Article on Gender in Estate Tax Cases

Mark Jackson (University of Nevada, Reno), Sonja Pippin (University of Nevada, Reno), and Jeffrey Wong (University of Nevada, Reno) recently published an article entitled, Court Rulings in Estate Tax Cases: Is Gender a Factor?  (March 1, 2014).  Provided below is the abstract from SSRN:

The U.S. court system plays an important role in resolving asset valuation disagreements between taxpayers and the taxing authority. A recent study examining the relation between court valuations of estates and case/judge attributes finds evidence suggesting that the number of appraisers used by the taxpayer, the type of asset being valued, and the age and complexity of the case are related to the decisions of the court. We extend this study by testing for the effect of judges’ gender. We find evidence that male judges tend to favor the taxpayer in valuation disputes.