Welcome to my website

I am a PhD student in Economics at Harvard University. My research interests include public and development economics. I am a graduate student affiliate at the Harvard Center for International Development and the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies.

Previously, I was a predoctoral fellow at the University of Zurich and a Junior Economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development through the OECD Young Associates Programme (YAP). I hold a MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics and a BSc in Economics from the University of Mannheim.

PhD and Predoc Application Resources

Resources on PhD applications in economics
Resources on predoc applications in economics (external link)

Working Papers

Challenging Conventional Wisdom: Theoretical (Ir)relevance of Statutory Incidence of Ad Valorem Taxes
with Lukas Rodrian
SSRN WP 5232926 (May 2025)

Abstract

Conventional wisdom in the theoretical public finance literature suggests that the economic incidence of a tax is independent of its statutory (nominal) incidence in a frictionless, competitive economy. This paper cautions that this result is more nuanced for ad valorem taxes even in this benchmark case. Ad valorem taxes are proportional to the price (e.g., a 7% sales tax), whereas per unit or specific taxes are a fixed $ amount per unit of the good (e.g., 10 cents per liter of gasoline). First, we prove that statutory irrelevance fails in the canonical sense: shifting the statutory incidence of a constant ad valorem tax rate towards the demand side decreases the consumer price, increases the supplier price, and thus increases the equilibrium quantity. This relevance result is due to differences in the tax base when shifting the statutory incidence. The revenue-maximizing statutory incidence of a fixed ad valorem tax depends on the supply and demand elasticities. Second, we introduce a new, weaker notion of statutory irrelevance: a shift in the statutory incidence can be accompanied by a change in the tax rate that keeps equilibrium prices and allocation unchanged while holding tax revenue constant. Ad valorem taxes satisfy weak irrelevance. We derive testable formulas for economic incidence accounting for these results and provide numerical examples of the economic relevance of statutory incidence. We apply our results to payroll taxes in OECD countries. Together, our insights offer policymakers the ability to more effectively address economic incidence of tax policies.

Policy Papers

Global Landscape of Financing for Sustainable Development

OECD (2020), Global Outlook on Financing for Sustainable Development 2021: A New Way to Invest for People and Planet, OECD Publishing [Chapter 2]

OECD (2020), The impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis on development finance, OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19) [with Thomas Rieger]

Health Sector Financing in Developing Economies

OECD (2021), Financing transition in the health sector: What can Development Assistance Committee members do?, OECD Development Policy Papers, No. 37 [with Jieun Kim and Martin Kessler]

OECD (2020), Strengthening health systems during a pandemic: The role of development finance, OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19) [with Jieun Kim and Martin Kessler]

Financing Transitions across Development Stages

My work on development transition finance includes the OECD Transition Finance Toolkit. This toolkit allows analysts and decision-makers to conduct a transition finance diagnostic using a wealth of socio-economic and financial development indicators.

Cattaneo, O., C. Piemonte and K. Poensgen (2020), Transition finance country study of Chile: Better managing graduation from ODA eligibility, OECD Development Co-operation Working Papers, No. 70

Chiofalo, E., K. Poensgen and Y. Rockenfeller (2019), Transition finance country study of Lebanon: Global public goods and the response to adverse shocks, OECD Development Co-operation Working Papers, No. 61

Kim, J. and K. Poensgen (2019), Transition Finance Country Study Viet Nam: On the threshold of transition, OECD Development Co-operation Working Papers, No. 60

Kim, J., et al. (2018), Transition Finance Challenges for Commodity-based Least Developed Countries: The example of Zambia, OECD Development Co-operation Working Papers, No. 49

Morris, R., O. Cattaneo and K. Poensgen (2018), Cabo Verde Transition Finance Country Pilot, OECD Development Co-operation Working Papers, No. 46

OECD (2020), Transition finance ABC methodology: A user’s guide to transition finance diagnostics, OECD Development Policy Papers, No. 26 [with Abdoulaye Fabregas]

Piemonte, C., et al. (2019), Transition Finance: Introducing a new concept, OECD Development Co-operation Working Papers, No. 54