Biography
Robert is a Vice President and Economist at the Boston Fed and Director of the New England Public Policy Center. Bob has published extensively in the field of public finance, including topics such as devolution, unemployment insurance, state business tax climate, and the impacts of state and local tax policies on economic behavior.

Bob has been with the Bank since 1981. He has served on several state tax commissions. From 1984 to 1986, he served as executive director of the Massachusetts Special Commission on Tax Reform. In 1992 and 1993, he served as research director of the Massachusetts Special Commission on Business Tax Policy. During 2000, he served as research director of the New Hampshire Commission on Education Funding. In 2007, he served as a member of the Massachusetts Study Commission on Corporate Taxation. Bob is currently a member of Rhode Island's Tax Policy Strategy Workgroup. He is also immediate past president of the National Tax Association.

Bob holds a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Education

Ph.D., Harvard University, 1981

Danforth Graduate Fellowship, 1970-1974
U.S. Department of Labor Doctoral Dissertation Award, 1979

B.A., Dartmouth College, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1968

Colby Government Prize
James P. Reynolds Fellowship

Work experience

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Vice President and Director, New England Public Policy Center, 2006-
Assistant Vice President and Director, New England Public Policy Center, 2005-2006
Assistant Vice President and Economist, 1998-2004
Senior Economist, 1993-1998
Economist, 1981-1993

 

 

New Hampshire Commission on Education Funding

Director of Research, 2000

 

 

Massachusetts Special Commission on Business Tax Policy

Director of Research, 1992-1993

 

 

Massachusetts Special Commission on Tax Reform

Executive Director (on leave from Federal Reserve Bank of Boston), 1984-1986

 

 

Brandeis University

Research Associate, 1981

 

 

Data Resources, Inc.

Economist, 1980-1981

 

 

Library of Congress

Analyst in Taxation and Fiscal Policy, 1975-1978

 

 

United States Army

U.S. Army Security Agency, 1968-1970

Publications

Books

Conference proceedings

“Devolution in the United States in Theory and Practice.” Proceedings of the Workshop on Fiscal Returns, Banca d’Italia, December 2001.

“Fiscal Capacity and Fiscal Need: New Evidence.” Proceedings from the Nineteenth Annual Conference of the National Tax Association, Chicago, Illinois, 1998, pp. 395-406.

“Interstate Branching and the Impact on State Bank Income Tax Revenues.” Proceedings from the Eighty-Eighth Annual Conference on Taxation, National Tax Association, 1996.

Casino Development: How Would Casinos Affect New England's
Economy? Editor. Proceedings from a Symposium Sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (FRB Boston Special Report no. 2), October 1995.

“Impact on Income and Jobs, Comment,” in Casino Development: How Would Casinos Affect New England's Economy? Proceedings from a Symposium Sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (FRB Boston Special Report no. 2), October 1995.

Journals

New England Economic Review

“Interstate Fiscal Disparity in 1997.” (Third Quarter 2002).

“Are State and Local Revenue Systems Becoming Obsolete?” (Issue Number 4, 2001).

“The Neutrality of Massachusetts' Taxation of Financial Institutions.” (May/June 2000).

“Fiscal Disparity Among the States Revisited.” (July/August 1999).

“New Ways of Evaluating Unemployment Insurance,” with Christopher J. O’Leary and Wei-Jang. (March/April 1999).

“Devolution: The New Federalism-An Overview.” (May/June 1998).

“Come the Devolution, Will States Be Able to Respond?” (May/June 1998).

“Unemployment Insurance Policy in New England: Background and Issues,” with Christopher J. O’Leary. (May/June 1997).

“The Effects of State and Local Policies on Economic Development: An Overview,” with Katharine L. Bradbury and Yolanda K. Kodrzycki. (March/April 1997).

“State Regulatory Policy and Economic Development.” (March/April 1997).

“State Business Tax Climate: How Should It Be Measured and How Important Is It?” (January/February 1996).

“The Impact of State and Local Tax Policy on Capital Spending in Manufacturing.” (November/December 1995).

“Differences Across First District Banks in Operational Efficiency.” (May/June 1995).

Regional Review

“Heat, Light, and Taxes in the Granite State.” vol. 11, no. 3 (Quarter 3, 2001).

“Issues in Economics: Devolution: How Will New England Fare?” vol. 7, no. 4 (Fall 1997).

“Perspective: On State Tax Policy,” with Alicia Sasser. vol. 7, no. 1 (Winter 1997).

New England Fiscal Facts

“Should Internet Sales Transactions Be Taxed?” with Daniel Swaine. (Winter 2000/2001).

“Are State Government Debt Levels Too High?” with Daniel Swaine. (Fall 1997).

New England Economic Indicators

“The Fiscal Condition of the New England States.” (June 1999).

Other journal articles

Review of Financing Federal Systems: The Essays of Edward M. Gramlich, by Edward M. Gramlich. In Publius: The Journal of Federalism. vol. 28, no. 4 (Fall 1999).

“Fiscal Disparity Among the States Revisited.” State Tax Notes. vol. 17, no. 15 (October 11, 1999). Originally appeared in July/August 1999 New England Economic Review.

“New Ways of Evaluating Unemployment Insurance.” State Tax Notes. vol.16, no. 21 (May 24, 1999). Originally appeared in March/April 1999 New England Economic Review.

“Implications of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 for the ‘Devolution Revolution.’” Publius: The Journal of Federalism. vol. 28, no. 1 (Winter 1998): 23-48.

“Fiscal Capacity, Fiscal Need, and Fiscal Comfort among U.S. States,” with Jonathan Cowan. Publius, The Journal of Federalism. vol. 27, no. 3 (Summer 1997).

