01
QJE
Wealth Taxation and Capital Flight: Register Evidence from the Nordic Abolition
with H. Berg & M. Olsson
Covered by The Economist & WSJPublic · Labor · Taxation
Adam
Smith
Professor of Economics, Stockholm University
Adam Smith is a Professor of Economics at Stockholm University. He combines Swedish administrative register data with quasi-experimental and structural methods to study how tax and social-insurance policy shapes work, wealth, and inequality — from how people respond to marginal tax rates to the long-run effects of parental leave and the consequences of taxing wealth in an open economy. His work has appeared in the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Political Economy, and Econometrica, and has been covered by The New York Times, the Financial Times, and The Economist.
14
Peer-reviewed & forthcoming articles
Top 5
Published in AER, QJE, JPE & Econometrica
€3.5M+
In competitive funding, incl. ERC Consolidator
NYT · FT
Covered by NYT, FT & The Economist
About
An economist studying taxation, inequality, and the welfare state — published in the AER, QJE, and JPE, and covered by The New York Times, the Financial Times, and The Economist.
- FieldsPublic Economics · Labor Economics · Taxation & Inequality
- Ph.D.Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2011) — Solow Prize for Best Dissertation
- At Stockholm UniversityProfessor of Economics since 2021
- NetworksCEPR · IZA · CESifo · Uppsala Center for Fiscal Studies · ERC Consolidator Grantee
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Selected work
Empirical work on taxation, inequality, and the welfare state — published in the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Political Economy, and Econometrica.
02
AER
Marginal Tax Rates and the Elasticity of Taxable Income: Evidence from a Swedish Reform
with J. Lindqvist
Featured in The New York Times03
JPE
The Long-Run Effects of Parental Leave on Earnings and Fertility
with S. Eriksson
Covered by the Financial Times04
Econometrica
Place-Based Subsidies and Local Labor Markets
with L. Petersson
Covered by BloombergPublications
The full record
Peer-Reviewed Articles · 14
2026
Carbon Taxes, Commuting, and the Distribution of Welfare
with S. Eriksson & C. Mendez · forthcoming · American Economic Review The Economist
2026
Means-Testing, Take-Up, and the Targeting of Transfers
with J. Lindqvist · forthcoming · American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
2024
Wealth Taxation and Capital Flight: Register Evidence from the Nordic Abolition
with H. Berg & M. Olsson · Quarterly Journal of Economics, 139(2): 845–901 The Economist
2025
Marginal Tax Rates and the Elasticity of Taxable Income: Evidence from a Swedish Reform
with J. Lindqvist · American Economic Review, 115(4): 1102–1147 NYT
2023
The Long-Run Effects of Parental Leave on Earnings and Fertility
with S. Eriksson · Journal of Political Economy, 131(9): 2410–2458 Financial Times
2022
Place-Based Subsidies and Local Labor Markets
with L. Petersson · Econometrica, 90(6): 2733–2779 Bloomberg
2022
Optimal Unemployment Insurance over the Business Cycle
with J. Lindqvist · Review of Economic Studies, 89(3): 1455–1499
2021
Inheritance, Mobility, and the Transmission of Wealth across Generations
with H. Berg · Journal of Public Economics, 198
2020
Minimum Wages and Firm Dynamics in Retail
with A. Nyberg & C. Mendez · American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 12(4): 213–251 The Guardian
2019
Tax Salience and Consumer Responses to Value-Added Taxation
with S. Eriksson · Journal of Public Economics, 176: 32–49
2018
Schooling, Skills, and the Gender Wage Gap in Sweden
with M. Olsson · Labour Economics, 53: 88–106
2017
Behavioral Responses to Pension Reform: Evidence from Notional Defined Contributions
with L. Petersson · Journal of Human Resources, 52(3): 701–739
2016
The Incidence of Payroll Taxes: Evidence from a Regional Discontinuity
sole author · American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 8(2): 1–34
2014
Income Inequality and Intergenerational Mobility: A Cross-Country Perspective
with J. Lindqvist & H. Berg · Economic Journal, 124(577): 678–712
Working Papers · 6
CEPR
Artificial Intelligence, Task Reallocation, and the Demand for Skills
with A. Nyberg · CEPR Discussion Paper 20114
IFAU
Pension Wealth and Retirement Timing: Bunching Evidence from the Swedish NDC System
with L. Petersson · IFAU Working Paper 2026:8
33812
Top Incomes and the Race between Education and Technology
with H. Berg · NBER WP 33812
CEPR
Childcare Subsidies and Maternal Labor Supply: A Structural Evaluation
with S. Eriksson · CEPR Discussion Paper 19204
IZA
Wealth Concealment and Enforcement: Evidence from the Panama Papers
with M. Olsson · IZA Discussion Paper 17455
2025
The Geography of Social Mobility in Sweden
with L. Petersson
In Progress · 4
·
The Distributional Consequences of Inflation Surges
with M. Olsson
·
Automation, Reallocation, and the Welfare State
with J. Lindqvist
·
Universal Basic Income: Evidence from a Municipal Pilot
with A. Nyberg
·
Tax Audits and Voluntary Compliance: A Field Experiment with the Swedish Tax Agency
data collection in progress
Teaching & Advising
In the classroom
Courses at Stockholm University
- Public Economics (Ph.D.) 2021 – present
- Empirical Methods in Economics (M.Sc.) 2021 – present
- Topics in the Economics of Inequality (Ph.D.) 2026 – present
- Labor Economics (M.Sc.) SSE · Uppsala
- Principles of Microeconomics (B.Sc.) 2021 – 2023
Advising & placements
- Lina Holm — Ph.D., primary advisor expected 2027 · on the job market 2026–27
- Emil Karlsson — Ph.D., primary advisor 2024 · Norwegian School of Economics (NHH)
- Priya Nair — Ph.D., primary advisor 2023 · Ministry of Finance, Sweden
- Tomas Andersson — Ph.D., primary advisor 2021 · IFAU
- Ten dissertation committees — Committee member Stockholm · SSE · Uppsala, 2017–present
In the Media
Beyond the journal
Research in the national press — and cited where policy is made.
The Economist
How Carbon Taxes Hit Commuters — and Who Really Pays
May 2026
Financial Times
The Hidden Cost of Going Green for Rural Households
April 2026
The New York Times
Does Taxing the Rich Drive Them Away? New Evidence Says No.
March 2024
The Economist
The Nordic Wealth-Tax Experiment
April 2024
Financial Times
Parental Leave Pays Off for Decades, Study Finds
September 2023
Bloomberg
What Sweden Learned About Place-Based Subsidies
July 2022
The Guardian
Why Higher Minimum Wages Didn't Kill Retail Jobs
May 2020
Dagens Nyheter
Forskaren som räknar på skatterna
January 2025
SVT Aktuellt
Interview on tax reform (Swedish national television)
November 2024
Contact
Let's work together.
Department of Economics, Stockholm University · Universitetsvägen 10A, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
adam.smith@su.se