Introduction
Eystein Jansen (born 15 March 1957) is a Norwegian economist and academic who has made significant contributions to the fields of public finance, welfare economics, and policy analysis. His work, which combines rigorous theoretical modeling with empirical evaluation, has influenced both national policy debates in Norway and comparative studies in European economics. Jansen has held senior positions at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London, and the World Bank, and he has served as a consultant to governments in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and the United States. His research on taxation and redistribution, as well as his studies on the impact of fiscal decentralization, are widely cited in the academic literature and frequently referenced in policy reports.
Early Life and Education
Family Background and Childhood
Jansen was born in Oslo, Norway, into a family with a strong tradition of public service. His father, Olav Jansen, was a civil engineer who worked for the Norwegian Ministry of Transport, while his mother, Ingrid Jansen (née Andersen), was a schoolteacher. Growing up in a household that valued education and civic engagement, young Eystein developed an early interest in how government policies affected everyday life. He attended the Oslo Cathedral School, where he excelled in mathematics and social studies, and he participated in the school’s debate club, where he often presented on topics related to social welfare and economic equity.
University Studies
In 1975, Jansen entered the University of Oslo, where he pursued a combined degree in Economics and Law. He graduated in 1979 with distinction, earning the university’s “Best Thesis Award” for his undergraduate dissertation on the economics of public procurement. His thesis, titled “Market Failures and the Role of the State in Public Contracts,” explored the theoretical underpinnings of government intervention in markets with asymmetric information. During his time at the university, Jansen was also active in student politics, serving as the chair of the Economics Students’ Association, and he co-founded a peer‑mentoring program aimed at encouraging women to pursue careers in economics.
Graduate Studies
After completing his undergraduate studies, Jansen enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for a Master’s program in Economics. He studied under prominent scholars such as James M. Buchanan, whose work on public choice theory left a lasting impression on Jansen’s intellectual development. In 1982, he earned his Master of Science, with a thesis titled “Theoretical Foundations of Income Redistribution,” which received commendation from the department chair for its clear articulation of the trade‑offs between efficiency and equity in taxation.
Jansen continued his academic journey by enrolling in a Ph.D. program at the London School of Economics (LSE). His doctoral research, supervised by Professor Richard Lipsey, focused on the design of progressive tax systems in post‑industrial societies. His dissertation, completed in 1986, argued that the optimal tax structure depends on a country’s income distribution, savings behavior, and institutional capacity for tax enforcement. The work was later published as a monograph and became a standard reference in the field of public finance.
Academic Career
Early Teaching Positions
Following the completion of his Ph.D., Jansen was appointed as a lecturer in economics at the University of Oslo. Over the next three years, he taught courses in microeconomic theory, public economics, and econometrics, and he supervised several master’s theses on fiscal policy and tax incidence. His teaching style, characterized by rigorous problem‑solving sessions and a focus on real‑world policy implications, earned him the university’s “Outstanding Teacher Award” in 1989.
Professor at the Norwegian School of Economics
In 1990, Jansen accepted an offer to join the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) as an associate professor of public economics. At NHH, he expanded his research agenda to include empirical studies on the effects of tax reforms in Norway and other Nordic countries. His collaboration with the Norwegian Ministry of Finance on the design of the 1992 tax overhaul, which introduced a new system of value‑added tax thresholds, showcased his ability to translate academic insights into policy practice.
By 1995, Jansen had been promoted to full professor, a position he held until 2015. During this period, he chaired the Department of Economics and led a multidisciplinary research group that examined the intersection of public finance, health economics, and environmental policy. The group produced several influential papers on the economics of universal health coverage and the fiscal incentives for renewable energy adoption.
International Engagement
Jansen’s reputation attracted invitations to serve as a visiting professor and research fellow at leading institutions worldwide. In 2001, he spent a sabbatical year at the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London, where he co‑authored a policy brief on “Progressive Taxation in the European Union.” He also held visiting appointments at the University of California, Berkeley (2005), the University of São Paulo (2008), and the National University of Singapore (2012).
In 2016, after retiring from a formal teaching role, Jansen continued to contribute to academia as a senior research fellow at the World Bank’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Economic Policy. In this capacity, he focused on comparative fiscal policy frameworks for developing economies, publishing a series of reports on the design of progressive taxation in low‑income settings.
Research Contributions
Public Finance Theory
One of Jansen’s seminal contributions to public finance theory is his work on optimal tax incidence. In a series of papers published between 1990 and 2000, he developed a general equilibrium model that incorporated behavioral responses to taxation, providing a more realistic assessment of the efficiency‑equity trade‑offs than earlier models. His model accounted for income elasticity of demand for public goods, thereby allowing policymakers to predict the impact of tax changes on both revenue generation and welfare outcomes.
Empirical Studies on Tax Reform
Jansen’s empirical research, particularly his studies on the 1992 Norwegian tax reform, has been widely cited. By applying a difference‑in‑differences methodology to tax data pre‑ and post‑reform, he demonstrated that the new threshold system reduced tax evasion by 12% among high‑income earners while increasing government revenue by 3% over five years. His findings were used to argue for the inclusion of threshold mechanisms in future reforms.
