Tanner Regan - Research

Work in progress

Economics of Greenfield Urban Planning, (October 2025)

with J.V. Henderson, F. Líbano-Monteiro, M. Manara, and G. Michaels.

[project video]

No shame in my name: Public disclosure and tax compliance in a low-capacity state, (August 2025)

with P. Manwaring.

Illuminating the Global South, (August 2025)

with G. Chiovelli, S. Michalopoulos, and E. Papaioannou,

conditionally accepted at Economic Journal. [code to build data]

The Role of Social Connections in the Racial Segregation of US Cities, (June 2024)

with A. Diemer and C.K. Tang,

revise and resubmit at Journal of Economic Geography.

The Economic Consequences of Statistical Property Valuation: Evidence from Kampala, Uganda

Construction Dynamics in Sites and Services Projects

with J.V. Henderson, F. Líbano-Monteiro, M. Manara, and G. Michaels.

Publications

Ask a local: Improving the public pricing of land titles in urban Tanzania,

with M. Manara,

Review of Economics and Statistics, 2025. [latest working paper] [VoxDev article]

Unbundling tenure security and demand for property rights: Evidence from urban Tanzania,

with M. Manara,

Urban Studies, 2024.

No Inventor Is an Island: Social Connectedness and the Geography of Knowledge Flows in the US,

with A. Diemer,

Research Policy, 2022. [latest working paper]

Planning Ahead for Better Neighborhoods: Long Run Evidence from Tanzania,

with G. Michaels, D. Nigmatulina, F. Rauch, N. Baruah, and A. Dahlstrand,

Journal of Political Economy, 2021. [latest working paper]

Building the city: from slums to a modern metropolis,

with J.V. Henderson and A. Venables,

Review of Economic Studies, 2021. [latest working paper]

Life in a Slum: understanding living conditions in Nairobi’s slums across time and space,

with J. Bird and P. Montebruno,

Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 2017. [latest working paper]

Building functional cities,

with J.V. Henderson, A. Venables, and I. Samsonov,

Science, May 2016. [latest working paper]

Policy reports

Dynamics of greenfield development: Evidence from the "20,000 plots" project in Dar es Salaam,

with J.V. Henderson, F. Libano-Monteiro, M. Manara, G. Michaels,

International Growth Centre, May 2025.

[policy brief #1 (housing & neighbourhoods)] [policy brief #2 (public services)]

Public disclosure and property tax compliance: A field experiment in Kampala, Uganda,

with J. Ahabwe, P. Manwaring, J. Mutebi,

International Growth Centre, May 2023.

[policy brief]

Enhancing property tax in Kampala: Preliminary evidence from taxpayer consultations and administrative data,

with J. Ahabwe, H. Kikonyogo, P. Manwaring, R. Mugangaizi, J. Mutebi, D. Nuweabine,

International Growth Centre, Jan 2021.

[policy brief][blog post]

Enhancing property tax in Kampala: Successes, challenges, and next steps for increasing municipal revenue,

with P. Manwaring,

International Growth Centre, April 2020.

[policy brief][blog post]

Property taxes in Kampala: Some background information,

with P. Manwaring,

International Growth Centre, October 2019.

[policy note]