“Business Tax Climate: How Should It Be Measured and How Important Is It?” State Tax Notes. vol. 10, no. 20 (May 13, 1996): 1459-72.

Public policy discussion papers

“Interstate Fiscal Disparity in State Fiscal Year 1999” with Nicholas Turner. FRB Boston Series, paper no. 04-9 (2004).

“Massachusetts Business Taxes: Unfair? Inadequate? Uncompetitive?” FRB Boston Series, paper no. 04-4 (2004).

Working papers

“Measuring Fiscal Disparities Across the U.S. States: A Representative Revenue System/Representative Expenditure System Approach, Fiscal Year 2002,” with Yesim Yilmaz, Sonya Hoo, Matthew Nagowski, and Kim Rueben, New England Public Policy Center Series, paper no. 06-2 (2006).

Overview of “The Lack of Affordable Housing in New England: How Big a Problem? Why Is It Growing? What Are We Doing About It?” by Alicia Sasser, Bo Zhao, and Darcy Rollins, New England Public Policy Center Series, paper no. 06-1 (2006).

“Measuring the Incentive Effects of State Tax Policies Toward Capital Investment,” with George A. Plesko. FRB Boston Series, paper no. 01-4 (2001).

“The Subsidy from State and Local Tax Deductibility: Trends, Methodological Issues, and Its Value After Federal Tax Reform.” FRB Boston Series, paper no. 97-8 (1997).

“Unemployment Insurance Policy in New England: Background and Issues,” with Christopher J. O’Leary. W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Staff Working Papers 97-48, (1997).

Other material

“Are State and Local Revenue Systems Becoming Obsolete?” Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Studies Program, October, 2004. Washington, DC.

“A Report of the New Hampshire Commission on Education Funding.” 2001.

“Single Factor Apportionment: What’s It All About?” in New England Developments, a newsletter of the Northeast Utilities System, December 1999.

“Tax Competition,” in Encyclopedia of Taxation and Fiscal Policy. 1999.

“Fiscal Capacity and Fiscal Need: New Evidence,” National Tax Association Forum no. 29, December 1997.

Testimony

“Lights, Camera, Caution!: Some Questions to Ask About Film Tax Credits”, before a Forum on Film and Audio Tax Credits, Connecticut Legislature Joint Committee on Finance, Revenue, and Bonding, Hartford, CT, March 26, 2008.

“Thoughts on How to Account for Migration and Commuting in Forecasting Economic Variables”, before meeting of Maine Consensus Economic Forecasting Committee and Revenue Forecasting Committee, Hallowell, ME, July 17, 2007.

“Thinking About Tax Competitiveness, the Impact of Taxes on Economic Growth, and the Impact of State R&D Tax Credits”, before the New Hampshire House and Senate Ways and Means Committees, Concord, NH, January 16, 2007.

“National Economic Conditions”, before the New Hampshire Senate and House of Representatives Finance and Means Committees, Concord, NH, January 9, 2007.

“The Competitiveness of Rhode Island’s Personal Income Tax”, before the Rhode Island House and Senate Committee on Economic Development, Providence, RI, December 12, 2005.

“The Impact of a Research and Development Tax Credit on New Hampshire’s Economy”, before the Ad Hoc Subcommittee Regarding Business Tax Credits of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Concord, NH, October 20, 2005.

“Massachusetts Business Tax Climate”, before joint hearings of the House and Senate Revenue Committees, Massachusetts Legislature, Boston, MA, May 3, 2005.

 “Heat and Light in the Debate About State Tax Policy and Economic Development”, before a Legislative Forum of the Connecticut General Assembly, Hartford, CT, April 12, 2005.

“National Economic Conditions”, before joint hearings held by the New Hampshire House and Senate Finance and Ways and Means Committees, Concord, NH, January 11, 2005.

“Heat and Light in the Business Tax Policy Debate”, before the Pennsylvania Business Tax Study Commission, Harrisburg, PA, April 20, 2004.

“Thinking Hard About Tax Reform (or, How I Got a Headache)”, before the Legislators’ Forum, Augusta, ME, January 29, 2003.

“Are State and Local Revenue Systems Becoming Obsolete?” before the Ohio Committee to Study State and Local Taxes, Columbus, OH, August 21, 2002.

“The Findings of the New Hampshire Commission on Education Funding,” before the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, January 22, 2001, Concord, NH.

“The Findings of the New Hampshire Commission on Education Funding,” before the New Hampshire State Senate, January 23, 2001, Concord, NH.

“The Impact of Public Sector Investment on Private Sector Productivity,” before the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, March 26, 1999, Boston, MA.

“Single-Factor Apportionment,” before the Senate Ways and Means Committee, New Hampshire State Legislature, January 29, 1999, Concord, NH.

“The Adequacy of Massachusetts’ Unemployment Insurance Reserves,” before the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Commerce and Labor, June 4, 1997, Boston, MA.

“A Tale of Two Tax Commissions,” before the Special Commission on Local Aid of the Massachusetts Legislature, April 16, 1997, Boston, MA.

“Flat Rate State Income Tax,” before the House of Representatives of the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations State Legislature, January 10, 1996, Providence, RI.

Public service

National Tax Association

President, 2006-2007
Board of Directors, Member, 1998-
Committee on State and Local Income and Business, Member, 1989-

 

 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Study Commission on Combined Taxation

Member, 2007

 

 

Rhode Island Tax Policy Working Group (Advising Governor Carcieri)

Member, 2008-

 

 

New England Economic Partnership

Board of Directors, 2002-

Referee: National Tax Journal; Publius: The Journal of Federalism; and Journal of Policy Analysis and Management

Reviewer: The MIT Press