Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
J.D., Yale Law School, 2012
A.B., Harvard College, 2008
Tax Law
Tax Policy and Public Finance
Empirical Analysis of Law
Law and Economics
Michael Love is an economist and legal scholar who studies tax law and public policy. His research focuses on U.S. business taxation, where he uses economic theory, econometrics, and data science to answer questions involving such topics as the distributional effects of business taxation, the role of partnerships in business structures, the interaction of taxation and corporate finance, and tax avoidance through the use of business entities.
Love joined the Columbia Law School faculty as associate professor of law on January 1, 2023. He has previously worked for the White House Council of Economic Advisors, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the Joint Committee on Taxation within the U.S. Congress. He also practiced tax at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
He completed his Ph.D. in economics at the University of California, Berkeley.
Working Papers:
Equity Financing, Dividend Taxes and Corporate ‘Non-Capital’ Investment (Best Paper Award, Oxford Centre for Business Taxation 2020 Doctoral Conference)
Where in the World Does Partnership Income Go? Evidence of a Growing Use of Tax Havens
Needed in Empirical Social Science: Numbers (with Aaron Edlin)
Tax Avoidance Through Corporate Accounting: Insights for Corporate Tax Bases (with Eric Heiser and Jacob Mortenson)
The Paycheck Protection Program: Progressivity and Tax Effects (with David Splinter, Eric Heiser and Jacob Mortenson)
Other Publications:
Joint Committee on Taxation, Washington, DC
Economic Research Analyst – 2021-Present
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, New York, NY
Associate – 2013-2017
U.S. Treasury, Office of International Finance, Washington, D.C. Heyman Fellow – 2012-2013
White House, Council of Economic Advisors, Washington, D.C. Research Assistant, Labor & Macroeconomics – 2008-2009
Office of Governor Tim Kaine, Richmond, VA
Policy Fellow – 2008
World Bank, Praetoria, South Africa
Short-Term Consultant – 2006, 2007
A lawyer who uses economic theory and empirical tools in his research joins the faculty as an associate professor of law.