Ingrid Hoem Sjursen

Ingrid Hoem Sjursen is a Senior Researcher at Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) in Bergen specializing in taxation, state capacity, and behavioral economics. She is affiliated with FAIR Centre of Excellence at the Norwegian School of Economics and Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets (MISUM) at Stockholm School of Economics. Additionally, she serves as Chair of The Rafto Prize Committee and maintains an active research profile across multiple African contexts.

Dr. Hoem Sjursen earned her PhD in economics from FAIR at the Norwegian School of Economics, where her thesis employed lab-in-the-field, survey, and online experiments. Prior to joining CMI, she worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at MISUM and Centre for Applied Research at NHH (SNF).

Her primary research examines citizens' taxpayer behavior, demand for accountability, and how taxation shapes government accountability and state capacity. She also conducts significant work on intra-household decision-making, particularly regarding resource allocation for children, and maintains interests in global health. Her methodological approach heavily features experimental economics, with numerous field experiments conducted in Tanzania to test tax compliance mechanisms.

Analysis of her publication trends reveals consistent focus on tax compliance mechanisms in African contexts, particularly Tanzania. Her work explores innovative approaches like receipt lotteries, customer incentives, and trust-building interventions to improve VAT compliance. She has extensively documented the impact of external shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic on tax systems and examined the relationship between resource wealth and tax behavior. Her research bridges academic rigor with practical policy relevance, often conducted in partnership with tax authorities like the Tanzania Revenue Authority.

Dr. Hoem Sjursen is actively involved in multiple research projects including Tax Compliance in Tanzania: The Role of Trust and Norms (TANZAN), Successful Advances in Fiscal ARchItecture (SAFARI) in Zanzibar, Tax Compliance, VAT Revenues and Business Development in Tanzania (TaCoTa), and research on Public Services, Security and the Legacy of pre-colonial states in Uganda. These projects reflect her commitment to understanding how taxation systems function in developing contexts and how they can be improved to enhance state capacity and development outcomes.