Department wide collaboration paid off

“There is no better proof of the relevance of our research to the industry,“ says Axel Hilling at Department of Business law, who recently received an award for an article written together with three LUSEM colleagues from two other departments.

Established by PwC, the award called CH Witts pris was launched in 1981. Recently four reserachers at LUSEM were presented with the award for the article Land-för-land­rapportering av skatter – en ur hållbarhets­vinkel missad möjlighet. Congratulations to Axel Hilling (Department of Business law), Niklas Sandell and Amanda Sonnerfeldt (Department of Buisness administration) and Anders Vilhelmsson (Department of Economics).

It was in connection with FAR's* general meeting on September 22, the jury's award was handed out. The article is about the development of public country-by-country reporting of taxes within the EU and the authors analyze how the current regulation relates to the EU's new directive for sustainability reporting, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, CSRD.

We met with one of the authors, Axel Hilling, to ask a few questions about department wide work and why we should reda the winning article.

Why do you think you were this year's winner of the CH Witt award?

”Mainly because we are writing about a current topic where there is a great need for knowledge. The jury also highlights the social relevance of the topic and the stringency of the article in their motivation.” 

Why should we read your article?

”To understand the background to new rules around corporate taxation and public tax reporting, and thus gain a better understanding of the rapid regulatory development in the area, which will have a major impact on corporate tax functions and ESG reporting.” 
 
The article is written by authors from three different departments at LUSEM; Business Administration, Business Law and Economics, what are the advantages of working department wide?

”As a rule, conducting research on complex social issues requires both broad and deep knowledge, and therefore it is often necessary to collaborate across traditional subject boundaries. We have been working together for a long time and have found good ways to problematize issues at the border between business administration, finance and business law, usually with a clear sustainability perspective.” 

* FAR is the institute for the accountancy profession in Sweden and has its head office in Stockholm. FAR’s members are authorized and approved public accountants, authorized accounting consultants, certified tax consultants and payroll consultants. FAR plays a leading role in the development of professional standards, education and information for the accountancy profession in Sweden, while also providing the business world and society with clear sets of regulations, the right level of competence and reliable information.