJ - Economic Policy
Volume: 
7
Issue: 
1
Pages: 
36-67

Taxpayer Search for Information: Implications for Rational Attention

Authors
Hoopes, J., Reck, D., and Slemrod, J.
Published Date
08/2015

Source

AEJ - Economic Policy
Volume: 
7
Issue: 
3
Pages: 
177-208

Distinguishing the Role of Authority "In" and Authority "To"

Authors
Silverman, D., Slemrod, J., Uler, N.
Published Date
2014

Source

Journal of Public Economics
Volume: 
113
Issue: 
(2014)
Pages: 
32-42

Insights from a Tax-Systems Perspective

Authors
Slemrod, J. and Gillitzer, C.
Published Date
03/2014

Source

CESifo Economic Papers
Volume: 
60
Issue: 
1
Pages: 
1-31

Expert and Public Attitudes towards Tax Policy: 2013, 1994, and 1934

Authors
Lim, D., Slemrod, J., and Wilking, E.
Published Date
12/2013

Source

National Tax Journal
Volume: 
66
Issue: 
4
Pages: 
775-806

The Effect of Public Disclosure on Reported Taxable Income: Evidence from Individuals and Corporations in Japan

Authors
Slemrod, J., Hasegawa, M., Hoopes, J., and Ishida, R.
Published Date
09/2013

Source

National Tax Journal
Volume: 
66
Issue: 
3
Pages: 
571-608

Car Notches: Strategic Automaker Responses to Fuel Economy Policy

Authors
Joel Slemrod, James Sallee
Published Date
12/2012

Source

Journal of Public Economics
Volume: 
96
Issue: 
11-12
Pages: 
981-999

Check in the Mail or More in the Paycheck? Does the Effectiveness of Fiscal Stimulus Depend on How It Is Delivered?

Authors
Joel Slemrod, Claudia Sahm, Matthew Shapiro
Published Date
08/2012

Source

AEJ - Economic Policy
Volume: 
4
Issue: 
3
Pages: 
216-250

Evidence of the Invisible? Toward a Credibility Revolution in the Empirical Analysis of Tax Evasion and the Informal Economy

Authors
Joel Slemrod, Caroline Weber
Published Date
02/2012

Source

International Tax and Public Finance
Volume: 
19
Issue: 
1
Pages: 
25-53

The Elasticity of Taxable Income with Respect to Marginal Tax Rates: A Critical Review

Authors
Joel Slemrod, Emmanuel Saez, Seth Giertz
Published Date
03/2012

Source

Journal of Economic Literature
Volume: 
50
Issue: 
1
Pages: 
3-50

Understanding Multidimensional Tax Systems

Authors
Joel Slemrod, Leslie Robinson
Published Date
04/2012

Source

International Tax and Public Finance
Volume: 
19
Issue: 
2
Pages: 
237-267

Financial Reporting, Tax, and Real Decisions: A Unifying Framework

Authors
Joel Slemrod, Douglas Shackelford, James M. Sallee
Published Date
11/2011

Source

International Tax and Public Finance
Volume: 
18
Issue: 
4
Pages: 
461-494

Tax Policy and the Missing Middle: Optimal Tax Remittances with Firm-Level Administrative Costs

Authors
Joel Slemrod, Dhammika Dharmapala, John D. Wilson
Published Date
10/2011

Source

Journal of Public Economics
Volume: 
95
Issue: 
9-10
Pages: 
843-864

Complexity in the Australian Tax and Transfer System

Authors
Joel Slemrod
Published Date
2010

Source

Melbourne Institute -- Australia's Future Tax and Transfer Policy Conference: Proceedings of a Conference
Pages: 
257-270

Location, (Real) Location, and Tax (Location): An Essay on the Place of Mobility in Optimal Taxation

Authors
Joel Slemrod
Published Date
12/2010

Source

National Tax Journal
Volume: 
63
Issue: 
4
Pages: 
843-864

Old George Orwell Got It Backward: Some Thoughts on Behavioral Tax Economics

Authors
Joel Slemrod
Published Date
03/2010

Source

Finanzarchiv (Public Finance Analysis)
Volume: 
66
Issue: 
1
Pages: 
15-33

Optimal Observability in a Linear Income Tax

Authors
Joel Slemrod, Christian Traxler
Published Date
08/2010

Source

Economics Letters
Volume: 
108
Issue: 
2
Pages: 
105-108

Taxation and the Financial Sector

Authors
Joel Slemrod, Daniel Shaviro, Douglas Shackelford
Published Date
12/2010

Source

National Tax Journal
Volume: 
63
Issue: 
4
Pages: 
709-721

The Distribution of Income Tax Noncompliance

Authors
Joel Slemrod, Andrew Johns
Published Date
09/2010

Source

National Tax Journal
Volume: 
63
Issue: 
3
Pages: 
397-418

The Fatal Toll of Driving to Drink: The Effect of Minimum Legal Drinking Age Evasion on Traffic Fatalities

Authors
Joel Slemrod, Michael Lovenheim
Published Date
01/2010

Source

Journal of Health Economics
Volume: 
29
Issue: 
1
Pages: 
62-77

Lessons for Tax Policy and the Great Recession

Authors
Joel Slemrod
Published Date
09/2009

Source

National Tax Journal
Volume: 
62
Issue: 
3
Pages: 
387-397

Tax Competition with Parasitic Tax Havens

Authors
Joel Slemrod, John D. Wilson
Published Date
12/2009

Source

Journal of Public Economics
Volume: 
93
Issue: 
11-12
Pages: 
1261-1270

Tax Reform Made Me Do It!

Authors
Slemrod, J., Hanlon, M., and Hoopes, J.
Published Date
2019

Source

University of Chicago Press and NBER
Tax Policy and the Economy, Vol. 33
Moffitt, Robert

Tax Compliance and Enforcement: An Overview of New Research and Its Policy Implications

Authors
Slemrod, J.
Published Date
2017

Source

Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press
Pages: 
81-102
The Economics of Tax Policy
Auerbach, A, Smetters, K.

Tax Compliance and Enforcement: An Overview of New Research and Its Policy Implications

Authors
Slemrod, J.
Published Date
2017

Source

Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press
The Economics of Tax Policy
Auerbach, A, Smetters, K.

Household Response to the 2008 Tax Rebates: Survey Evidence and Aggregate Implications

Authors
Joel Slemrod, Claudia R. Sahm, Matthew D. Shapiro
Published Date
2010

Source

NBER and University of Chicago Press
Pages: 
69-110
Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 24
Jeffrey R. Brown
Faculty News & Research

LISTEN: Professor Joel Slemrod Discusses New Book, History of Tax Oddities

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