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Public Affairs Faculty

C. Kurt Zorn
Interim Dean and Professor

Ph.D., Syracuse University, 1981

Professor Zorn's research interests focus on state and local finance, transportation safety, and economic development. He has published numerous articles in all three areas and is a co-author of a book on Aviation Safety published by Oxford Press in 1992.

Professor Zorn's teaching areas include public finance, urban economics, municipal bonds, and applied microeconomics.

In March of 1997 he was appointed Chair of the Citizens' Commission on Taxes by Governor O'Bannon. In addition, he serves as a Director of the Indiana Bond Bank. From January 1991 to August 1994 he served as Chair, Indiana State Board of Tax Commissioners. Before that he served as Director of State Relations for Indiana University and advisor to the President of Indiana University. Professor Zorn also has served as a consultant to the United States Department of Commerce, United States Department of Transportation, the State of Indiana, Indiana Infrastructure Inc., and the President's Commission on Aviation Safety.

Professor Zorn has contributed articles to a number of journals including Public Budgeting & Finance, Public Finance Quarterly, Growth and Change, Public Administration Review, and The Journal of Transportation Research Forum.

Awards

Recent Publications

"E-Commerce and the Single-Rate Sales Tax Proposal," Municipal Finance Journal 22(3) (Fall 2001): 1 23. (With Gary C. Cornia, Kelly D. Edmiston, Steven M. Sheffrin, Terri A. Sexton, and David L. Sjoquist).

"An Analysis of the Feasibility of Implementing a Single Rate Sales Tax," National Tax Journal 53(4, Part 3) (December 200): 1327-1350. (With Gary C. Cornia, Kelly D. Edmiston, Steven M. Sheffrin, Terri A. Sexton, and David L. Sjoquist).

"Diversifying Local Government Revenue in Bosnia-Herzegovina through an Area-Based Property Tax, Public Budgeting & Finance 20(4) (Winter 2000): 63-86. (With Jean Tesche and Gary Cornia).

"Improving Air Safety: Long-Term Challenges," Issues in Science and Technology 27(2) (Winter 2000-01): 77-83. (With Clinton V. Oster, Jr. and John Strong)

Commentary, "Deregulation and the Property Tax in California and Other Western States," by Terri A. Sexton and Steven M. Sheffrin in Impacts of Electric Utility Deregulation on Property Taxation, edited by Philip Burling (Cambridge, Massachusetts, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2000), pp. 91-94.

"Is Activity-Based Costing Up to the Challenge When It Comes to Privatization of Local Government Services?" Public Budgeting & Finance 19(2) (Summer 1999): 37-58. (With Daniel R. Mullins).

"Taxation of Telecommunications and Electronic Commerce," in Handbook on Taxation, edited by W. Bartley Hildreth and James A. Richardson. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1999, 703-724.

"The Economic Perspective on Public Administration," International Journal of Public Administration 21(6-8) (June-August 1998): 1119-1136.

"Whither Telecommunications Tax Reform?" State Tax Notes, December 23, 1996, pp. 1817-1825. Also published in Sales Tax Report, The Institute of Property Taxation, January-February 1997, pp. 8-17.

"Combating Terrorism Against Commercial Aviation," Journal of Transportation Management, 8(1) (Fall 1996): 9-23.