Research

Working Papers

1. "Earnings Responses to Social Security Contributions: Evidence from Older Workers in Canada" (with James M. Stutely), Revise & Resubmit, International Tax and Public Finance

   • Link to CESifo Discussion Paper No. 12112

2. "Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Impact of Taxation on Canadian Inter-Provincial Migration" (with Robert McKercher and Alisa Tazhitdinova), Reject & Resubmit, Journal of Public Economics

• Link to CESifo Discussion Paper No. 12600

Journal Articles

1. "The Impact of Comprehensive Student Support on Crime: Evidence from the Pathways to Education Program" (with Philip Oreopoulos and Noah Spencer), Journal of Urban Economics, Forthcoming.

• Link to IZA Discussion Paper No. 16724

2. "Permanent and Transitory Responses to Capital Gains Taxes: Evidence from a Lifetime Exemption in Canada" (with Alisa Tazhitdinova), Review of Economics and Statistics 108(4), 1035-1051, 2026.

   • Link to (earlier (February 2021)) NBER Working Paper 28514

   • Accessible summary/commentary for Finances of the Nation

   • Feature in: The Globe and Mail

3. "Family-Level Responses to the Introduction of Tax-Free Savings Accounts," Canadian Journal of Economics 57(1), 108-139, 2024.

   • Winner of the 2024 Robert Mundell Prize, Canadian Journal of Economics

   • Link to June 2019 draft circulated as a McMaster University Department of Economics Working Paper under the title "Back-Loaded Tax Subsidies for Saving, Asset Location and Crowd-Out: Evidence from Tax-Free Savings Accounts."

   • Link to January 2018 draft circulated a University of Ottawa Department of Economics Working Paper No. 1803E under the title "Tax-Free Savings Accounts: Who Uses Them and How?"

4. "Minimum Wage Policy with Optimal Taxes and Unemployment," Journal of Public Economics 190, 104228, 2020.

   • Link to published version (October 2020): here

5. "Long-run Effects from Comprehensive Student Support: Evidence from Pathways to Education" (with Philip Oreopoulos and Robert S. Brown), American Economic Review: Insights 2(2), 209-224, 2020.

   • Link to March 2019 NBER Working Paper 25630.

6. "Do 'catch-up limits' raise retirement saving? Evidence from a regression discontinuity design," National Tax Journal 71(1), 121-154, 2018.

   • Link to August 2017 University of Ottawa Department of Economics Working Paper No. 1712E.

7. "Pathways to Education: An Integrated Approach to Helping At-Risk High School Students" (with Philip Oreopoulos and Robert S. Brown), Journal of Political Economy 125(4), 947-984, 2017.

   • Link to August 2014 NBER Working Paper 20430.

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Non-Refereed Publications

1. "Behavioral Economics of Education: Progress and Possibilities." (with Heidi Liu and Philip Oreopoulos) in Handbook of Economics of Education Volume 5, edited by E.A. Hanushek, S. Machin and L. Woessmann, Elsevier, 1-74, 2016.

   • Earlier working paper version (October 2014): NBER Working Paper 20609

2. "Evaluating Student Performance in Pathways to Education." (with Philip Oreopoulos and Robert S. Brown) C.D. How Institute E-Brief 203. January 2015. 

Projects In Progress

1. "Learning about the tax code: Evidence from Immigrants in Canada" (with Michael Smart and Alisa  Tazhitdinova)

2. Documenting Responses of (Married) Couples to Taxation: Evidence from Canada" (with Alisa Tazhitdinova)

Resting Papers and Projects

1. "Minimum Wage Responses in Multi-Earner Households"

2. "The Welfare Consequences of Income Taxation with Savings Incentives and Optimization Frictions" (with Derek Messacar and Alisa Tazhitdinova)

3. Impacts of the Pathways to Education Program on Postsecondary Education Outcomes (with Philip Oreopoulos and Nicolas Perrault)