Julie Brun Bjørkheim

• Alstadsæter, Annette; Bjørkheim, Julie Brun; Kopczuk, Wojciech & Økland, Andreas (2020). Norwegian and U.S. Policies Alleviate Business Vulnerability Due to the COVID-19 Shock Equally Well. National tax journal. 73(3), p. 805–828. doi: 10.17310/ntj.2020.3.08. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We use Norwegian administrative data and applications for emergency government support to simulate the magnitude and distribution of business revenue shock due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We rely on it to analyze the impact of business support policies available in Norway and the United States by comparing simulated results from the various policies on a common data set. We find that policies supporting payroll and fixed costs that were available in both countries have a similar impact of reducing firms’ economic distress, by cutting the negative effect of the crisis on profitability, liquidity, and solvency by more than a half.

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• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun; Kitterød, Ragni Hege; Teigen, Mari & Østbakken, Kjersti Misje (2026). Counting Her In: Women’s Contribution to Economic Growth in Norway. Institutt for samfunnsforskning. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Since the 1970s, women’s participation in Norway’s labour market, has increased sharply and now approaches parity with men. These changes reshaped family life, expanded the welfare state, and, by mobilising previously underused skills, contributed substantially to Norway’s gross domestic product (GDP). This policy brief demonstrates how these outcomes resulted from political will and the interaction of welfare-state and gender-equality policies with broader social and economic restructuring.

• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun & Østbakken, Kjersti Misje (2026). Counting Her In: Measuring Women’s Contribution to Economic Growth. Institutt for samfunnsforskning. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Since the early 1970s, Norway has steadily increased women’s participation in the labour market and has managed to sustain high female employment rates over time. This expansion has made a substantial contribution to economic growth. We estimate that higher female employment contributed 0.18 percentage points per year to average GDP-per-capita growth since the 1970s, equal to roughly 82 percent of the total contribution from increasing overall employment. In today’s terms, this means that GDP per capita in 2024 would be approximately NOK 400 billion (USD 40 billion) lower had women’s employment not risen beyond its early-1970s level.

• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun; Iden, Hanna; Kristoffersen, Marte & Zoutman, Floris Tobias (2026). The Missing Paper Trail: Comparing Dividend Withholding Tax Enforcement in Norway to Denmark. Norges Handelshøyskole. Institutt for foretaksøkonomi. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Governments across Europe lose significant tax revenue to cum-cum trading — a strategy in which taxed investors temporarily transfer shares to tax-favored entities around dividend dates to exploit withholding tax differentials. We compare Norway’s 2019 enforcement reform to Denmark’s successful 2016 reform. Using daily securities-lending data, we show that spikes in shares on loan around ex-dividend dates disappeared in Denmark immediately after the reform but remain fully intact in Norway. We estimate that Norway loses at least NOK 550 million annually to continued cum-cum activity. The decisive difference lies in the information architecture: Denmark abolished relief-at-source, requiring everyone to file a refund claim and submit documentation to tax authorities, creating a comprehensive transaction paper trail. Norway’s reform tightened documentation requirements but left relief-at-source intact, meaning tax-favored investors never file a claim and remain invisible to the tax administration. These findings have direct implications for the forthcoming EU FASTER Directive.

• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun & Scheuerer, Johannes (2025). From Profits to Paperwork: Multinationals and the Cost of Transfer Pricing Regulation. Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet (NMBU). Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  How costly is transfer pricing (TP) regulation for firms? Drawing on administrative tax return and trade data linked with employment records, we estimate how multinational enterprises (MNEs) in Norway responded to an increase in TP documentation requirements. We analyze the monetary amount that MNEs spent on tax advisory services- both on external consultants and in-house lawyers and accountants- after the reform. Difference-in-differences event study designs show that the regulation significantly raised tax payments, reported profits, and spending on tax advisors. This includes a 25% increase in expenditures on external consultants and a 50% increase in expenditures on in-house advisors. Smaller MNEs bear a disproportionately large compliance- and administrative burden, raising important considerations for the design and implementation of anti-tax avoidance measures.

• Alstadsæter, Annette; Bjørkheim, Julie Brun; Davies, Ronald Brandon & Scheuerer, Johannes (2025). Pennies from Haven: Tax Havens and Employee Compensation. Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet (NMBU). Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The ability of multinationals to avoid taxes by shifting profits to tax havens has drawn increasing criticism on both revenue and equity grounds. Using a staggered difference-in-differences approach and matched Norwegian employer-employee data, we show that haven-using firms pay higher compensation. This is particularly apparent in services where the haven pay premium is nearly 2%. Further, there is substantial within-firm heterogeneity with high-skill occupations earning higher premia. These estimates suggest that income inequality growth would have been 13% lower without havens. Finally, we estimate that higher employee tax payments offset 8% of the corporate tax loss due to haven use.

