I am a professor in taxation with an economics background, having graduated with a PhD from the School of Economics, UNSW in 1982. Prior returning to UNSW Sydney as a lecturer in taxation in 1991, I was a lecturer in economics at University of Auckland (1982-85) and Deakin University (1989-91), and a National Research Fellow in the Centre for Applied Economic Research at UNSW (1985-90). I have also held short term appointments at University of Technology Sydney, Nagoya City University, University of California (Santa Barbara), Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Ton Duc Thang University and RMIT University Vietnam.
As an academic, I have taught a wide range of courses at under- and post-graduate levels, utilising alternative methods of delivery. In addition, I have successfully supervised nine PhD candidates and two MPhil candidates, all in taxation at UNSW.
My research interests include tax policy, tax administration, international trade, development economics and survey research. I have so far published 54 book chapters and 95 refereed articles in academic journals in Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK and the US, including the Australian Tax Forum, British Tax Review, Canadian Tax Journal, Economic Letters, Economic Record, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Economics, National Tax Journal, Oxford Economic Papers, Sydney Law Review and UNSW Law Journal.
I have obtained research grants from the ARC and other external, peer reviewed and competitive sources. My cumulative income from research grants and commissioned research projects is approaching the A$2 million mark. I have also acted as a consultant to AusAID, the Australian Taxation Office, Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, Board of Taxation, DFAT, Department for International Development Vietnam, NZ Inland Revenue, NSW Taxpayers’ Association, Oxfam Vietnam, UNDP Vietnam, USAID Vietnam, Victorian Community Services and World Bank Vietnam.
In terms of service to the discipline, I have served as a founding co-editor of the eJournal of Tax Research and International Journal of Development and Conflict, an associate editor of Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, and an editorial board member of several other academic journals. I am an International Fellow at the Tax Administration Research Centre (Exeter University-International Fiscal Studies), Adjunct Research Fellow at Tax Law and Policy Research Group (Monash University) and Adjunct Professor at RMIT University Vietnam. I was awarded research fellowships at San Jose State University in 2006 and Curtin University of Technology in 2011, and have also been invited to give keynote addresses at international conferences.
I have sought to engage with the Australian community and government by writing on topics of interest and relevance to tax administration and tax policy making in Australasia. My research has been cited at federal parliamentary debates and in the High Court of Australia. As a former Colombo Plan scholarship recipient, I have also sought to assist Vietnam’s development. My engagement with Vietnam covers a wide range of academic activities including conference organisation, conference and seminar presentations, guest lectures, book editing, policy-oriented articles, joint research, course development and institutional linkage. I have been an advisor/consultant to the Prime Minister Advisory Group, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education and Training. Most recently, I helped to establish the International Society of Vietnam Economists (ISVE) and was elected its inaugural Secretary in 2014 and second President in 2020.