Student News PhD Graduate Himawan Saputro Successfully Defends Dissertation Congratulations, Himawan!
Himawan Saputro, one of the Martin School’s exceptional international PhD recruits, has successfully defended his doctoral dissertation. He was hooded at the 2021 Martin School Commencement ceremony on May 14th, 2021. The dissertation defense which preceded graduation, tells us where to look for his future impacts. Himawan writes,
My dissertation was titled Three Essays on Tax Compliance in Indonesia. These essays study the behavioral and compliance impacts of three major tax reforms in Indonesia which also commonly adopted by many governments, particularly in the developing economies. The first essay was titled “How Do Taxpayers Respond to Tax Simplification? Evidence from the Indonesian Turnover Tax Reform.” It was presented at the 113th Annual Conference on Taxation of the National Tax Association (NTA) in November 2020. The second essay was titled “Tax Evasion and Forgiveness: Evidence from the Indonesian Tax Amnesty Program.” This paper will be presented at the 77th Annual Congress of the International Institute of Public Finance (IIPF) in August 2021. And the last essay was titled “Compliance Effects of Tax Administration Reform on Wealthiest Individuals: Evidence from the Indonesian High-Wealth Individuals (HWI) Office.”
One of Himawan’s long-term professional goals is to “promote evidence-based policy in the Indonesian public finance sector.” The essays above speak to this commitment and perhaps tell us about the positive impact he’ll have going forward. Now that he has completed his education at UK, he’ll return to his “previous office, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia.” Himawan’s work at the Martin School is representative of the doctoral program on offer to our entire cohort: a mixture of rigorous world-class research and inclusive community.
“The Martin School has provided me with excellent technical skills and theoretical knowledge as well as sufficient resources to complete my dissertation. In particular, Dr. David R. Agrawal, my committee chair, has inspired me to further study taxation and guided me to write a high-quality empirical paper. He also has introduced me to the research frontiers in public finance and encouraged me to communicate my research with leading scholars,” Himawan tells us. We’re quite proud of Himawan. He will be missed here as much as he will be valued everywhere he goes.