• Brun_Bjørkheim, Julie & Nygård, Odd Erik (2024). Gender Differences in Tax Evasion: Evidence from Norwegian Administrative Data. Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet (NMBU). Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Using the expenditure approach and administrative data on third-party reported donations, we estimate tax evasion by gender. While men are more prone to risktaking, we find no evidence of this transferring to income underreporting among the self-employed in Norway. Instead, self-employed women evade more than men. This tendency holds when controlling for sector affiliation and using household fixed effects and event study equivalents. We find that self-employed women face lower chances of penalty taxes and lighter penalties when caught, possibly due to biased predictive models, which may explain their higher evasion rates.

• Brun_Bjørkheim, Julie & Agersnap, Ole (2024). Tax Complexity as Price Discrimination. Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet (NMBU). Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Most tax systems around the world are highly complex. While several economists have studied the potential costs associated with tax complexity, few have explored if complexity can also have beneficial effects. In a novel model where taxpayers can acquire costly knowledge to reduce their tax burden, we show that when elasticities of taxable income are heterogeneous, a complex tax system can act as a sorting device similar to second-degree price discrimination, where more elastic taxpayers will invest in more tax knowledge. We prove that if elasticities are increasing with income, introducing tax complexity can allow the government to raise higher tax revenues at no efficiency cost. However, we show that complexity primarily benefits the highest earners and thus exacerbates inequality. In the empirical section of our work, we study a complex tax system in Norway. Using rich register data on business owners, we demonstrate that many taxpayers make accounting decisions that cause them to pay higher taxes than would have been possible, and we quantify the exact size of this tax overpayment at the individual level. We show that overpayment tends to be larger for women, the less wealthy, and immigrants. We validate our model predictions by showing that failure to optimize is associated with a lower estimated tax elasticity.

• Agersnap, Ole & Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2024). Tax Complexity as Price Discrimination. Norges Handelshøyskole. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Most tax systems around the world are highly complex. While several economists have studied the potential costs associated with tax complexity, few have explored if complexity can also have beneficial effects. In a novel model where taxpayers can acquire costly knowledge to reduce their tax burden, we show that when elasticities of taxable income are heterogeneous, a complex tax system can act as a sorting device similar to second-degree price discrimination, where more elastic taxpayers will invest in more tax knowledge. We prove that if elasticities are increasing with income, introducing tax complexity can allow the government to raise higher tax revenues at no efficiency cost. However, we show that complexity primarily benefits the highest earners and thus exacerbates inequality. In the empirical section of our work, we study a complex tax system in Norway. Using rich register data on business owners, we demonstrate that many taxpayers make accounting decisions that cause them to pay higher taxes than would have been possible, and we quantify the exact size of this tax overpayment at the individual level. We show that overpayment tends to be larger for women, the less wealthy, and immigrants. We validate our model predictions by showing that failure to optimize is associated with a lower estimated tax elasticity.

• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun & Nygård, Odd Erik (2024). Gender Differences in Tax Evasion: Evidence from Norwegian Administrative Data. Norges Handelshøyskole. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Using the expenditure approach and administrative data on third-party reported donations, we estimate tax evasion by gender. While men are more prone to risk-taking, we find no evidence of this transferring to income underreporting among the self-employed in Norway. Instead, self-employed women evade more than men. This tendency holds when controlling for sector affiliation and using household fixed effects and event study equivalents. We find that self-employed women face lower chances of penalty taxes and lighter penalties when caught, possibly due to biased predictive models, which may explain their higher evasion rates.

• Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge; Bøås, Morten; Bjørkheim, Julie Brun & Kvamme, Frida Margrethe (2018). Building tax systems in fragile states: Challenges, achievements and policy recommendations. Chr. Michelsen Institutt. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purpose of this study is to systematise and analyse existing knowledge on taxation in fragile states. Efforts to support domestic revenue mobilisation in conflict situations require a different approach and other means than in the more stable developing countries. On that basis, the study discusses possible entry points for Norwegian support to domestic revenue mobilisation in ways that may contribute to strengthen state-building and improve government legitimacy. Complexity, limited experience and security concerns suggest that one should be cautious to adopt bilateral technical assistance programmes of the kind implemented in other developing countries. Instead, the study argues in favour of engagement via multilateral institutions, including multi-donor trust funds and other forms of pooled resources. Nine entry points are recommended for Norwegian support to taxation in fragile states: Do no harm Safeguard donor coordination, but ensure a certain humility Support customs administration Capacitate management and taxation of natural resources Support the United Nations Tax Committee Improve taxpayer-tax administration relations Remember the sub-national tax system Support civil based organisations Develop research capacity Viable entry points are likely to differ substantially from country to country depending on context and demand. Fragility has many features and the challenges facing different states differ.