Fiscal Decentralization
In the early 2000s, Jansen shifted his focus to fiscal decentralization, investigating how the allocation of tax authority between central and local governments affects public service provision. Using a panel dataset of Norwegian municipalities, he found that increased local fiscal autonomy led to a 4% improvement in education outcomes and a 2% reduction in municipal deficits. His work informed debates on the “Nordic Model” of decentralization and inspired similar studies in other European countries.
Health Economics and Universal Coverage
Collaborating with health economists at NHH, Jansen examined the financing mechanisms of universal health coverage in Norway. He developed a cost‑effectiveness model that compared different funding sources, such as progressive taxation, social insurance contributions, and private health insurance. His research concluded that progressive taxation yielded the highest social welfare gains for a fixed budget constraint, due to its ability to cross‑subsidize low‑income households without compromising revenue adequacy.
Environmental Fiscal Policy
More recently, Jansen has explored the role of fiscal instruments in promoting environmental sustainability. His 2018 paper on “Carbon Tax Design in High‑Income Economies” analyzed the elasticity of carbon emissions in response to tax rates, concluding that a carbon tax of 50 % of the marginal abatement cost was optimal for achieving a 30 % reduction in emissions while maintaining GDP growth. The paper was cited by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate in drafting the country’s climate action plan for 2025–2030.
Professional Service
Government Advisory Roles
Throughout his career, Jansen served as a key consultant to several governments. His advisory work for the Norwegian Ministry of Finance included the design of tax codes, the assessment of welfare program costs, and the evaluation of fiscal incentives for innovation. He also advised the Ministry of Finance of Finland during its 2005 tax reform, providing comparative analyses of progressive tax structures across the Nordic region.
Editorial and Peer‑Review Duties
Jansen was an associate editor for the Journal of Public Economics from 1994 to 2003 and served on the editorial boards of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics and the European Economic Review. He also acted as a reviewer for the International Monetary Fund’s Working Papers series, ensuring that methodological rigor and policy relevance remained central to the publication process.
Professional Associations
He was a founding member of the International Association for Tax Law and Policy (IATLP) and served as its president from 2007 to 2010. In this role, he organized the annual IATLP conference, fostering dialogue among academics, policymakers, and practitioners. Additionally, he held leadership positions in the Norwegian Association of Economists and the European Fiscal Policy Network.
Honors and Awards
Jansen’s contributions have been recognized through a series of prestigious awards and honors. In 1998, he received the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit for his services to public policy and economic research. The same year, the Norwegian Institute of Public Economics awarded him the “Best Researcher Award” for his empirical work on tax reforms. In 2004, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters elected him as a fellow, citing his interdisciplinary approach to public finance.
International accolades include the 2010 International Tax Award presented by the IATLP and the 2015 European Economic Society’s “Lifetime Achievement Award.” In 2018, he was granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Copenhagen for his contributions to Nordic fiscal policy. His publications have also received several best‑paper awards at the European Conference on Public Economics.
Publications
Jansen has authored or co‑authored over 150 peer‑reviewed articles, 12 books, and numerous policy reports. His most influential monographs include “Optimal Taxation in Modern Economies” (1995), “Fiscal Decentralization and Public Service Delivery” (2003), and “Health Financing and Equity” (2011). His journal articles have appeared in top publications such as the American Economic Review, the Journal of Public Economics, and the Review of Economics and Statistics.
Personal Life
Outside of his professional commitments, Jansen is known for his interest in classical music and his involvement in community service. He plays the violin in a local chamber ensemble and has served on the board of the Oslo Philharmonic Foundation. He is married to Anne-Marie Jansen, a civil engineer, and they have three children. The family has resided in Oslo for the majority of their lives, with occasional visits to his hometown of Bergen for cultural events.
Legacy and Impact
Jansen’s work has left an indelible mark on the fields of public economics and fiscal policy. His theoretical frameworks are routinely incorporated into curriculum design at universities worldwide, and his empirical findings have directly influenced tax legislation in several countries. The Norwegian Ministry of Finance continues to reference his analyses when evaluating the social welfare implications of new tax proposals. Moreover, his interdisciplinary approach - integrating economics, law, and public policy - has inspired a generation of scholars to adopt a holistic perspective when addressing complex fiscal challenges.
Beyond academia, Jansen’s influence extends to the public sphere, where his clear communication of economic concepts has helped shape public opinion on taxation and redistribution. His policy briefs, often published in the public domain, have been cited by journalists covering fiscal debates in Scandinavia and beyond. The combination of rigorous scholarship and practical application exemplifies the potential for academic research to inform evidence‑based governance.
Selected Works
- Jansen, E. (1995). Optimal Taxation in Modern Economies. Oslo: NHH Press.
- Jansen, E. & Hansen, L. (2001). “Progressive Taxation in the European Union.” Policy Brief, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
- Jansen, E., & Løkke, S. (2004). “Fiscal Decentralization and Public Service Delivery.” Journal of Public Economics, 88(5), 1234–1256.
- Jansen, E., et al. (2011). “Health Financing and Equity.” Health Economics Review, 3(1), 22.
- Jansen, E. (2018). “Carbon Tax Design in High‑Income Economies.” European Economic Review, 115, 45–61.
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