Abstract: This project examines how training frontline tax collectors can shape tax compliance and state capacity in Tanzania, using administrative data and a randomized controlled trial of tax-collector training.

About the Speaker:

Seung-hun Lee is a Assistant Professor at Taipei School of Economics at National Tsing Hua University. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University in May 2024. 

His research lies at the intersection of development economics, public economics, and political economy, with additional interest in labor economics and the economics of migration. His work examines how public institutions build, deploy, and lose the capacity to mobilize resources and serve their citizens. Current projects study how violence and conflict erode local state capacity, how bureaucratic training and citizen trust can strengthen the state, how large-scale public policies shape labor markets and welfare, and how adverse shocks affect human capital accumulation in fragile settings. His projects span settings including Mexico, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Haiti, and Korea, and are supported by grants from J-PAL and Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council.

Prior to his current position, he was a postdoctoral fellow at HKUST (July 2024 - June 2025). He was also a Bong and Sul Visiting Research Fellow at the Yonsei Institute of Population and Human Capital (Aug 2025 - July 2026).