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• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2026). The Revolving Door of Tax Expertise: From Public Sector to Private Firms Evidence from Finland and Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2026). Data about the Norwegian Tax Administration: Quality, Coverage, and Research Opportunities. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2026). I går · Vil kutte inntektsskatten med 20 milliarder. [TV]. NRK1 Nyhetsmorgen. doi: https:/tv.nrk.no/serie/nyhetsmorgen-tv/sesong/202606/episode/NNFA05062426. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2026). Kan bli den største skatteendringen på tiår. [Radio]. NRK P2 Nyhetsmorgen. doi: https:/radio.nrk.no/serie/nyhetsmorgen/NPUB32012426. Full text in Research Archive
• Brun_Bjørkheim, Julie (2025). From Profits to Paperwork: Multinationals and the Cost. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2024). Transfer Pricing Regulations and the Demand for Tax Advisors. Full text in Research Archive
• Brun_Bjørkheim, Julie (2024). Transfer Pricing Regulations and the Demand for Tax Advisors. Full text in Research Archive
• Brun_Bjørkheim, Julie (2024). Transfer Pricing Regulations and the Demand for Tax Advisors. Full text in Research Archive
• Brun_Bjørkheim, Julie & Scheuerer, Johannes (2024). Transfer Pricing Strictness and the Demand for Tax Advisors. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Drawing on administrative tax return and trade data linked with employment records, this paper looks into how multinational enterprises (MNEs) in Norway responded to an increase in transfer pricing (TP) strictness. We analyze the amount of money MNEs spent on tax compliance - both on external consultants and in-house lawyers and accountants - after the reform. Difference-in-differences event study designs show that the regulation significantly impacted tax payments, reported profits, and spending on tax advisors. On average, MNEs spent an extra NOK 4.64 million on tax compliance services in the subsequent year. This includes a 12.5% increase in spending on consultants and a 150% increase in spending on in-house advisors. We also found evidence that stricter TP regulations in countries where affiliates locate raised the demand for tax advisors for firms in Norway.

• Brun_Bjørkheim, Julie & Nygård, Odd Erik (2024). Gender Differences in Tax Evasion: Evidence from Norwegian Administrative Data. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Using the expenditure approach and administrative data on third-party reported donations, we estimate tax evasion by gender. While men are more prone to risk-taking, we find no evidence of this transferring to income underreporting among the self-employed in Norway. Instead, self-employed women evade more than men. This tendency holds when controlling for sector affiliation and using household fixed effects and event study equivalents. We find that self-employed women face lower chances of penalty taxes and lighter penalties when caught, possibly due to biased predictive models, which may explain their higher evasion rates.

• Brun_Bjørkheim, Julie (2024). Transfer pricing strictness and the demand for tax advisors. Full text in Research Archive
• Alstadsæter, Annette; Bjørkheim, Julie Brun; Davies, Ronald Brandon & Scheuerer, Johannes (2023). Pennies from Haven: Wages and Profit Shifting. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2023). Transfer Pricing Regulations and the Demand for Tax Advisors. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2023). Skatteparadis - hva vet vi? Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2023). Transfer Pricing Strictness, Mispricing and the Demand for Tax Advisors. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2023). How do Norwegian firms shift profit? Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2023). Skattens skjulte virkninger. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2023). Transfer Pricing Regulations and the Demand for Tax Advisors. Full text in Research Archive
• Brun_Bjørkheim, Julie (2023). Transfer Pricing Strictness and the Demand for Tax Advisors. Full text in Research Archive
• Brun_Bjørkheim, Julie (2023). Transfer Pricing Strictness and the Demand for Tax Advisors. Full text in Research Archive
• Brun_Bjørkheim, Julie (2023). How do Norwegian firms shift profit? Full text in Research Archive
• Brun_Bjørkheim, Julie (2023). Skattens skjulte virkninger - adferdsendringer i skattelandskapet. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2023). Transfer Pricing Regulations and the Demand for Tax Advisors. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2023). Skatteparadis - hva vet vi? Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2023). Transfer Pricing Regulations and the Demand for Tax Advisors. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2022). Transfer Pricing Strictness, Mispricing and the Demand for Tax Advisory Services. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørkheim, Julie Brun (2021). IMF vil innføre solidaritetsskatt etter pandemien – Høyre og Venstre freder de rike. Dagens næringsliv. Full text in Research Archive

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