Obeid Ur Rehman

Assistant Professor, Economics, Toronto Metropolitan University

Welcome - خوش آمدید

I am an Assistant Professor of Economics at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly known as Ryerson University).

My research interests are development economics, public finance, and their intersection. I study international migration, household decision-making, and tax systems and compliance. I am particularly interested in the role of information sharing and disclosure as an impactful policy tool and scalable intervention.

I received my Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan and my Masters in Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University as a Fulbright scholar. Prior to enrolling in the Ph.D. program I worked as a Research Associate at the Center for Economic Research in Pakistan

Contact:

obeid@torontomu.ca

CV

Google Scholar

Research

Publications

Spousal Communication & Information Sharing: Evidence from Migrants and their Spouses
Journal of Development Economics, 2023, 165 | pdf | published

Spouses staying behind underreport their income when it is observable to migrants. These reporting patterns are consistent with a theory of strategic misreporting to influence migrant remittances.

How Do Taxpayers Respond to Public Disclosure and Social Recognition Programs? Evidence from Pakistan
(with Joel Slemrod and Mazhar Waseem)
The Review of Economics & Statistics, 2022, 104 (1) | NBER | pdf | published
media: vox -eu, live mint, vox-dev, bloomberg opinion

The public disclosure of tax information increases the tax paid by individuals exposed to the program. The increase is even larger for the social recognition program.

Policy Papers

Understanding Federal Sales Tax Expenditures in Pakistan
(with Sher Afghan Asad, and Manaal Mohsin Khwaja)
IGC Report, September 2023 | pdf

Analysis of federal sales tax expenditures in Pakistan, exploring historical trends in statutory changes and offering insights about their rationalization.

Improving Progressivity and Efficiency: A Review of the Personal Income Tax and other Taxes on Labor in Kazakhstan
(with Wei Shei)
IMF Country Report, Republic of Kazakhstan - Selected Issues, December 2019 | pdf

A review of taxes on labor in Kazakhstan, which, despite the current relatively-low level of collections, have the potential to become an important source of non-oil fiscal revenue.

In Progress

Tax Burden Across the Income Distribution - Evidence from Pakistan

Incidence of Tax Expenditures - Evidence from the Agriculture Sector in Pakistan

Online vs. In-person Learning: Canadian Evidence

Many Economists Project

International Student Demand for Higher Education in the U.S.

Teaching

Instructor:

Toronto Metropolitan University

- - ECN 104: Introductory Microeconomics | Undergraduate | 2021-2022 | Syllabus
  - ECN 703: Public Sector Economics | Undergraduate | 2023 | Syllabus
  - EF 8936 : International Public Economics | Graduate | 2022-2023 | Syllabus

University of Michigan

- - Econ 101: Principles of Microeconomics | Undergraduate | Summer 2016 | Syllabus
  - Econ 102: Introduction to Macroeconomics | Undergraduate | Spring 2016 | Syllabus

- - Student Instructor Mentor | Graduate | Fall 2018, Winter 2019

Graduate Student Instructor:

University of Michigan

- - Econ 101: Principles of Microeconomics | Fall 2015, 2016; Winter 2016, 2017
  - Econ 102: Introduction to Macroeconomics | Winter 2020, 2021; Fall 2020

Johns Hopkins University

- - PUBP 605: Stat & Data Analysis I | Fall 2011
  - PUBP 606: Stat & Data Analysis II | Spring 2012